..is 30$ expensive..

Started by Naughty Alien, October 15, 2017, 03:20:30

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Naughty Alien

..hi guys..quite some time, im working silently on my graphical programming tool for various chips..program will allow user to program any supported chip, without actually writing code but simply connecting lines (node based GUI thing), create new modules with unique features and then reuse in flowchart diagram..and finally, by hitting compile/upload button, created program will be burned in to target chip..initially, i will support ATMEL and PIC chips. Having said all this, is it too much to charge 30$ for such software?? Software will be ready some time in march/april..or should i sell software separate from modules (ATMEL/INTEL/PIC/etc), in which case, what would be proper price that user doesnt feel its too much and can be afforded without issues and at same time is good enough value for me ? Any hint is welcome, especially marketing guys if any here..

muruba

I am not across this functionality at all, but basically you need to know or estimate how much time and money you save for you customer still taking into account competitors offerings and pricing. You can always discount later so don't start too low.

Naughty Alien

..well..most of people in this community are skilled electronics/hardware guys but suck big time with writing a code..so software im about to finish/sell, basically, allows them to target any processor without knowing a thing about programming, except putting together 'components' in terms of electrical/hardware parameters they should know by default...all tools exists are some variant of C, which was proven to be troublesome for this sort of folks who are well articulated with designing circuit itself..

Derron

I would suggest to have a "hobbyist price" and a "commercial usage price".


So I see my software used in a bigger "research" company (~25.000 employees). They could pay more for a "enterprise solution" (no licence limits) or a "commercial usage" (without usage limitations) than the single employee who wants to use it at home too (for personal interests).


Such companies do not have problems to pay some hundred of Euros for a software solution which is used on a nearly daily basis and offering huge convenience/effectiveness improvements.
Of course you cannot demand too much until you are the one and only global player offering such a solution - and then, you better wait for a "v4.0" (such companies often keep their old software suites until they urgently need certain new features). Also giving away a "v2.0 / v3.0 / v4.0" to the employees "at home" will help in sales of the v4.0 in its "enterprise/commercial usage"-variant - especially if you only keep the file formats backwards compatible for 1 or 2 versions (so v4.0 created files are not working in v1.0 installations).




30 bucks is not that much if the software is really useful but too expensive if it does not doo that much (if it is not "basic feature" complete) yet. A "free for open source projects" licence might help to spread it around. Means you could use it if your project is open sourced. While people might use it for "commercial usage" (this open source licence variant) it wont be used by bigger companies in that pirate-like-way. And if you do not offer a free variant, these people would use a pirated one (which then might appear sooner or later on the world wide web).






bye
Ron

MikeHart

30 USD is to cheap for a good programming tool. I wopuld rather go 69 or 99. Don't sell yourself out. You want to support it and make your time worthwhile. If you plan on charging for version 2,3 etc. Already plan ahead. So you have material for the next versions. I wouldn't go with lifetime updates for free. Soon you will work for free on it.

Steve Elliott

Agreed 30$ is far too cheap for what sounds like an industrial tool, that will save a lot of time.  And time is money!
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ThickO

3D makes my head hurt...

Naughty Alien

Quote from: ThickO on October 15, 2017, 16:36:06
You use B4J..........

..yes, i use it to program various things..but im not sure how is that related to my post..

muruba

If you look at the market there are 2 options - free with commission if you reach XXX in sales or subscription based. One off payment is good for the simplest tools you dont expect to evolve much and require no support. Anything else could be an expensive mistake  thats why monkeyx pricing was a mistake.

sphinx

If I were you I would go for "Pay what you want" model.
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MikeHart

Quote from: sphinx on October 16, 2017, 07:35:36
If I were you I would go for "Pay what you want" model.

People hardly pay in this model. If they can get it for free, they will do so.

MikeHart

Quote from: MikeHart on October 16, 2017, 08:56:09
Quote from: sphinx on October 16, 2017, 07:35:36
If I were you I would go for "Pay what you want" model.

People hardly pay in this model. If they can get it for free, they will do so. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. But not many.