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Surfulater 3 - huge price hike (166%) + where is the Firefox add-on?

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J-Mac:
Hi Neville. And thank you for posting that explanation here; regardless of the posts above complaining about the pricing, I'm certain that your post is appreciated by all here. Just the fact users are posting about Surfulater shows that they are indeed following and interested in Surfulater.

I do apologize for mentioning Surfulater in the same post about Kinook's stopping development on Ultra Recall. I was not trying to imply that Surfulater is contemplating anything similar, as I have not heard anything remotely suggesting that. To be honest, all comments I have read about you and your responsiveness over on outlinersoftware.com have been extremely complimentary!

My point was just that for many personal users, those of us who are not using PIM/database applications for any kind of business reasons but for purely personal use, prices in the range of Surfulater are getting tougher to justify - particularly in light of what happened recently with GemX and Ultra Recall. I have not purchased Surfulater so I am not one who should comment on the upgrade pricing to you; I'm sure someone else will.

Thanks again for the post.

Jim

cranioscopical:
I, too, had the initial reaction that the new price was a bit of a 'gulp'.

A little thought, however, reminded me that it's nothing compared to the prices we used to pay for commercial software some years ago, nor to the prices that many larger vendors are asking. I think we've been spoiled.

It was my good luck to qualify for the upgrade price for v.3 (especially since I'd decided to fork over the full price if need be). What decided me to go ahead (apart from the improvements to the software itself) was unfailingly polite, helpful and prompt responses to any and all queries.

Neville's points about the realities of commercial life are more than valid. I certainly don't offer my clients 50% discounts!.

Acceptable cost comes down to how much an individual values a particular product or service. Surely there cannot really be any 'rights' or 'wrongs' to a price structure. The market will decide whether or not Neville's pricing is appropriate.  My own view is that if we want something to survive we should be prepared to support it. If not, well...

Carol Haynes:
I can understand that point of view - and yes Neville is polite, prompt and helpful. I genuinely hope he succeeds and that people buy the product. Personally I cannot afford that much for an application I rarely use - now if the upgrade was $19.99 I would probably splash out anyway but at $80 forget it!

My concern is that most shareware products from small scale developers just aren't that expensive and almost all offer reasonable upgrade prices to existing customers. If the first reaction on seeing the price is to wonder if the product is worth it then I think the price is probably wrong.

Ironically if it was priced at $39.99 and there was a 50% discount on upgrades I would shell out for it without giving it too much thought - even if the upgrades appeared every year. That is why I think the pricing is wrong. I'm pretty sure that a title like Surfulater will make more money by appearing affordable even with annual paid updates. Annoying the existing customer base by saying that the early adopters are not even eligible for an upgrade and expecting people to pay the full price at such a large increase is just going to make people look at the alternatives more carefully. When people find that Evernote does a similar job and is effectively free (along with a number of alternatives other) which direction are people likely jump?

All this at a time of global financial uncertainty where global unemployment and insecurity are on the rise!!! Products need to be priced to encourage upgrades not to drive your existing customers away in droves - and it is personal recommendations and positive comments in forums like this that will bring new customers on board.

As I say I wish Neville well, but I personally think he has made a big mistake and will come to regret it. Good will is hard to build and easy to lose!

taichimaster:
I can understand that point of view - and yes Neville is polite, prompt and helpful. I genuinely hope he succeeds and that people buy the product. Personally I cannot afford that much for an application I rarely use - now if the upgrade was $19.99 I would probably splash out anyway but at $80 forget it!

My concern is that most shareware products from small scale developers just aren't that expensive and almost all offer reasonable upgrade prices to existing customers. If the first reaction on seeing the price is to wonder if the product is worth it then I think the price is probably wrong.

Ironically if it was priced at $39.99 and there was a 50% discount on upgrades I would shell out for it without giving it too much thought - even if the upgrades appeared every year. That is why I think the pricing is wrong. I'm pretty sure that a title like Surfulater will make more money by appearing affordable even with annual paid updates. Annoying the existing customer base by saying that the early adopters are not even eligible for an upgrade and expecting people to pay the full price at such a large increase is just going to make people look at the alternatives more carefully. When people find that Evernote does a similar job and is effectively free (along with a number of alternatives other) which direction are people likely jump?

All this at a time of global financial uncertainty where global unemployment and insecurity are on the rise!!! Products need to be priced to encourage upgrades not to drive your existing customers away in droves - and it is personal recommendations and positive comments in forums like this that will bring new customers on board.

As I say I wish Neville well, but I personally think he has made a big mistake and will come to regret it. Good will is hard to build and easy to lose!
-Carol Haynes (November 14, 2008, 06:57 PM)
--- End quote ---

I am with you on this Carol.  I bought Surfulater v2 last year and I don't think I will be upgrading either.  Price hike is just too much (for my usage) even after the 50% upgrade discount.  Tagging is cool, but v2 is sufficient for now with the # of articles I have in my knowledge base.  Good luck to you though Nevf.

Rhutobello:
I agree that for a software to still have possibility to grow, it need good users who are pleased with the product, and who gives very much in free advertising, or confirm the value of the product in groups or among friends.

This is an "factor" the developer has to take into account.

When price for upgrade shall be evaluated, then one have to find the mark where the price cost not exceed the willingness to upgrade.

If we look at this thread, we see a some people that don't want to upgrade, because the price is to high....and I agree.
We see some  people who look for alternatives, this will again lead to talk in groups and among friends.

The attitude goes from positive information to negative information...this is "waste of direct marketing money" that don't show up on the spread sheet at once, but will in the long run.

I will recommend any software developer to have this in mind.
If someone first have bought your product...and stay with you...then I agree we shall pay for improvement (major upgrade....since this is version 3....there has just been 2) but since they already have invested in the "ground product" (and registered it) I would say the upgrade price should not exceed more then a third of the full price.
Of course the evaluation of the price must been seen in comparison to the uniqueness  of the product....are you alone, then can you ask much more, then if you have one where there goes 13 on the dozen.

This is said in general terms...since I don't use or own Surfulater.

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