Free items go through the same review as paid ones and carry the same licensing. Sellers ask why they would bother. The answer is not charity, it is distribution.
The first problem is being found
A new seller with one paid item and no ratings is invisible. A free item gets downloaded, rated, and shows up in listings, and every one of those downloads is somebody who now knows your name. That is the hard part of selling, solved cheaply.
Ratings arrive faster
People rate free things more readily than paid ones, and reviews here come only from people who actually acquired the item. A free item with thirty genuine ratings makes your paid items look like they came from somebody real.
What to give away
- A genuinely useful smaller tool, complete in itself
- A starter or lite version with a clear, honest boundary
- Something adjacent that the paid item pairs with
What not to give away
A crippled version of your paid item, with the useful parts removed. Buyers recognise it instantly, rate it accordingly, and now your name is attached to something disappointing. Whatever you give away has to be worth having on its own.
Say what the paid one adds
On the free item's page, plainly and without pressure. A buyer who arrived for the free thing and can see exactly what the upgrade buys will make that decision themselves.
