On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 12:37:30 GMT, (Larry W4CSC)
tempted fate with:

They'll think, "Other shareware is $30. Why is
this guy charging so much, just because it's a boat program?" They'll
send PayPal $30 for it and feel great. Think about it. Your program
isn't going to be on the bridge of that 160' Italian custom yacht.....

Sigh. I wonder if anyone anywhere ever made any product that someone
somewhere didn't say was too expensive. :-} I do appreciate the
input, though. It's always good to hear what people think. I know
you aren't necessarily speaking for yourself in this, or even about my
program specifically, but for the stereotypical "cheap boater" (like
me), so let me respond as if to that guy, not you.

cpRepeater is not $75 because it's "boat stuff". It's $75 because it
does some rather difficult things easily and efficiently. Some of
which nobody else is doing, some of which people are doing for a much
higher price.

I won't go into the market studies I did on the competition's pricing,
or the number of people that I had evaluate the product to tell me
what they thought it was worth. I'll just say you might be right
about that guy. The one thing I know for sure from spending the last
30 years in the computer business as a corporate wage slave is that
pricing is witchcraft.

But since you raised the subject, and now anyone who reads this thread
will decide to wait and see whether I drop the price before
registering, I will say right now, it won't happen.

This is all I'm ever going to say about it here, because the
discussion verges on commercial activity, innapprpriate for a Usenet
Rec group. Remember, this thread started with me discussing laptop
trivets. :-) Maybe some folks will be interested in how things get
priced in the software world. Those with weak stomachs should leave
now. Anyone who likes sausage or software should never see either one
being made.

First, you check out the competition. Take a look at
http://www.navstore.com/ft_navvision.asp, also a shareware product,
though they've gotten this site to sell it recently. Very nice
program, seems to do almost everything mine does, some it doesn't, and
looks a *lot* cooler. Also more resource intensive with all the
graphics, and less readable, but that's OK for some people. Also $600
just to get started. Even the pure hardware solution you like, with
no display capabilities, multiplexing, or integration logic, runs $199
per serial port from B&B. Not to say that these alternative's suck;
they each have real merit and no doubt in some situations are the
"right" choice.

But I think your point was really about human-engineering of prices.
Your point is debatable, but very defensible in the tucows environment
you cite. The prospect list is effectively unlimited there. Most
programs there have a potential market of millions of people. If
lowering prices 50% takes you from 100 sales to 500, it's a
no-brainer. When your market is limited, say, to people that have
boats, have laptops, have NMEA networks, want to use them together,
are willing to try shareware, and have cabins that need repeaters,
your sales might go from 10 to 12. :-)

A consideration in the pricing is that I want to improve the program
as a bonus for existing customers, and as an incentive for new
customers. That's not free. I have some technology that I want to
license that will do some terrific stuff, but the creeps want money
for it. A lot more than I want for mine. I'm not even gonna go into
my investment in compilers and hardware to build and test this thing.
It's my problem, not the customers'. But that's probably why nobody
has actually offered an equivalent for $30 yet.

I'd hate to put in a timer that disables the program, because it's
irresponsible to disable part of someones navigation system, for any
reason. Besides, it's not nice. But I understand that you weren't
necessarily recommending that, just mentioning it in passing. In any
event, I'm not going to lose sleep over sleazoids using the software
without paying for it. Those people are always with us. And look how
popular the MPAA and RIAA are with the public for trying to enforce
their (legitimate) rights. In any event, the registrations per
download that I'm getting so far is better than I expected. I think
that speaks well for us boaters. Only time will tell if that trend
continues.

Instead of hoping for a price drop, anyone interested in this program
should hope I don't decide to sell it to Maptech or the CAPN folks or
somebody, who will add a 25 cent box, a 99 cent copy-protected CD, and
a flyer for their high-end products, immediately increase the price to
$149 plus tax, title, and license, and start charging "upgrade fees"
every time they add a feature. :-)

Hey, thanks again for the advice. You actually caused me to consider
some packaging options I've never considered. I might run some ideas
past my beta group to see what they think.

__________________________________________________ __________
Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at worldwidewiley dot com
To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious.

Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and
logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/