[visakanv]

I sell t-shirts on the side. As a person who makes/sells t-shirts and uses apps (and only occasionally pays for them), here's how I think about it:

It's not about the skills required to make a t-shirt or app. Consumers don't care about that. All they care about is whether or not they're going to be using it. I'm usually hesitant to pay for apps because I don't know if I'm going to use them more than a couple of times. (Exception: I paid like $100 for Things 2 and 3, after using them during the free trial and realizing I loved them and was going to keep using them. And I have.)

It's easy to look at a t-shirt and think "Oh golly, I'm going to wear this all the time!"

Another really common reason people buy t-shirts is as gifts. I wonder if there's any corollary to that in the app world. Can people buy apps as gifts for friends? People will definitely spend ~$10 to send a friend a download link to gag app that mocks them, I bet.

[digi_owl]

There may also be the physicality of it.

A t-shirt is something you get, and can keep as long as you don't ruin it.

BTW, i recall reading that someone had more success with a "unlock feature X" model of payment, even though it in total was more expensive than unlocking everything at once.

[Cerium]

For a great example of that look to the Android app Pleco, a Chinese dictionary. Free to download and use, but have to pay to unlock features. Between 5 and 30 dollars per feature, I've sent at least 70.

[detaro]

At least on non-mobile, people buy games for each other (e.g. by buying a gift code on Steam).

[krallja]

Yes, I often buy people apps on iOS for slightly-special occasions when we aren't going to see each other in person.