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Comment by Dramatize | Hacker News Reader

I would love to pay $.99 for this, but at $5.49 it's too expensive for me recommend to all my friends.

I am always curious why when people say that $x.xx (or any app that is not $.99) is too expensive for an app.

A meal (burger, fries and a drink) in McDonalds will cost you at least $5~$9 depending on the size of the meal you get. Would you say that is expensive? Yet, when an app is anywhere from $2~$10, people will deem it as "expensive". It astounds me when people don't give a thought about spending $10 on food but when it comes to any software-related stuff, the same $10 is "too much".

It comes down to risk.

I know exactly what I'm getting for $5 worth of McDonalds. $5 for an app feels more risky because I have no idea if there will be any value.

You only know what you are getting from McDonalds because you have bought it before, well what about your first time eating at McDonalds? You certainly did not know what you were getting then.

I suspect that for most people in the US their first meal at McDonalds was purchased by their parents. And they probably know quite a few people in real life that would endorse McDonalds.

That is a pretty much irrelevant point though, use any other example of buying a meal from somewhere that is not as common as McDonalds. On the point of endorsing, people can endorse an app as well so I am still not sure how that applies.

I don't go to McDonalds any more since prices went up from $2.... If I'm spending $10 I'll buy something good.

There's a difference between buying food, a necessity, and an app, a luxury. And when you use your McDonald's example, you're assuming that the person you're conversing with is willing to pay $5-$9 for a meal at McDonald's. Many people who won't pay more than a buck for an app won't be spending more than a couple bucks on a meal at McDonald's anyway.

Whenever I see comments like this my first instinct is that their own products, if they have any, are priced too low.

The difference between 99cents and a higher price making the same profit is a significant difference in number of sales. Maybe if they get featured it would be worth it to lower the price to ensure it stays in the charts, but if it's not ranked it does not make sense to have a lower price.

People say what they wish for and then do another thing. People complain about prices, and then buy anyway if the product is right for them. And if the product is exactly made for them they will sense the value and know that the price is great. $5.49 for something you will potentially use for years? I have no trouble seeing the value. Though I only use Android devices.

Sorry, I should have made my point clearer.

What I'm saying is the price is too expensive for me to get a large sample of my social group to try it out.

This will hinder the app's growth.

It could, but that doesn't mean it will. It's a cool enough thing that people will talk about it.

I have done pricing experiments. For apps which are not ranked, and have no ads driving extra traffic, 99cents vs even $6.99 usually equals the same number of sales. Lower prices don't matter as much as people think they do. When you talk about risk, do you mean that you do not believe your social circle will find this interesting enough to even know about it? If you did then price wouldn't matter... have you ever recommended anything higher than 99cents to anyone? That 99cents is a popular price for "apps" does not matter. Devs should still charge more when it makes sense to.

Just out of curiosity, would you be willing to say what your hourly wage is?

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