Simultaneously one of the best and worse things about the WordPress community is that over 90% of plugins are free. Of those that are paid, the vast majority of them are very low priced (and often underpriced).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is great because it makes it easy for WordPress users to get started with a very small investment (and often for free). However, this does have a downside: it limits the investment in the WordPress community and makes plugins harder to support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plugin authors have to strike a balance between building a sustainable business and picking a price customers are willing to pay. This is hard because as developers we tend to undervalue our own products and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read about how Pippin and his team dramatically increased prices on their Easy Digital Downloads products. The reactions were mixed, but it was ultimately the right decision for the business and there are some key lessons you can learn from this reflective peice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On December 14, 2016, my team and I pushed a significant change to our Easy Digital Downloads products: we increased the price on all extensions by 50-250%. Yes, you read that right: up to a 250% price increase on certain plugins.<\/p>
This change was done for a number of reasons, which I will get into shortly, and has resulted in a very interesting last three months. Since I have always been very open with my company’s financials, I would like to now share some reflections on the change that we made and to also share some of the aftermath of the change.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n