Reply With QuoteI'm actually in contact with a couple people from Google via email regarding becoming a Google merchant here in SA. Hopefully they can steer me in the right direction or perhaps push for more support with our currency and their stores.
Sell your app/game from SA
Hey, thanks for all the welcomes.
I’ll start with my biggest question straight off the bat and I’m sure it’s been asked by many SA developers, I have searched everywhere and there doesn’t seem to be many answers, perhaps the development market is still too young here in SA? Submitting apps for sale. I know there is no easy way (or even impossible) to get your paid app on the Google play store, but is there anyone who has successfully submitted to any other local app store like the Samsung store or perhaps have used Appia? Is it a good idea to use Appia? I see they can payout via Paypal. Are there any other local stores around where one can sell you app? This seems to be a very dark area at the moment. I’d like to hear others experiences in this regard.
I'm actually in contact with a couple people from Google via email regarding becoming a Google merchant here in SA. Hopefully they can steer me in the right direction or perhaps push for more support with our currency and their stores.
I am sure I have answered this before, but here goes:
- Google Play: get a US or UK bank account to become a merchant. I have managed to do this through one of my clients.
- Samsung store: yes, you can easily become a merchant, and get your app featured. Definitely worthwhile.
- Appia/Vodacom - as with Samsung, you can become a merchant. They also support operator billing, which is a big plus. Here to, you can get your app featured.
Those are pretty much the best/only options I know of for SA. There are other markets like slide.me, but they don't have much traction here.
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Ok, well thanks. My brother has a US bank account but is in a dormant state at the moment. I'll see if he can get that up n running again. Was also wondering if it becomes a popular app and the earnings are quite substantial, will it raise any flags at the banks and would we have to look at opening some sort of business that can pay TAX etc? Don't want some big dudes in black jackets n sunglasses knocking on my door.
I am not sure about tax laws in UK, but if the account is in your brother's name, he will have to declare the income and pay tax on it. If the tax amount is large, that is a good problem to have :-)
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I got a reply from a dev at Google...
Hi Brendan,
Herewith the official links for the information you requested.
Supported locations for merchants:
http://support.google.com/googleplay...&answer=150324
Buying apps:
http://support.google.com/googleplay...0168&ctx=topic
Paid App Availability:
http://support.google.com/googleplay...&answer=143779
Supported locations for free publishers:
http://support.google.com/googleplay...&answer=136758
Supported locations for distributing applications:
http://support.google.com/googleplay...&answer=138294
Unfortunately, South Africa is not yet a supported location for Google Checkout Merchant accounts.
As stated on the official support website, we do not pre-announce country support roll outs. This is due to the unique complexities of payment systems in each country. So for your country's support we will have to be patient. In the meantime you can still write your apps and sell them directly. People can download the apps from your own website or you can distribute them via email.
Good luck and let's hope to have support soon!
Best regards,
Pieter
I have my game on the Samsung store at the moment but it seems a bit quite there still, have a couple sales, perhaps its still growing? I also recently submitted my app to Amazon, I will let you know how that goes with receiving payments etc. when the time comes.
I'm also liaising with a group of game devs from around the world and we are combining efforts etc. They can obviously create a Play account for our team. You will need to trust them first tho! I've been with them for half a year already and discussing Google Play came up last night. We'll just have to wait patiently here in SA to get our own accounts.
Which is your app?Originally Posted by warrenpridgeon
Come get some
Nice warren,
I've managed to get my game on google play with the help of a UK dude I meet. I made a free version with limitations and a paid version.
Results so far are not the greatest, the Samsung Store on the other hand is doing much better to be hounest. I think the app gets lost on google play and if you don't market your app yourself, it won't do so well unless it's a major hit and goes viral on it's own.
That's great to hear warrenpridgeon. I've managed to rack up about $120 for a $1(R10) app on the samsung store(Paid Version), and just under 30 000 installs of the free version also on the Samsung Store. This is over a few months tho. Still waiting for a payout as they say it can take some time. Slideme I see is ok for free apps, but don't bother with a paid app on there. I'm in the middle of developing my next title and hoping it will smash my first title regarding sales
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