Commerce / Files - Pay what you want

[-FP]

I don't know if you know the site https://gumroad.com/, but I'm going to use it as an example of what I would like to have as an option for files in the suite.

In that site you are allowed to specify a minimum purchase price for your products. So lets say that I put something for sale at a minimum price of $5, people can buy it for that amount, or they can pay more if they wish.

Now, what's more interesting here is that you can set free files, setting the minimum price to 0, but people can still choose to give you some money for it, kind of like a tip.

This is one of my products:

People can input 0 in the box and get the file right away, or they can input whatever amount they feel like.

I'm not gonna reveal any numbers, but this system kinda works, people tips more than I expected for free files.

[-FP]

Bump bump..

[Stephen Geppi]

I like this idea quite a lot. It seems like something that should definitely be included in a future version.

[-FP]

Uh oh...

[-FP]

I know everyone is busy with 4.2 now, but any news regarding this?

[Charles]

We have not had much more interest in it since this topic was originally posted so it's still in the undecided pile

[jair101]

Very cool idea. As most of our communities depend on the support of the members it would be nice for different members to offer as much support as they want. I can easily imagine setting the price of a t-shirt at the manufacture price, informing people that this is in fact the price on which the community gets 0 profit and letting them decide how much they want to pay on top. Much like donation against a product. 

[Morrigan]

I could use a Pay what you want thing for both the files and for store products. It would probably be more profitable for me overall.

[-FP]

You heard the boss, this needs more attention

[Makoto]

I support this. This seems like a good model to start selling some of my photography with, possibly.

I would want an option for a minimum value though, be it $0.00 (free) or higher.

[Fierce God]

Im gonna take back what i said as again @Adriano Faria has spoken, and has a good point

 

 

Edited May 22, 2017 by Mr. Fierce God

[Adriano Faria]

1 hour ago, FGN said:

Im gonna state my opinion, due to the fact that im one of the little guys here in the community that is a up & Coming.

People are not rich, and many ppl are using this service to start a new business, or to just branch off into new territory. Yes time is money, but this option would be good for people like me, i would rather get the file and come back and give a "tip" due to the fact that all of the files we get are not all that good after you have paid an outrageous price for them, then to get no support or have to wait for days or weeks to get the support, that turns out to be very little support.

I really think that IPS should implement this first, cause most owners or even devs, get their files from here first, because IPS is supposed to be a trusted site, or like me, i go through IPS for my server...so i get my files and stuff off here.

So i have to agree that this would be a good update in the future......or for someone should make an app or plugin that allows this to happen.

 

As every coin has two sides, you don't expect same support level when you pay $1 for a file from someone who paid $25, do you? This is a nice feature to have but it is something that won't work in the real world or in a marketplace like IPS, where support is required for paid resources. This is for non marketplace sites to tip people, without requiring support. 

Plus: obviously, this must be a file submitter option and should have a minimum amount to accept. 

Edited May 22, 2017 by Adriano Faria

[Meddysong]

This would be pretty useful for me. We'll be mostly giving things away free, but if people enjoy it and want to give us a buck or two, we'd be happy to take it as a tip.

[-FP]

1 hour ago, Adriano Faria said:

Plus: obviously, this must be a file submitter option and should have a minimum amount to accept. 

Yes, the way the site I used as example works, is the prices you set are minimum prices, but people can always input more. Setting the price to 0 means it's free but they still can give you money if they input something other than 0 in the amount box. Or you can put it for a minimum of 5, and they could also input more if they wanted to, but not less.

I had something selling at a minimum price of $5, and about 20% of the users gave me more, between $6 and $10. A few gave me $15... triple the amount I was selling for.

Edited May 22, 2017 by -FP

[Wonster]

You expect $10 for a product

You offer it for $5

20% will give you an average of $7.5

2-3% will buy it for $15

Sales= 100 pieces

=> 80*5 + 20*7.5 + 2*15 = $580

Lose $420

[-FP]

Well then put it for a minimum of $10 @amator

Probably some people would still give more.

Also when things are cheaper you make more sales. Maybe it's not important in a $5 or $10 product, but so you understand my point, Fiat probably makes more sales than Ferrari. It's nicer to make the same or more with less sales? Well yes I guess that depends on your philosophy, but money is money in my book.

Maybe I have to wait longer to make 100 sales at a higher price than to make 200 sales at half the price.

Edited May 22, 2017 by -FP

[Adriano Faria]

1 minute ago, amator said:

You expect $10 for a product

You offer it for $5

20% will give you an average of $7.5

2-3% will buy it for $15

Sales= 100 pieces

=> 80*5 + 20*7.5 + 2*15 = $580

Lose $420

That's what I said: this won't be used for anyone who uses Downloads as a marketplace. This will be useful for small sites, for tips.

[Adriano Faria]

11 minutes ago, -FP said:

Also when things are cheaper you make more sales.

...which means more support. That's why I said it won't work on sites where support is required, like here on IPS. So it's not fair you demand same support when you donate $5 from someone who donates $50.

[-FP]

That's fair enough, I don't know, you can always specify in the TOS that the support is the same for everyone no matter how much you paid for the download.

You don't have to set a lower price than "expected" just because this system is in. You set the price you expect as a minimum, and then leave the chance open for people to give more just because they can.

Anyway, that depends on how people would want to use this.

Edited May 22, 2017 by -FP

[Wonster]

4 minutes ago, Adriano Faria said:

...which means more support. That's why I said it won't work on sites where support is required, like here on IPS. So it's not fair you demand same support when you donate $5 from someone who donates $50.

Or if the production cost is higher than what you get

[Morrigan]

7 hours ago, Adriano Faria said:

As every coin has two sides, you don't expect same support level when you pay $1 for a file from someone who paid $25, do you? This is a nice feature to have but it is something that won't work in the real world or in a marketplace like IPS, where support is required for paid resources. This is for non marketplace sites to tip people, without requiring support

I have a site that will have downloads that even support items could be benefited from this. Because some resources that my members make would be supported free or not but if the person is willing to donate to the creator this would be awesome as they could pay for it and show their support for it. There are even mods on here that are free that if they were pay what you want I would donate 1-5 dollars just because they helped my site grow. It may not even be something complicated. I would also donate more to some projects. I know that I would donate more for the discord integration app because of how well that app has worked for my community.

[Makoto]

We seem to be getting stuck up on a single use-case scenario here for some reason. People sell things other than software with Commerce.

This is not really an issue as software is not an example of something a lot of people really use commerce for. Art and photography are two prime examples that could highly benefit from such a system. As well as e-books, and so on.

Edited May 22, 2017 by Makoto

[Adriano Faria]

Agree. As long as it has setting to minimum amount and it is an option for the file submitter, it's a nice feature to have.

[Adriano Faria]

Anyone still interested in this?

 

 

 

 

 

If you are, send a PM so you can pre purchase it and make some tests (and make suggestions) before I release it.

Thank you. 🙂

[IPCommerceFan]

I would use a "pay what you want" feature for support requests.  We often have customers so appreciative of our service that they ask us how they can send us a little extra something just for the after-sales support we deliver.

Support Request departments have a "Submission Charge" option, so we would have the value be "pay what you want", in that use case.