[General Topics] JVH3:
Testers in the real world are paid money. They are actually paid pretty close to the amount a developer makes. They don't pay to test. Granted testers in the real world are trained and provide a detailed description of the problem and detailed steps on how to reproduce the problem.

I have no issues with charging for a product, especially a product that is your own development. SPB Mobile Shell does it.

I actually have no issues with charging for the pre release copy.

You are full in your rights to not freely distribute or to not distribute.

You wrote it. It's yours. It's just against forum rules to charge for it here.

No one forces you to respond with help configuring it on their device.

No one forces you to test it on their device either.

You have stated that your intention is to distribute it freely.

You could easily distibute it freely with no need for a registration or unlock code.

To limit how this affects you, only respond personally to users that donate or provide detailed test information to you in a form that you desire.

Anyone that is truly providing accurate and detailed information about the app to you so that you can make corrections, should not be required to pay. They are the ones providing the information to make it a product that is truly useful to the public. If anyone should be paying, it should be the ones that receive the non beta version that you and the testers have put hours into.

I do think that the vast majority of the beta testers that paid to be a beta tester really are only paying because they want the beta copy and are not providing you with any test data.

I personally think that you should be paid for the work you have done by those that use the final version.

At this point, I am left wondering if there will be a final version.

It kind of seems like you went off pouting because a few people did not like how you are marketing it and were vocal about it.

It comes down to this. If you want to sell it, then sell it.

If the donations are for the time you spent developing it, then you are selling it.

If the donations are for helping people set it up, then you are sellling that service.

If the donation is to buy additional hardware, then put up a list of the hardware with prices that you want to test on and need. Display an updated total of donated funds and purchase. Also, people upgrade devices and sometimes are willing to donate their old device. I have received a 2nd Fuze and an original Tilt from a user as a donation.

Ultimately, if your goal is to make money, then be honest about your goal. There is nothing wrong with making money. It allows you to provide for yourself and those you care about. Getting money for it also gives you a good justification for the time you spend doing this instead of some work around the house.

Maybe you have recieved tens of thousands of dollars in donations. If that's the case, congratulations, you marketted it well. I doubt that you have received that much. I have over 5000 users of my weather city editor, and have not received even $500. I don't require them to donate to me to test my app. I'd really like to know if what you did generated large revenue for you. Maybe I need to shift my marketting.:rolleyes:

I think you would have been better off posting the beta as a free beta while retaining all rights to market the final version. You would have received alot of feedback. Limited your responses to only those that paid or provided useful feedback. Then sell your final version through Microsoft Marketplace or something.

Right now you get 2 kinds of feedback.

There are people kissing your ass because they want you to feel appreciated and to continue to develop it. Many so they can eventually get something for nothing.

There are people posting because they are upset with how you are marketing it.

As a developer, I think it would be nice if there were a way that people could donate to an XDA account. Then distibute it how they wish. Each user would have an account. Then, you could request a paypal payment when you want. This would make all those 1 and 2 dollar donations add up to more significant amounts so the paypal transaction would become a smaller percentage, since you would get your donation as 1 larger distribution.

So, I could deposit $50. Minus the paypal fee, it would be maybe $46.

Then, I could send $10 to NRGZ28, $10 to shapps, $6 to Baly, etc.

Since others could be doing this too, it would add up for these people to larger amounts. $100 as one paypal transaction is something like $95. $100 as 100 $1 transactions is about $65.

I think it would be great if you would finish TouchXperience. From the preview, it looks pretty cool. When you release it, I will try it. If I like it, I will donate appropriately. I have donated to many of the developers and encourage others to as well.