Apple Adds Option to “Try Before You Buy” Apps

Apple just launched a new section of its application store – “Try Before You Buy.”

This new section of the App Store allows users to try out certain applications before purchasing them. The option to “try before you buy” does not apply to all of the paid applications Apple offers; at least not yet.

The “Try Before You Buy” section currently features freemium, “lite” and ad-supported versions of applications that are typically pay-to-play.

One benefit of the “try before you buy” policy is its potential to deter would-be app pirates. The loss of revenue due to the pirating of applications has allegedly cost the App Store about half a billion dollars.

The main reason people download these pirated applications is because they do not have the option to test out an application before buying it. The option to try it out before you buy it should mitigate this problem.

The popularity of the try before you buy concept has begun to catch on with big brands and companies. The success of this concept within the framework of Apple apps will be telling for future applications of the “try before you buy” idea.

Try Before You Buy Your Home

An article from the UK paper The Telegraph offers a look at the try before you buy process as it applies to property. Georgina Lankester resides in a house on Peddars Way and Norfolk Coastal Path that used to be two farm workers’ cottages. Complete with uncovered beams and a big open fireplace, the home is a picture of coziness.

“You have to be here for a while to really get the atmosphere, longer than most people would take just viewing it,” says Georgina.

With a struggling property market at its lowest point in 30 years, Lankester has had to come up with a way to entice buyers to consider purchasing her house. Her solution: allowing potential buyers to spend an evening at her Norfolk home. “We would crack open a bottle of wine. I would make supper, nothing formal, and they could get a real sense of the place,” she says.

The idea of giving buyers a chance to try the property before they buy it just may give home-seekers the intimate connection with the home that they need before committing to buying it. Allowing potential buyers a chance to get a feel for the home they are looking at will allow them to get a more accurate impression of the space they are considering, as well as a feel for what it would be like to actually live there.

“I wouldn’t dream of buying a car without taking it for a test drive, and a house is a much bigger investment,” says Georgina.

Because the market is not what it used to be, investing in a home is a much bigger decision than it has been in the past. The chance to try it before they buy it will put buyers at ease and ensure that they are fully informed and totally comfortable with their eventual decision when they purchase the property.

Andrew Blagden of Hamptons Real Estate believes the try it before you buy it idea is especially helpful for elderly individuals who are downsizing and searching for something more manageable. “A well-to-do woman sold her £1million big house through me and wanted to move into something easy to maintain, but couldn’t quite make the leap to buying a brand new house,” he says. “So she has rented a new house in the £500,000 to £600,000 range on a one-year lease and has been very happy there. Now, after six months, she is going to buy. It suits the developer and the buyer. No one loses and everyone gains.”

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