Hello, A lot of countries has purchased only several copies of Download Meter (our app - see link in sig). E.g. only 1-2 copies in Quatar, 1 in Latvia and so on. Am I getting it right that we won't see any money from apple for sales in those countries (Quatar and Latvia) unless the sales reach $150 in each of them? Will we be able to take those funds from apple for sales in each of those countries when we terminate iPhone Development Agreement? Or we will never see those money at all?
I don't know if there's an exception for folk terminating their iPhone Development account, but yes, you only get paid out when sales reach milestones in each region. Keep in mind that international transfer fees are probably more than you earned from those 1-2 copies you refer to - even if you reached the threshold, those fees take a big bite out of your profits.
Thank you for your answer! The only thing that is unclear is how payments are grouped. Are they grouped by currency, or they are grouped by country? I.e. France and Germany both pay in euro. Suppose France has generated $80 in revenue by today, and Germany has generated $85 in revenue too. Will we be paid $165 by apple during next payment cycle (since france and germany pay in same currency - euro) or will we have to wait till revenue for France reaches $150 and till revenue for Germany alone reaches $150? Does anybody have any idea why Apple can't convert revenues for all countries to USD and transfer them in one transaction (rather than N transactions, each subject to a transfer fee)? Frankly, this feels like a scam..
There are 7 regions: USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia, Japan, and Rest of World. They are considered separate business entities, so that is why you get separate transactions. If you make the minimum in one of the regions, you will get paid for that region. However, do not trust the daily reports, as those are downloads, not the actual time of sale. Due to credit card processing, the actual sale can happen days later.
Last year, Apple cleared down all the accounts at the end of the year, and paid all outstanding money. Hope that helps
Thanks for your answer and warning about daily reports inaccuracy wrt number of sales. iTunes connect is a bit confusing and unintuitive to use (its usability deserves a lot f improvements). So since France and Germany are in the same region (Europe), we WILL recieve payment from Apple if France has generated only $80 of revenue and Germany $85 by the date of payment, right?
It depends. They have to take out their 30% plus any taxes for that country, and what's left is what you get to keep. If that is above the minimum, then you will get it. If not, then they'll total it up again the next month. I don't know what the minimum is these days. It used to be $250.
I'm curious about one of Stroffolino's comments… Is it correct that you need to pay per-region transfer fees to receive funds from Apple?
Yes, most banks charge a service fee for incoming wire transfers, and you can get up to six wire transfers, and one direct deposit, per month from Apple. The fee's tend to be $10-$20 per transfer, so it adds up. It is tax deductible though.
