Request: Lower price

There is always a place for lost subjects who apparently don't fit the previous forums. This is the one...
daxliniere
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:59 am

Request: Lower price

Post by daxliniere »

Hello all,
Yes, I know I may have made a controversial request (especially as my first!), but the author seems like a pretty cool guy and I think he'd want honesty.
I think this is a really good idea for a program, BUT I think 20euros is a LOT of money to ask.
I think around 10euros would be something I could afford.

I discovered BirdieSync from a website discussing the syncing of WM PDAs to Thunderbird's Lightning.
They mentioned 2 viable options, FinchSync and BirdieSync. I was very surprised and discouraged to see BirdieSync was so expensive.
I honestly believe more people would be interested in (and hence buy) this product if it were less expensive.

Ok, I'm ready, let your arrows fly *cringe*

All the best,
Dax Liniere.

Birdy
Site Admin
Posts: 3118
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:43 am
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Re: Request: Lower price

Post by Birdy »

Hello,

The question of the price is a tricky one. I think that the main problem with BirdieSync is the apparent simplicity of the product. When you think of it, synchronization seems something simple: you just have to read an appointment on a system for instance and write it on another one. But it is difficult for people to realize the amount of work that BirdieSync necessitate to be developed (almost 3 years of very intense development). Thinking of it, I would never have thought that it would have taken so much time and energy. There were a lot of complex problems to be solved due to the multiple environments and technologies that were not supposed to work together. The complexity lays inside... Nevertheless, best efforts were made to hide all this complexity to the user and try to make things simple for him. So from my point of view, I don't think that 20 € is unfair based on this amount of work and for the service which is offered to users, knowing that sometimes, BirdieSync will be used everyday. Some other people even reported that they considered the price modest. American users could think differently though because of the present low dollar rate. So I would think that the price of BirdieSync is right. But of course I suppose it's possible to think differently. So maybe more people would buy BirdieSync if it would be cheaper. But the question is to know if it would compensate the difference of price and the additional load of support...
I will take the opportunity to thank all the users who decided to register BirdieSync. Without you, it would have been impossible to develop BirdieSync and try to offer the best service and support.

Note: I think I will move this thread to the Miscellaneous sub-forum. :wink:
Birdy

Justus
Posts: 34
Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:42 am

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by Justus »

I am very sorry but I have to say:
You get what you payed for.... And I want a program that works and in case of trouble I want service. These two things causes costs. Of course would I be happy if I could get BirdieSync with the same service for low, but this might be impossible I suggest... But to bring just a bit comfort to you; BirdieSync is one of the programs which are worth to be bought. I bought BirdieSync when it was in v1.2 (or something like that) and until now I did not regret!
@Birdie: enough ego-polish! Go ahead!!!
Best regards
I am using BirdieSync on:
Windows 7 Ultimate x64, BirdieSync v2.3.2.2, Thunderbird v3.1.10, Lightning v1.0b2

Mobile:
Gingerbread v2.3.4 on HTC Leo

giorgio
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:57 pm

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by giorgio »

I agree that the price is just right. It is certainly not an easy task to write, maintain and support such an application, and this one is well written, properly maintained and excellently supported. I'm saying this despite the fact that I chose TB over Outlook because it was free, then I ended up replacing my Symbian smartphone with a WM one for EUR 300 so that I can synchronise using the EUR 20 BirdieSync :?

Cloonix
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:31 am

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by Cloonix »

20 EUR allows me not to use Outlook. 20 EUR for not needing even install Outlook. 20 EUR for one step away from ********* Outlook. I love you Birdiesync and 20 EUR is just the right price.

hacori
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:31 am

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by hacori »

A few weeks ago I have downloaded the program and have tested it since then. I agree that it's very simple to use and therefore very good. However, because don't often synchronize my PDA (basically because of the contacts) the price does appear too high for me. Instead I will probably switch back to use outlook. I would definitely reconsider my decision if the price would be reduced by 5-10 Euros.

daxliniere
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:59 am

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by daxliniere »

Hi Hacori,
Y'see, this is the same page I'm on.
I really like how well it runs and easy it is, but that's just not worth au$35. Sorry :(


BTW, I do buy shareware all the time.

vava
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:01 pm

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by vava »

Hi, just want to say that although I as a fellow programmer fully understand that syncing isn't the easy task to do but as a customer it doesn't mean that much to me. What I loose without sync is just ability to look through tasks and see alarms on my desktop computer but they still be there in PDA which is always with me anyway. 20 euros is a lot of money for that. 10 is acceptable.
On the other hand there are free solutions, they aren't that simple to use but they free and will work for Linix too. That just makes value/price ratio for BirdieSync even smaller.
I'm sorry and it is just my opinion anyway, it doesn't really matter.

giorgio
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:57 pm

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by giorgio »

Well as a customer I would always like to pay as little as possible :wink: .

I paid those 20 euros and it didn't hurt and I will tell you why. Windows mobiles don't come cheap, you are likely to pay at least 200 EUR or more. Paying another 20 to be able to sync with TB is a fair price in comparison.

I guess BirdieSync is for people for whom synchronisation IS important... if you say 20 EUR is too much because synchronisation is NOT so important for you, than perhaps you are not part of the target group... :wink:.

What Birdie could consider is releasing a cheaper "lite" version of BirdieSync, which does only address book syncing, for example, or includes software upgrades only for a limited period of time (after which you'd have to pay an upgrade fee).

All in all I think that this is a great piece of software, and there are not many alternatives, so if we as users want to keep it going, we need to make sure Birdie makes enough money on it...

giorgio

daxliniere
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:59 am

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by daxliniere »

With all due respect, that's where you're wrong. Synchronisation is very important to me, but au$35 is a lot of money. (For example, you could almost buy 2 CD albums for that much)

giorgio
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:57 pm

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by giorgio »

Sorry I was responding to vava's comments: "What I loose without sync is just ability to look through tasks and see alarms on my desktop computer but they still be there in PDA which is always with me anyway. 20 euros is a lot of money for that".

Anyway, at the end of the day the question is: would you sell more than twice the amount your are selling now if you cut the price by half?

In my opinion not. For most people who own Windows mobile phones an EUR 20 expense should not be prohibitive. Well, that's just my opinion, putting myself in Birdie's shoes... could be wrong of course.

vava
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:01 pm

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by vava »

Yes, you're probably right, I'm just not is the target group here, I'll better spend this money buying Opera Mobile, which is important piece of software to me.
20 euros isn't THAT much money but it's not 5 bucks which I couldn't care less about, there should be a good enough reason to spend that kind of money and being able to sync just isn't.

hacori
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:31 am

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by hacori »

Compared to others, I'm obviously not within the target group either.
However, I would really be willing to pay for BirdieSync, if it were somewhat less expensive (as mentioned earlier), at least not with the current exchange rate.

Anyway, I just want to add that I have recently downloaded "FreeMiCal" which easily transfers the calender entries from Outlook into Sunbird/Lightning.
Furthermore, I have found out that I can transfer my contacts from Outlook into Thunderbird when I first copy first into Outlook Express. It's not very comfortable. But at least it's working and for my uses I don't need the reverse option. So, until I find a cheaper sync software or the exchange rate (EUR-CHF) drops quite a lot, I will remain with the uncomfortable alternative.

ctash
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:26 pm

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by ctash »

Well, I held out as long as I could... but I finally pulled the trigger... the conversion rate sucks though (paypal: 1 USD = 0.609947EUR) so it cost me $32.71 US. I think a price of $25 US would be much nicer and fitting, but it is what it is....

Simon_Warner
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:04 pm

Re: Request: Lower price

Post by Simon_Warner »

I could not find info for how long the license is .... what is the license policy ?

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