

People Want to Pay - mspeiser
http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/08/people_want_to.php

======
mattmaroon
People think they want to pay, and respond that way if you ask them. But, just
like polls about minority political candidates, people's words grossly
misrepresent their actions.

~~~
william42
I don't know why you were modded down. The Bradley effect was a very powerful
political force. I say "was" because it doesn't seem to be happening with
Obama. The most plausible conjecture for why IMHO is robocalls.

~~~
mattmaroon
Guessing my comment was just misunderstood as racism somehow.

We can't say that the Bradley effect is gone for sure until Obama runs against
a non-minority. I suspect that he will win, but not by the margin the polls
indicate. Will be interesting to see.

------
Crosbie
The copies are free. The music is paid for - by that ~1% of the musician's
audience.

Don't pay for copies - make your own for nothing.

However, you can't make your own music, so pay those who you WANT to make
music.

It only needs one in a hundred fans to make it worthwhile.

~~~
d0mine
Related post <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=265196>

------
DenisM
There are a LOTS of reviews in iPhone app store that boil down to "I didn't
try it, but it's not free so it's crap. Here one star for you, greedy
bastard". We'll see how it plays out in the end.

~~~
mechanical_fish
That has nothing to do with reality and everything to do with the review
mechanism in the iPhone app store.

------
bprater
I do.

I want to pay.

I like paying for software apps that small independent software creators make
a living with. I know it isn't alot of money, but I know that it makes a real
impact on them and their families.

And that makes me feel good.

And that's why I pay.

~~~
froo
Thats exactly right, I have no problem with shelling out $5-$20 for a little
piece of software, even less if its going to an independent developer.

When we start talking Microsoft or Adobe prices, from independent developers
is when I start feeling a little uneasy. I came across a piece of software
several months ago that I kinda liked, but the price tag was $699, I simply
didn't like it that much.

------
fallentimes
~1% of people want to pay

~~~
Hexstream
And 81.76% of statistics are made on the spot?

~~~
mynameishere
I can verify that less than 1 percent of people even click through to the
"purchase" page.

ADDENDUM: It's worth considering that that same percentage (less than one)
also reflects the number of people who leave Starbucks (or whatever) without
buying something. Whether web sites can be made more "store like" is perhaps a
great task...

~~~
kaens
Of course, the web is almost, but not entirely different from a physical
storefront.

If someone enters a Starbucks, it is almost absolutely done with the expressed
intent of making a purchase (or chatting with a friend who is making a
purchase). Not very many people enter a physical storefront (especially not
one that sells coffee) if they don't intend on purchasing something.

With the web, it's really easy to just stumble on something or check something
out without having any intentions on purchasing something.

Maybe after a while it will just level itself out - right now the web is like
a whole bunch of new niche stores opened up in your neighborhood and you have
no idea what any of them are selling.

~~~
whatusername
I wonder what percentage of people enter a department store, or a video games
shop, and leave empty handed..

I'm sure it's higher than 1-3%

~~~
kaens
I think it would depend on where it was, although I really have no clue.

For example, I would expect a video game store in the mall to have a much
higher percentage of people not buying anything than an isolated / strip mall
store due to the amount of foot traffic that would be entering out of sheer
boredom or out of curiosity.

Storefronts in a mall come quite a bit closer to being good as a comparison
for stores on the web.

------
omakase
making transactions super easy and friction-less would definitely be nice, but
it doesn't always outweigh the benefits of giving something away free.
specifically it makes it harder for goods to reach a wider audience

~~~
froo
_but it doesn't always outweigh the benefits of giving something away free._

Exactly, I've always loved the idea of a freemium model as it gives you the
best of both worlds, the ability to scale your product uptake exponentially by
removing the "penny barrier" but also having a direct method of success by
providing extra value to those customers who want it.

This is probably the same business model I'll be using for the startup I'm
planning to apply to YC with later this year. I'm still looking at some of the
numbers for other possible solutions before I make a decision either way, but
right now it seems to be a win/win situation.

Now if only I could find a reliable co-founder... :(

