> Regarding the margins: Just my two cents, but we have been a software > reseller/developer since 1982 and expect a 40% to 50% margin on the products > we resell and support. I can assure you, with the costs of doing business > as a brick and mortar, an average gross margin in the 40-50% range does not > allow more than a 9% to 12% bottom line (that's if you do everything right). > As an ESD only, those numbers may improve, but 30% does not seem greedy. > However, 100% is out and out thievery.
brick and mortar companies actually have products to deliver, physical. with shareware, it is very much virtual products. its all binary, no real physical packaging involved. also, they dont have shelves to put this stuff on, so, rent for space is very cheap (its on a website). things are way different than brick and mortar days - especially with ESD. now, if i was to strike a deal with someone like best buy etc, i would expect a 50% margin. they have to shelf it, stock it and sell it. as a *real physical* product. the benefit of using an ESD is exposure. but if they are not going to do anything special to make you stand out - you are relying on the user/consumer to be able to find your applications within the vast array of applications that are available. the better place to spend money? magazines, palm mail shots (from the source) and stuff that actually is a real advert - not a banner on some website. how much does it cost the ESD to send an email to all its clients? not much. but, if we were sending paper letters (ie: via mail), of course, there is more cost. with the electronic age, things get cheaper. the resellers margins should get cheaper. if we all think brick and mortar; why not setup our own ESD sites :) i have had a few great ideas about replacements for those giants like palmgear/handango/etc - and, there are ways to do it where the developer gets the focus; and, they benefit. personally, a central place of transactions is what we are after. not having to log into 5-6 different sites to find customer info. --- Aaron Ardiri [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.mobilewizardry.com/members/aaron_ardiri.php [profile] -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/
