[QLab] Pricing

[Christopher Ashworth]

On Aug 14, 2006, at 9:05 AM, Matthew Otto wrote:
> Hello,
> 	i'm a little late to the party. Has Qlab Pro pricing been talked
> about before? Or are you keeping a lid on that for now Chris?


Hi Matt,

The price is still very much up in the air.  I've thrown some numbers  
around before, but I've also put a lot of work into it since then.

Here are some of the factors that I'm pondering, as I try to  
determine a fair price:

- The basic version of QLab will remain free.  I have purposefully  
put a lot of power into the free version, because it has been my goal  
from the beginning to make a powerful tool available to people who  
would not necessarily have access to it otherwise (high schools,  
small non-profit companies, etc.)

- As has become apparent, people can get a lot done with just the  
free version of QLab, which means I probably won't sell as many  
copies of Pro as I would if the free version was less powerful.

- The closest thing to QLab on the Mac costs about $200 USD.

- A comparable program on the P.C. costs anywhere from $600 to $1200  
USD.

- I'd rather charge a low price and encourage more people to get a  
copy (or several copies).

- My potential user base is relatively narrow.

- Conversion rates for most shareware or demo software are  
traditionally quite low--in the 2-5% range.  Mine might be even lower  
with the free version as competition.

- I've had about 1500 downloads since putting the first public beta  
up in December. (Not counting automatic update downloads.)

- I do not know how many copies a theatre, school, or other  
organization might typically want.  (1?  3?  More?)

- I'd like to consider making Mac development my full time job in the  
next five years, if possible.


So, with all that in mind...I'm not sure.

I'd welcome input from anyone on the list as to what you think is  
fair, or if you anticipate wanting to buy a copy, or how many copies  
your theatre or organization might be interested in.  As I said  
above, it is my preference to price low, however, I need to invest in  
additional equipment for continued development.  If I price too low  
and sell only a handful of copies, I won't be able to make the  
program better.

Best,
Chris