Twitter to Charge $11 Per Month for Twitter Blue on iPhone, $7 on Website

[KENESS]

Even at 7.99 30% would be 10.38 which is .60 cheaper than what they want to charge… so where’s the extra markup coming from.

Plus, after Apple takes their cut, which already includes all transaction fees and the infrastructure for billing which isn't nothing, the amount they GET from Apple is free-and-clear to them. No additional fees come out of it. So that is a NET of $7.70 after everything.

The $7 on their own site, they still have to pay transaction fees and other infrastructure related costs. Sure, it definitely isn't 30%, but they have to do it all pay it out of that $7. So their net is well into the $6.xx range at best, and I have no idea how to calculate the intangibles for them.

So, without question, they're screwing over in-app purchasers. And I don't think they care if it is obvious. Self-righteous people have a tendency to like to show off that they're being obnoxious, like it is somehow a badge of honor or a point of pride.

For small businesses, the 30% is great, because maintaining the payment infrastructure and less competitive fees and everything is a burden. I get that for large companies it isn't as much of a big deal, because they likely already do do all this anyway.

But it does drop to 15% after a year, and it certainly isn't for nothing like someone said earlier in the thread.

(And this is also what pays for all the rest of the app hosting, distribution, and development tool creation efforts unrelated to billing... Yeah, Apple makes a lot of money, but they're not doing NOTHING for it.)

 

[George Dawes]

They'd have to pay me £11 a day to waste my time on their garbage platform

Also makes you realise what a bargain iCloud is in comparison

 

[geartau]

that's how you should do it anyways. charge more in app, then charge less outside of the app, instead of complaining "bUt APpLe tAx 30%"

but it's a bit funny to see people conflicted on who they should be mad at: apple or elon.

 

[CapitalIdea]

Another way of looking at it is that this is one way that users can show their financial support for twitter.

Jesus wept. If anyone I knew made it a point to pass THAT off I would laugh right in their face.

 

[Abazigal]

Jesus wept. If anyone I knew made it a point to pass THAT off I would laugh right in their face.

I am not joking.

Twitter has never been profitable and there is reason to believe that even if advertising partners had not withdrawn from the platform, they would likely have cut back on ad spend due to a worsening financial outlook.

One way of weaning Twitter off its reliance on ad revenue would be to go subscription based. This way, twitter would no longer be subject to the whims of advertisers.

I don’t know if enough people will end up subscribing to help keep twitter afloat, but apart from this and advertising, what other alternatives are there?

 

[mecloud]

Looks like I picked a good week to deactivate my Twitter account.

 

[Atphoto]

The Twitter troll Elon Musk said they will adjust the prices for the different regions, I'm waiting to see how this will happen.

 

[saltukkos]

$11 per month? That’s a total rip-off. Not worth it. Sorry! Save yourself a headache.

It's $7 per month. Exceed is Apple fee we had to pay for owning the apple device.
($11 * 0.7 = $7,7)

 

[Timster83]

Considering Apple’s rules that the app can’t direct people to the less expensive route, I wonder whether Elon and maybe Twitter themselves - as mere users of the app - will be able to promote the web signup option without interference from Apple.

 

[saltukkos]

I assume this is the same for the Google Play Store?

Google play store doesn't restrict another payment methods and doesn't punish developers for text like "30% of this price is apple's cut" or "You can get it cheaper on the website".

 

[0924487]

So I’m not really good at math. But it seems like Elon Musk is charging $11 now instead of an $8 subscription fee. He's basically charging back Apple 30% App Store fee to the iPhone consumers 🤦🏻‍♀️.

This is what they were having a meeting about last week. Both of them couldn’t come up with a plan to lower the prices. Twitter is lame. 😒

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/elon-musk-meets-with-apple-ceo-tim-cook-amid-claims-of-twitter-app-store-dispute-updated.2372106/

I think this is how it should be. Taxes and fees are in addition to the quoted price.

When you buy a car, you pay dealer and destination fees, plus tax and government levies.

 

[Sleaka J]

What muppet would pay the $7, let alone the $11?

 

[sir1963nz]

Comical, really. I personally don’t see an added value, but some people I guess really like Twitter?! Enjoy the ads.

I feel like if the general populous doesn't hold the line on paid subscriptions NOT getting rid of ads, we all lose in the long run.

I have the perfect system for getting rid of twitter ads, I got rid of twitter.

Twitter is a sewer.

 

[sir1963nz]

I think this is how it should be. Taxes and fees are in addition to the quoted price.

When you buy a car, you pay dealer and destination fees, plus tax and government levies.

Not in New Zealand for retail to non businesses.
What is on the ticket is the price you pay including all taxes etc.

 

[0924487]

$10 on the App Store would net them the $7 they want… 🤦‍♂️

Assume card processing and fraud insurance reserve is 3%.

So, Twitter should charge

8/(0.7+0.03)=10.96

Thats $11.

Simple math really.

 

[0924487]

Not in New Zealand for retail to non businesses.
What is on the ticket is the price you pay including all taxes etc.

Then you must be used to prices being difficult everywhere. Sales taxes are different in different cities, provinces, states, etc. Some cities like Niagara Falls charge a city surcharge sales tax.

 

[blizzerand]

Plus, after Apple takes their cut, which already includes all transaction fees and the infrastructure for billing which isn't nothing, the amount they GET from Apple is free-and-clear to them. No additional fees come out of it. So that is a NET of $7.70 after everything.

The $7 on their own site, they still have to pay transaction fees and other infrastructure related costs. Sure, it definitely isn't 30%, but they have to do it all pay it out of that $7. So their net is well into the $6.xx range at best, and I have no idea how to calculate the intangibles for them.

So, without question, they're screwing over in-app purchasers. And I don't think they care if it is obvious. Self-righteous people have a tendency to like to show off that they're being obnoxious, like it is somehow a badge of honor or a point of pride.

For small businesses, the 30% is great, because maintaining the payment infrastructure and less competitive fees and everything is a burden. I get that for large companies it isn't as much of a big deal, because they likely already do do all this anyway.

But it does drop to 15% after a year, and it certainly isn't for nothing like someone said earlier in the thread.

(And this is also what pays for all the rest of the app hosting, distribution, and development tool creation efforts unrelated to billing... Yeah, Apple makes a lot of money, but they're not doing NOTHING for it.)

It's usually 2% compared to Apple's 30%. For twitter, might be less because they might get discounts for the bulk. Nonetheless, that comes down to $0.14. Also, for small businesses - Stripe and others offer 100% discount on the first x customers. I use it for my small eCommerce platform.

 

[sir1963nz]

Makes sense given how Apple takes 30% for doing almost nothing.

Hosting it, hosting the updates (for free), handling the billing, handling local taxes and exchange rates, fail forward servers, data back up of transactions, etc etc etc.

 

[sir1963nz]

Then you must be used to prices being difficult everywhere. Sales taxes are different in different cities, provinces, states, etc. Some cities like Niagara Falls charge a city surcharge sales tax.

We have a flat 15% GST (goods and services tax)
We have no city sales taxes etc, only ones from central government.

Its very easy to compare prices, there are zero hidden charges.

 

[mrochester]

Considering Apple’s rules that the app can’t direct people to the less expensive route, I wonder whether Elon and maybe Twitter themselves - as mere users of the app - will be able to promote the web signup option without interference from Apple.

Twitter could advertise on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, the internet, about the different prices, all without interference from Apple. The only place they can’t advertise different prices is in the iOS app.

I think that’s fair enough given iOS is Apples platform.

 

[0924487]

We have a flat 15% GST (goods and services tax)
We have no city sales taxes etc, only ones from central government.

Its very easy to compare prices, there are zero hidden charges.

Well, New Zealand is more like a province sized country. It’s tiny so laws can be consistent. Not the same in Canada and the US. Everything is decentralized. “Levels of government”, etc.

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

30% is first year commision for apps.

I’m sure Twitter no longer pays that much because they are not in their first year of taking payments for services.

 

[DaPhox]

Hahaha. Thats a lot of cash for reparation normies to hang on to their NPC cesspool.

 

[mrochester]

30% is first year commision for apps.

I’m sure Twitter no longer pays that much because they are not in their first year of taking payments for services.

That’s not how it works. The % commission is per customer, so a customer has to be subscribed for more than a year before the commission drops to 15%. If you subscribed now, Apple would take a 30% commission from your payment for Twitter, and would continue to do so until you had been subscribed for a year, at which point they’d take a 15% commission. And if you cancelled and started subscribing again at a later date, the same 30% for 12 months, 15% thereafter would apply again.

The idea being that if you have a service that’s valuable enough to customers that they remain subscribed for 12months plus, Apple will reward the developer with a larger slice of the pie. It encourages developers to make products and services that are valuable to consumers and discourages those that make flash in the pan crap.

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

That’s not how it works. The % commission is per customer, so a customer has to be subscribed for more than a year before the commission drops to 15%. If you subscribed now, Apple would take a 30% commission from your payment for Twitter, and would continue to do so until you had been subscribed for a year, at which point they’d take a 15% commission. And if you cancelled and started subscribing again at a later date, the same 30% for 12 months, 15% thereafter would apply again.

The idea being that if you have a service that’s valuable enough to customers that they remain subscribed for 12months plus, Apple will reward the developer with a larger slice of the pie. It encourages developers to make products and services that are valuable to consumers and discourages those that make flash in the pan crap.

Thanks for the explainer. I don’t think Twitter and others are reducing their cost to each customer in the second year, so they are still overcharging after the first year of a subscription.