The web is saturated with free-ness. In fact some have argued that users have come to expect things to be free, and certainly to some extent that is true. However it’s important to understand that that doesn’t mean people won’t also pay for the same things they can get for free elsewhere.
A year ago I told a couple of programmers we were going to launch a marketplace for people to buy WordPress themes and they looked at me like I’d just said I was going to try selling the oxygen we breathe. Why would anyone pay for WordPress themes when there are so many free ones around?
And I’ll admit it does sound contradictory. The reality is however people will still pay and for a number of a reasons:
- ConvenienceNot everyone has time to look for bargains. That’s why the whole world doesn’t clip coupons before they go shopping. You either have time to clip coupons to save money. Or you have money to save time on clipping coupons. Don’t underestimate the convenience market.
- LegitimacyIt’s commonly known that you can download pretty much any movie, television show, song, game, software, and just about anything else for free online with a little bit of know-how and persistence. But hey, it doesn’t make it the right thing to do. Whether it’s for the principles or for fear of the law, there are plenty of people who would rather pay for this content.
- Reward the CreatorIt’s hard making things – whether its music, movies, themes, illustrations or a book, the creator deserves to be paid for content, and there’s a good portion of the population who will even go out of their way to reward the creator.
- Quality and SupportFree is many things, but it isn’t always a license for high quality or fast support, often these things alone are well worth paying for. That’s why many open source companies do a healthy business offering free products with paid support, and why the freemium business model has been so successful with startups.
Late last year we launched ThemeForest to buy and sell WordPress themes and sure enough the sales have been high, with the best sellers having sold thousands of dollars worth. It’s been the same story with FlashDen and GraphicRiver where there are similarly large amounts of free content available online, but where again the market has borne out the supposition that people will still pay for those products.
Of course there are still plenty of people who won’t pay for anything, and that is how it should be. Nonetheless it’s a good idea to remember that the small fraction who will pay is often more than enough to build a business on.
Is there anything people won’t pay for? Well in fact as it turns out, even oxygen can be sold … go figure.
Just like selling water
I agree. I think people are generally good – and want to rewards others for their hard work.
By the way – this new design is so much better, and more “you”.
@Timothy: Ain’t that the truth!
@Jeffrey: Thanks, it sure is readable isn’t it
Excellent analysis!
People will always pay for quality. Especially if you value your own time, then you will be far more likely to pay for something that will save you time, which for most of us equals money.
I really think that especially with small purchases (themes, e-books, etc) people will pay to get that quality.
Id you’ll really create A GOOD proposal on this market than I can promise … you can shoot!!
But you are talking about projects sucn as ThemeForest, FlashDen and GraphicRiver … this ia awesome project and you have to be superstar web manager to repeat theim success
I would like to mention that another reason for why people prefer to buy premium themes is uniqueness. I am sure that many buyers of themes had no plans to change their design, but when there appears a new theme that thought comes suddenly to them, and I convinced myself about this after I released my own wordpress theme. (sorry for my bad English)
I’m liking the new design, Collis. It’s lightweight, but more Envato-ish than the ThemeForest one you were using previously.
btw, Congrats with your new design Collis! Looks very great: simply & readable!
perfect timing, I’m working on a service app which is paid for, but there are tones of free alternatives.
So thanks for the peptalk.
One of the best examples I heard of when it comes to selling was on the topic of desire. The salesmen basically said if you’re in the desert and someone has a map to fresh water you’ll pay whatever you have to. So, if you make something that people want that much and get the eyeballs on you, people will pay for it, even if there are free options out there.
@Collis
Nice post
btw: Check your email, there is a nice supprise waiting for you
i like to pay for beautiful design, im a themeforest client
I agree with your list Collis. I’d also add quality as a number one in the list. You always here the old adage that you get what you pay for. But it’s true. Someone who values their skills and is confident they can produce a reliable awesome product should be paid more if they follow through and execute a good product.
You can put more time into it knowing you will be rewarded for it. It doesn’t mean you can’t do awesome work for free. But when you do things that require payment you are holding your work to a higher standard of quality simply for being rarer and for being unique.
If everyone owned the most sought after car it wouldn’t be sought after anymore. If everyone owned high commercial pricey fonts than they would be worthless and other fonts would fill it’s place.
This is so true!
Why would anyone pay for water as it’s relative for free. Because it’s better!