Charging for Product Updates

In your experience, how many creators of products that you bought charge you if you want to update your purchase to a more recent version of a product, for example, a scripted item that interacts with SL water (boat, jetski surfboard etc.)? How many creators have you encountered that do this for products that no longer work properly due to Havok 4?

I personally have never been asked to pay for an update, but I don't have many things I update. Tiny Empires, Mystitool, that may be it actually..

But if I'm ever asked to pay for an update to an item I own, I'm just not going to update, and likely not do business with them again, unless the update makes it essentially a new item.

To me, update means improvements of current features, bug fixes, and addition of small features.

I would consider it very bad form, personally, and I've not encountered anyone doing this myself. (Not that I really buy scripted items written by other people, mind you.)

could not have said it better myself

except I do not use tiny empires hehe
I have some ducks that when need updating they are no charge updates, same for the fishing area updates

I would not pay for an update, I would just pass in that case

Ducks that need an update? Evolution?

I would purchase an updated item after so many updates. I wouldn't expect a vendor to perpetually give me an updated product forever.

The maker of some flower garden-rezzing products I purchased sent me updated versions, free of charge, after Havok 4. I did not ask for the updates...the maker just sent them out to people who had purchased the products.

(and honestly? I hadn't noticed any problems with the rezzers before receiving the updated versions. However, since I know absolutely nothing about all this new-fangled technology, I figured the maker knew more than I did.)

It would depend on the update, I guess. If it is a minor tweak, or fix while the product is essentially the same, then I would not expect to be charged. If the item was overhauled and reworked to a great degree, I could see paying for it, at a lower price than a new purchase.

I have a couple things that I've received updates for periodically.....and if a product is offered for sale....and I buy it......and the creator improves it...I think it's good customer service to give your previous buyers the improved version.

If the product is all together changed into something diferrent, well then I would expect to have to buy it. But updates to the same item, that improve it's intended funtion in the manner that the customer purchased it.....ought to be free. It's a unique situation in SL..and in some cases that pertains to RL......graphic card drivers, for example. We don't pay for those updates....but it's a necessary service for the creator because of the constantly changing technology.
Now..a different graphics card.... well, we have to buy. But updates pertian to the functionality of the original item.....and it would be in pretty poor taste to charge customers for that.

Also.....from the perspective of an avid consumer in SL.....if I buy somehting, like an AO or scripted gadget....and I receive free updates whenever the creator improves it....you bet your ass I'm gonna continue buying from that person.

Neither would I. I don't expect items to update forever, I expect updates to mean fixes and such. A new quality level I might buy, but calling it an update I definitely expect it free of charge. It's an update!

In my particular case I've never gotten an update for these items. I sent a notecard to the creator stating that my items now sit underneath the SL waterline instead of on top of it when they are rezzed and asking if it was Havok 4 related and if she could do anything about it and I got a notecard back that apparently is also notice to her group that stated that she would be charging L$100 to update the item with post Havok 4 scripting.

Yeah, it really depends on the item and what was "updated" about it.

For my products, updates which do not add significant new features, or require massive refactoring to make work with something the Lindens changed, will be free. Otherwise, I reserve the right to charge for the effort involved in improving the product significantly beyond its original design parameters.

I have had to rescript a few items based on Havok4 changes, and I wouldn't dream of charging for that. It is a pain to have to do, certainly, but it doesn't take _that_ long.

A significant point is that if you are still selling the product, you have to do the work _anyway_, otherwise you will be selling things which don't work. (You could hardly ask somebody for extra money for a Havok4 version when you'd sold it to them when Havok4 was fully enabled.)

Well, I am talking about something which radically changed the product's design where it took a lot of time to refactor to make work, basically making it not much less than a new product.

I base it on the amount of effort it takes. If LL does something which totally breaks one of my products and makes it so that it isn't worth the effort to fix, more than likely I will just make a completely new and different product to replace it, and offer a discount to existing owners.

Certainly, I wouldn't charge for an upgrade where they broke something I could easily fix in a rather short time frame.

Xcite had free updates but when they moved to their sculpted line they offered discounted prices to previous owners. Is that right? So I heard.

There is a difference between an update and an upgrade. An update is generally along the lines of fixes, and an upgrade generally improves functionality. Updates ought to be free, but upgrades could be charged for. But what if the upgraded item is being sold at the same price as the previous one? Would people think they shouldn't pay extra for it, since it would have cost them more that those who buy it now for the first time?

Personally, I think either would be ok. I also think that not offering an upgrade at all would be ok.

If interfacing between the old & new products was going to happen, I'd give free updatse to save yourself a lot of headaches caused by someone still trying to have a V1.3 talk to a V2.5.
Of course if you radically changed the item and added major improvements then maybe a charge could apply.
Though updating all your vehicles etc for Havok4 could be a pain, not making anymore sales because your Chevy no longer worked and previous customers were buying another creators instead would hurt.
But Havok5 won't be that far off when the dust settles.

this ll depends if it was an object that kinda worked but was released to soon then no no chare if on the other hand it's a total reworking then why update an old item make new thing to sell in other word charging for any update is bad form now if you want to give a discount to people who bought your mark 1 on the new mark 2 then do that but updates are mainly to fix problems that exest. if it's so radically diffent from the original then treat it as a new item

Depends on the definition of update.

Bug fixes...some added features... probably not.

But if the product is significantly improved as the
result of a lot of work, why not.

Personally I don't charge for any updates to my
products (albeit I don't have a large inventory).

And I greatly appreciate developers who don't too.

- Infrared

well thats expected from some. Since they are in the game for the money. They claim that its their time they spend building so its their right to charge for upgrades. But as Ordinal said its in bad form to charge for updated do to LLABS H4 server changes.

I don't have much to update but for my Mystitools, Tiny Empires and my motorcycle I have always been sent updates free of charge. Just got sent a new motorcycle yesterday actually.

Virtually any product that I have bought in SL, updates were free, as long as you generally kept up with the updates as they were offered.

I've seen a few cases where I hadn't bothered to update a product for a while, and it was easier to just buy a new one with all the latest features than to get the old one updated. But in those rare cases it was more of an upgrade than an update - you were getting quite a few new poses, animations, or features for the effort.

I'll agree with the sentiment others have foiced. Bug fixes and minor tweaks? Free to current users. Major feature enhancements? That is an upgrade, and it is fair to charge for that.

Fixing something to work right with Havok 4 is something I would call a bug fix, though since it is something LL broke, it's a bit unfair to force the burden of the development effort onto the content creators for fixing it. I suppose it would depend on how much extra effort it took to get the product do work under Havok 4. Was it a complete code redesign? Then it's an upgrade, and fair to charge for.

Only thing I have is my Mystitools, which everyone knows has free updates. Now, if there were a lot of new functions added (such as a full functioning AO), I'd gladly shell out the L$ for a new one.

Probably it wouldn't be controversial to charge an upgrade fee for actual enhanced functionality. (Depending on the product's market, that may or may not be smart business, but that's a different question.) So the debate is presumably about situations like the cited H4 changes that require an update to recover the previous functionality.

Personally, I wouldn't charge. But I don't share the sense that doing so would be totally reprehensible. It's not just the time required to update the product that's at stake--it's also the non-trivial effort involved in packaging and distributing an update or updater. And perpetual free support isn't something we necessarily expect of RL products, so charging for an upgrade isn't some scam. At least right now in SL, it's not a popular approach to customer service--and probably not a very smart move--but I don't really think it would be greedy or villainous.

I have a lot of stuff that updates, Mysti, ducks, animals, xcite bits are some. Never have I been asked to pay for an update. Scriptors were given warning that Havok 4 was coming and were given time to update and get info re the problems some items could have.

If this business is trying to charge you for a havok update I would certainly not use their objects or services anymore.