Entitlement of refunds for virtual products changing from paid to free?

danny1986

Hello there.

I used to sell a virtual product (a computer software item) for a small fee (generally $30). I sold this product for about 6 months. Recently due to business being terrible and continually loosing money on the product, I decided enough was enough and made them free and open source.

Of course, I naturally got complaints from people who bought within 7 days, even 14 days. So I decided to refund everyone who bought the plugins within 14 days, as I would prefer to:

A) Avoid legal issues.
Not spend money I might have to refund.
C) Leave my business in good standing in the sector I work in, as reputations in this field are not confined to your chosen section of business.

Customers were understandably very happy, some didn't even want the refund, but I wanted to play it safe. I also didn't announce the refund time cut off I decided on, as it would just add more heat to the fire. I left the cut off time as ambiguous publicly. I also never made any specifications as to how long this software would be available for, supported for, or anything to that nature.

Now another customer, who bought 16+ days ago is moaning wanting a refund. I refused, as this is going to turn into a never ending cycle and everyone and their dog will be trying to get refunds.

To make this situation even more petty, the product itself is an advertisement tool, so they would be expected to make the measly $30 they paid for the product back within a weekend of advertisement in their apps. But alas.

I want to know if anyone has any links to the general rules on this subject? I know it probably varies from country to country, but if I had a general sense of my entitlements vs theirs, that would be fantastic.

I've lost enough money on this as it is, and it's nearly ruined me financially, so ideally I would like to refrain from making any more losses on this disastrous business venture.

Thanks in advance.

pedronomix

You are entitled to charge any price you like and change it whenever you like, including to free. Just because they paid and now it is free entitles them to nada. Tell them to take a hike. Their contract with you was for $30 and not any other number.

M.T.D

An alternative might have been put the price up to $300 for a few months, and if no buyers in that period you could then drop the price with no worries about refunds.

danny1986

pedronomix wrote: »

You are entitled to charge any price you like and change it whenever you like, including to free. Just because they paid and now it is free entitles them to nada. Tell them to take a hike. Their contract with you was for $30 and not any other number.

I share those views. Thanks

M.T.D wrote: »

An alternative might have been put the price up to $300 for a few months, and if no buyers in that period you could then drop the price with no worries about refunds.

Yeah, that could have worked too. Although would have brought on a s**t storm all of it's own. My audience is very vocal and touchy about anything my company does unfortunately.

Oh well, live and learn. Thanks for all the advice so far guys

thecommander

What's the product?

danny1986

I don't want to go into specifics. But basically it was a software addon for another software product. A developers tool.

micosoft

Happens all the time. Apple used to sell Mac OS. It's free now. I didn't get a refund on the versions I bought. IMHO you've been really reasonable. Surprised that people are checking back to see if the price changed though.

Buttercake

i think you have been very generous, i wouldn't see that happen from an offshore or US developer. Generally plugins and components are purchased as a onceoff solution, there is no repeat business so appeasing customers may not be that high on the agenda.

If some paid for the product, they paid and thats it. If you decide to give it away for free afterwards thats your prerogative.

If i buy a shirt for €100 and its for on sale for €50 the following week, doesn't mean i can go in and collect €50.

antoinolachtnai

30 dollars?!

You did a good job, you made something they wanted to buy and were happy with. Now you are giving them the source code out of the goodness of your heart.

Just ignore these people and they will go away. They are hurting you and will never give you anything back.