Hi, I currently have an app that has the following business model:
Upfront: Free In-App: You can either subscribe monthly or pay a one-time-fee to unlock everything. Both via IAP.
I would like to move to a one-time-fee upfront via the normal App Store payment.
I am wondering what the best (and simplest way of doing so is). Please comment!
Options I see:
Make the app "paid"; remove all IAP from within the app.
Pros:
- Easiest to implement.
Cons:
- All people who downloaded the app for free before can now re-download for free and I don't see a dime.
- What to do with existing subscribers? Can I "developer-cancel" their subscriptions somehow, so that they don't continue to pay? Alternatively, I could ask them do that themselves on App launch.
Make app "paid" but keep IAP for people who have downloaded for free.
This would require to to somehow get the "paid price" from the app receipt. Not sure if this is possible. Alternatively, I could check for the period of the first download (if possible).
Pros:
- I don't lose money from the "I downloaded free before"-people.
Cons:
- I need to maintain two payment systems + it will be potentially confusing because some people can IAP, others can't.
Move to a new app SKU for the paid-upfront version.
Pros:
- New app would be clean.
Cons:
- I'd like the people who unlocked the "one-time-unlock" IAP to download that new SKU for free. Is that possible? Probably not. So I'd charge them twice which I would like to avoid. Alternatively, I could somehow validate their IAP in app and ask them to contact me with some proof to provide them a free promo code for the new SKU. Not sure if this is allowed per App Store rules.
Any other ideas?
