Alright guys, thanks so much for the responses.-- I know I understand the devs' reasoning on making prices high... Appreciate all who took the time to respond. Thanks,

This is actually a very difficult topic as developers need to make money, but as a consumer, we only have a certain amount of surplus cash to spend on their products. I for one have to be picky about which ones I choose to purchase and can't really afford to make a mistake about it (unless they have a demo or a return policy). However, there are some I know I want every product made by them, so I have to choose wisely. ORBX springs to mind, as does RealAir and Carenado. I have purchased the ones I know I'll use often from those developers, but I'd like every product they make as they are simply fantastic quality. PMDG is another, but I can't afford the 737NGX having only recently purchased their 747X. So as a consumer, I'm also limited to what I can buy and that's where as a developer, marketing your product pays off (as well as word of mouth once the product turns out to be great!). For example, one of the greatest little gems I own is FSCaptain. However, I see very little advertising (in any) for it, other than word of mouth and picked it up by complete accident, finding someone talking about it on another forum. Another option is the use of strategic sales. After Christmas nearly every year, knowing that most people have a little spending money, Captainsim throws their 10 euro sale. Now I'd never fork out for their products at their current pricing, as it's simply not affordable for me, but during that sale I always buy every new product they've brought out and now I own all their modern fleet. So as a dev, they've made money from me where they wouldn't have before. If other developers would do this, I'd certainly purchase a lot more and they'd convert a lurker to a customer where I for sure wouldn't have been before. So again, it's a very difficult topic and every developer has the right to set their own price. Hopefully our collective thoughts here may help out the developers who might not have the business background to understand marketing and such, so that it might benefit them and us!

You can pay $60 for a silly game like CoD Black Ops, or purchase a high fidelity recreation of a real aircraft for the same.

It's not really the same thing - you can get add-ons for COD Black Ops for $15. These next two points make more sense to me.

Well, keep in mind this is as much a niche market as it could be.

1 - What matters is total revenue not number of sales. It doesn't automatically follow that reducing price will increase revenue. If the price is halved then sales will have to double to maintain revenue. If they don't then the developer will lose revenue.

FSX is a niche market, and the market for add-ons is even more so. I'm not sure what the percentage of FSX users are that actually buy add-ons, but I get the feeling it's not as huge as the percentage that buy COD add-ons. As Gerry points out, add-on companies are operating a business, which tend to be focused on making money. If they think they will make the most amount of money at a certain price point then that is what they will choose. The COD guys figure they will maximize revenue at the 15$ price. They also sell millions of copies every year, and thus have many more potential customers to sell add-ons to. I try not to debate whether a product is expensive or not. I only think about whether it is expensive to me. There will always be ###### of every product (PMDG, Apple, BMW) who will insist that a product isn't expensive for what you are getting. I'm sure those are all quality products, but I have to look at whether they represent value to me. - Martin

Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear...pre-recorded VHS tapes. When VHS first came out in the late 70s, pre-recorded movies on tape were priced at $75 to $100. This was a lot of money. Blank tapes were in the $5 range, retail, so that wasn't the driving factor. Not surprisingly, consumers weren't buying, but this did lead to the development of a whole new business - video rental stores. Then, somebody (I think it was Disney) changed their pricing policy, and started selling pre-recorded Disney classics for $20. Immediately, the consumer business took off. Those video rental places got a boost, too, because now they could afford a larger inventory, and more copies of each movie. Since the price never went back up, I would assume that the companies producing these tapes found that they made a lot more money selling lots of tapes for a small profit than they made selling a few tapes for a large profit. It's a different business, of course. And every product has a "sweet spot" in the sales-vs-price curve. But, it illustrates the principle.

No, they realized they were over-charging in the first place.

I'm prepared to pay quite a lot for a quality product, but for an inferior product, I don't even want it for free.For me the best quality products available for FSX at the moment are those accu-simmed aircraft produced by A2A simulations. For about $70, you can get the most realistic B-17 and B-377 (I mention these two because they are their best) you're ever going to find for FSX. They have programmed in almost all the systems that these aircraft had, including variables that simulate engine wear, fouled plugs, various temperatures including cylinder head temp & oil temperature. Everything is logcial and lighting and sound is just fantastic. I would have paid $200 for the B-17 and B-377, no problem.There are other nice products too are well worth the money. A second favourite is the Level D 767. I haven't tried the PMDG 737 series because I heard that these aircraft have only "lite" versions of the FMC, and after using the Level D 767 which simulates perhaps 90% of the FMC, then it would be a disappointment. The Level D is looking a bit old now, and could perhaps benefit from an update, but it's still an excellent aircraft and well worth the money.Captain Sims C130 series, also old, but also excellent simulations and again worth the money. I think I spend more time in the C130 than any other aircraft. But it's buggy.One aircraft that was not worth the money for me was the Viscount - Legends of Flight, just released by Just Flight. It looks good, but like their Comet, there's nothing under the hood except default FSX stuff, plus a few glaring errors. So I returned the Viscount for a refund, and I can tell you I'd prefer to have 10 bacon sandwiches with that money instead. Actually I'm going to buy the DCS Warthog with that money, since I'm in Sweden now and they eat sausages over here. Oh I miss the UK sometimes!The Just Flight Comet was on the border for me. I bought it and was disappointed since it doesn't simulate any unique Comet Flight Deck systems or instruments. However it's nice looking - probably the best model available visually -- and may be one day I'll fix the problems myself and program some more functionality into it.It's true what Shaka says. FSX is a niche market with a small number of buyers. I would add that add-ons that are developed primarily from a motive to make money are not likely to be any good. A good add-on needs someone with a passion, who does it because he/she loves aircraft and wants to realise a dream. That has to be the primary motive.So when you talk about expensive add-ons, it all depends what you get for your money, on what the actual product is. If an aircraft add-on is done right like the accu-sim B-17, then don't think of it as buying software, think of it as buying an education in techncial history. You are buying a form of interactive, entertaining learning, that will take you as close to that aircraft as you can get without having the real thing at your local areodrome and it's going to put you to the test and keep your mind sharp. You're going to be immersed in that aircraft and this will give you a true sense of what it is really like to fly it. For an aircraft enthusiast, then this is worth the money. If it's an inferior product, then you're buying a toy that has no meaning¨in this sense.

However, there are some I know I want every product made by them, so I have to choose wisely. ORBX springs to mind, as does RealAir and Carenado. I have purchased the ones I know I'll use often from those developers, but I'd like every product they make as they are simply fantastic quality. PMDG is another, but I can't afford the 737NGX having only recently purchased their 747X.

If you like prop liners take a look at A2A's B-377 http://www.a2asimulations.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=25

Whether something is expensive or not is very subjective. But what I do object to is when you have the option to download a product or buy the boxed version and the price difference is marginal.I'm looking at a very well known online FS site now and the price difference for many scenery packages is a matter of a few cents. Euro cents. In one case the download option is 19c more expensive! This just isn't right. The price of packaging and a CD must cost a couple of Euros at least and this should be reflected in the price differential.The other thing that grates is that I cannot choose to buy products at the US Dollar price. I'm forced to pay in Euros which makes everything much more expensive. Purchasers should have the option to buy in whatever currencies are available.

Not sure if it's a worldwide thing, but we've been enjoying bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches here. It's the end of the garden season, but we haven't had a frost yet so we are still enjoying fresh tomatoes from the garden. Store-bought tomatoes don't make it, but the classic BLT is a real treat when you've got the home-grown variety.We had a similar pricing discussion on another forum a few months back. We were talking about scenery. I was thinking that I would buy more sceneries at $5 than at $30. Since they are downloads, once the work is done it costs no more to produce 6 than to produce 1. For $30, I would want an airport I fly to regularly, but for $5 I would buy more airports in out-of-the-way places that I might visit only occasionally.I think this dynamic is different, though, for an aircraft add-on.

Yeah the bacon is worth alot more! I love BLTs!!!!

I haven't tried the PMDG 737 series because I heard that these aircraft have only "lite" versions of the FMC, and after using the Level D 767 which simulates perhaps 90% of the FMC, then it would be a disappointment.

HelloNo disrespect but you have to be joking, I am certainly not a PMDG ###### like many, but the NGX is light years ahead of the LVL-D 767.The FMC on the 767 does not come even close to the one on the NGX

Oh no, talking about bacon or anything else off topic is a big no-no. You guys are going to get in trouble with the wanna-be police now!

Whether something is expensive or not is very subjective. But what I do object to is when you have the option to download a product or buy the boxed version and the price difference is marginal.I'm looking at a very well known online FS site now and the price difference for many scenery packages is a matter of a few cents. Euro cents. In one case the download option is 19c more expensive! This just isn't right. The price of packaging and a CD must cost a couple of Euros at least and this should be reflected in the price differential.The other thing that grates is that I cannot choose to buy products at the US Dollar price. I'm forced to pay in Euros which makes everything much more expensive. Purchasers should have the option to buy in whatever currencies are available.

There isn't a simple relationship between price and cost. The seller may have a policy of selling at the same base price and charging for packing and postage on boxed versions. Also, possibly the boxed versions weren't selling at a higher price and the developer cut it to get them to sell.Sellers can chose to sell in whatever currency suits them taking everything into account, including taxes. The latter alone can affect dollar/euro prices.

Which brings me to another aspect of the theme of this discussion. When you buy an add-on, you might just get the one time purchase and then that's it. If there is a glaring fault with it, then there may be a patch released to fix that but nothing more. This is more or less how Just Flight operate with their add-ons.On the other hand, certainly developers may see the add-on as a constant work in progress and release updates and new versions all the time. Obviously, this is better value for money, and it is to these developers that my money tends to go.Now back to your comment...

HelloNo disrespect but you have to be joking, I am certainly not a PMDG ###### like many, but the NGX is light years ahead of the LVL-D 767.The FMC on the 767 does not come even close to the one on the NGX

No, I wasn't joking - just out of date. I am probably thinking of a forum conversation I had perhaps five years ago. There was a time when the Level D was the best add-on you could get in terms of system modelling in a glass cockpit airliner. I've been using the Level D for years - its origins date back to a freeware panel made by an airline pilot called Eric Ernst. I had that probably 10 years ago. Before that you had to use the Aerowinx PS2 simulator if you wanted to authentic systems.Anyway, since I made the post you quoted, I've read up on the PMDG 737 and according to what I read it did seem better and so I went an bought one! And now I can see quite clearly that it is better than the 767 both graphically and with system modelling. So I stand corrected - or at least updated! During the last five years it seems that PMDG have been very busy developing their aircraft, while Level-D hasn't. In fact their FSX version of the 767 seems more like a port over from FS9 to FSX than anything else. I only bought it recently and I have problems with the VC displaying correctly, and the graphics look FS9, especially with the VC. If Level-D want to remain competitive with the PMDG then there's certainly room for an update.

I am certainly not a PMDG ###### like many,

What reservations do you have about the PMDG 737? As far as I can see it is the best add-on for this type of aircraft, so I'm just curious to known what you think the bad side of it is.Cheers/Jason

repeat post -sorry

Could someone kindly explain to me why Addon prices are so expensive? Maybe is they charged less more people would buy? (Sorry if this is in the wrong forum)

The reason is called 'price elasticity of demand'. In a nutshell the prices are set to maximise the developers' incomes (obviously). Lower prices result in greater willingness to buy but lower income per unit sold. Higher prices result in a greater income per unit sold but a reduced willingness to buy.The comfortable mid-point is where most prices settle. Supply, demand and their effect on pricing are affected by the size of the market. Other considerations have a disproportionate effect in niche markets, especially in the relationship between revenue and profit; witness the string of half-price discounts at a well known mesh developer who is currently in need of increased revenue and is willing to forgo some profit. However, the principle still applies.D