30% fee for on demand coaching?

The only thing I can tell you is that Apple provide a lot of value for that 30%. You get global tax/VAT collection and remittance. You get global compliance with all privacy laws. You get global compliance with certain consumer laws such as display of pricing. Apple handles all of the transactions, refunds, chargebacks, licensing, etc. Money shows up like magic and your accountant knows what to do with it.

Otherwise, no one can give you any kind of pre-approval for your app. Apple certainly won't. Even if some one else tries, they don't know the details of your app and they have no control over Apple. Use IAP and a whole lot of problems magically go away.

Thanks for your response. The 30% fee might be workable with digital products.

Our research has determined that virtual coaching is indeed subject to 30% app store tax. We can't pay our professional coaches fairly if we give 30% revenue to any app store, and we don't believe in creating a business that pays it's providers below market value compensation (and sad that this 30% tax encourages this).

I really hope this fee is re-evaluated for live services. We have decided to do a website based MVP and if all goes well, we may stay as a web based business until this rule changes.

Are you able to provide any information on the research you have done to determine this? It was my understanding that live services such as yours aren't allowed to use IAP.

You have to clearly define what "live" and "virtual" mean in the context of your app. If this service is delivered within the app, then it must use in-app purchase. If the service is delivered outside of the app, then it cannot use in-app purchase. But all the other guidelines still apply. If this is a service that you can easily provide over the web, then that alone should make it ineligible for the App Store. If an app is just a web site, then it should be a web site.

Otherwise, with respect to that 30% fee, there is no separate criteria for "digital product". You are talking about a financial transaction that could occur anywhere in the world. If you do that over your web site, you are still responsible for compliance with worldwide sales tax/VAT, privacy laws, and consumer laws. And since this is a "live coach" you might also have additional layers of regulation to deal with. Strange as it may seem, people who run criminal enterprises over the internet have thought of all kinds of ways to get around laws and this may be one of them. Part of Apple's 30% fee includes an infrastructure to help ensure your compliance with all of these laws. If you don't want to pay that fee it means either 1) you think you can do that compliance cheaper or 2) you don't intend to comply. Either way, you are setting yourself up for a rocky ride.

1) Does virtual coaching with a live person qualify as "physical services"? ie IAP not required.

yes it does. (but see below)

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2) Can users be connected to the provider within the app (through a 3rd party) and not go through Apple's IAP? _

yes (but see below)

3) ..... can the user provide their phone number and we'll call them outside the app? The app then connects user/provider for a promised coaching service and uses 3rd party payment. We would then provide coaching via phone or zoom. _

yes (but see below)

BELOW:
Apple will most likely approve* the app as you have suggested without requiring IAP because most of the value is from the service being provided by a real person. Were the service 'virtual' - for example a question is asked and the answer is selected from a bunch of prerecorded answers to FAQs - then that would require IAP. That being said, in reality you are selling two things in the app. One is the service itself - no IAP. The second is the cool app that connects you to a great person to answer the question - and that is more appropriately sold through IAP. How much value is in the connection and how much value is in the actual service? You might consider selling 'access to our service provider list' for $0.99 through IAP and then charge a per-hour cost for each actual question/answer session.

• all IMHO - no one can say what App Review will or will not approve.