Prices Of Digital Items In The Android & iOS Apps
Introduction
As you may know, we have created Fan Android and Fan iOS applications, and now we are about to add an option to sell all your items from within our apps!
Here is what you should know about purchasing items in the apps. Digital and physical items are purchased in different ways.
In-app purchases and Apple or Google Pay are different technologies that support different use cases. The in-app purchases are used to sell virtual goods in the app, such as songs, MxRRs, karaoke versions and artist premieres. Apple Pay or Google Pay in the app is used to sell physical goods like physical albums, merchandise, meet-and-greet events, etc. Keep in mind that purchases can be made in the app either as an in-app purchase for smaller digital items, or using Apple Pay for some digital items and all physical items.
In-App Purchases
While the digital purchase is offered by the app, it is the app store that handles the billing for the purchase. As a result, Apple and Google have some specific pricing and commission retaining policies.
Pricing
If you want to sell your product on the website, you define the price for which your fans can buy it. However, if you want to sell something through the App Store, there’s a small difference. To be more precise, you have to set a specific price tier. Each price tier corresponds to a different price that the app will sell for on the App Store, which in the US ranges from $0.99 to $499.99. In other words, tiers are certain price points. In the US App Store, the first 50 tiers increase in value in $1 increments from $0.99 to $49.99. Beyond tier 50, the prices increase in an accelerated nature.
Commission
At this time, Apple and Google fees are 30%. Apple and Google cover the cost of card transactions fees so this is a big help on small purchases which is mostly what is purchased using the in-app store. We try to make sure that no physical items are purchased using the in-app payment system. We push physical items to Apple Pay or Google Pay where they charge regular card transaction fees.
Web & Apps Digital Items Sale
Let’s compare the preliminary proceeds that you get when selling your items on your website vs. in the app.
| Tiers/Prices | Proceeds (In-app purchase*) | Proceeds (Web purchase, PayPal payment processor**) | Proceeds (Web purchase, Stripe payment processor***) |
| $0.99 | $0.69 | $0.70 | $0.51 |
| $1.99 | $1.39 | $1.50 | $1.33 |
| $2.99 | $2.09 | $2.30 | $2.15 |
| $5.99 | $4.19 | $4.70 | $4.62 |
| $10.99 | $7.69 | $8.70 | $8.72 |
| $15.99 | $11.19 | $12.70 | $12.83 |
| $20.99 | $14.69 | $16.70 | $16.93 |
| $30.99 | $21.69 | $24.77 | $25.14 |
| $40.99 | $28.69 | $32.92 | $33.35 |
| $50.99 | $35.69 | $41.07 | $41.56 |
| $99.99 | $69.99 | $81.01 | $81.79 |
| $299.99 | $209.99 | $244.03 | $245.99 |
| $399.99 | $279.99 | $325.54 | $328.09 |
*Commissions applied at in-app purchase:
- Google or Apple commission: 30%
- Rhythmic Rebellion commission: 15%
** Commissions applied at web purchase with PayPal payment service:
- PayPal commission for prices $26.67 and lower: $0.09 + 4.99%
- PayPal commission for prices $26.68 and higher: $0.49 + 3.49%
- Rhythmic Rebellion commission: 15%
*** Commissions applied at web purchase with Stripe payment service:
- Stripe commission: $0.30 + 2.90%
- Rhythmic Rebellion commission: 15%
What else can affect your proceeds:
- Additional percentage-based fee for international transactions for sales on your website. Stripe and PayPal charge 1.5% of international sales.
- The number of items in the order. The flat fee the PayPal and Stripe charge per transaction is divided between all items in your order. The more items in one order your fan places, the more you get for every item.
Apple Pay & Google Pay
As we already mentioned, Apple Pay and Google Pay are used for purchasing physical items.
Commissions for the website sale and Apple and Google Pay are the same.