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View Full Version : Pay What You Want on the DMs Guild - An Analysis and Explanation



JamesIntrocaso
2016-02-23, 09:34 AM
Hey all. I've got six Pay What You Want products on the DMs Guild and a lot of people have been asking me how it's been going and why I chose to go PWYW. I have an answer to both in my latest blog post (http://worldbuilderblog.me/2016/02/23/pay-what-you-want-products-and-blog-announcement/). It's sort of interesting to see how the DMs Guild is doing for at least one creator a month in.

What are other people's opinions about PWYW products? I've seen everything from, "They're great!" to "Only creators who don't value their work make that garbage." Let's keep it civil, but I'd love to get a feel for what most people think.

Winter_Wolf
2016-02-23, 11:08 AM
I'd either go with free or set price per item. Personally I'd never use it, because there are enough people such as myself who feel like paying zero, and don't suffer from a guilty conscience when zero is explicitly a valid option. When you say "pay what you want," and what I want is to pay zero, that's explicit and within the parameters. Any sort of reasoning, cajoling, or attempt at a guilt trip just strikes me as passive aggression. That crap makes me walk regardless of product quality, no matter the product. I have to deal with absurd amounts of people selling things daily. That said if your chosen model works for you and you're happy with it, more power to you.

pwykersotz
2016-02-23, 11:49 AM
I often try before I buy with pwyw. I grab the product for zero, test it, and if it's something I use then I go back and pay. I've bought a few products this way.

AMFV
2016-02-23, 11:54 AM
Hey all. I've got six Pay What You Want products on the DMs Guild and a lot of people have been asking me how it's been going and why I chose to go PWYW. I have an answer to both in my latest blog post (http://worldbuilderblog.me/2016/02/23/pay-what-you-want-products-and-blog-announcement/). It's sort of interesting to see how the DMs Guild is doing for at least one creator a month in.

What are other people's opinions about PWYW products? I've seen everything from, "They're great!" to "Only creators who don't value their work make that garbage." Let's keep it civil, but I'd love to get a feel for what most people think.

I think that it can be really good to hook people into a system, if you've got something that hooks people then it's a pretty good idea. Or if you're offering a bonus kind of thing. I think that LoTFP has probably about the best approach, they have a few adventures that are PWYW and they state at the outset that the funds are going mostly to the developers. They also completely clear you to pay nothing. That builds brand loyalty. What you don't want is to have ALL of your products as PWYW, since you wind up then with less potential for eventual profit.

Peat
2016-02-23, 01:28 PM
I often try before I buy with pwyw. I grab the product for zero, test it, and if it's something I use then I go back and pay. I've bought a few products this way.

I keep meaning to go back and dab some money down for stuff I liked but being lazy and disorganised, I never do. No idea on practical ways to make that easier.

I like PWYW. It allows me to explore neat ideas I wouldn't look at otherwise. The amount I pay is pretty much always zero, but it keeps me interested in games, which does sometimes lead to purchases down the line.

And I like people who do PWYW.

Anonymouswizard
2016-02-23, 01:42 PM
What are other people's opinions about PWYW products? I've seen everything from, "They're great!" to "Only creators who don't value their work make that garbage." Let's keep it civil, but I'd love to get a feel for what most people think.

I'm torn on PWYW products, for a pair of reasons.

I'm a student, so what I want to pay comes to a grand total of £0.00, at best.
It doesn't feel right to me to not pay anything, especially without publisher verification if that's alright. I think the only PWYW product I've ever actually bought was Fate Core, and that's because I was peeking before buying a physical copy.

I personally think developers should be free to charge what they want, and if they want to charge PWYW that's fine, I do think it's a decent option for people who are just starting out. Would I do it? Maybe, if I ever get my game into a full rulebook I'd likely do PWYW pdf with a fixed price print option (assuming I can get it all sorted out). But I don't feel like it lessens the quality of the product, I see it as them wanting to make it available to people who can afford to pay whatever.

Lvl 2 Expert
2016-02-23, 01:42 PM
Have a look at Humble Bundle, if you don't know it already. I've got quite a few games I wouldn't ever have bought because of these guys. The model is not completely pay what you want, but close enough. You can unlock the best stuff in a bundle by giving more than the average so far or by clearing a certain set bar. But for a single dollar you still get quite some good stuff, and they often have a free giveaway as well.

The point being: sometimes a minimal amount of nudging is needed to get from "pay what you want" to "pay even just a quarter of what you think this stuff is worth to you". There is a balance to be found somewhere between getting the product out to as many people as possible and making all the moneys.

JamesIntrocaso
2016-06-16, 07:22 AM
Here's some updated findings from me.

https://worldbuilderblog.me/2016/06/16/pay-what-you-want-an-updated-analysis/

NichG
2016-06-16, 07:57 AM
My personal preferences if I were producing content would be for each product, one of: totally free, pay-and-share, or community commission.

Totally free is to build interest and reputation.

Pay-and-share is basically, I'll charge a fixed price but you're encouraged to share it freely with anyone. Basically this is charging for convenience, but encouraging people to give me free advertising if they feel like it.

Community commission is 'I suspect this would not be sustainable it I had to risk a guess on what my customers want, so if you trust me, become a customer first and then you can tell me what you want.' E.g. good for niche products.

Florian
2016-06-16, 10:06 AM
Hey all. I've got six Pay What You Want products on the DMs Guild and a lot of people have been asking me how it's been going and why I chose to go PWYW. I have an answer to both in my latest blog post (http://worldbuilderblog.me/2016/02/23/pay-what-you-want-products-and-blog-announcement/). It's sort of interesting to see how the DMs Guild is doing for at least one creator a month in.

What are other people's opinions about PWYW products? I've seen everything from, "They're great!" to "Only creators who don't value their work make that garbage." Let's keep it civil, but I'd love to get a feel for what most people think.

Right now, we truly life in a "golden age" of RPG as there was never a time so many products aiming at so diverse a customer range were available so easy and for so cheap. Still, if I had a discreet budget of 1K to spent at DTRPG each month, I´d still only scratch the surface of what´s available.

Bluntly put, in this situation you´re forced to act like a regular drug dealer - The first sample is free, feel the hight, come bak for more later.