The accepted answer is correct, but we should take into consideration another aspect about purchasing via smartphone/tablet. This recalls @JaranJhanjee's downvoted answer which is wrong but contains a little important truth
The 30% fee is charged by Google for in-app purchases according to their terms
Paid and Free Apps
- App purchases: Developers charging for apps and downloads from Google Play must do so by using Google Play's payment system.
- In-app purchases:
- Developers offering virtual goods or currencies within a game downloaded from Google Play must use Google Play's in-app billing service as the method of payment.
- Developers offering additional content, services or functionality within another category of app downloaded from Google Play must use Google Play's in-app billing service as the method of payment, except: where payment is primarily for physical goods or services (e.g., buying movie tickets, or buying a publication where the price also includes a hard copy subscription); or where payment is for digital content or goods that may be consumed outside of the app itself (e.g., buying songs that can be played on other music players).
Google always charges the 30% via its in-app billing API. But there are cases in which such an API should be avoided to not incur in an excessive charging
- If navigator maps are usable across more devices (especially non-Android devices like iPhones o MS Phones)
- If maps will be delivered packaged in an SD card at the customer's home address
In such cases, the seller is allowed to implement a different payment gateway like Google Wallet API or PayPal
Answer from usr-local-ΕΨΗΕΛΩΝ on Stack OverflowVideos
The accepted answer is correct, but we should take into consideration another aspect about purchasing via smartphone/tablet. This recalls @JaranJhanjee's downvoted answer which is wrong but contains a little important truth
The 30% fee is charged by Google for in-app purchases according to their terms
Paid and Free Apps
- App purchases: Developers charging for apps and downloads from Google Play must do so by using Google Play's payment system.
- In-app purchases:
- Developers offering virtual goods or currencies within a game downloaded from Google Play must use Google Play's in-app billing service as the method of payment.
- Developers offering additional content, services or functionality within another category of app downloaded from Google Play must use Google Play's in-app billing service as the method of payment, except: where payment is primarily for physical goods or services (e.g., buying movie tickets, or buying a publication where the price also includes a hard copy subscription); or where payment is for digital content or goods that may be consumed outside of the app itself (e.g., buying songs that can be played on other music players).
Google always charges the 30% via its in-app billing API. But there are cases in which such an API should be avoided to not incur in an excessive charging
- If navigator maps are usable across more devices (especially non-Android devices like iPhones o MS Phones)
- If maps will be delivered packaged in an SD card at the customer's home address
In such cases, the seller is allowed to implement a different payment gateway like Google Wallet API or PayPal
Google charges 30% for every transaction. Details can be checked here.
Hey everyone,
As an Android developer working on an edtech app for India, I have some queries regarding the billing system on the Play Store that I haven't been able to clarify.
We're all aware that Google charges a 15-30% fee for purchases made on apps listed on the Play Store. So, if, for instance, I'm selling a course on the app for 50,000 INR, would Google retain 7,500 - 15,000 INR from that, or am I missing something?
Moreover, I'm curious about how other edtech apps like Unacademy handle this, especially when they sell high-ticket courses for exams like JEE, UPSC, NEET, etc. Do they also give a large share of their revenue to Google just to list the app, or do they use alternative methods?
Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Hello Devs
Just want to give a heads up especially for newbies, If you are trying to sell your in-app purchases or paid apps. Like you all know Google Play charges 15% if it is below $1 million in a particular calendar year. If it is more than that, it will charge 30%.
But both Google Play and Apple by default charge 30% itself, even if it is below $1M until you opt for so called "15% service fee tier". Not sure why app stores do like this, but you need to manually go and opt-in to that. So don't forget to opt for this.