[soci]

I always get redirected to the Apple Appstore when trying to buy Pixelmator or Photomator from their website. Business wise, why is that when Apple is taking a 20% toll? Couldn’t it just be a license purchase in pixelmator website? For subscription / in-app purchase model, I get it, but for life-time licences I don’t, and I’d really would like them to take that 20% extra…

[richrichardsson]

It could just be that the 20% Apple Tax is worth it to them as a business.

I use a "merchant of record" for my own side project, despite the roughly 15% it takes from each sale purely because they take care of all VAT collection and remittance worldwide.

Apple will also be taking care of some other little things like getting app updates to users, CDN, etc. etc. that I would need to implement myself.

Or you could be cynical and think that at some point they'll move to a subscription or IAP model later down the line once they have a bigger audience.

[saagarjha]

Despite the hate they get, the App Store business model is actually pretty decent for most small developers. It’s the review process that sucks, and the payments usually become more of an issue when you start paying Apple millions a year.

[WA]

30%, not 20%. Don't make it appear cheaper than it is.

[sbuk]

15% if you make less than $1,000,000 per annum.