Developers Gaming the System?

[PatrickRS]

I've been watching the excellent new site http://www.appshopper.com for the last few days now and I've noticed something strange. Price changes -- lots and lots of price changes. Sometimes the same app will undergo three or four price changes in a day or two. Up and down. Up and down they go.

Of course, each time this happens, the app listing pops up to the top of many app tracking web sites.

Coincidence? I think not.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Sounds about right...

 

[return7]

That's pretty shady for sure. I can understand announced sales for some reasonable period of time (a couple days or something).

 

[DreamPod]

Have there really been a lot? Because I *have* seen apps go up for the first time, then after a while the developer comes in here and announces the app and that it'll be free or cheap for the next few hours to drum up some interest, then restore the price. To me that is a legitimate practice.

 

[Michael CM1]

So what you're saying is an app maker will create an app, post it, see it needs more sales, lower the price for a bit, get better sales, and then bump it back up.

Dude, do you get all the ads that come in the Sunday newspapers? That's exactly the same thing. "Why is this mustard $1 this week, but it was $2 last week?"

It's just people trying to figure out how much they can sell an app for. Most of these people don't have economists or marketers to figure that stuff out. With apologies to John McCain, they're throwing prices at the wall and seeing what sticks.

It's only shady if you solely rely on how popular an app is to buy it. Find reviews at the App Store and on this board for a certain app. You don't buy a McDonald's hamburger every day because they've sold over 90 billion, do ya?

 

[PatrickRS]

Yea, the occasional adjustment to sniff out market conditions is certainly expected and legit. This is different. Watch for yourself for a few days, then come back and tell us whether you haven't seen the same few apps pop up way more than you would expect.

I'm not even sure I'd call this shady. Apple has created this walled garden in which developers can peddle their wares. There's only one game in town, wherein exposure is eveything. Stands to reason the devs would try to make use of whatever few tools they had at their disposal.

 

[return7]

I don't think he means changing the price -- I think he means changing the price to bump it up on the aggregators and then immediately changing it back to get the traffic.

 

[diesel]

Not shady at all. I don't see what the problem is. Of the hundreds of apps currently in the app store, it's expected to see a number of price changes on a daily basis. If price changes float the app to the top of the list of some aggregator site, then the aggregator site should allow you to filter those type of changes out like appshopper allows.

 

[opticalserenity]

Agreed, not shady...this is capitalism working.

Funny how people complain when someone lowers the price of a product.

 

[arn]

I've been watching the excellent new site http://www.appshopper.com for the last few days now and I've noticed something strange. Price changes -- lots and lots of price changes. Sometimes the same app will undergo three or four price changes in a day or two. Up and down. Up and down they go.

Of course, each time this happens, the app listing pops up to the top of many app tracking web sites.

Coincidence? I think not.

I've noticed the same thing for at least one app. that app has been blocked from the update list. If you search for it, you will find it. But you will not see it in the "recent" list.

if you notice any inparticular that are abusing the system, let me know, and I'll consider blocking it from the list.

arn

 

[vandy1997]

arn, you should announce which one it is. Like that, we can all get it when it's free and the dev won't make any money on it - haha! We can even create a thread to announce to all when it's free.

That is a lame practice, but I don't see it working in the long run if the app is not a quality app.

I haven't seen any change their price three or four time in one day. I've seen some whose price is reduced and then increased again during the same day. Sometimes it is also updated when the price is increased or decreased, so it shows up more than once during one day.

I've noticed the same thing for at least one app. that app has been blocked from the update list. If you search for it, you will find it. But you will not see it in the "recent" list.

if you notice any inparticular that are abusing the system, let me know, and I'll consider blocking it from the list.

arn

 

[jammastershep]

I've noticed the same thing for at least one app. that app has been blocked from the update list. If you search for it, you will find it. But you will not see it in the "recent" list.

if you notice any inparticular that are abusing the system, let me know, and I'll consider blocking it from the list.

arn

Good job man. ill keep my eyes peeled. MUCH RESPECT