I think this would depend on the app and how many downloads are acquired. If you get 20,000 downloads and worry that you've screwed up your market for potential customers, then you really didn't have much of market to start with. It is unlikely that you will ever hit 100% of your target in any given industry, and it is delusional to think that one could. Look at the top apps in the App Store. You would think that after months of being in those upper tiers that they would have saturated their potential to zero. But they haven't. Games like Geared have been up there since August and are still going strong. I'm actually grateful for developers like Bryan Mitchell and his staying power with Geared. There are certain warnings that should be heeded when making the decision to go free for a limited time. But worrying about losing potential customers isn't one of them.
A lot of people use freeappaday since they have the most impressive track record. Plus great games. SUch as the tower defense one, chalkboard stunts, and now creeps.
Is it possible in any way to make an app free in just a selected store? I've entered the top-10 position in the Dutch app store and am seeing very nice sales because of that, but it has zero effect on my sales in other stores. I'm very reluctant to mess with the pricing in the Dutch store. My experience is that being free for a day generates a lot of traffic but is really bad for ratings. If it's a paid app catering to a specific audience, people will think before they buy. If it's free, a lot of people will download it even though they know beforehand it's not their cup of tea, and will leave 1-star reviews upon deletion.
No way to do that, unfortunately. It's one price across the board. And I agree with you - I definitely wouldn't drop to free when you're top 10 in NL.
Sharing info Well, one of my app went from USD0.99 to Free and the rank goes from #300++ to #7 in Photo category within a day. Ranking for overall app is ~100+ Now it has dropped out of the top 25 now. Im continuing to improve it as time progresses coz for me, customers are no.1, even they havent paid me anything. iQuikSplash
I suppose I'll wait until I drop below a certain threshold, and then try going free for a few days. Also, I think you should do a followup with a new version immediately after doing the free one. The 1-star reviews from people who have downloaded the free one "just because it was free" will obviously stick around in the full ratings history, but the counter is at least reset for the new version. The people who got it for free and bother updating to the next version apparently have some affinity with the game, and are perhaps less likely to leave simple 1-star reviews.
I distributed an update to Pocket Boxing shortly after it had gone free briefly to address some concerns: 1) a user had requested a rematch feature 2) some users had complained the gameplay was too difficult; there is now video help after losing a match, where you can watch a demo mode showing how to pick that opponent apart. 3) to rebase "reviews for this version", per your thoughts below. I've had mixed results with (3) so far, which was released immediately after the app reverted to pay. The average user rating has inched up a bit, but the update still has gotten an even mix of (76) 1,2,3,4,5 star reviews - all anonymous. This really does point towards the benefit of using a framework like iAppRater to help steer fans of a game towards the review area where they can give their opinion a voice. Don't count on an immediate update to quickly rebase your reviews. There are many people that will grab your app while it's free, grab the update, and only get around to actually trying it later. You're probably better off waiting at least a full weak after going pay again before releasing an update for that purpose.
