I’ll confess, I’ve been tempted to listen to all of the people who complain that FatWatch is overpriced. It was especially tempting in the first few days, before Apple began releasing sales information. I had no idea if anybody was buying my app at all, save for a dozen or so support emails and a handful of reviews on iTunes complaining about the price.
I’m glad I didn’t give in, though, because it turned out that FatWatch was selling very well. It turns out that most people take the reviews with a grain of salt, anyway. I made a decent bit of money, enough to encourage me to continue improving the application.
Developers who are charging less than $5 are actually giving up any incentive to update their apps. In a market where you can charge for updates, it makes sense to be aggressive initially, with the goal of getting as many people “hooked” as possible. The next hit, as they say, is going to cost them. But on the iTunes App Store, you are just giving a discount to people who would have paid more now, and giving free updates to people who would have paid more eventually. The developers may have good intentions, but once they find that their updates don’t bring in much additional money, they’ll have to turn to more profitable work.
By pricing FatWatch sensibly, I am able to make enough money to continue with improvements. As I improve it, more customers will be compelled to buy it. The cycle is sustainable.
I’m confident that FatWatch is worth $9.99 to people who are serious about tracking their weight. If you think it is overpriced, you probably don’t have any issues managing your weight. Good for you! You don’t need to spend money on a weight tracker.