28 replies to this topic

[owner]

Michael, on 25 July 2009 - 10:16 PM, said:

I've gotten a few comments lately about my paid mods, some complaining about the price, some complaining that I even have paid mods and that I should only have free mods. I wanted to address these comments in one place, carefully thought out instead of rushed responses. I'll break this down into the two types of complaints I receive.

All mods should be free
Although this would be the minority opinion, I still get comments that I shouldn't have any paid mods and that I should have only free mods. I like free products as much as the next consumer but if it means the long term support and sustainability of the producer is at risk, what good is that to the consumer? I agree that there needs to be a balance between paid mods to free mods but to suggest I should only make free mods is just ridiculous and ignorant to the facts.

Paid mod pricing
This is somewhat of a more rational argument I receive. Most people will complain no matter what I charge, I can't really do anything about that. Some even use the price as a disguise to argue that all of my mods should be free. But for those who are actually genuine and feel my products are too much, I understand your concerns but I can't change how market forces work. I have to pay for my expenses (I put a majority of my mod sales income back into tools that I use for mod development, computer accessories, software etc..) and like it nor not, making mods does take time and resources. And once done I have to support these mods and fulfill commitments that I made when I sold upgrade and support subscriptions.

Looks like someone took economics class

Totally agree with you.  For users that think things should be free, sure, lets say he got a free computer, free software, etc. but like he states above, he spent a few hours of his life work on this for you.  How is it fair that he gave up that time without anything else in return?

Just my opinion on how I viewed the post above, but yea, +1 for that post
-owner

Edited by owner, 02 September 2009 - 09:32 PM.

[javier]

Let me just say that the donation tracker mod is simply unbelieveable!
At my site, it paid itself off 7 times on the first year alone (and I'd never accepted donations before on my site).
I've actually had several arguments with people on other sites talking about this very mod: they wanted a free mod and their thinking was something along the lines: "I don't like the concept of paid mods". How selfish is that? They don't like paid mods but still want to make money off their users? absurd.
If donations tracker was modified so that it would cost web admins nothing until it paid itself off, they still wouldn't want to buy it!

I love that mod. It's got so many features, it's great.

In fact, it is probably no exageration to say that few other mods have ever made so much money for webmasters, ever!

I also purchased the group messages mod, and I find it incredibly useful and easy to use.

Another feature which often goes overlooked is the amount of edits you've gotta do for devfuse's mods. If you value your time, time is money. Installation of devfuse's mods are incredibly simple. In fact, when I install one of Michael's mods I'm often worried: is that it? surely not! c´mon, I haven't done anything, no file edits, nothing! it can't possibly work! but it does!

I don't know. I'm a happy customer and I appreciate the effort that goes into making my life easier as an admin.

Maybe a reasonable option would be a "student discount" scheme of some sort. Or maybe discounts for under 20s or something.
That would be an interesting proposal I guess, not that I would qualify.

[Aurora]

I agree that people should get money for their products.. but I have a suggestion. Why not charge a yearly fee instead of individual priced mods. You know a lot of free source sites do that. They charge from $5.00-$10.00 a year and then you get access to the premium skins and mods. I know IPB is not a free source but I think that would work if you figure that each member would pay you the money. I don't mind paying the reasonable price for a mod this is just a general suggestion to avoid all the scruff    you are getting.

[planetby]

Heres how I see it : Although most modders do it mainly because they actually enjoy it, at the end of the day it is also a business and they have to live, eat and cover various costs like hosting etc etc.
Do you walk into McDonalds and expect free burgers n chit ? No, well a modders site is basically his McDonalds, and the "free" stuff is out the goodness of there heart NOT because thay have to so try being grateful to them ( it's called manners in olden days )
Lets take for example the donation tracker priced at around $35 if my memory serves me right from when I bought it myself,now considering the amount of time and work that has gone into it and the extent of functionality it has I would say its UNDER priced, it used to be a pain at times for me to keep track of who donated what and now I can get on with other things knowing this mod is taking care of all that side

IF you think mods are over-priced, hey! try making one yourself and find out how brain frying it gets, skill is worth paying for ;)

I have no qualms about pricing, if the mod does what I am looking for I buy it and am gratefull of the work the maker has saved me, nuff said  

John

Edited by planetby, 15 September 2010 - 03:20 AM.

[Maalong]

Two old adages come to mind:

"You get what you pay for" and "Pay peanuts, get monkeys"

I am prepared to pay for good mods, and I am prepared to pay for custom mods. What I want at the end is a well made mod that works well, and the support of a competent person when there is a problem.

What I am not prepared to pay for, is a cheap badly written mod, that does not do what it is supposed to do. If a mod costs a bit more and works as it is supposed to, then it is worth the price.

[Nevo]

I am going to be honest here, so far, from the mods that i have purchased from you, in fair, they were worth the price you put them out for and i appreciate your hardwork that you put towards making them.  


The only thing i dislike is the licensing part you created, i think that if you buy the mod, it should be there for a lifetime with free updates (if you make any).

Edited by Nevo, 04 December 2010 - 01:20 AM.

[Michael]

Nevo, on 04 December 2010 - 01:19 AM, said:

The only thing i dislike is the licensing part you created, i think that if you buy the mod, it should be there for a lifetime with free updates (if you make any).

That's something I'm considering. One of the reasons why I extended the original 6 month subscription to 12 months without changing the price. Although downloading could be extended, support is unlikely to be as I really can't offer good lifetime support without subscription renewals.

[Nevo]

Michael, on 04 December 2010 - 03:03 AM, said:

That's something I'm considering. One of the reasons why I extended the original 6 month subscription to 12 months without changing the price. Although downloading could be extended, support is unlikely to be as I really can't offer good lifetime support without subscription renewals.

I agree, i think updates should always be there however support should be another thing. Perhaps a license for support for any of your mods. That way, you can get people to buy the support if they need it and if they dont want it, they can just enjoy the mod they bought and all the newer versions. For those that will want your help, they can buy the license and you can help them aslong as its valid. I think that will be extremely fair and simple to manage instead of worrying about licenses per product and renewing them and whatnot.  

[Breadfan]

javier, on 28 September 2009 - 08:22 AM, said:

Let me just say that the donation tracker mod is simply unbelieveable!
At my site, it paid itself off 7 times on the first year alone (and I'd never accepted donations before on my site).

Let me join your Loving The Donation Tracker bandwagon. Been using donations for my clan for years and although we can't use Paypal, it already proven to be very helpful in automatically doing the calculations of collected funds. Before I bought it, I had to calculate manually, now, with the specific goals (categories) and payment system (I use the offline payment system as a confirmation of money sent to our clan bank account) it pretty much does everything by itself.

Keep up the good work Michael and don't listen to people demanding free mods. I would love them too but, as someone already posted, nothing in life is really free, especially quality products. So if I have to pay 20, 30, 35 or even 40$ for a great mod, so be it!