Jonathan Kay is the Founder & COO of Apptopia (https://www.apptopia.com/), the online marketplace for buying & selling mobile app ownership. Jack Herrick is the Founder & CEO of WikiHow, the 165th most visited site in the world.
Good to know. I was thinking more along the lines of long-term effects- what type of effects do you think it will have on app development trends in general moving forward (if any at all)?
Yes, good point. We're very experienced in app valuations and I agree with you 100% that asking is not getting. But this app has millions of users, which is a huge deal because so many people can be reached through the app! In addition, they are only available to 25% of people with iPhones since the app only works for the iPhone 4 & 4s.. think about how crazy their user base will be once the iPhone 5 comes out next month! This is a huge asset you can not overlook during the valuation process.
Heads up - I'm from the Apptopia team- but yes they're asking $1 M & the app has made over $1.4 M total already(whereas apps like Instagram & SocialCam got acquired for much more with no revenue at all).. In terms of a buyer there's no guarantee, you're right about that, but big companies like Energizer would benefit so much from acquiring the app as a branding play that the $1M wouldn't mean much.
That is a good point - I'd like to actual before & after prices as well.
What I personally find most interesting is what this means about the difference between Android customers and iPhone customers in terms of price sensitivity. It may be strategic to price the same app differently across different platforms in some cases if possible.
It's not specifically for me building an app it's for a User Guide I'm putting together for our content on our company's website. That being said, in what specific situation would it be useful to use a backend service and what type of situation would make it better to create your own? Or does this depend more on the developer's experience maybe? I'm also interested in cost differences overall.
Are you familiar with https://www.apptopia.com/? The site helps facilitate small scale mobile app acquisitions through our marketplace. Full disclosure- I just joined them team at Apptopia, but our company can provide you with legal protection, security, escrow services, and a transfer specialist if you do decide to go through with the process.
As a side note, we also specialize in app valuation, so no matter what you decide to do I can help you understand how much your app is really worth if you shoot me a quick email with any stats.
In response to your last question, my advice would be to ask yourself how serious you are about integrating the app with your shopping experience. You should assess your future goals relative to mobile and reevaluate once you have an accurate valuation of your app.
As someone who was a job seeker for months, I found most success using LinkedIn. So to have a site that takes the fundamentals behind optimizing your network one step further seems really appealing. The only thing people may have trouble with is mixing business with personal.
Thanks! I understand some of the implications associated with brand recognition, but I was curious about the legal side of things so that helps. Also, does anyone know how likely it is or how often these lawsuits occur regarding mobile app development?