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Comment by andrewljohnson | Hacker News Reader

What do I get for my 30%:

* Apple processes payments and wires me money

* Apple processes over 1GB of downloads per day for me (and growing)

* Apple makes my software discoverable to their hundreds of millions of already-entered-my-credit-card users

Also, for expensive apps, 30% might seem steep. But I challenge you to find a payment provider who will let you sell something for .99 and wants much less than 30%, as a fee or percentage. Plus, you can avoid the 30% if you want by having a free app with in-app purchases that you process via some other mechanism.

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While I don't agree with the original poster (and FWIW, my company is currently working on an iPad app) but your arguments are sorta silly too. You can process your own payments and get the money much faster and with less hassle for less than 3%. If you're monetizing your app, 1GB of downloads is a trivial cost as well. Ask any Facebook developer, Apple's raping you on those two for 30%.

The distribution is good and bad. Good if you get high on the lists, bad otherwise. Overall I'm not sure you can call it a win, half the reason the App Store is the best distribution method is because Apple prevents all others.

I'd disagree with OP largely because of technology. You can't build a compelling 3d game using web technology yet. You can't take advantage of the GPS chip or gyros or camera, etc. Most apps worth having will be more than a website can accomplish right now.

You're paying Apple 30% because they built the platform, which was an enormous gamble for them that paid off handsomely.

"with less hassle for less than 3%" - not really, there is always a transaction fee. So on $0.99 the cost is a much greater % than 3.

There is also the buying mentality that an app store user has when browsing for apps. It's hard to measure this but is probably bigger than anything else you get for your 30%. You sell an app store app and people don't mind droping 99 cents or a couple of dollars for something that preforms a few functions.

In contrast I think web apps are a much harder sell at those price points, so for a similar app your only real choice is advertising supported.

good points, but one correction is in order

>>you can avoid the 30% if you want by having a free app with in-app purchases that you process via some other mechanism.

No, the Apple developer agreement doesn't permit external payment mechanisms (though it is true that that some apps have been able to use external payment mechanisms because of app-store-review inconsistencies or because they obtained prior approval from Apple)

[edit to respond to rcoder]>>Actually, you can round-trip users through Mobile Safari and process payments however you like

No, see what I said above. If you turn on functionality based on external payment mechanisms, your app could be rejected.

Actually, you can round-trip users through Mobile Safari and process payments however you like. (For example, Amazon does exactly this for the Kindle app.) Users simply can't click a "buy" button in your app and have it pass through a processing system other than Apple's.

> But I challenge you to find a payment provider who will let you sell something for .99 and wants much less than 30%, as a fee or percentage.

I believe PayPal has a special account for micropayments that charges $0.05 + 5%. That's 10% for a dollar.

https://www.paypalobjects.com/IntegrationCenter/ic_micropaym...

Not saying the app store is bad deal though.

You missed one thing: to pay the people who (check and) approve the apps submission.

Not really... I believe the OP was noting things that the developer gets (positive things) for the 30%. Arguably the approval process is not particularly positive. It's not something the developer "gets," but something they're forced to endure.

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