Suggestion On Pricing For DU

Am glad that things are moving up for Dolphin U. For many of us (especially me) there are only few things that are our priority in developing a community. These include owning a Web Community site that works without having to rob a bank to do so.

The mode of pricing and the prospects of depending on 3rd party modules to get a decent site with functionality in DU for me is filled with uncertainties.

How about Boonex allow all verified Developers to add their modules to the pool of DU modules that members can access. Then create a License plan strictly for DU. Once a member buys such license, he can have access to all Boonex modules for DU and other 3rd party modules designed for DU. That way, community owners will not be too worried about buy modules to bankruptcy for a community that may not earn a dime in the nearest future.

Boonex can make inclusion to the pool of Modules voluntary and offer periodic incentives to Developers who join to help them in updating such Modules and offering support for it.

What do you guys think? How terrible is the idea?

its a good idea..for clients ..but i don't think boonex will ever do this..

 RE:

 It's about as terrible as ideas get. 

 From my perspective as a User who need to develop a Community website using Boonex's Dolphin, it fits just fine. Not everyone has an open-endless budget.

Already maintaining a dedicated server is a task of its own, let alone embarking on an endless expenditure on Modules (many of whom are over priced).

Frankly, I will like to know the cost of completing a Community Site before embarking on one (to make sure am able to complete it and not abandon it half way). Unlike houstonlively, I do not have deep pockets.

Ok. For this to work the cost of the license would have to be evenly distributed to all of the developers. So lets analyze this.

Lets say you have a 300 developers who have at least one module available for DU. You purchase a license that lets say costs $150USD. That would mean split to all 300 developers, each developer would get .50c (fifty cents).

The developer would get that same .50c regardless of how many modules they decide to put in the market. 1 or 1000 it will still be only .50c

Most people work a 8 hour day, 40 hours a week for a specific amount per hour. And at the end of the week you expect to get a paycheck for the number of hours you worked. Yet you expect a developer to spend days, even weeks in many cases, and sometimes months to develop module and only earn .50c for all that work.

Sorry, but i really don't think any developers would be willing to do that. Not all, but some of the developers here do not do this as a hobby.

Everybody wants to be just like Facebook, who incidentally received $500,000 in startup capital ten years ago.

I expect you're griping about a few hundred bucks, or at most, a few thousand.  If you can't afford to finance a project, either find investors, save up some money, get a second job... whatever.

Why should some coder trying to earn a living, give their work to you for next to nothing, just because you don't have the financial means?  Sorry.... that's just not the way the world turns.

I have found that the modules in the market are reasonably priced; therefore, I disagree with this statement.

Oh, one other possible way the license cost could be distributed to the developers is based on the number of modules they have in the market.

However in that case, lets say the number of DU modules reaches 2980 that D7 currently has. That would mean that with that same $150 license, each module would be worth about .05c( One nickel )

Yea, i don't think so.

I actually expect DU module prices will be a bit higher then D7.

Reason is boonex is planning to charge the developers to have each module reviewed and approved before putting it in the market. So i expect that will have a impact on the price of the modules.

LOL

topic of the year award goes to this

you got the whole thing wrong, a site needs continuous development and investment. You're not buying a cake you know...

+1 HL and LOL Dean

The main part I question is the approved thing; too much like Apple and Google.  If approved or not approved is based on the code working as advertised, then that might not be so bad.  I would like to know what the criteria is going to be for deciding if an module will be approved or not approved.

 These words weights more than a gold. Can't even add anything more.

Since the core will be absolutely free then it would be more widely used, as the result it would be a lot more purchases... considering the modules prices will be moderate.

We definitely will not charge developers at the beginning also it will be low competition, so it would be the great time to start developing modules for D.U.

What OP suggests certainly has merit in terms of cost predictability for some clients. It sure would be nice to be able to know how much one may have to spend on various extensions. On the other hand, most extensions will result from serious time and effort investment from developers and that should be duly rewarded.

So far, we only plan the way of direct sales, but we will be encouraging developer to keep prices reasonable. Also note that a good, focused site should rarely need more than a dozen 3rd-party extensions installed anyway. Features don't win customers - experience does. 

Personally, I would love to see extensions like "full modules" (i.e. Events or Store) to be prices in a range of $50-70. Actual figure will depend on many factors though - competition, support overhead, number of sales and even hormonal balance of the developer. Go figure!

Back to the original question, though... Perhaps in time we'd be able to offer something like a "subscription" or a "packages" to bulk-sell extensions from participating developers, but it is way too early to plan anything like that yet. 

Thanks Andrew Boon. Looking forward to the a full Dolphin U. I have a few of projects lined up. My only reservation, as stated earlier is that the idea of an "Open Ended Budget" don't seat well with me.

I think Andrew raises a good point about the future. If Boonex are going to review all addons before approving then maybe they can categorize them too for the purpose of the Store & 'need' of the community. An example being if an addon is a totally new feature that is a much needed addon....let's say one that most of the community would find useful rather than just the developer & the odd member...then that would be classified as an important addon. Now let's say that addon relates to Audio or Video. We have the DU Store that has a Category for 'Audio & Video' & so you can choose to subscribe to the 'Audio & Video' Category. This is just a simplified example, the Categories could be classified to the type of site a Member would create. For example Dating Site, News/Information Site, Music & Video Site, Gaming Site, etc. Boonex would then charge a subscription for the Dating Site addons or the Gaming Site addons, etc. These would be marketed as essential addons to create such a site. That would simplify the design & cost process for all whilst maintaining that developers still get paid for their work & time. Just my thought on the topic ;)

Lord have mercy on my heart...I like to fall out my chair when I read that post. 

Very bad idea. Can understand your position, however, isn't everything in life a gamble? Not to mention, it is not good practice to quote a client on something you don't know everything about. If I quote someone on a service, I make sure I damn well know the ins and outs of the product, cms, issues, etc before I quote them. It saves buyers remorse, client relations, and keeps faith in my abilities and word.

If I were you, I would wait till DU is completed and can be considered sellable and modules are priced and all pricing is in place. Stick with D7 for your clients and you shouldn't have problems quoting them nor will you have bad relations with them either.