We mentioned MacHeist’s bundle a while back when it went on sale; it’s now over, and it’s a success. If you recall, the deal consisted of 10 Mac applications for $49. Over the course of the last two weeks, four more apps were added and helped sell over 40,000 copies of the bundle, which is pretty impressive considering the first edition sold only 16,000 copies.
Plus, if you’re familiar with MacHeist, you know 25% of the money went to charity. In the end, $500,000 ended up being donated to various organizations (because $488,003 was “such an ugly number”).
But just like back in December 2006, not everyone is happy. While the controversy isn’t of the same magnitude as last year’s, Rich Siegel of Bare Bones software did spark a little debate on this week’s MacBreak Weekly. Basically, he argued bundle sales like this one devalue software and increase support costs for the developers as a result of the large increase in customers.
While I believe there is some truth to that, the developers certainly did know what they were getting into. Plus, I do think developers who participate get a whole lot of publicity, not to mention new users who will hopefully pay for an major upgrade when the time comes.
Stay tuned, though: Phill Ryu, one of the minds behind MacHeist, and Jerry Brace, developer of Awaken, are both set to appear on next Tuesday’s MacBreak Weekly to talk about the positives of bundle sales. And apparently, we can still look forward to John Gruber’s interview with MacHeist head honcho John Casasanta.
Give me a break.
Remember, these guys are all independent developers. They just sold more downloads than maybe they would have in a year. I don't think you'll find a single one of them complain about the 43,815 new customers they just picked up.
I recommend you listen to the MacBreak Weekly discussion, especially Rich Siegel's contribution. One of his concerns for the indie developers who choose to join these style of bundle promotions has exactly to do with the problem of suddenly gaining 43,815 new customers. What do you do when your customers need support?
I know several apps in the last bundle I paid for updates to on the next major version release. The ones I really enjoy I pay to keep using the latest. A few I just stick with the version from the bundle. And some of those I would have never bought full price at all.
On the down side, a number of customers are pissed to have paid full price not long ago. While it is nice to see independent developers using the same pricing strategy as Jobs, it still leaves a bad taste.
You've got another big story going on there. An unknown number of people have been overcharged, many have never received their serial numbers after a week, and the staff has been in hiding. They've just shown up to complain about all their troubles, and to tell us to "chill out". Hit the forums and you'll see quite a bit.
I just posted about this (and edited it to add a link to this page) on my own blog. There's a couple ways of looking at it. I cover it more in depth in my blog article, but the thing I've not heard the detractors go into is that while the apps have 40K+ new "users" the reality is that only a small percentage of those are actually going to be using any given app. Most users are probably going to be using only 1-3 of the apps in any meaningful way and for some people it will be app X and some it will be app Y. I do understand the viewpoint that it might devalue the software and/or all shareware software, but I'm not sure argument made by Rich is the most robust (though the dodgey marketing thing he talked about is ethically a bit wonky).
Here's a link: MacHeist and the Tragedy of the Commons
Well, I paid $60 for iStop Motion version 2 a short while ago, and now I have a second license. Good. Same for some of the other programs. If there's one program in the package you can use that usually sells for more than $49, then you've got a good deal.
-=-Ron-=-
Just a note of PRAISE for the Macheist here. I purchased, got charged, received my serials (except the vector thing) and am completely satisfied with the $500 worth of software I received for $50. And, 25% of that went to charity. I'm trying to find something to complain about... nope, still nothing. Of the almost $2M in sales that the Macheist brought within 14 days, I should hope to assume that it's more money to each of the app developers than they expected or budgeted to make.
Still, I cannot find a single thing to complain about even when I look at it from all sides. Maybe the competitor devs could complain a little about how this goes down. I suppose everyone prefers a level playing field. However, with all of us being a part of the lesser-prevalent OS, aren't we already used to being beat by lower cost competition. If Mac devs are in it for the money alone, they could certainly find a larger audience somewhere else. Savvy?
Still, as a customer, I simply cannot complain about the deal... and, $500k was raised for charity! Think about that. For those that watch the Colbert thing, it just made big news that the dorky wristbands that do nothing but chafe our wrists is nearing 200k in charitable giving.
Maybe this is a good thing after all? I think so!
The other I haven't seen mentioned is that many developers of competing software get more or less removed from the equation when such a bundle gets offered. That is, why would someone buy Developer A's software when they can buy a similar software from Developer B in the Bundle, plus get 13 other apps along with it? Yes, there are user preferences in play with that, but generally it makes a software purchase more likely to sway with what's greatly cheaper.
I bought it last year and it was a pain. Each vendor had a unique way to register the software, and it took about 15 emails to get it all set. And there is only one or two of the programs that I ever used. I'm not sure there are any that I use on a consistent basis. Basically, when you do this, you are treated as a second-class citizen by the software vendors-- like they are giving you a handout, but don't expect too much. It's unlike a buying experience where they treat you like a valuable customer.
At least that was my experience. And of course, you don't get any CD's, books, or any of that.
The age-old dilemma of capitalism: sell a few units with a lot of profitability per unit, or sell a lot of units with smaller profitability per unit. It's tempting, of course, to set a high value on your time and effort, but often the latter route nets you more. Not to pick on any of the developers of items in this year's bundle, but as a general proposition I think a lot of shareware developers set their prices so high that they actually price themselves out of the market, or at least make themselves easy pickings for the competition.
do you think they will actually add some useful apps next time around?
I bought several of the programs in the bundle (all at full price). I am now unlikely to buy similar programs during the year, but will wait to see if they are in the next MacHeist bundle.