Android™ Tablet Application Development For Dummies®

Pricing Your Application

You've got your APK, you're a registered Android developer, and now you're ready to get your app into users' hands, finally. But there is one last really important question that you need to ask yourself — is my app a free app or a paid app?

This decision depends on your application and your needs. If your application is a paid application, you have to determine a price point. Although I cannot decide this for you, I recommend looking at similar applications in the Market to help determine a pricing strategy. Most apps seem to range from $0.99 to $9.99. I rarely see an app over the $10 threshold. Although it may be tempting to price your app high, you're more likely to gain users by choosing the lowest price you can. Keeping your pricing competitive with other similar apps should improve your app's appeal in the market.

The paid-vs.-free argument is an evergreen debate among developers. I've published both paid and free apps, and I have found that either approach can be profitable — you just have to figure out what works best for your application.

If you go with a paid model, that means you start getting money in your pocket within 24 hours of the first sale (barring holidays and weekends) — in that case you'd then receive funds the following business day. However, in my experience, paid applications do not receive many active installs. You are your own marketing team for your app. Unless you've heavily promoted your app, few people will know about your ...