Is there price protection on Apps?

[jwbrent]

I bought MotionX Poker for $4.99 a day before they dropped the price to .99 cents. The 4 bucks isn't a big deal but I was wondering if anyone knew whether Apple has a price protection policy.

Cool game!

[vandy1997]

There's no price protection, but MotionX Poker is a great app, so don't feel cheated. You are just helping the developer to create more great apps and pay his/her rent (as did I)!

Originally Posted by jwbrent

I bought MotionX Poker for $4.99 a day before they dropped the price to .99 cents. The 4 bucks isn't a big deal but I was wondering if anyone knew whether Apple has a price protection policy.

Cool game!

[dudehuge]

It's good for 4.99, but I think devs should think twice about using this strategy. This will create a distrust between the consumer and them. I for one would be pissed if I bought the game yesterday only to find out that it was reduced in price today. Add to that the number of buyers that will hold off in buying their new apps because they know that it'll drop in price in just a few weeks, even if it's an app worthy of 5 bucks like Motion X.

[networkman]

Great idea. Price protection should be available.

Another issue bothers me too. You test out an app, and then find out that it's a bunch of crap! The consumer should be available to return the app within 4-12 hours for a full-refund.

If you can get the movement on the above two points, appStore would even become more powerful.

What do you say?

Bill.

[VeganTnT]

We aren't going to see a return policy ever instituted.

It's for the same reason you can't return ANYTHING that you need to install in order to play (Downloaded or PC Games)

It's just to easy to pirate games now. Give someone the chance to get their money back easily and you are basically handing out free games that people can use to steal from you.

All we can do is hope that devs offer Lite versions, you tube videos, or offer the game free for a while THEN charge for it. That way some people can play it and talk about it and show their friends etc.

I have about 60+ games right now and i'm the designated tester for all my friends. They won't buy it unless I say so

[AznChaos]

haha while that would be nice Bill it would never happen. All you can really do with some apps is wait for some worthwhile reviews come out and trust their judgement.

I really do feel for you jwbrent. It always hurts to see an app that you paid full price go down in price. It's made me feel much more apprehensive about buying apps now. I've been burned on several games already but i've also got a few games much later by waiting for the price drop. What I do now is I look at the developer and their other games. If I notice they have dropped the price for other games I would be reluctant to buy them immediately. Other games like Spore and Diner Dash I just purchased because honestly I don't believe they will drop in price for a long while until their games start to dwindle in downloads.

So essentially sometimes you win some and sometimes you lose some.

[dlogik]

Originally Posted by jwbrent

I bought MotionX Poker for $4.99 a day before they dropped the price to .99 cents. The 4 bucks isn't a big deal but I was wondering if anyone knew whether Apple has a price protection policy.

Apple definitely and probably will never institute a price protection policy or refund policy (remember, they're in this to make money just as much as the developers are). Having said that, I do recall in these forums, one of the developers actually dealing with refunds on the side (can't recall which game it was), but he we very well commended for his actions (which also leads to great publicity too!).

Perhaps explaining the reasons behind your request for a refund for the difference to the developer might get some, if not all of your money back. It's worth a shot!

dlogik

[dlogik]

Originally Posted by networkman

You test out an app, and then find out that it's a bunch of crap!

Have you seen how many Lite/Free versions have popped up over the last few weeks. It's the new trend to get people hooked into buying the full version!

[jwbrent]

Thanks for the replies...

[johnbowers]

Originally Posted by dlogik

Having said that, I do recall in these forums, one of the developers actually dealing with refunds on the side (can't recall which game it was), but he we very well commended for his actions (which also leads to great publicity too!).

2 Things:

1. I think that Apple will do returns if you bug them enough by phone because of an app crashing often. (I've seen some indications of this).

2. I think that the developer you mentioned is setting a bad precedent. The problem here is that the developer actually makes less than the asking price since Apple takes a 30% cut meaning that he is losing money on returns. Also the person then still has access to the game for free since iTunes will still let them download it. What if the person then decides that he does like the game and starts playing it all the time? I doubt he will send the money back. It just isn't economically viable. The only type of return that would make any sense would be an iTunes based return method.

As has been mentioned earlier there is really no good way to return a downloaded app in the same way that you often can't return opened shrink wrapped DVDs (and possibly games?). Once you've opened it/downloaded it it is too easy to copy and there is no way to verify that you are returning it in good faith.

I think what Apple needs to do is to allow for demos to be posted with the apps so you can either click the buy button or click the download limited demo button. This would make things simpler for users and devs and unclutter all the Lite versions from the app store.

my 2c