Apple Notifies Developers About App Store Volume Purchase Program for Mac Apps

One of the main flaws of the Mac App Store finally comes to an end: Purchasing in high volume.

I'm confident that many companies and a lot! of educational institutions had neglected the Mac App Store because of this.

Already enrolled. It's a good thing.

Why not make the discount customizable? It seems that the one size fits all is a bit heavy handed. 50% is a huge chunk. I'm wondering if Apple will cut their take to 50% of the total as well.

They are.

Taking 30% of something that sells for half as much is 50% less.

I'm feeling rather split on this... how many organizations could possibly decide that $2/copy is too much but $1/copy is just right?

aolbites said:

Why not make the discount customizable? It seems that the one size fits all is a bit heavy handed. 50% is a huge chunk. I'm wondering if Apple will cut their take to 50% of the total as well.

Click to expand...

30% regardless. If your app costs $100 and Apple takes $30, then your App will cost $50 and Apple takes $15.

They are actually pretty consistent with this kind of stuff, which is probably why there is a "one size fits all" model being used in the first place.

----------

ArtOfWarfare said:

I'm feeling rather split on this... how many organizations could possibly decide that $2/copy is too much but $1/copy is just right?

Click to expand...

[$39.99] is a lot for [1Password], but if for some reason a company wants to install it on 30 computers it could save $600. I doubt [1Password] minds the business either.

Remember, this is referring to the Mac app store, not the iOS one. There is much more potential for higher-cost apps.

ArtOfWarfare said:

I'm feeling rather split on this... how many organizations could possibly decide that $2/copy is too much but $1/copy is just right?

Click to expand...

1 = 2/2. Software budget is halved.

Parasprite said:

[$39.99] is a lot for [1Password], but if for some reason a company wants to install it on 30 computers it could save $600. I doubt [1Password] minds the business either.

Remember, this is referring to the Mac app store, not the iOS one. There is much more potential for higher-cost apps.

Click to expand...

I'm talking about my app though. I've tried pricing it at $1, $2, and $3. I had roughly the same sales volume at $1 and $2, but volume was cut in half at $3 (so it was a lot less profitable because price less than doubled.) So I've kept it at $2 for the past 18 months or so.

I can't imagine organization care that much about spending saving $30 on 30 installs - I'm giving them a good deal no matter what. And the wages of the person making the decision while they work it out probably exceeds what they save.

I think I'll just stick with $2/copy for everyone, bulk sales or not.

ArtOfWarfare said:

I'm talking about my app though. I've tried pricing it at $1, $2, and $3. I had roughly the same sales volume at $1 and $2, but volume was cut in half at $3 (so it was a lot less profitable because price less than doubled.) So I've kept it at $2 for the past 18 months or so.

I can't imagine organization care that much about spending saving $30 on 30 installs - I'm giving them a good deal no matter what. And the wages of the person making the decision while they work it out probably exceeds what they save.

I think I'll just stick with $2/copy for everyone, bulk sales or not.

Click to expand...

Hi,

I'm not a user of any Apple products, Android on the mobile side, Windows/Linux/BSD server side and Windows on client side, but I generally keep up with the news posted here and on other Mac sites.

I actually registered an account to respond to this argument as I think you are missing the enterprise aspect of it.

The likes of VPP through App Store is something all larger enterprises with central management has been asking for during an extended period. The reason is mainly not to cut costs on the purchase price, even though this is one of the main reason why you purchase in bulk volumes or enterprise licensing agreements, as the App Store is not aimed at all towards enterprise users.

It requires an Apple ID to purchase the software, an ID which can be connected to 5 >physical< machines, which needs to be connected to a credit card. What do you do if you have 500 devices requiring your software? Register 500 accounts and purchase the app 500 times?

I have not looked in to the actual details of the VPP yet but the possibility of configuring a machine with a generic corporate Apple ID is something which would be very beneficial.

Of course, when you have this large amount of devices the management is handled by other 3rd party apps such as FileWave, Puppet, OSCAR etc to manage both image installs, license inventory and app installs but just the actual time and hassle of purchasing a standalone installer of Final Cut X is mindblowing. Here in Sweden, the ONLY way of purchasing the app was through App Store.


I like the architecture behind OSX, just don't get along with the GUI at all. For Apple to get a sustaining share of the enterprise market they need to do what Microsoft has done historically, please the enterprise market with management tools and not be 100% user centric.

Knowing some people who work only with OSX-desktop deployment environments I know this would be god send.

Question

So regarding the Apple Mac apps that were already purchased by an educational institution and distributed to (redeemed by) whom now are former employees (like Final Cut Pro X & Motion), can those apps be claimed back to that institution and get revoked from the employees' personal Apple IDs?

ArtOfWarfare said:

I'm talking about my app though. I've tried pricing it at $1, $2, and $3. I had roughly the same sales volume at $1 and $2, but volume was cut in half at $3 (so it was a lot less profitable because price less than doubled.) So I've kept it at $2 for the past 18 months or so.

I can't imagine organization care that much about spending saving $30 on 30 installs - I'm giving them a good deal no matter what. And the wages of the person making the decision while they work it out probably exceeds what they save.

I think I'll just stick with $2/copy for everyone, bulk sales or not.

Click to expand...

The fact is that whilst volume was the same for $1 as $2, this doesn't take into account the appeal that a discount can bring, especially for corporations looking to purchase a large number of licenses - for this example I'll say 50 machines. When they look at a $2 app, they see a potential cost of $100. If they see the opportunity for an expenditure of $50, it becomes far more appealing. For the individual user the difference between a $1 and $2 purchase is negligible so the volumes are the same. However, if a company sees that it is "saving" $50 by buying your app for all its machines, the usefulness becomes more apparent. They may not have planned on purchasing before, but the effect of "loyalty pricing" is to exploit human psychology into larger purchases than they initially planned. This would change the volume as previously recorded.

That said, I think this bulk purchasing is aimed more at people looking to buy the more expensive productivity apps such as 1password, Pages, Final Cut Pro, SQL managers and the like, rather than menubar tools that provide minor functions

----------

Amer.Dababneh said:

So regarding the Apple Mac apps that were already purchased by an educational institution and distributed to (redeemed by) whom now are former employees (like Final Cut Pro X & Motion), can those apps be claimed back to that institution and get revoked from the employees' personal Apple IDs?

Click to expand...

It looks like it yes. Very handy for not having to give everyone who passes through your doors a copy of Final Cut for the rest of their life.

Apps can be revoked at any time and reassigned to other students.

Click to expand...

removed personal attacks, its childish and I regret it

The fact is that whilst volume was the same for $1 as $2, this doesn't take into account the appeal that a discount can bring, especially for corporations looking to purchase a large number of licenses - for this example I'll say 50 machines. When they look at a $2 app, they see a potential cost of $100. If they see the opportunity for an expenditure of $50, it becomes far more appealing. For the individual user the difference between a $1 and $2 purchase is negligible so the volumes are the same. However, if a company sees that it is "saving" $50 by buying your app for all its machines, the usefulness becomes more apparent. They may not have planned on purchasing before, but the effect of "loyalty pricing" is to exploit human psychology into larger purchases than they initially planned. This would change the volume as previously recorded.

Click to expand...

I see... I suppose I'll do it then, if you think I'll increase customer loyalty.

Amer.Dababneh said:

So regarding the Apple Mac apps that were already purchased by an educational institution and distributed to (redeemed by) whom now are former employees (like Final Cut Pro X & Motion), can those apps be claimed back to that institution and get revoked from the employees' personal Apple IDs?

Click to expand...

I'd like that. Businesses and schools could save a lot of money that way.

Also wish there was a way for users to transfer purchases to another person. I've bought apps, songs, movies, etc. that I don't want any more, but are currently stuck on my Apple account. But this is for a different discussion.

Manderby said:

One of the main flaws of the Mac App Store finally comes to an end: Purchasing in high volume.

I'm confident that many companies and a lot! of educational institutions had neglected the Mac App Store because of this.

Already enrolled. It's a good thing.

Click to expand...

But app devs don't get any real pricing control so maybe not.