Trial Versions

While having a trial period (or using restrictions) helps increase registrations of commercial software, it can also inhibit registrations as my following experience indicates.

Sometime last year, I was evaluating RSS readers, and I came across FeedDemon written by Nick Bradbury. I installed the 30-day trial version and later uninstalled it, since some other free ones had the features that I was looking for.

A few months ago, I attempted to evaluate the product a second time; unfortunately, the product refuses to operate when installed a second time, because the trial period expired.

Now, someone, like myself, who is evaluating a commercial package a second time, is probably seriously considering buying it. The first installation was more like an advertisement, at a time when I really wasn't ready to commit and buy an RSS reader.

Now that a good hour of my day is spent reading RSS feeds and with my initial, brief 10-minute exposure to FeedDemon last year, I was ready to take a second look. But, I simply am not going to buy a trial version without evaluating it and seeing if it fits seemlessly into my daily routine. I've purchased too many products in my life, that I haven't ever used.  Perhaps, I can pull a Virtual PC window and reinstall FeedDemon, but the feeling that I have to jump through hoops does not help instill any trust in the software or its author (whose blog I happen to read).

That first installation of the trial version was essentially an advertisement for me. Perhaps many users implicitly indicated a willingness to buy just by downloading it, but there are some who were just interested in learning more about the product. They may just be novice users, who are simply learning about RSS browsing software and have not yet established a regular routine of browsing RSS feeds.

By denying the customer a second chance to evaluate the software when they are likely ready to buy, I bet FeedDemon has lost a number of customers.

Comments

[Prakash S]

Actually, I bet FeedDemon has gained customers. Let me explain, there might be customers who use only the trial version, once it expires download it again or get another evaluation key. I am betting that some percentage of these customers bought the software and a larger percentage switched to something like SharpReader which is free.

What Nick should probably do is to let you evaluate the newer version of the software though you might have played around with the older version. If you did use the older version and try evaluating it again, he should not let you use it.

It would be interesting to head Nick's reply and supporting data.

Cheers,

[Tony Chow]

Hey Wesner, have you given RSSBandit a try?

www.rssbandit.com

It's written by the product manager of the System.Xml namespace, and it's quite a good product. Of all the .NET RSS aggregators, this one is head and shoulders above all others.

[Xofis]

So a free, unrestricted trial (equivalent to a full version in a category like an RSS reader) would boost sales? It would most likely never drive anyone to put down money.

[Nick Bradbury]

I understand your point, but the problem is that some people would simply uninstall FeedDemon after it expired, then re-install it to get another trial period. That's not good for sales :)

However, between major releases (including the upcoming v1.5), the trial period is reset. So if your v1.0 trial period ended, you'll still be able to try v1.5.

[Ron Green]

I can't tell you how many times I've run into this issue.
I think what's needed here is the ability to reinstall the trial after a period equal to 3 times the trial period. If the product has a 30 day trial, then I should be able to try it again in 90 days from the time I first installed it.

[James]

Heck, Nick got in first!

I was about to say that almost every shareware program I've ever tried re-sets together with a new update. The reason is easy.... many good authors listen to feedback from both users and decliners and take time to improve their product for their audience.

I've often resampled products and bought when they reached a critical usability. www.metaproducts.com , www.coffeecup.com , www.ritlabs.com come to mind. But note that participating in a beta can bring dividends by making sure programs have the features you need, Nick listened to my requests, then I bought! Next week www.feedforall.com release their RSS feed writer and I'll do the same.

[Brian]

What if the 30-day trial was 30-days *of* installation, no just 30 days *from* installation. If it stopped counting days when you uninstalled it and then started counting again when you install for the second time, you would still have a 30-day trial, but it wouldn't necesarily be 30 consecutive days. I think this would be a fair compromise.

[Robert]

I was amazed to come across the company, GenesisFT, that didn't have a trial version of it's online trading product, TradeNavigator, even though it sells it online. This may not be an uncommon situation, but it was a first for me and I spend thousands on software each year. A more informed colleague suggested genesisft make their sales at seminars when they've got a captive audience. She also suggested that their having no trial version probably slows down pirating... and in my case, sales too.

[Kevin]

my brother simply unlocked the trial version
within minutes. he refuses to say how he did it ,because he,s a strict person.
I,ve been evaluating the prog without any limits and a purchased it last week.

[Shawn B.]

I think I'm almost 1 year late to this discussion but I just found the blog.

I like the idea of 30 days "of" installation the best. I like that the next iteration of the product resets the evaluation time, most products do that.

What irks me, is, as a developer, when evaluating 3rd party components, you only get 30 days. I'm working on something that isn't quite written yet, but depends heavily on 3rd party UI Menuing and Toolbar components. The current offerings differ enough that for each one I must implement my architecture differently.

I think they should offer an unlimited trial download that only works while running in a debugger. That way I can spend 4 months working on my product and the true ability or limitations will finally show through. I've already discounted 3 of the offerings on the market mainly because I don't have enough time to evaluate them and they are too much money to take a risk.

I realize the sales angle, buy "quickly". But I'd rather buy "informed". DataDynamics did this with ActiveBar .NET 1.0. I love it. I get to spend as much time as I want making the product and only purchase the their components when I'm sure that I won't be switching to another company. In reality, I'm sure I won't switch.

.NET Charting does this. Divelements used to do this, but not anymore, which is why I removed their components from my product because I'm not done developing it and I haven't developed a sense of trust with them. They are missing many features I need that other comparitively priced product support in abundance.

In the end... I take trial runs of components seriously. The experience I have while evaluating greatly impacts my decision.

That said, for dev tools, things I hate 15 day trial periods, like the ANTS profiler. That's not enough time for me. I was especially unlucky enough to try it out early on in the development and it didn't make much sense to me since I didn't have anything significant to try it on.

Then there's shareware. Nag screens are good enough for me. If I like it, I'll purchase it, witness WinZip, WinISO, WinRaR, and UltraEdit.

Thanks,
Shawn

[Ronald]

mau download trial reset

[jh@gordonandhart.com]

I feel your pain! I downloaded the trial version of Adobe's After Effects, had to leave town for six weeks to care for my dad after his surgery. Came back to find the trial expired. I'm a filmmaker who was wanting to TRY before buying a rather expensive program. Now, I'm locked out and it has put me off from BUYING THE PRODUCT because I won't spend $1000 to find out I don't like something. So ADOBE lost my purchase! What ever happened to the days of trial software that just embedded your work with a watermark until you purchased it? That way you could reload the trial… A&E takes TIME to learn as it's a complicated program. At best a 30 day trial is not enough… but to lose the opportunity to try it at all as in my case, it puts me off from the company all together. SALE LOST.