Selling vs licensing?

[mjr]

Ok, I've got a few ideas that I may be able to monetize, but I don't know which path specifically I could take.

I know people have made LOTS of money outright selling (or IPOing) websites and software and companies.

But most of the time, when you buy a piece of software, you're not actually buying the software. You're buying a license to use the software.

A couple of my ideas I think I'd have no choice but to actually sell (i.e. one of them I'm planning on putting in the Google Play store).

A couple of other ideas I have I'm not sure which way to go. Selling them outright vs "licensing".

Is one way more complicated than the other?

One I know I would probably personally use, but I wouldn't want to sell it, then have the buyer turn around and start charging me to use my own creation.

Thoughts? Opinions?

[Chromatix]

The basic difference between selling and licencing is as follows:

When you sell something, you get a load of money for it all at once, and then the thing is no longer yours and you have no further rights over it.

When you licence something, it remains yours; you're just allowing someone else to use it. You might get an up-front fee or ongoing royalties, depending on how you've set it up.

A third option is to subcontract something. This is useful when you've got an idea but not the talent (or time) required to turn it into something tangibly valuable. This involves you paying someone else to do the work, and then it's yours to earn money from.

Software, including "apps", is almost always licenced, not sold. Each customer is sold the non-exclusive right to use the software, not the software itself. It's also possible to licence without payment in return, as with open-source software.

Pick whichever you like - just make sure you know what you're actually referring to.

[mjr]

Well, as far as the apps and software go, I think I can handle the development myself.

I could see the Google Play app I'm working on being a "license" thing (since that's basically what apps in the Google Play store are). I just have to figure out what to charge for it, per download, because I think it'd be useful. Though I don't know what I'd charge for it. Some might consider 99 cents too cheap, and some might consider $4.99 a good deal. Some might not want to pay for it at all.

Another one I'm not sure about. Because of the type of web software it will be, I don't know if I should charge on a per-user basis for it or not. I was thinking it could be a $1 per person per month thing. But I don't know. I'd have to look around.

Another web software I'm working on I could definitely see licensing.

Some of this, too, is going to come down to pricing models and traffic to the web software.