[olivercameron]

People are complaining about $5? Really? Someone has put months of effort into this app, more than justifying the "high" price. If you think it's too expensive, just don't buy it.

I just bought it and think it's great (nice icon too).

[michh]

Whether it's justified or not, it's about double the current market value for these kinds of apps in the iOS app store ecosystem. So yeah, people will complain, even though it's the amount of money you'd probably easily spend on a cup of coffee.

The reason people are complaining is not that people are not willing or not able to spend $5 on a HN reading app. The problem is that people simply aren't used to it.

$5 is what you pay for a game, for an app that piggybacks on someone else's content you usually either pay nothing or about a buck.

I wonder whether or not the author would make more money from it if the app was $2.50 or $1.

I'll gladly pay the $5 though.

[statictype]

I'm surprised that people are making this argument here on HN. Pricing has nothing to do with how many months a developer spent on an app. The consumer doesn't and shouldn't care about it anymore than a developer should care about how much effort someone took to earn and spend those five bucks.

FWIW, I think five dollars is ok for a niche app like this but "he spent a lot of time on it" doesn't sound like a legitimate justification for it (or for any pricing).

[olivercameron]

Why is that not a legitimate justification? The vast majority of the world's population charge a monetary fee for their time, so why is this any different? The guy put a lot of effort into making an app, as such, if you like the app, you now reward him for that time by paying him.

[statictype]

You have a good point. Only thing I can say is that products are typically priced on what the market for it will bear. That's why enterprise crud apps or office productivity apps may sell for more than a game which may have required more effort from more skilled people.

[tomjen3]

Suppose that it turns out that he had outsourced the development of the app - as long as you get the same app, should he charge less?

What if has still written it but was using a special compiler which compiled Lisp to Objective-C and had only spent two hours doing it, would you still feel that it was fair you paid the same?

[olivercameron]

Yes, it's only $5. A good cup of coffee is only slightly less than that, and it takes all of minutes to create. It's not like we are talking about $1000 enterprise software here.

[extension]

People decide to buy things based on the value it has to them. The value it has to the producer is irrelevant. The right price is the one that will bring in the highest total revenue. If it's priced too high or too low then the producer is being deprived of his hard earned cash.

Failure to grasp this simple concept is costing some industries a lot of money right now.

[ConceitedCode]

Completely agree. I really don't get why some people complain about being charged any money for months of work. Do they expect it to be free? Reminds me of the ridiculous comments on the app store.

[kmfrk]

Were this in any other context - an inane weekend project, or faux start-up that is just a website - as we've seen a billion times before, people would spout the same mantras about charging from the start, hustling, going for it, and what not.

I don't know if people are making a fuzz because it's about Hacker News, or if they just don't believe the mantra they keep repeating, when they finally have put their money where their mouth is.

Charging for this app means the developer's time is valuable; releasing it for free would suggest that s/he does it to get a job. It also means that traction will let the developer improve the app over time to the benefit of people who subscribe to the idea.

I am perfectly open to a discussing on pricing it 2.99 instead of 4.99, but I can't be bothered by the outcries to make it free.

EDIT: I just saw that the developer even released the source code on GitHub. That's about as good as it can get.

[veyron]

Note: a complaint about price isn't a plea to make it free -- I wrote a longer response on another reply. It's opening a conversation about why the app deserves ____'s money

[kmfrk]

Both our arguments can be generalized to a straw man; I haven't read your specific comment, but I am sure we agree with each other. I am saying that people are being jerks, when they would have sung the developer's praises in another context, and you are saying that it's fine to ask a developer about why their product is desirable and worth someone's money.

It's fine to ask a person about what sets the app apart, and how it works, when they pay for it, and because it's fun to have a developer pitch their product, as is our wont on HN. What bothers me is the immense hypocrisy when people get downright hostile like this - like some do in this thread.

If the hostile people could get their head out of their ass, they could discuss the app on the basis of whether it was a sustainable business model - not an affront to their delicate, incongruous sensibilities.

[glhaynes]

I don't mind people not wanting to spend $5 on something if they don't [for whatever reason] feel it's worth it... but I sure don't care to see them whine about it, either.

[rounak]

The one thing I don't like is the icon!

[SeoxyS]

Yup, people need to stop being cheap. Bought the app immediately after opening the link, and I probably would have at any price.