Okay, you raised the following points:
1) The 'Big 3' rates for developers: PocketGear charges less than your company, Handango charges a little more. Have you actually noticed what these companies can do for the developer though? Firstly, Handango attracts over 1 million unique visitors per month, giving far more exposure than your company can possibly hope for, especially in your early stages. It also provides many mini-stores within other major sites such as Microsoft, Compaq, etc. Handango also are well attended to PPC-related events, have huge mailing lists, promotions, discount code functionality, advertising etc, all giving developers exposure. They also have made a decent attempt to combat the problem of PPC warez, by introducing a dynamic registration model. If utilising your system, a customer would pay for the software but couldn't use it until the author had recieved their hardware serial ID, and had sent them an unlocking code back, a few hours later at best. All 3 of the major companies offer these services and exposure, most of them at a cheaper rate.
2. 'It's tough for a newcomer': You're right, but that's part of business. However, if a developer has the option of choosing software distributors out of yourselves and the other companies, is he more likely to pick ones who can offer so much in order to help his sales, or a newly-founded company who couldn't really be able to move anywhere near the amount of copies that the others could? Bear in mind that all of your competitor's rates for developers are around the same, although your fee is actually HIGHER than the average. I actually hope your company does succeed as it ultimately benefits the PPC industry in general but, as it stands, the developer is most likely going to turn elsewhere.
3. Software categories:I found it quite interesting that you commented on PocketGear's apparently 'poor' categories for software. Have you actually looked through your own? Many of the apps that are specified for each device won't actually work on it, Palm apps appear in PPC listings, there isn't actually any software there, let alone in the right category, etc. You also mentioned how you get 20 pages of software when you search for 'security' in PocketGear....Um, that's what users want! CHOICE! True, there might be one application that does the job the best (e.g 'Dexplor' in File Managers), but people still love the choice, it's their decision. BTW I appreciate you are a new-founded company, but you should take a closer look at your own categories...after all, first impressions count.
You say it's tough being a newcomer, trying to compete with Handango, Gameloftpocket, Pocketgear, etc. I'm sure you're right. But you cannot put yourself in the same league as them yet, as they offer a helluva lot more 'bang for your buck'. So take a different approach:
Drop your rates to around 15%, thus undercutting all of them. This will encourage a great many developers to your site (look around this forum, most of them bitch about the ridiculous prices that they all charge & always looking for alternatives). This will build up the number of developers in your listings, and thus increase your visitors. Lowering your rates might seem like you're gonna lose money, but I guarantee that you'll attract developers who would've never joined previously, so you will make MORE PROFIT! Then, once you have established yourselves, and a good catalogue of software, you can increase your rates, as you will be in a far more comparable position to Handango, etc than you are now. I would've thought this is obvious, but perhaps it isn't. And don't say you cannot afford to: 25% of $20 (average price of decent PPC game) is much more than the cost of handling card transactions. Not to mention the extra revenue gained through on-site advertising, exclusives, etc.
I might've sounded like i'm pro-Handango, Pocketgear, etc. I'm not. I actually think they're all a bit greedy, but at least they offer more for your money. In about 4-5 weeks, I'm planning to release my first PPC title, and i don't intend on using any of them. I've found an excellent company that handles everything from a mini-store in your website, dynamic registration capabilities, handling customer support queries, discount codes, search engine submission, targeted advertising and even building your site for you, if you wish! And they only take a 10% cut and don't even require an exclusive deal! So, i would stil consider other forms of exposure, if they represented a worthwhile deal. Tell you what, instead of posting 'We are a new PDA sofware retailer!' on all the forums, why don't you ask developers 'What would you like to see in a online retail platform?' In fact, i would bet money that you would stand to be more successul using my developer partner model, than the path you are currently taking. Ask around, you can even post a 'poll' for people to vote right here on PocketMatrix, the biggest PPC developer community on the net!
Seriously though, I do wish your company the best of luck, more companies selling PPC software has to be a good thing! I probably sound rude in what i've written, but i mean it more as suggestions rather than criticism.
New PDA software store launched
by olaf » Jan 24, 2002 @ 10:35am 
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