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Ask HN: Does Shareware still work in 2018?

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Re: Ask HN: Does Shareware still work in 2018?

#31

Post by mherrmann »

I've been developing a cross-platform file manager [1] for the past 2.5 years. It is shareware with a nag screen. It currently makes ~$500 per month. Generally, I would say yes, shareware still works. But it is hard a) to write desktop software [2] and b) to convince people to pay for it. I would not give people the sources. It would make them feel even more like "I don't need to pay for this". What works for me is to be very transparent and tell people [3] "I'm one guy working on this, and am making $500 per month. This is not sustainable. If you like the project and want it to continue, buy a license".

Feel free to hit me up on twitter @m_herrmann if you have further questions. :-)

1: https://fman.io

2: https://blog.qt.io/blog/2018/11/15/python-qt-3000-hours-deve...

3: https://fman.io/buy

Re: Ask HN: Does Shareware still work in 2018?

#32

Post by jolmg »

john_moscow wrote: post #27
Applejinx wrote: post #9

It's called Patreon. You've got to be established, though: can't come out of nowhere with a thing and expect to see much traction. I literally went from using Kagi for ten years, to using Patreon. At first it's a decimating change because you're going from 'sale of a product' to 'literally giving product away free and telling people they can support you if they like'. However, if your cashflow isn't too tough, one be…

There's one big catch there - once you reach a "fair" income level, many people will think that you are already getting enough and won't bother to sponsor you. Look at the statistics [0]: unless you are in the top 100 creators, you'll get far less than your regular FAANG pay. [0]: https://graphtreon.com/patreon-creators

Huh. I didn't know Patreon published info on what creators are earning. Wouldn't that be a design flaw? What's the benefit to anybody? It seems to only deter potential sponsors.

Re: Ask HN: Does Shareware still work in 2018?

#33

Post by 8bitsrule »

If it's possible for your application, you might consider offering a 'feature-limited' aka 'crippleware' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crippleware) product to help you determine its potential usefullness to a wider audience.

There are a number of approaches to doing that. After getting burned a few times paying $(100s) full-price for products just to find out that a feature I expected/needed was missing, I stopped doing that. I've since found some feature-limited stuff that lets me 'create-but-not-output' that I liked.

If it turns out to be a hit, you can change strategy. If the audience is limited, you can move back to shareware.

Re: Ask HN: Does Shareware still work in 2018?

#34

Post by vidyesh »

jolmg wrote: post #32
john_moscow wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's one big catch there - once you reach a "fair" income level, many people will think that you are already getting enough and won't bother to sponsor you. Look at the statistics [0]: unless you are in the top 100 creators, you'll get far less than your regular FAANG pay. [0]: https://graphtreon.com/patreon-creators

Huh. I didn't know Patreon published info on what creators are earning. Wouldn't that be a design flaw? What's the benefit to anybody? It seems to only deter potential sponsors.

I don't think Patreon does. As you can see you cannot see that information for every creator.

Publishers/creators can choose to show or hide the number of subscribers and their monthly earnings. This site simply is scraping that freely available information.

Re: Ask HN: Does Shareware still work in 2018?

#35

Post by [deleted] »

jolmg wrote: post #32
john_moscow wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's one big catch there - once you reach a "fair" income level, many people will think that you are already getting enough and won't bother to sponsor you. Look at the statistics [0]: unless you are in the top 100 creators, you'll get far less than your regular FAANG pay. [0]: https://graphtreon.com/patreon-creators

Huh. I didn't know Patreon published info on what creators are earning. Wouldn't that be a design flaw? What's the benefit to anybody? It seems to only deter potential sponsors.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Does Shareware still work in 2018?

#36

Post by IloveHN84 »

jolmg wrote: post #32
john_moscow wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's one big catch there - once you reach a "fair" income level, many people will think that you are already getting enough and won't bother to sponsor you. Look at the statistics [0]: unless you are in the top 100 creators, you'll get far less than your regular FAANG pay. [0]: https://graphtreon.com/patreon-creators

Huh. I didn't know Patreon published info on what creators are earning. Wouldn't that be a design flaw? What's the benefit to anybody? It seems to only deter potential sponsors.

Design flaw? No, I think it's called "transparency"

Re: Ask HN: Does Shareware still work in 2018?

#39

Post by tonyedgecombe »

wizardofmysore wrote: post #24

Have a trial for a period you think is enough for the company to know they'll get value out of using your product and post that ask for a licence fee. To start with I suggest you give the MVP product for free. The users will be paying you with their feedback.

Feedback from people who don't pay anything is useless if you want to build a business.

Re: Ask HN: Does Shareware still work in 2018?

#40

Post by alangibson »

john_moscow wrote: post #27
Applejinx wrote: post #9

It's called Patreon. You've got to be established, though: can't come out of nowhere with a thing and expect to see much traction. I literally went from using Kagi for ten years, to using Patreon. At first it's a decimating change because you're going from 'sale of a product' to 'literally giving product away free and telling people they can support you if they like'. However, if your cashflow isn't too tough, one be…

There's one big catch there - once you reach a "fair" income level, many people will think that you are already getting enough and won't bother to sponsor you. Look at the statistics [0]: unless you are in the top 100 creators, you'll get far less than your regular FAANG pay. [0]: https://graphtreon.com/patreon-creators

Interesting site. Now I see how AvE can pay the note on that new Haas CNC machine.
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