What is Asset Store Madness?

I just looked in the asset store and saw some assets with "Asset Store Madness" on them.

What's this all about then? \/ I can't find any details for it expect a thread from 2012.

 

It's like the steam summer sale.

 

I think it is just what they call the sale. Occasionally they put many assets on sale.

 

So does Unity just choose which ones to put in the sale or did the publishers sign up? I guess its not a good time to launch a new asset if everyone's just buying the ones in the sale this month!

 

It's a little of both, from what I understand. Publishers are asked to join, but they might be open to people asking to be in the next sale.

 

In the publisher admin panel, there's a link to a Google form where you can request to be part of a sale. You choose the asset, the level of discount (50%, 65%, 80%, or custom (but no lower than 50%)), and they say they'll get back to you but make no promises as to when or if you'll be included.

 

Do you know how many sales they have a year?

Interesting. I guess they mostly choose assets that have been on there a while.

Does 80% mean 80% off or 80% of the price?

 

The percentage is the discount amount. It's madness, after all.

 

It is certainly is ~~. I guess there's no harm filling in the form then as it probably won't get in the sales anyway at least not this time and they get a LOT of requests to be in the sales apparently.

I guess Unity know what they're doing. They wouldn't discount something that would damage it's sales anyway since they would lose money too. What a can of worms! haha.

 

If you're making something that could be said to have a slightly more specific category, they are likely to feature you in a themed sale along with other assets. One week it's cartoon models, next week it's 2D editor extensions. You never know

 

I think sales tend to balance out. If I have an asset for $25 and sell10 units a month (I don't. ), after Unity's cut I'd have $175.

If I put it on sale for half off, I need to move twice as many units to make the same amount, or 50 units at an 80% discount.

There's also that sale mentality that pushes people to purchase things they might not have otherwise. The only asset I have for sale, for example, might be one that a lot of people wouldn't dream of spending $25 on, but for $5, they'd figure "Ah, what the hell. Why not?" In this instance, since I wouldn't have even gotten the sale at full price, I'm actually coming out ahead by marking it down for the sale. So it's kinda tough to gauge how it'll affect you unless your asset has already been selling consistently at its regular price, but if that's the case, it's pretty much guaranteed that a sale will increase your income even more so due to the much higher volume of sales you'd receive.

 

There is a daily deal each day and several madness sales per year which are usually also told in the newsletter

 

That's true. But I think why would Unity encourage sales if they make less money? So it's probably worth while for most. The only drawback I see is that if you have a "luxury" product then it can hurt it's reputation if is in the "bargain bin". Such as if you tried to sell Versace handbags in the supermarket! People could perceive you don't value your product.

 

I'm guessing you haven't had a sale before?
At least in my case, the number of buyers increases exponentially during sales. It doesn't balance out, you actually end up earning way more than you could hope to earn without a sale.

 

The Steam sales effect also applies to other sales. People have reported 75% off increasing the sales far more than 4x compared to a similar period at full price.

 

If you mean that if I've never offered my assets at a discount, you're correct, as I've only released my first asset earlier this month.

If you mean that I haven't sold a single unit yet... you're still correct.

I can definitely understand this. I've bought a number of assets so far that I doubt I'll ever use. But they were on sale, so... it felt like I needed to get them while the gettin' was good!

 

I have so many I needed the 64-bit editor just to browse.

 

Sales is a regular part of consumer psychology. People like getting a discount. Regardless of if the discount is actually meaningful.

For some interesting effect of the price of not doing sales, google "JC Penny No Sales". The company decided on 'honest' pricing, and it almost broke them.

 

Yeah, actually being in a 1-day sale featured on the front page typically results in a 3-4x monthly income, even when selling at super discounted prices.

 

Sorry I meant the asset store sales - the discount.

 

It would be interesting to see statistics for what happens to assets that are not on the sale. I wonder if there is a dip for them or maybe they get an increase from passing trade or if there is no change at all?

 

I think numbers do take a dip for other publishers during the sales. Obviously it depends on whether you're a competitor to a publisher who's got something on sale or not, among other things.

 

I imagine there is a dip in purchases of non-sale items during a madness sale, but overall purchases for the period are probably up.

Unity probably has a good grasp on how often they can run a madness sale without eating into their non-sale profits. After all, they are making money during a madness sale and also during a non-sale period, and they are motivated to do what works best.