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hacker · 07-24-2005, 02:32 PM

There are developers out there who claim that less than 1% of people who download their applications actually complete a purchase. If you look at PalmGear, that figure is pretty depressing, if accurate.

Looking at the "Top 50 Downloads", #2 is Pocket Tunes, with 12,490 downloads this month. That means 125 people who downloaded it, actually purchased it. Yes, this isn't entirely accurate; some software has a higher percentage of purchasers than others. That's a mere $1,868.75 in sales for the month. Subtract PGHQ's commission and that's $1,121.25. That's $6.00/hour if you do it full time for a year. Depressing.

Does anyone really know how close this figure is? If writing software for the purpose of selling it only results in a 1% return on investment, then what is the point? Its probably better to turn to becoming a plumber or some other manual labor vocation with a better turnaround.

07-24-2005, 02:32 PM	#7
hacker Technology Mercenary Posts: 617 Karma: 2561 Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: East Lyme, CT Device: Direct Neural Implant	There are developers out there who claim that less than 1% of people who download their applications actually complete a purchase. If you look at PalmGear, that figure is pretty depressing, if accurate. Looking at the "Top 50 Downloads", #2 is Pocket Tunes, with 12,490 downloads this month. That means 125 people who downloaded it, actually purchased it. Yes, this isn't entirely accurate; some software has a higher percentage of purchasers than others. That's a mere $1,868.75 in sales for the month. Subtract PGHQ's commission and that's $1,121.25. That's $6.00/hour if you do it full time for a year. Depressing. Does anyone really know how close this figure is? If writing software for the purpose of selling it only results in a 1% return on investment, then what is the point? Its probably better to turn to becoming a plumber or some other manual labor vocation with a better turnaround. Last edited by hacker; 07-24-2005 at 02:35 PM.