Another $1K App on the App Store • Hacker News Board

Re: Another $1K App on the App Store

#41

Post by balbaugh » Mon, Apr 01, 2013, 5:28 PM UTC

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #35

callmeed wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall one that helped you study for the bar exam and was really expensive. I assumed it was legitimate.

This one I think: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/barmax-ca/id345722008?mt=8 Called BarMax. They even call it "cheaper" on their official web-site. Which just raises the question: cheaper than /what/?

Cheaper than other forms of Bar Exam prep like BarBri or Kaplan which run in the thousands.

Re: Another $1K App on the App Store

#42

Post by nchuhoai » Mon, Apr 01, 2013, 5:31 PM UTC

gurvinder wrote: post #36

Its usually done to trick the top grossing apps rankings. Developer will raise the price to $1k then buy himself some copies using different fake accounts, thus raising the ranking. Once ranking is achieved, they will reduce the price in hope to get more sales.

I'm no expert in App Store rankings but isn't that quite expensive way of doing so? Assuming you pay it 10 times, you end up with burning 3000 dollars in Apple transaction cuts.

And I doubt 10 sales, will get you into top-grossing

Re: Another $1K App on the App Store

#43

Post by fmavituna » Mon, Apr 01, 2013, 5:32 PM UTC

gurvinder wrote: post #36

Its usually done to trick the top grossing apps rankings. Developer will raise the price to $1k then buy himself some copies using different fake accounts, thus raising the ranking. Once ranking is achieved, they will reduce the price in hope to get more sales.

What's the cut of Apple in that kind of purchase and how many do they need to buy to get in to that ranking?

If it's 30% and 20, it's still quite a bit money.

Re: Another $1K App on the App Store

#44

Post by ultimoo » Mon, Apr 01, 2013, 5:38 PM UTC

ydvj wrote: post #28

bkanber wrote: post #6

I don't understand -- why would they do this? Trying to trick someone into dropping $1k on their app? Or is there some way you can game the app store by messing with prices?

if you 'accidentally' make a purchase, perhaps they try to snare the kids playing with the ipad lying around.. the money certainly disappears faster than it'll ever come back..

This is the reason I buy $15 Apple 'gift' cards from my local Target instead of using my primary CC on the iTunes store.

Re: Another $1K App on the App Store

#45

Post by weakwire » Mon, Apr 01, 2013, 5:47 PM UTC

free marketing? I'll take it!

Re: Another $1K App on the App Store

#46

Post by creeo » Mon, Apr 01, 2013, 6:09 PM UTC

I'm one of the developers of this app and I can say that you shouldn't expect a price drop on this app soon. It's been 100$ for several months and now it's 1000$. It's not a special type of promotion, not a way to trick app review sites, it's just 999$ for an app and that's it. Some people can afford buying an app for 1k$ and you know what? We are not one of them so we just can't afford buying our own app for promotion purposes :) Those people who don't like our app are always able to receive their money back. Some do, but some don't and it helps us continue the development of our new project. You can continue discussing "how scum we are" but the truth is no one is trying to fool anybody. It's absolutely legal to sell an app for 999$, and those who bought it for 99$ or 999$ don't write reviews that spill dirt on us or our game, they just play it and make some effort to entertain themselves, and those who got it for free very often are too lazy to read 5 words in the training mode just to understand how to play. I'm done.

Re: Another $1K App on the App Store

#47

Post by RougeFemme » Mon, Apr 01, 2013, 6:12 PM UTC

I ignored this initially, thinking it had be an April Fools' joke. Then I saw the comments piling up and thought I should check it out. I will continue to treat it as an April Fools' joke.

Re: Another $1K App on the App Store

#48

Post by syncerr » Mon, Apr 01, 2013, 6:14 PM UTC

creeo wrote: post #46

I'm one of the developers of this app and I can say that you shouldn't expect a price drop on this app soon. It's been 100$ for several months and now it's 1000$. It's not a special type of promotion, not a way to trick app review sites, it's just 999$ for an app and that's it. Some people can afford buying an app for 1k$ and you know what? We are not one of them so we just can't afford buying our own app for promoti…

This must be trolling.

> Those people who don't like our app are always able to receive their money back.

Can you explain the refund process?

Re: Another $1K App on the App Store

#49

Post by creeo » Mon, Apr 01, 2013, 6:25 PM UTC

syncerr wrote: post #48

creeo wrote: post #46

I'm one of the developers of this app and I can say that you shouldn't expect a price drop on this app soon. It's been 100$ for several months and now it's 1000$. It's not a special type of promotion, not a way to trick app review sites, it's just 999$ for an app and that's it. Some people can afford buying an app for 1k$ and you know what? We are not one of them so we just can't afford buying our own app for promoti…

This must be trolling. > Those people who don't like our app are always able to receive their money back. Can you explain the refund process?

I'm not sure about the customer loses but when he requests a refund, we don't receive a cent of it. For us it's 100% money back. People do that quite often. And it's not trolling.