{"id":646158,"date":"2013-03-11T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-11T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=617380"},"modified":"2013-03-11T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-03-11T13:00:00","slug":"where-to-look-for-the-best-deals-on-mac-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/646158","title":{"rendered":"Where to look for the best deals on Mac apps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several years ago, I was considering buying Toast<\/a>, a DVD authoring tool. But I decided I was not prepared to pay the full price of $99 for a tool that may prove to be less and less useful over time<\/a>\u00a0as Apple was removing optical drives from their Macs<\/a>. \u00a0But when I saw that it was included in a bundle of software for $49, I decided to pull the trigger. App or software bundles are a great way to get good deals on high-quality software.<\/p>\n

The following will explain the methods I’ve used over the past few years for finding some great deals on Mac software past few years, through app bundles, price tracking, and clipping the right digital coupons.<\/p>\n

Independent app bundles<\/h2>\n

Bundled software — when five, 10 or even more apps — are sold together for one low price is a great opportunity to try out a new piece of software that you may not have thought to buy in the first place. \u00a0There is typically one (or more) big ticket or well known item in each bundle along with several smaller and lesser known items. And sometimes you get something really good you didn’t even know you’d use:\u00a0a few months after I bought that Toast bundle, I found an opportunity to use Live Interior 3D, one of the apps included. \u00a0I ended up using it to model a couple of rooms in my house before purchasing new furniture. So think of app bundles as a way to buy the one app you want, while getting fully licensed versions of several additional software titles you may like — you just don’t know it yet.<\/p>\n

\"Mac<\/p>\n

MacUpdate Promo<\/strong>\u00a0(macupdate.com<\/a>). More of a full-featured app store on its own, MacUpdate has been offering some very compelling software bundles in recent years. One such title that I am always keeping up to date is Parallels. \u00a0At least one each year I will find a $49 bundle with Parallels<\/a> included, and get access to some other great titles that I would not otherwise have purchased. The great thing about MacUpdate is that it will also manage all of your license keys online, and alert you via email when any of the software you have purchased has been updated. \u00a0There is even a MacUpdate desktop app<\/a>\u00a0that you can install that will keep your purchased software titles in check and notify you instantly when updates are available. \u00a0It works very much like Apple’s Mac App Store on OS X, only MacUpdate has been doing this long before the App Store ever existed.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

MacHeist Loot<\/strong>\u00a0(macheist.com<\/a>). When it first launched<\/a>, you were not exactly sure if you were participating in an actual heist or not. \u00a0MacHeist has made purchasing software fun by introducing a secret agent gaming element which provides even deeper discounts and access to additional software titles referred to as “loot.” \u00a0With the first round of online hijinks, you had to hack your way into websites in order to unlock secret codes. This of course was all staged and now there are iOS games<\/a>\u00a0like The Heist<\/a>\u00a0that you can download and play instead. \u00a0These games will link to your MacHeist account to unlock the same discount codes. \u00a0At the end of a series of missions, you are exposed to a great bundle of software for a very low price.<\/p>\n

\"Mac<\/p>\n

The rest of the pack.<\/strong>\u00a0It’s not that any one of these other bundle sites do not offer equally as good of deals as either MacUpdate or MacHeist, they just are not nearly as well known and offer more of a no-frills shopping experience. \u00a0MacLegion<\/a>, BundleHunt<\/a>, StackSocial<\/a>\u00a0and ProductiveMacs<\/a>\u00a0have each proven to be a valuable source of great software for a great value. Another such example is Micromat’s TechTool Pro<\/a>. \u00a0I can usually pick this up for $49.99 along with some other great apps in teh bundle.<\/p>\n

Mac App Store price trackers<\/h2>\n

Nothing is more frustrating than buying anything, including an app from the Mac App Store only to see the price drop the next day. \u00a0While none of these services can actually predict the exact day when a developer will decide to drop their prices, some will at least alert you when they do. \u00a0Once alerted, you can take advantage of the sale before its too late and you miss yet another great opportunity.<\/p>\n

\"App<\/p>\n

AppShopper<\/strong>\u00a0(appshopper.com<\/a>). While you may be familiar with this site for iOS apps, it also covers OS X apps in the Mac App Store as well. With AppShopper, you can look at the pricing history of each app you are interested in and see if the developer has ever offered a discount. \u00a0You can also set up an account and be alerted via email when one of the apps on your wish list<\/a> provides an update<\/a> or changes its price<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Two Dollar Tuesday<\/strong>\u00a0(twodollartues.com<\/a>). The name says it all. \u00a0While not exclusively limited to Tuesdays, this site will list current deals for apps that are on sale in the Mac App Store. \u00a0They have a Twitter feed<\/a>\u00a0that you can follow, or if you like you can subscribe to their mailing list and get weekly email updates on deals.<\/p>\n

\"Appy<\/p>\n

Appy Fridays<\/strong>\u00a0(appyfridays.com<\/a>). Very similar to Two Dollar Tuesday, Appy Fridays will track different software deals. \u00a0They also have a Twitter feed<\/a> you can follow and an email distribution list you can join.<\/p>\n

Shopping cart coupon codes<\/h2>\n

There are still third-party software developers that sell their software directly from their own online stores. \u00a0Some of the larger ones rarely, if ever, participate in software bundle opportunities. \u00a0That does not mean that they do not offer discounts from time to time on their software in the form of coupon codes.<\/p>\n

\"RetailMeNot\"<\/p>\n

RetailMeNot<\/strong>\u00a0(retailmenot.com<\/a>). Taking coupon and promo codes from both merchants<\/a> and customers<\/a> alike, RetailMeNot is one of the top coupon code sites online. \u00a0It is easy to find the company you are interested in, just search for the company name or the domain name that the shopping cart is hosted on. \u00a0One of my favorites is TheLittelAppFactory<\/a>, seems like there is always an active coupon code for their great assortment of software. \u00a0These codes are legitimate and most time are actually listed on the site directly by the online merchant that sets them up in the first place.<\/p>\n

Even more coupon code sites.<\/strong>\u00a0It never hurts to look everywhere before you give in and pay full retail price. There are many other coupon sites out there, such as\u00a0CurrentCodes<\/a>, \u00a0CouponCabin<\/a>\u00a0and CouponChief<\/a> to name a select few.<\/p>\n

While there are other promotions, app trackers and social coupon code sites out there, I have used each of the sites referenced above at one time or another. \u00a0Some sites that I haven’t listed here may offer great deals, but they don’t have the big ticket software titles that I am looking for. Each of the sites listed here have proven to be a valuable source for both great software titles and even better deals.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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