Agreed, which is why MScenery’s marketing tactics are so good. Pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap. I do get that but that doesn’t attract my pound.
Remember that the intended audience of Julie’s presentation was add-on developers. She was sharing our market research data with them to show that if you’re a developer who has made a high-quality airliner add-on aimed at experienced simmers, the optimal price point that will generate the most revenue (price times number of units sold) for you, the developer, is $19.50. If you’re a developer making a lower-quality product aimed at novice simmers, the optimal price point that generates the most revenue is $5.
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I had a quick skim read of the article, goodness by the end I was more confused at his to and fro logic. Suffice to say, pretty much the same principle as you suggest applies.
Why then, I have to ask myself, do the devs who do quality work for us, put such a premium price on their products 
They surely do therefore limit their own sales.
Hmm, another thought! It is in MS’s interest to encourage this marketing principle as that’s clearly the one that nets them the most profit.
This is why they will never limit poor quality development.
I just cannot see the likes of PMDG, A2A, Black Square etc, setting those prices for their aircraft.
Don’t get me wrong, us customers would love it if they would consider those price points 
Well, yeah. If Developer A increases their Marketplace revenue by adopting optimal pricing strategies, then Microsoft also increases their royalty revenue from those sales. There’s nothing devious or deceptive about this, though. It’s in the best interest of both Microsoft and third-party developers to maximize the revenue they make from selling add-on products that simmers want to buy. I’ll even argue that this is in the best interest of end-users (i.e. you, the simmer) too because a healthy third-party add-on ecosystem where your favorite developers have thriving businesses means that more high quality products will be made and you will have greater enjoyment from MSFS.
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Oh, agreed, of course we all would prefer to pay 30.00 for the MD 11.
I’m with you Seedy and hopefully 
the devs could be convinced of this marketing strategy.
What a wonderful thing it would be to see the less quality aircraft on sale for 5.00. Would this ever actually happen, somehow I doubt it unless MS sets the price points for levels of quality.
Just to add, I didn’t mean to imply MS was deceiving anyone. Their strategy is quite open and obvious. We’re all still here in the know.
If the market was just $5-15 aircraft a lot of us wouldn’t even be here. The price in most cases tells to the quality of what you are getting and the time it took. Pricing is tricky because you never know how many are going to sell. Price too high and don’t sell enough, price too low and don’t make enough on each for ROI.
That’s what’s so interesting about the marketplace analysis. It’s clear the actual market, and our assumption of how it should work, are in disagreement.
The question to ask is how to get it to align. Which dev will be brave enough to set a precedent by marketing their high quality aircraft for the same price as MScenery?
Uhh, if Bluebird prices their 757 at $15, I’ll get the buying started 
My Personal Comment & Observation
Marketing folks - in any industry - just LOVE folks who base their purchases on this idea. 
They are their perfect customers, as they can safely increase their price without losing market share in this category of consumer!
Needless to say, I’m not one of them. 
Defining a “serious simmer” is impossible. For example, to me it’s simply the term used by the “whales” (big, constant money spenders in a game or hobby) to describe themselves.
MS Plane add-ons are “like a box of chocolates – you never know what you are going to get”.. – even if you read/look at the documentation/selection list. Its not till you pick one and bite into to it, that you really can tell if it has the taste & flavor that you seek, even if other may say “it tastes great”
Maybe often a case of that “You can’t see the FOREST for the trees”
Another question may be “What’s the Minimum quality Aircraft your willing to spend your time on” ?
What is missing from Microsoft Marketplace research is how many people buy directly from PMDG, IniBuilds or other developers - that would be outside their visibility, although they might deduce it from the telemetry data.
Like many, I am generally willing to pay for quality and longevity - however, my overall purchases are limited by the functionality and reliability of MSFS itself. It’s been a bumpy road, and I’ve so far only invested in a couple of aircraft.
$4048.65
You’ll notice I very carefully said in most cases. There are always exceptions of lower priced products being great and higher priced products being junk so I’m not one to only use the price as an indication. It’s more complicated than just that. However that said it’s been generally proven over time that you get what you pay for. Exceptions accepted.
$50-$70 range is reasonable. Once you breach $70, it better be ■■■■ good, multiple variants, etc. Crazy how you can drop $25 on a plane and be enamored with it…then spend $80 on something you regret.
If it’s going to cost more than the simulator itself, it’s going to need
1 a lot of variants
2 full “multi company” career mode capability
I bought some of the Blacksquare addons which cost about 40 Euro. I was really fascinated by the system depth and the details, but actually I didn’t have the patience to learn and explore all the systems and procedures. So I guess the “lighter” models are ok for me and my way of simming. But when I see a plane that I had as a plastic model when I was a kid, maybe my wallet opens up again easily. Can be.
But my limit is around these 40 Euro.
I’m super picky about what I want in planes, but when the planets align and a developer releases a plane that has both the capabilities and the simulation depth I want, it’s such a precious thing that I’ll spend hundreds of hours flying it. I’d easily spend $200+ for aircraft that fall into that category, and nobody’s setting their prices that high yet. Price isn’t much of an object if you’re only buying one plane a year.