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From: ralph@cm.cf.ac.uk (Ralph Martin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: shareware in Europe
Message-ID: <1991Feb18.094720.14285@computing-maths.cardiff.ac.uk>
Date: 18 Feb 91 09:47:20 GMT
References: <91046.115541GHGAQA0@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be>
Sender: news@computing-maths.cardiff.ac.uk (USENET News System)
Organization: University of Wales College of Cardiff
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In article <91046.115541GHGAQA0@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be> GHGAQA0@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be
(Karl Pottie) writes:
>This is a question to all European shareware programmers:
>
>Did you ever get any shareware fees from outside Europe (U.S.?).
>If yes, how many ?
>
I have had exactly ONE payment from outside Europe - from a large American
Research Lab who paid me for a site licence ($100) for my software. They
even went to the trouble of getting me a check I could cash in an English
bank. 

This is despite my software (a password utility for the Mac) being at sumex, 
sent to comp.binaries.mac, and also at various other archives. 

I have even written one or two customised versions when people have emailed
me and said they would like slight modifications, and even in those cases, 
no-one bothered to pay up, despite me directly mailing them to the requestors.
>
>Of course it could be that nobody uses my program (TeachTextMaker,
>if you've ever heard from it), but I suspect that people are more
>scared by the complicated way to get money to Europe.
>It could also be that they simply do no support foreign programmers.
>
I too suspect that quite a few people are using my software. But I don't think
its just US users not paying up. I've also had pretty few UK (and no European)
users pay up. I think that basically, people just don't send shareware
fees unless they are exceptionally honest. 

Conclusion: Write shareware if it amuses you, or pleases you to see your
program being used. Don't write shareware to get rich, or even for pocket
money.

Ralph