It's hot!

It's hot here in Atlanta, our iPhone App is hot, and Twitter is hot with complaints about ShootQ's iPhone App price.

Here are a couple favorites: 

 "$40 for a service I already pay for monthly is a rip off..."

"C'mon ShootQ, quit nickel and diming us…"

"When did ShootQ become $hootQ?!?!"

Ouch!

Here's my take, for what it's worth.

Most iPhone apps cost a couple bucks; the expensive ones are $9.99. So, an app for $39.99? That seems pricey.

We expected this reaction. When Rachel released the announcement, I looked at our team and said "Brace for Impact!"

Let's all cool off and consider a few things:

1) This app does a lot. When you compare the robust functionality of the ShootQ app to the limited functionality of other iPhone apps, you'll realize why ShootQ's app requires a higher investment. Maybe we could charge even more if it made fart sounds. :)

2) This app simplifies business. You'll have quick, on-the-go access to your clients' information, which allows you to serve your clients better. Happy clients make your business grow!

3) This was an expensive app to create. To recoup our expenses, we must sell nearly 3,600 copies of the app. Yes, that adds up to $100,000, and remember that Apple takes 30% of what we sell.

Apps like DoodleJump or iFart sell 3,600 every hour. That's because there are millions of potential buyers for these apps. For ShootQ, there's a limited audience. We won't break even on the ShootQ iPhone app for quite awhile.

4) Have you ever had a customer complain about the price of your 8x10s? If you haven't had complaints, you're probably losing money on prints. At LaCour, we charge $30 for an 8x10, which is nearly the price of our iPhone app. Please keep in mind the business decisions – and business models – that factor into pricing.

5) Consider other stuff you routinely buy for $39.95: one tank of gas, two months of toilet paper, eight frappucinos.

We're in business to serve our customers, so our customers can better serve their customers. We try to keep fees accessible to professional photographers, but as a highly specialized Software as a Service company, ShootQ will not be the cheapest online tool for professional photographers. We will, however, always strive to be the best, most innovative business partner for you. 

We hear you. You don't like paying $39.99 for an iPhone app. 

Would you be willing to join the conversation by posting comments here? We'd love to hear your ideas about bringing the iPhone app to you for a lower fee. Maybe an ad-supported version? Raising subscription prices across the board and offering the iPhone app for free? Creating a limited, lite version for $9.99? You're the most creative minds we know; let's brainstorm here together.

Please know this was not a money-grab. We sincerely want to empower photographers to be profitable and purposeful.

 

Andrew Niesen

ÜberQ
 

Comments

[Derek]

I can understand your logic to a point, but you forgot to put in the article that ShootQ charges all of their monthly customers with a monthly fee. If you have 10,000 people buy the app for $10 (which you would have) then you will break even. Now you just have a lot of angry customers feeling that you are trying to take them for a ride.

I love shootq, and I would love to buy the iPhone app, but seriously, for all the money your faithful customers have already put in your company, $40 is ridiculous!

[Alicia Candelora]

Very well said! I applaud you guys addressing the issues and concerns of your clients immediately. If I had an iPhone, I wouldn't think twice about paying $40 because I know that everything you do is done with excellence!

[J Sandifer]

Have to say that I think it is a bargain! Now there is no need to lug a computer around to make sure we are on top of things! Pricing is always going to be an issue for some, who in turn are probably not valuing their art and time enough. You guys rock..your always developing and making the business of wedding photography easier, congrats to you and your team for the app!

[Ned Jackson]

Very well said. Appreciate that you guys addressed this head on. I continue to value ShootQ and I am glad you continue to innovate products that make my life easier.

[Leeann Marie]

Personally, I have a Droid, so I wouldn't be as appreciative if the iPhone app was available for free with an increase in the subscription fee.

I would like to see some way to export a "relationships" database for inclusion in my phone. Even if I couldn't get to ShootQ easily (although I guess I could..) it would be helpful to have a quick access phonebook for those I haven't added yet.

[Sarah]

Raising monthly fee and offering the App for free would be just wrong. In case you are not aware, not everybody has an Iphone. I would be gone if that happened.

[Jonathan LaCour]

Hey Derek!

Thanks for your candid feedback! I'd really love to have 10,000 customers, do you know where we could track some down? (Wink, wink).

The monthly subscription fees that we charge all of our users go directly into supporting the development, maintenance, and support of ShootQ as a web application. The fact of the matter is, the money we charge our customers just isn't enough to cover the development of the iPhone application.

Thanks again for your passionate response. We love the fact that our users care so much about ShootQ. We'd definitely like you to know that we care about you as well, and if we can find a way to bring the cost down on the iPhone app, we will. I promise!

All the best --

Jonathan LaCour
CTO, ShootQ

[Ty]

Andrew-

My first reaction was the same - holy crap, $40!! Yes, $40 seems like a lot when I am used to spending $1-$5 per app. But I do realize that, just like with cars, computers, and camera equipment, you get what you pay for.

I can't tell you how many times I've spent a few bucks on an app I thought would do what I wanted it to do, only to be disappointed soon after. Then off to buy another, only to be disappointed once again. I understand that developing a QUALITY app takes money and time. I'm glad you put the time and money into developing the app (I'm assuming it was developed with the assistance of a third party that develops apps) instead of quickly throwing something up that was cheap and nonfunctional.

Off to give it a go...

Ty

PS - will this work on my iPad as well? If so, will it only work in 2x mode?

[[ b ]]

Trust me, I know apps are expensive to develop, as I am working on a couple of my own, but charging ANYTHING AT ALL (let alone $40) for an App that gives you access to a service that you are already paying for seems silly, unfair and a poor business decision.

ALL of the apps that I have for my monthly service accounts were FREE. Mail Chimp, Chargify, Wall Street Journal, Square, SmugShot (SmugMug) etc. If you are making money on the monthly service... the app should be free. It should be an extension of your already wonderful service and fabulous product. Just one more reason that a photo studio should choose ShootQ to run their office.

Seriously, for as wonderful as ShootQ is... and the fact that once you get set up with ShootQ it's unlikely you'll cancel, so what's $40? It's like giving your customers a free month and then that's it.

I really think you guys should rethink your position on this one. Just my 2 cents. I could be wrong. It happened once before. ;-)

[Candice k]

My first suggestion is to stop withholding features such as the payment capabilities for higher subscription rates. That's a double stab for me. Paying $40 for an app, to access info I already pay monthly for, that I can't even use all the features on stings twice as bad. :(

[Heather Alkhateeb]

Well said Andrew. While I was a bit surprised by the initial price tag, I stand by my decision to join shootQ as one of the best business decisions I've made since starting. And with that said, I purchased the iPhone app without a second thought.

I believe that you have made the best decision possible regarding the app. I would hate to have paid $40 to soon have ads running through the app so I don't think that's a viable solution. And to be honest, I believe a lite version would be less efficient then simply visiting the mobile site.

Stick to your guns and your philosophy. And for those that are opposed to the price, they have the mobile site to visit for access.

[Julie]

But are you in the business of creating iPhone applications or in creating studio management software? If the latter, then simply recouping the cost of iPhone app development shouldn't be a main consideration in pricing your application. The app presents you with an opportunity to provide a more comprehensive service than your competitors; the app development costs could have been recouped not just with app sales but with an increase in subscriptions (which leads to more apps sales, which leads to more subscriptions, and so on). Basically, the app functions as a marketing vehicle as well as a client tool, and that ROI is harder to measure and therefore harder to factor into your price - but it doesn't seem as if it was factored in at all.

[Jonathan LaCour]

A few more responses for you guys!

Sarah – this is exactly why we didn't want to go this route. If you don't have an iPhone, we don't want your monthly fee to go up just to help pay for the iPhone app.

Leeann Marie – first off, I love your video tutorials! You rock! Second, you can export your relationships from ShootQ into vCard format and then put those onto your phone if you'd like. Simply go to the relationships tab and then click "export."

For *all* of you asking for an Android app, we're definitely tracking the interest of developing one. Our current statistics show that a very small percentage of our user base uses Android, but that may change over the course of the next few months. I'm constantly evaluating the needs of our users.

Keep it comin' folks.

- Jonathan LaCour
CTO, ShootQ

[Jan Garcia]

Just wondering...why put so much money into developing an app that you knew would receive so much negative feedback based on its price? Maybe you wanted to provide a way for mobile users to increase their productivity but does that outweigh the negative PR that you knew was coming? Just thinking out loud...

BTW, I love ShootQ, but I can wait till I get on a computer.

[Jonathan LaCour]

Candice K: I totally hear you, and completely understand that criticism. In light of our users feedback, I will be completely removing this restriction as soon as we push the next update.

- Jonathan LaCour
CTO, ShootQ

[ed pingol]

Good points on defending. $40 STILL SUCKS. $9.99 sale for a day!

//ed

[Andrew Sorlie]

Guys, Quality is worth investing in. ShootQ is Quality. ShootQ has helped me book events which have put money in my bank account.

Settle down on comparing this ap to other aps. This ap will further help you to make money. It will help you connect better with your clients and quickly make new ones. Ever been asked your availability while on a job, and then had to fumble through your Safari browser to figure that out?

Having an administrator would likely cost you $250 per day if not more when you factor in benefits and for you Americans (I"m from the great white north), don't forget about Health Insurance...

In regards to 'double dipping' - this ap is not what you signed up for/and it's not what you're paying a monthly service for.

That sounds like the customer who pays your your Daily shooting fee, but then expects - well - because you took the photos and you have them, I should get the album and the prints for free!!

That's ridiculous!

Most of you have already burned $40 in time by not only tweeting your displeasure, but reading other people's tweets or comments. Buy the Ap. Get back to work. Quit Whining! (is that how you spell Whining?)

Also - I'd like Version 1.1 to include some form of a fart sound generator.

[Josh Mitchell]

I am new to ShootQ, but I am loving it, and have up until this point been singing it's praises. Sure it costs money to develop software, and I could have stomached a $5 or maybe even a $10 charge, but to be perfectly honest that's the first time I've seen an app that expensive AT ALL. You guys had the opportunity to WOW your customers, to really offer a fantastic tool to us and further cement your brand loyalty, but in my opinion you really screwed up. I would have had one more thing to add to your list of perks when I talk to other photographers about ShootQ- "They've got an awesome FREE iPhone app that really helps." That sort of customer referrals are what gets you new subscriptions, that's what drew me to ShootQ- the recommendation of another photographer. Not sure how the statement- "They have the most expensive app I've seen," is going to really help out with future subscriptions. Yes I do spend money all of the time on new gadgets and services to improve my productivity, but I will not spend $40 on an iPhone app when I am already paying a fairly pricey monthly service fee. Drop the price. Seriously!

[Jonathan LaCour]

Julie: I hear you, but that approach would have required us to wait until we had enough subscribers to pump money into the development of the iPhone app, which we don't currently have, and we didn't have 8 months ago when we started developing the iPhone app.

We received a constant stream of requests for an iPhone app, and wanted to create an awesome one and get it in the hands of our users as quickly as possible, this is the best way we could think of to do that.

Jan: I believe that over the next 6 months, as we continue to work our tails off on making ShootQ and its iPhone app better and better, the negative feedback will disappear.

- Jonathan LaCour
CTO, ShootQ

[Gwendolyn Tundermann]

My husband is pretty outraged about the cost, but I did consider how much people complain about the cost of photography and how much money probably went into the development of the app. However, I hate the AT&T network so I'm looking forward to going back to Verizon and probably won't be using my iPhone for much longer. Are you going to create an iPad app or will we be able to fully utilize the ShootQ site on there? Right now I can only see a few things on ShootQ when I go to Safari on my iPhone.

[Julie]

So, you don't spend money on marketing at all? You spent nothing at all on promoting ShootQ until you had enough subscribers to pay for it?

[Ron Preist]

$40 is simply too much for this app, PERIOD. If you spent $100,000 for development, you spent way too much and that is your poor management decision, not ours. I think you could of spent your money more wisely by providing a decent user forum for us, your customers. Are you going to charge us to use that too once you get it's developed, assuming you ever do follow through with the it?

I don't know anyone that spends that much money on toilet paper a month, do you? For $40, it should do a whole lot more than make fart sounds. I know you were trying to be funny, but that was a stupid thing to say. I can imagine what my customers would say (think) if I made such a comment.

I hope you get your investment back, but I doubt I will purchase it. I've always had good words to say about ShootQ and I've always been glad to tell others about you. However, if you raise the monthly fee any more than it already is, especially to cover the cost for an iPhone app then you WILL loose my business.

[David Medina]

Shocked does not begin to describe what I felt and feel. Try irate, upset, beyond belief, dumbfounded... Words like stupid, sh**t, WTF, unbelievable, crazy, absurd, etc came on to mind...

I expected to be charge something but not $40. Guys, I am sure it was a business decision, but a bad one. One that I fear will cost you more than what you paid for its development.

I will not... NOT... pay $40 for a iphone app and period. I must draw the line somewhere and here it is.

I honestly don't care how much its development cost or if you paid $110k for it... if you did, you got ripped off!

In a way, I am glad it happened because it has made me re-evaluate my dependence on online services with recurrent cost.

I believe you overestimate the importance and usefulness of ShootQ. Yes, I love it and works great, but do not forget you guys are not the only one in the block anymore. You have competition now and better price.

But what bothers me is that it seems that all this "online services" that are popping out everywhere - services without which many business ran successfully before- are telling us that we need them to be successful. And of course our gross is been bled out to this services that we have been led to believe are essential.

For us, small studio, every penny we spend, specially in this economy, has to be accounted for. It has to do work for us, save us time. Honestly, accessibility to ShootQ on my iphone is not worth $40.

[William]

ShootQ is one of the few companies that people just love to work with. They are always adding features and providing great customer service.
Along with Squarespace, they are the best money spent for my business. However, Squarespace offered a decent app as a way to access their services. It seems like most companies that have an app to access their existing paid services either offer the app for free or for a reasonable price.
I still love and recommend ShootQ but this put a small ding in the otherwise shiny exterior.
Please, at least give us a good list of the features so we know what we are getting if we purchase the app.
Thanks.

[Jessika]

I have been waiting for this app for a long time because I love ShootQ and I love how organized I am now because of it. I was so excited to get the email that the app was available that I quickly went to the App Store... only to have my heart broken!!!

Since I've had my iPhone, I've been using the full version of the site in Safari with few complaints, and that's what I'm going to continue to do until the price of this app drops under $15.

I used to tell everyone that ShootQ was the way to go, that they needed it, and that it was awesome. Now, I feel like one of my best friends has stabbed me in the back! I know that sounds melodramatic, but hey, we're artists, and we're an emotional sort.