Item Pricing / Purchase System - A Change Is Needed

Hi guys! ( I always start a thread like this… Not really sure why ), I know most of you are asleep right now, but this is really bugging me and I have had to write it down. Firstly i’d just like to point out that this is not a personal attack on envato, it is an effort to further improve the marketplaces, and those of you that are active forum contributors probably see me lurking around the forums quite a bit; I’m all for the welfare of the awesome oppertunities that the marketplaces present to us. A lot of you will more than likely be familiar with the recent payment changes that envato have put inplace so that potential buyers who do not wish to deposit any money into their account can now purchase files on a one-off basis for an extra $2USD per item. GREAT !!! Absolutely awesome idea, the smaller files get a better chance to sell well!!! However, it seems that a few things have not been looked over carefully and need to be addressed as soon as possible.

Over the last couple of days, two threads have been started by distressed buyers confused about the new purchase system, one has only recently been started and may develop into an entirely different issue, but the first thread clearly shows the confusion one buyer has had about “having to pay an extra $2”, when in actual fact he/she does not need to:

http://activeden.net/forums/thread/envatos-answer-on-prepaid/20536

http://activeden.net/forums/thread/download-purchased-file/20644

Luckily, tis’ the season where sales, as a whole, looking at the marketplace in general, seem to dry up a little. People spending a little less to save up for Xmas pressies etc. And for a lot of people sales have actually increased, and good for them, but the following issues will need to be addressed before the marketplace sales return to their happy medium that exists for the other 3/4 of the year.

The First Issue:

The main issue, and the issue that most people seem to be protesting about is the fact that the price for the more expensive option is displayed next to an item instead of the original, and cheaper option. A lot of authors (including myself) have not been happy about this as it seems that our items are more expensive then they actually are at a first glance. I have argued for the cheaper price to be shown, aswell as A LOT of other people. But to be as unbiased as possible, I have tried to weigh out the pros and cons of both options:
Displaying the more expensive price:
Displaying the more expensive price with a note saying that you will save $2 if you pay via prepaid.
Pros:

• Buyers might get a sense of “saving money” if they opt for the prepaid option
• Buyers don’t feel like they are paying too much when they pay without prepaid

Cons:

• All the items look more expensive at a first glance, this could loose potential buyers, especially those that have been buying marketplace items before the change.
• (As DS has pointed out) Items originally priced at a multiple of 10 and which now seem to be priced $2 higher (e.g. An item priced at $20 with a display price of $22) might throw some confused potential buyers, or buyers used to the previous system. Thinking that they will have a remaining $8 in their account when in actual fact they will have no change at all
• Prices don’t seem to be nice rounded numbers (i.e. Multiples of 5 and 10 or small numbers) (eg. $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, $15, $20 etc. are now $3, $4, $5, $7, $12, $17 and $22 respectively)
• Older buyers are generally getting confused

Displaying the cheaper price:
Displaying the cheaper price with a note saying you can purchase the item without depositing for an extra $2
Pros:

• Older buyers will not be confused as all the prices remain the same
• Cheaper prices will look more inviting to potential buyers
• The display prices are nice whole numbers and are the same structure as the deposit options
• Less likely for people to get confused

Cons:

• Buyers may feel like the “true” prices are being a little too discreet

That’s all the thoughts I could muster up, i’m sure you guys will come up with some more thoughts or comments.

The Second Issue

I know some others of you have already picked up on this issue, and that is the problem with the purchase button. For anyone who is a bit confused, or anyne who see’s the note next to the price and wants to pay like that may bit a bit weary of pressing the purchase button. As I’ve had to explain to one of the buyers who started a thread I mentioned earlier in this post, clicking the purchase button doesn’t actually make you immidiately purchase the file… A bit strange eh? Instead it actually displays the two different payment options at the top of the page, then allowing you to go on and actually purchase the file. Relabeling the button to “Purchase Options” would mean that buyers wouldn’t need to worry about actually purchasing the file, but can instead take that intermediate step and see what purchase options are avaliable.

I hope I haven’t come accross as too narrow-minded or aggressive, and I hope that this thread will help to evaluate the purchasing system and find what is best for the marketplaces. Please feel free t discuss this issue and share any thoughts you have, please DON ’T slag of envato, the community or the marketplaces as they definately d not diserve this. Envato are continuously monitoring the forums and there is no need for any abuse of foul langage even if this is quite a hot topic.

Regards
Reaper

@CJ & @cdutson: cheers for the compliments!

@cdutson: good suggestion!

@Zonadearte: I have seen collis’s post, and he says that the statistics have stayed more or less the same (amount of sales) after the new system was implemented. But if these improvements were to take place, there would almost certainly be a further increase in sales. I’m not sure what the distribution is accross the lowwer priced and the higher priced items, or what it was like… If we could have sme more statistics collis… or anyone… that would be great!!!

Thanks for putting that all together Reaper. Regardless of which side of the fence one may be on, it seems you’ve compiled all of the pros and cons of each system together, making it really easy to glance over.

I do agree with many of your points. But I’m afraid, I still think showing the higher price is better. Mainly because I’d be scared to see all of the angry forum threads/support tickets from buyers complaining that we tried to cheat them out of $2 because of our “hidden” fees.

I’m very confused with this whole debate though. I can see minor issues here and there, and some people confused. But it still very clearly shows both prices. Right next to the price, it shows the deposit price. And being completely honest, I have an extremely small amount of buyers that have contacted me in regards to them having trouble with the system.

Thanks for putting that all together Reaper. Regardless of which side of the fence one may be on, it seems you’ve compiled all of the pros and cons of each system together, making it really easy to glance over.

I do agree with many of your points. But I’m afraid, I still think showing the higher price is better. Mainly because I’d be scared to see all of the angry forum threads/support tickets from buyers complaining that we tried to cheat them out of $2 because of our “hidden” fees.

I’m very confused with this whole debate though. I can see minor issues here and there, and some people confused. But it still very clearly shows both prices. Right next to the price, it shows the deposit price. And being completely honest, I have an extremely small amount of buyers that have contacted me in regards to them having trouble with the system.

But we still need to sort out the small issue of the “purchase” vs “purchase options” button