[heychristian]

I'm the CEO of Paddle (https://www.paddle.com/sell), we're essentially trying to solve this exact problem for OS X developers, by providing App Store functionality, and more, for those selling outside the MAS (IAPs, Analytics, Payments, Trials, Activations/ Licensing).

The lack of trial versions aside (which is still a huge problem), one of the primary issues with the MAS is the flat-out exclusion of certain categories of application. For example, system utilities are almost totally banned from the MAS, and the system tools/ utilities that are currently available in the Mac App Store tend to just be slimmed down versions of their non-MAS counterparts with lots of functionality removed.

I speak to hundreds of OS X developers every week, and the sentiment around the MAS is gradually changing. Typically we're hearing developers just referring to the MAS as a marketing channel these days, due to the restrictions enforced on them.

We see a lot of data around MAS vs. Non-MAS sales, and reasons for developers switching, so if anyone has any questions about this space, I'd be happy to answer.

[kylec]

I'm a Mac user and went to check out what Paddle offers users, so I went to http://www.paddle.com/. It wants me to immediately log in or sign up, something that I'm not particularly inclined to do as I have no idea what you're offering. If you want to create a credible alternative to the Mac App Store, you're going to want to make it really, really easy for prospective users to see what Paddle is, what's available to buy, and what the process is like for managing their software library, updates, etc. This should be your #1 priority, as the best way to convince app developers to use your service is to be able to say that you have lots of users.

[heychristian]

Thanks for the feedback. I completely agree.

Paddle initially started as a marketplace for all types of digital content, and we've slowly transitioned into this toolkit for developers, offering payments, trials etc...

What you see at Paddle.com is reminiscent of our consumer-facing marketplace days, and we're close to pushing out a new homepage (this week).

One thing we're not trying to be, is a marketplace in a similar fashion to the MAS, we're trying to be the technology layer that empowers developers to not need a marketplace, own their customer, and take back some of the control that they typically give up by relying so heavily on a marketplace.

I do completely agree with you that the current homepage being what it is, and what we actually do being located at https://www.paddle.com/sell is confusing for potential customers who might want to work with us.

This is changing this week. :)

[milen]

When I was researching what we can use for payments, I stumbled upon Paddle and it looked exactly like what I wanted - looks very well done.

I have two questions for you:

1) Who is the vendor of record? This is relevant to handling VAT and it means either you have to do it or the business selling the software.

2) I couldn't find any information on what countries are supported, payment methods for receiving royalties, etc.

Thanks.

[heychristian]

Thanks for the kind words. In response to your questions:

1). Paddle is the vendor/merchant of record. We handle all of the VAT/ sales tax liability on your behalf. Payouts you receive from us are a royalty payment, exactly as they are from Apple/ the MAS. (This is particularly relevant as of Jan 1st 2015 when the EU VAT regulations change, and become super complicated for indie devs).

2). We support most countries (all countries, with the exception of North Korea, Cuba etc.), allow payments from customers via Credit/Debit Card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex) and PayPal. Support payouts to merchants via PayPal, Local Wire (32 countries - List: http://padl.to/1qoAWNN) or International Wire (everywhere else).

[bendyorke]

It doesn't seem like the images are retina/hd ready. I don't mean to sound spoiled, but when a site doesn't have retina/hd compatible vector graphics, they immediately lose a lot of credibility to me (most sites that I run across that don't have retina/hd graphics haven't been updated in years, so that's most likely why). There are a lot of tools and plugins that can help with the exporting and displaying of retina/hd graphics. It's not the end of the world if a site doesn't have them, but it's immediately noticeable.

Paddle itself looks awesome though :)

[heychristian]

Our site is being updated this week with a new design (focusing on our dev tools). — There will be plenty of retina goodness there.

But I agree. Non-retina bugs me too. Not for much longer!

(And thanks for the kind words.) :)

[DontGiveTwoFlux]

I'd like to be able to not have to create an account to see the software that's for sale. Is there a way to do that?

[heychristian]

We don't operate like a marketplace, so there's no way to 'browse' whats on sale at Paddle. We act as a platform under the apps, powering payments, trials etc...

Once integrated with our SDK, developers are free to distribute their apps wherever, be it their own website/ to their own audience, or via download portals like MacUpdate.

A couple of examples of apps using Paddle: * http://www.tunabellysoftware.com/tgpro/ * http://marked2app.com/

[podgib]

How are you providing 'App Store functionality' if there's no marketplace? Surely the most valuable thing the App Store provides is the distribution channel?

[heychristian]

We're providing the equivalent functionality of payments, in-app purchases and updates to developers. As well as allowing them to use/ develop trial functionality, allowing them to distribute outside the MAS more effectively.

In most cases (from talking to developers) the distribution/ audience aspect isn't the #1 reason developers go down the MAS route. Lots of developers have their own audiences, or use sites like MacUpdate (or traditional marketing methods).

That said, we are working on functionality to help users discover applications. We currently have around 400k users (customers on the buy side) who have active accounts with us, and we're testing ways of recommending content to those users, in order to provide developers with that extra exposure/ sales volume on our platform. — Currently we're testing this via email receipts (for opted-in merchants) and via our web-based "locker" (where users who have purchased content can access their downloads/ license codes).

We've got a lot of work to do on the discovery side of things, and there are a lot of interesting things that we can do at scale, but discovery isn't our primary focus at the moment (building a great platform/ SDK for developers, and providing the foundation is our current focus).

[huhtenberg]

> http://www.tunabellysoftware.com/tgpro/

Just tried going through the checkout. Clicked on Buy Now. Entered an email, clicked Continue, got to the country/zip screen, entered ZIP, clicked Continue and got back to the "Checkout as a guest" screen. It looped. Just FYI.

(edit) Tried with marked2app.com - same thing. The checkout form gets stuck in a loop.