GHGAQA0@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be (Karl Pottie) (02/15/91)
This is a question to all European shareware programmers: Did you ever get any shareware fees from outside Europe (U.S.?). If yes, how many ? I'm asking this, because as an European, my experience with shareware contributions has been very disappointing. Of course it could be that nobody uses my program (TeachTextMaker, if you've ever heard from it), but I suspect that people are more scared by the complicated way to get money to Europe. It could also be that they simply do no support foreign programmers. I'd like to hear about any non-U.S. programmers who have received (lots) of fees, because based on this information (or the absence of it) I will decide if I'll put any more effort in writing new stuff. Don't get me wrong, I program because it's fun, but there's a difference between writing an application for fun, and adding the final touch to make it suitable for release + support. Any reactions are welcome. Karl Pottie GHGAQA0@BLEKUL11.BITNET GHGAQA0@CC1.KULEUVEN.AC.BE GHGAQZ0@BLEKUL11.BITNET GHGAQZ0@CC1.KULEUVEN.AC.BE KPOTTIE@ICARUS.CS.KULEUVEN.AC.BE
ralph@cm.cf.ac.uk (Ralph Martin) (02/18/91)
In article <91046.115541GHGAQA0@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be> GHGAQA0@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be (Karl Pottie) writes: >This is a question to all European shareware programmers: > >Did you ever get any shareware fees from outside Europe (U.S.?). >If yes, how many ? > I have had exactly ONE payment from outside Europe - from a large American Research Lab who paid me for a site licence ($100) for my software. They even went to the trouble of getting me a check I could cash in an English bank. This is despite my software (a password utility for the Mac) being at sumex, sent to comp.binaries.mac, and also at various other archives. I have even written one or two customised versions when people have emailed me and said they would like slight modifications, and even in those cases, no-one bothered to pay up, despite me directly mailing them to the requestors. > >Of course it could be that nobody uses my program (TeachTextMaker, >if you've ever heard from it), but I suspect that people are more >scared by the complicated way to get money to Europe. >It could also be that they simply do no support foreign programmers. > I too suspect that quite a few people are using my software. But I don't think its just US users not paying up. I've also had pretty few UK (and no European) users pay up. I think that basically, people just don't send shareware fees unless they are exceptionally honest. Conclusion: Write shareware if it amuses you, or pleases you to see your program being used. Don't write shareware to get rich, or even for pocket money. Ralph
sund@tde.lth.se (Lars Sundstr|m) (02/18/91)
In article <91046.115541GHGAQA0@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be> GHGAQA0@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be (Karl Pottie) writes: This is a question to all European shareware programmers: Did you ever get any shareware fees from outside Europe (U.S.?). If yes, how many ? I tried to distribute a couple of utilities as shareware 2 or 3 years ago and actually got most of the fees from US and if I remember correctly I got about 15 shareware fees. Some of these utilities are now freeware instead because I wan't them to be used and they aren't good enough to be commercial. I don't think it matters if you have a good product or not it will never pay of as shareware. Make it freeware and don't bother too much about the support or make it commercial. You could also try to make a Lite version as shareware and try to convince users to buy the Pro version. -- +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Lars Sundstrom, Lund University, Department of Applied Electronics, | | Box 118, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden Phone: +46-46121598 Fax:+46-46129948 | | Internet: sund@tde.lth.se | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto) (02/19/91)
In article <1991Feb18.151350.12532@lth.se> sund@tde.lth.se (Lars Sundstr|m) writes: >I don't think it matters if you have a good product or not it will >never pay of as shareware. Make it freeware and don't bother too >much about the support or make it commercial. You could also try >to make a Lite version as shareware and try to convince users to >buy the Pro version. But don't let the 'Lite' Version be convertable into the PRO version by means of a password or something, a la Cairo Shootout, MacPassword, or (well, actually, a file edit) DOS Mounter. All that does is get your product looked at by bored hackers :-). -- Matthew T. Russotto russotto@eng.umd.edu russotto@wam.umd.edu .sig under construction, like the rest of this campus.
GHGAQA0@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be (Karl Pottie) (02/22/91)
Here are my impressions I got from the various answers I
got about shareware in Europe and my application TeachTextMaker:
The main reason why people don't pay, seems to be based upon the prejudice that
it is very difficult and expensive to get money to Europe.
You have 3 means of getting money to Europe:
*cheque : unacceptible, because the receiver pays the transaction costs
(up to $15) . Use only for site-licence payments (>$50).
*international money order: the sender pays the transaction costs.
Expensive for the sender, so not recommended.
*cash: ideal for small amounts of money; Just put $15 in an envelope,
and send it via AIR-MAIL. This method is quite safe. The sender
only pays the cost of the fee, and the receiver can convert
the dollars to local currency without any loss.
This is in fact the way I got my first fee. No fuss at all !
In an e-mail a person recommended to get more exposure for TTM by uploading it
to more online services like GEnie, America Online, BIX, Delphi, ...
Unfortunately I have no access to any of these. Would any kind soul be willing
to help me ?
Karltime@ice.com (02/22/91)
In article <91052.173524GHGAQA0@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be>, Karl Pottie <GHGAQA0@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be> writes: > *cash: ideal for small amounts of money; Just put $15 in an envelope, > and send it via AIR-MAIL. This method is quite safe. The sender > only pays the cost of the fee, and the receiver can convert > the dollars to local currency without any loss. > This is in fact the way I got my first fee. No fuss at all ! > > In an e-mail a person recommended to get more exposure for TTM by uploading it > to more online services like GEnie, America Online, BIX, Delphi, ... > Unfortunately I have no access to any of these. Would any kind soul be willing > to help me ? AND you can usually register mail for for a fairly small sum, if I remember correctly. Registering a letter is like putting a red stamp on it, anyone thinking of tampering with it *knows* there is an audit trail for this letter versus the others. This makes it more likely that the tamperer will be traced and less likely that they'll tamper. tim. ------------------------------------------------------------- Tim Endres | time@ice.com ICE Engineering | uupsi!ice.com!time 8840 Main Street | Voice FAX Whitmore Lake MI. 48189 | (313) 449 8288 (313) 449 9208