
Benefits of Selling Outside the Mac App Store - milen
http://dancounsell.com/articles/the-benefits-of-selling-software-outside-the-mac-app-store
======
tomkinstinch
Another point to add is that applications sold outside the App Store can avoid
the sandboxing restrictions of the Store, and consequently contain
functionality that would be not permitted by Apple on the Store (file access,
deeper system access, etc.).

That said, for my side project ( [http://artfulmac.com](http://artfulmac.com)
) it is absolutely worth it _to me_ as a solo developer to pay Apple their 30%
to have them handle fulfillment (including system-integrated update
notifications), payment processing (with currency conversion), tax form
creation, and refunds. It's a trade of financial overhead for time. The App
Store also conveys a sense of trust to consumers.

~~~
milen
_it is absolutely worth it to me as a solo developer to pay Apple their 30% to
have them handle fulfillment_

I think one aspect that gets easily lost in the debate is the long-term impact
of having your app on the MAS (exclusively or not). You need to consider the
value of being able to provide trials (i.e., do not force potential customers
to spend money upfront on software that might not fulfil their requirements),
discounts for your long term repeat customers, the ability to communicate
directly with them and resolve their problems.

If you want to run a sustainable business, whether the MAS is a net positive
becomes a question mark. I have not seen much supporting data to suggest that
the MAS is a net positive if we compare exclusive direct vs exclusive MAS over
a long period of time.

Anecdotally, from the data I have on hand (conversations with customers and
friends), almost no one discovered their Mac apps from the MAS (there's some
bias in my sample, of course). If they needed the software, they would have
bought it - whether it's outside or not doesn't matter. If you need a tool for
your job (the type of software I'm interesting in making), you're not going
pass on it just cause you have to enter your credit card. For other types of
software, the more disposable ones, convenience plays a much bigger role.

And most importantly of all, it will all depend on the particular type of
software that you're selling. In my experience, the MAS works great for type
of software that's mostly consumable - cheap, disposable, no long term plan to
keep it updated. For other types, where you plan to run a sustainable business
over many years - I'm not convinced.

While you'll probably do less units selling directly, you'll be getting a
significantly higher proportion of the sale price. It's important to consider
all aspects, not just raw revenue over a short period of time and make a
decision from there - for some apps, the MAS would be the right way, for
others - not so much. Now, deciding which way to go is a much, much harder
question and I'm afraid there's no easy way to come up with a definitive
answer.

~~~
cageface
This is a critical flaw in Apple's handling of both app stores, IMO. The rules
of the app store incentivize simple, one-off apps with minimal functionality.
As a distribution mechanism it offers a lot of benefits for users but unless
they take some relatively easy steps to make it a better place for serious
developers those benefits will be moot.

Their handling of iOS and Mac apps seems indifferent at best and downright
incompetent at best. In any case I've left their proprietary ghetto and gone
back to coding for the web.

------
pavlov
The Mac App Store is a ghetto. It's completely neglected by Apple. I'm not
sure who they imagine to be the target audience -- maybe it works for mobile-
style game experiences, I wouldn't know, but it's certainly no good for
professional apps.

Important issues with sandboxing were never resolved. Meanwhile existing APIs
keep being moved to the restricted list, so as a developer you can't even
count on your product being able to stay on the Mac App Store.

~~~
milen
Speaking of sandboxing, Reeder 2 for Mac (one of the best RSS readers) was
forced to remove the option to be set as the default RSS reader from within
the app. This is because a function on Yosemite is longer allowed in sandboxed
apps but still works fine on 10.9 [1]

While it's not the end of the world, it's just plain annoying having to remove
such a common sense feature. The consequence of this means that if you were to
distribute a web browser via the MAS, you will not be able to ask the user to
set it as the default web browser. That's just a subpar experience.

My hypothesis for the added restriction is that it might be considered a
security hole for an app to just set itself as a handler, for say, http links.

The correct way to have handled this particular situation was to introduce a
new entitlement and define what content types an app might want to handle,
which will get reviewed by the MAS review team. Unfortunately, the solution
[2] is: "There is no solution; it can't be done anymore in the sandbox."

[1]
[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/26241689/lssetdefaultrole...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/26241689/lssetdefaultrolehandlerforcontenttype-
in-yosemite)

[2]
[https://devforums.apple.com/message/1059008#1059008](https://devforums.apple.com/message/1059008#1059008)

~~~
pavlov
I would add that something as complex as a web browser would be impossible on
the Mac App Store anyway -- a sandboxed browser wouldn't even be able to open
file:// URLs.

Berners-Lee's original web browser was developed on the NeXT (direct ancestor
of OS X)... But if he wanted to take that 1991 browser and distribute it on
the Mac App Store today, he would have to remove important functionality.

~~~
nicky0
Impossible on the Mac App Store, but perfectly possible on the Mac. Which is
the appropriate comparison. Tim's web browser wasn't released on the NeXT App
Store, after all.

~~~
pavlov
Well, yes, web browsers are possible on the Mac. They are probably the most
commonly downloaded type of Mac app.

Which begs my original question: what good is a "Mac app store" that can't
accommodate Mac apps?

Apple isn't alone in this, of course. The Windows 8 app store (Marketplace, or
whatever it's called these days) is just as limited... But really, if the most
apt comparison for the MAS is the Windows 8 store, that further illustrates
just how badly Apple has blown it.

------
lnanek2
I think it is misleading to have a big picture of an iPhone at the top, and
talk extensively about selling outside the app store, when that isn't a
realistic option for iOS smartphone developers. You are forced to use the App
Store for iPhone since the number of jail broken devices that can install
other apps is too low. The author must be talking about Mac laptop/desktop
apps.

------
programminggeek
I tend to think of selling to an app store as basically selling through Wal-
Mart or Best Buy vs selling direct. Yes, selling direct is higher margin, but
it's also got a different set of challenges. For example, you have to acquire
customers on your own.

Probably the best way to look at it would be to treat the Mac App Store as a
secondary channel. If it was a secondary sales channel, then it's additional
revenue and new customers which is a nice to have.

You are probably best off creating your own customer list and selling directly
to customers over time away from the Mac App store. Or, you avoid it
alltogether and figure out how to sell direct. The only downside there is you
have to do your own advertising and use something like Gumroad or FastSpring
or some homegrown Stripe solution for delivery and such.

Nothing is perfect and there are tradeoffs to both approaches.

~~~
mikeash
The comparison to Wal-Mart seems apt. They'll sell your product, but they'll
abuse the hell out of you and force you to compromise the quality of the
product, possibly beyond what you're willing to accept:
[http://www.fastcompany.com/54763/man-who-said-no-wal-
mart](http://www.fastcompany.com/54763/man-who-said-no-wal-mart)

------
nathanbarry
Really solid article. I love that it includes actual numbers.

"Apple has taken $600,000 (USD) of that in fees. Ouch!" is much more concrete
than just "30% of revenue."

~~~
sosborn
> taken

Well, there are providing a service in return for those fees as well as high-
visibility amongst potential customers. Striking out on your own means a lot
of work in getting people to your website.

~~~
eps
30% is an _insane_ commission. Absolutely mind-boggingly brutal. The kind of
commission that should guarantee that your product is featured on Apple's home
page in large bold, possibly flashing, letters well above their own products.
If it's not, then it's not "high-visibility" and 30% is just a blatant rip-
off.

# A message from your local software retailer who's doing really well by
selling directly.

~~~
JScarry
It’s not too bad considering the alternatives. Not all of my customers are
able to download software so I still sell through catalogs. They get a 35-40%
discount—which is more than Apple charges. Plus I need to press discs and
print manuals.

It would be nice if Apple would fix the search features on the Mac and iOS
Apps stores so people can actually find my software.

~~~
godzillabrennus
Can you link is to what you sell?

------
jhack
For developers who sell the same app on both the Mac App Store and outside of
it, do you keep the same price for both or do you encourage users to buy
directly from you with variable pricing? Thirty percent is a significant chunk
and I'm wondering if anyone's tried to pass some of the savings (so to speak)
when selling directly.

~~~
rbritton
I'm not familiar with the rule number offhand, but I'm reasonably certain they
require you to have the same list price in both places.

~~~
nicky0
Actually there is no such rule.

~~~
rbritton
You are correct. I was thinking of this rule that has since been removed:

11.13 Apps can read or play approved content (magazines, newspapers, books,
audio, music, video) that is sold outside of the app, for which Apple will not
receive any portion of the revenues, provided that the same content is also
offered in the app using IAP at the same price or less than it is offered
outside the app. This applies to both purchased content and subscriptions.

------
gulpahum
As a Mac user, I only download applications from the wild-wild-web if the
developer is a big player, like Google, Mozilla or Adobe (except I refuse to
install Flash).

I think it is just too big risk to download from a small business which I
don't know and run their application outside the sandbox.

So, I'd recommend that you have some version in MAS, otherwise you may lose
customers.

------
eveningcoffee
Not only are software developers starting to realize that middleman Apple only
grabs huge chunk of revenue without providing much value.

I talked with local audio gear seller and he told me that we will start to see
less audio products compatible with Apple as they just want to grab 20% of
revenue.

------
chj
"Selling outside of AppStore" is not necessarily meaning that you should not
release the app on App Store. It's still a good channel and even the only
channel. The challenge is to find a way to get paid outside App Store.

------
MichaelCrawford
I wouldn't dream of selling a Mac App in the App Store. The only reason I
would sell an iOS App in the App Store is that users would otherwise need to
jailbreak their phones.

If someone recommends an app store product, they'll link to apple's website.

If I sell products from my own site, and someone recommends it then they'll
link to my site.

In general, inbound links are worth a lot more than individual product sales.

------
Immortalin
Hi, I am creating an appstore for indie developers, it will go live before the
end of January. URL's immortalin.com , email me at <my username> at
hotmail.com if you are interested.

