I don’t understand why the Apple Store price is $20 but the website price is $30. What is the difference between the two?
1 Like
The license is different.
On the Mac App Store you are buying a yearly subscription. Bike will stop working when the subscription expires.
When you buy Bike from my website you are buying a one time purchase that doesn’t expire. It’s important to note that this purchase also includes 1 year of free updates, but after 1 year you will need to renew your license to get another years of updates.
and renew is $…?
I’m not sure yet, I expect $20 or less.
so “almost” a subscription 
Similar, but big difference is you are never forced to update and you can always keep using the version you bought + 1 year.
I will symbolically define it under 20$
1 Like
I heard you mention this on the podcast as well. It’s a bit hmm. odd feeling. I’m not sure if I like it or not.
Buying it now feels almost like you are taking a bet that this current stage is good enough and any new functionality won’t be worth paying extra for. If you do believe new cool functions are coming it’s best to just subscribe and save the money. Maybe just making future renewal less than the sub in the first place like $10/year renewal seems like a good option. Not saying I want you to make less money or that it’s not worth more but making users make that decision/bet, especially to those that pay more upfront seems tricky.
thoughts?
(ps I’d totally pay to use this with the expand/collapse memory functionality. I wonder if starting a forum post or something for people to share or sort features they’d pay for would be helpful)
I like the website sales mode, seems pretty fair to me. The basic equation for me is that I keep getting paid if I keep doing useful work. The basic equation for you is you are not locked into a subscription and get to decide when you upgrade.
I don’t like subscription model, and do not not purchase software that way when given a choice. I think the extra $10 upfront is worth avoiding subscription model. But I sell Bike on the Mac App Store with subscriptions because Mac App Store doesn’t give me alternative that I like any better.
That’s a possibility, I just don’t know at this point. I just keep mentioning $20 upgrade because that’s the highest I would go. I will try to figure out final upgrade pricing once rich text release is finished.
2 Likes
Just update that I’ve decided renew cost will be 50% off.
3 Likes
I think your proposed idea is a good compromise: user is not locked-in to a subscription, even if the author doesn’t make any improvements, but author is still incentivized to make improvements, and has regular recurring revenue to make a living.
I do like being able to pay you regularly, for on-going work. That said, I hope you don’t feel the need to continually add-on “features” just to get paid, because feature bloatware is not good either.
Very excited about the progress of the app so far!
1 Like
50% off of the original purchase price, or 50% off of the sticker price?
50% off whatever the current price is. I don’t expect to change the price from $29.99 anytime soon… so I expect renew to be $15. But if for some reason I change price then it will be off that new price.
3 Likes
Fwiw, I came to the forum to find the answer to just this question. N=1. For me, specifying the choice and the difference wherever one encounters the licensing information — the License tab of Settings (formerly known as “Preferences”), or the “Buy Now” pop-up from the Web page — would smooth the consumer discomfort caused by having different pricing models context-sensitive. In specifying the difference, I recommend explaining that upgrades are included in the subscription as long as it is active. As I now understand it, I can pay $20 for 12 months of use, including all upgrades, and after each 12 months I will have to pay $20 or the current subscription price for another 12 months of use and upgrades, or I can pay $30 for non-ending use with 12 months of upgrades, and $15 (or half the current you-own-it-forever price) for each additional 12 months of upgrades. Is that right? (3 years of use and continuous upgrades is $60 with either licensing method {$20 x 3 = $30 + 15 + 15}, but the you-own-it-forever license also gets you unlimited duration of use.)
I so loved Folding Text, and so far so love Bike — outline editing and text editing rationally separated? Typing Affinity? Be still my booming heart — that part of my decision hinges on what is best for Hog Bay Software. I dislike subscriptions for software. I like direct purchase. Thank you for the well-priced thoughtful option. Paying $10 more now to lock-in a $5/year saving seems … like I given this more thought than it’s worth 
.
Yes, I think you’ve got it!
Ha ha, thanks 
Choosing either of the options is great for Hog Bay Software, thank you.
1 Like