Post-use purchase?

[Zalius]

Assuming someone offered you a free download, and asked you to pay if you found that it was useful to you, would you (honestly) pay, and the author asked you to? The cost is $5, if that helps.


I figure that since pirating is only a matter of time, it might be better overall to offer the book for free and have an optional post-payment. I understand that some, if not most people, will not pay for something that was offered for free no matter what, but I'd like to get an idea of how many people from a random group would actually pay.

No worries or offense taken or anything like that. I'd like to get an idea from a random sample of people. I don't mean would you heavily consider it, or would you think about doing it eventually, but do you believe that you would be compelled to pay for something that you found extremely useful to you, even though you were under no obligation to?

Thanks :D

(Sales were doing ok~, but i might be better off with a traffic magnet+a few CPA offers+a little adspace and 2 particular affiliate offers)

[Rhinox]

Personally? yes.


When I torrent stuff I usually pay for the stuff I like.

[Zalius]

polls up youre fast as fuck

[hey]

Am i expected to make a payment, or just pay for it if i want to, with no obligation to do so?

If the payment is expected, then no, i most likely would not. However, if the payment is entirely optional (and the amount up to my discretion), then i may, obviously depending on whether i thought the product was worth paying for. I would definitely be more likely to pay for something, if i was not obligated to do so.

[Zalius]

mhmm, no obligation, just a short notice from the author that it was a lot of work and if you liked it or benefited from it he'd appreciate if you showed some support and payed $5. im eating all the fees but i might charge another 10-25 cents for taxes

[Syntex]

I would really have to like what the author wrote about to actually support them and encourage more. Very few people these days put out quality work that is actually fueled by their desire to make a quality product and not just make money off of it. I don't read much so that might not be the case with most writers but I feel that this could apply to many other things such as music/newsletters/programs/services ect.

I also think a lot of people here would support more things/people if they weren't in the position of broke college student. If I had double my pay a month with a semi-decent job I wouldn't mind supporting people that produce things I enjoy.

[shepardG]

Yes,

I end up doing that shit all the time with Graphic novels, I have a fucking room full of GN's

[Yugl]

No.

[Callisto]

Personally? yes.


When I torrent stuff I usually pay for the stuff I like.

This. Maybe it's me, I like having physical copies, especially CD case art. I torrent to see if a CD has more than one good song, if it does I go buy it, plus pay to see the bands live, buy t-shirts, etc. If I d/l'd something that ended up being something I really liked I'd definitely drop $5-10 after the fact.

[stewie]

Yes, I torrent stuff for "free trials" if you will, if I like it and have the money I'll buy the product.

[thetruepandagod]

If it was genuinely good and i enjoyed it then i definitely would buy a physical copy, otherwise no. I don't see a "pay later if you like it" method changing any of our types of media however as people fucking love twilight and transformers, almost seems like it would make products take an even worse nose dive as stuff made only to be well sold would make returns where as stuff made to be good and well thought wouldn't. Kind of like now but much much worse.

Also are you talking about a specific book? curious to see it if you are.

[Zalius]

ya wrote an instructional guitar book. if you don't play guitar, most of it won't make sense. some of it will, but most of it wont. the intro is hot though.

[Xantavia]

I did this once years ago with a euchre game I found. Took me forever to find one I liked, so throwing a couple bucks towards the guy was no big deal. Its been years, but I though Scorched Earth had an optional donate button, but I was a poor college student at the time so never bothered.

[Elrina]

Yes.

I've actually bought several copies of books from authors I especially care for over the years, as much to support them as to give them away.

Only one was actually offered free by the author online (Warbreaker, Brandon Sanderson), but even that one I bought two paperback copies of, one for me and one to give to a friend as a gift (and the friend had a Nook, so it's not like I needed to).

Side effect is that I tend to feel absolutely zero remorse pirating digital copies of books I've bought in the past, even if I don't still own a physical copy.

[Kayu]

depends on the quality of the book to be honest but if what i read seems worth having as hard copy, i buy it without a problem.

[hey]

ya wrote an instructional guitar book. if you don't play guitar, most of it won't make sense. some of it will, but most of it wont. the intro is hot though.

A pay what you want sales model can definitely work. However, it's a gamble. Most people who download it probably will not pay anything for it. However you may get the odd person who pays $50, or sometimes even $100+ is not unheard of. Typically, it seems to work really well for those that have a dedicated fan base already. Ultimately, there is no way to know which will make you more money. You WILL get people to pay for it even if they don't have to. The question is how many will pay for it, and how much they will pay. Unfortunately, the only way to know, is to put it up and see.

[Emirii]

I love when apps on the app store are free, but have an alternate "donation" download. I always buy the donation download if i like the free version and use it. I guess if i read books, I would do the same with them also. It's a great marketing scheme, seeing as someone doesn't have to take a gamble on liking it after they buy it. Instead you give them the option of trying it first which makes it more likely to get out into the public. For this, i'd imagine there are many people who think like myself who would gladly donate for the free entertainment.

[Souj]

I buy movies I like that I had 1st downloaded, but I can't say if I would do the same for a book. I don't ever read a book more than once. Though I do make more impulse buys on books whereas I hardly ever impulse buy a movie.

[Myrrh_Quetz]

It all depends on if it's good or not.

[Kerberoz]

I'd buy a print version. Not paying for a .pdf no matter how good it is.