Are Shopify app developers ripping merchants off?
Asked 5 years ago
It seems to me that Shopify app developers are greedy, as they charge too much for software that they only need to develop once. It's us, the merchants, who do all the heavy lifting. We struggle to sell our products, and they're supposed to help us. But instead, we end up paying a fortune every month for their apps, and they reap the fruits of our hard work..
Tom Amitay
Friday, June 21, 2019
I believe that app developers are necessary for merchants to succeed. Developers and merchants complement each other, and this is precisely what the Shopify ecosystem is designed for. The ecosystem enables merchants to sell their products and make a profit. Merchants invest time and money, building their brand, and increasing their sales. Shopify is the platform that helps them do that. Still, they need other services and solutions to offer better customer service, market their products, manage shipping, etc. And this is where apps come into play with services such as Oberlo for uploading dropshipping products to their store, Klaviyo for email marketing, and many more apps. It wouldn’t make any sense If merchants had to develop by themselves every feature that is missing from Shopify. The cost of developing software is very high, and it requires a lot of experience. Also, developers work long hours every day to improve their apps, fix bugs, add features and offer support. So, instead of merchants spending a fortune to develop their own apps, the Shopify app store allows many merchants to use the same apps so that the cost of developing and maintaining the apps is distributed between all the merchants that use them. Besides that, a free and competitive market creates a variety of products and it is all possible because the app developers have a strong financial incentive. The bottom line is that as a merchant, you can choose which apps to use to improve your business, get outstanding support from the developers and pay a fraction of what it actually costs to develop them. How is that not a win-win situation?
Vicente Cunningham
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Many merchants have no tech background and no idea how difficult it is to develop and sell software. I think this is the main reason why some of them believe that app developers are greedy. If someone develops a good product that helps your business, you should be thankful to them. And if it’s too expensive then find an alternative.
Ernest Jennings
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Building a successful app requires so much effort and sacrifice. And even if the app works well, you still need to support merchants, listen to their feedback, and continuously improve the app. Merchants should understand that some apps may not improve profitability directly but reduce so much of their workload and free up precious time and that in itself is worth a lot of money.
Dudi Dayan
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Developing an app is a continuous work, it is not like we release the first version of the app and that’s it. Think of Facebook, Instagram, Google, or any other online service you use. They keep releasing new versions all the time. It is arduous and expensive. R&D is usually the most expensive part, but there are additional costs such as customer support, marketing, IT, servers, database, licenses, internet, rent, and more. The expenses can quickly add up to tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars every month.
Rocky Prince
Sunday, June 23, 2019
What a question! If you can hire a developer and build the same service by yourself and do it cheaper, then go for it. Of course, you can't develop the same app for a lower price, so don't think that people should work for you for free. Also, if you can't write the code by yourself, then don't tell anyone else how much their services should be worth.
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