Off Topic, selling software

Scripting Forums AppleScript | Mac OS X
#1

I’m sorry if this is outside of the AppleScript area (at least sort of) but I’m looking for guidance on trying to make a little money off of some scripts I have developed and applications that I am in the process of developing. I would appreciate any guidance and insight on getting started on this. I figure that there are at lease a few people here that have done this at least on a limited basis.

Thanks,
Jerome

#2

hmmmm. someone has to have some experience doing this, whether it is actually marketing shareware or asking for donations throught their web site. I’m sure that there are other people out there that are interested in any advice as well.

#3

There are lots of folks doing it, Jerome. These are the factors to think about:

  1. How will folks pay you your shareware fee? There are no free ways to do this, but Kagi and PayPal are frequently seen.

  2. How will you defend your scripts against people who download and don’t pay? Among the methods are demos that time out, which involve building in the means to “unlock” the apps when folks do pay. You’ve probably seen them all yourself.

  3. How will you manage support for your product? If there isn’t any, it better be pretty inexpensive.

  4. Where will you post it? The obvious places are in ScriptBuilders, VersionTracker, MacUpdate, etc.

#2 is probably the most difficult for you.

#4

Thank you for answering Adam. I would think that this is an area of interest to a number of people here, even if they are just hobbiest or part time scripters at work. I have looked into PayPal a little and it looks like a good way to recieve payment. I’ve also had a brief look at Kagi, but they seem to be a bit more serious for what I’m looking for. which is mostly to put some scripts that I’ve made “Poilised” up a little for more general use out there to hopefully make a few buck with. I’m not sure if I want to do it on a wholy “donation” basis or put some up as Freeware and others as more traditional Shareware. To that end, number 2 and 3 are kind of up in the air, but for 3 I’m not thinking of any more than $5 or $10 at the most for any of them. I’m thinking that I would only collect money from maybe 1 in 10 downloads. Mostly I’m looking for personal experiences, and some advice.