It’s been far too long since a blog has been posted here, but now that I’m out of rehab things can finally return to normal.
MailWasher Pro.....now the MOST PIRATED ANTI SPAM PROGRAM IN NEW ZEALAND, IN THE WORLD, IN THE UNIVERSE, IN THE MULTIVERSE.....
The New Zealand Working Group on Piracy and Midget Wrestling Federation (N.Z.W.G.P.M.W.F) has officially awarded MailWasher Pro as being the most pirated anti-spam application. We are obviously incredibly thrilled to have achieved such a prestigious award and we have to shout out to all the peeps who made this possible. We didn’t have a speech prepared, but here goes :
WOO!....WE DID IT BABY.....MAN, WHAT A RUSH.....WE’D LIKE TO THANK GOD....JESUS....MARY....JOSEPH.... THE OTHER 3 DWARFS WHOSE NAMES WE CAN’T REMEMBER RIGHT NOW....YOU GUYS ROCK!......WOO!........ MILEY, LINSDAY, PARIS AND ALL THE OTHER CHEAP TARTS.....WITHOUT YOUR INSPIRATION OF TALENTLESS MEDIOCRITY WE COULD NEVER HAVE DREAMT TO DREAM. YOU SO TAUGHT US THAT THE WORLD DESERVES BETTER. WOO!
Seriously though. As some background, MailWasher has had insufficient protection against piracy for many years, but as we enter the new age of my mortgage payments, broken Xbox360 and a girlfriend who demands clean needles, we thought we’d try to improve on things and maybe, just maybe, we wouldn’t need to resort to bum-rolling. (Bum-rolling is taking those little cigarette butts out of the gutter, using the left over tobacco and rolling them into a new flash cigarettes like the rich folk have on TV)
So we put in some more measures to prevent the blatant piracy, added basic tracking and over a period of 60 days we finally have some sums worth looking at.....keeping in mind as a high school drop out I’m probably better described as a Mathamagician, numbers tend to mysteriously vanish and reappear to suit, but I’m sure even I can get this right.
Looking back at a snippet of 10 days during this 60 days of tracking, we can see the number of piracy attempts versus sales.
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So the average over those 10 days is a piracy rate of around 460%, or in other words for every 10 sales we got we also saw 46 people attempt to pirate the software. It's worth noting these are different users attempts, in many instances people would try 2 or 3 times to register MailWasher using a pirated code, so these numbers aren't being artificially inflated by repeat attempts.
Over these 60 days we presented users who were attempting piracy with a polite message and an offer to purchase at a whopping 50% discount, 6.3% of those users actually purchased the software, which as a conversion rate isn't entirely bad. We had a variety of seven screens that users could be shown, some performing better than others.
Our best performer was proof yet again that sex sells. Pirate 4 came in at a massive conversion rate of 7.5%
Pirate 1 came in at a conversion rate of 7.2%, which frankly surprises me, I like crazy Germans.
Pirate 7 came in equal with the crazy Germans at 7.2%. Those redundancies were real by the way, we weren't making shit up just to score some bucks.
Pirate 6 came in at a conversion rate of 6.3%, again another surprise as we clearly paid no attention to the actual price of Pizza.
Pirate 5 came in at a conversion rate of 5.8%, no shocks - that's a bloody ugly cat.
Copyright - www.icanhazcheeseburger.com
Pirate 3 came also came in at a conversion rate of 5.8% With such a catchy phrase of "Don't be a pussy" too, we actually thought if we wrote one-liners that were up to a standard of great hit shows like "Friends" we'd see better results. Apparently not.
And lastly was poor old Brian, Pirate 2 at a conversion rate of 4.8% We assumed folk would be more appreciative of Cat Aids, although as it turns out Aids isn't a sexy topic anymore....
Copyright - www.icanhazcheeseburger.com
To be fair we weren't comfortable offering a discount and legitimate users could feel an aggravation towards that, however this was just testing the waters for a short time and that discounted offer no longer applies. Moving forward, the interesting difference will be how those numbers shift given a discount is no longer available.
Overall though these attempts we made translated to an increase of unit sales of around 20%, which whilst being positive the extra moolah isn't going to the bank, as SHOCK HORROR - programmers are expensive. So The Big Cheese won't be going off and leasing an expensive Maserati....again.
So there we have it, the proof is in the numbers (actually that’s no proof) but it tells us, MailWasher is not only sexy, it's sexy’arrrr
what or who is mailwasher
what or who is mailwasher pro? ;o) just kidding... great product! i love it!
Thanks for a fantastic app.
Thanks for a fantastic app. Have been using for several years. Started with your 'free' version and broke down and purchased a licensed copy. I have recommended to friends. But, for various dumb reasons, they think they don't need. Oh well, their loss.
Just a note from a fan in Canada.
Yes! I great anti-spam
Yes! I great anti-spam product. I started with the trial version, and was so pleased - I paid for it afterwards! Great program! Keep up the good work!
When Mailwasher Pro first
When Mailwasher Pro first came out, I was using a license that they said would not work a second time if it was reinstalled so I didn't think anything of it. I was told that if I donated $20 or more I would get a lifetime license to use the Pro version.
My computer eventually crashed and I was still under the impression that my license would not work a second time. By this time, Firetrust took over and when I tried to request a new license, I got no response. It wasn't until after this, that I found out the license could be used again.
Not something that I'm proud of but you'll excuse me if I use a pirate copy because I feel like I got ripped off.
Sorry you never got a reply!
Sorry you never got a reply! We do try and answer every email, but for whatever reason, we never got yours. We would have been happy to have given you this free license at the time.
Maybe Mailwasher filtered his
Maybe Mailwasher filtered his email because it erroneously thought it was spam! HAHHAHAHA! ;)
Love it!
Love it!
I've been using this product
I've been using this product since it started off as freeware, and purchased it as soon as the "Pro" version came out. You guys are one of the few companies where "lifetime license" means just that, and I've always downloaded new updates as they come out. I happily dished out the $50 when it came out, and you know what? I'm not upset that you gave the pirates the 50% off deal, what I'm really upset about is the fact that they (some at least) got to see the hot pirate manga chick. Any chance you can figure out a spot for that picture into the app for us legitimate users?
I was one of the very early
I was one of the very early people to get a copy of Mailwasher as freeware and paid my money for the Pro version as soon as it came out and enjoy the "lifetime licenses and updates" some thing that I really appreciate in todays commercial world with users pays. I congratulate you on an excellent program and look forward to many more updates. Keep up the good work Kiwis
Like most of the rest, I
Like most of the rest, I started out with Mailwasher as a freebie and bought it when it went Pro - that lifetime license is a wonderful thing, but if you go to a 'pay for upgrade system' then I can see that i might keep running an older version - after all, it already does everything I need.
Everyone complains about the
Everyone complains about the spam they get and then they do nothing about it. I've told everyone who complains to me about Mailwasher and they just do nothing about it and keep complaining. With Mailwasher, I get NO spam and I get pretty sick of hearing about everyone else's. What's the matter with them?
I read somewhere on this site
I read somewhere on this site that it was suggested that $10 would be the "Upgrade" price for the loooooong awaited re-written version.
However, it was never stated in what country's currency that "$10" was denominated .... If course, I would much prefer it to be in HONG KONG Dollars [where I live], but I could cheerfully accept it to be in NZ Dollars - 'cos that was the currency I mailed for the original Mailwasher program at probably the most northernly Post box in New Zealand -- at Cape Reinga on 5th November 2002 when my family & I were down from Commie China on a holiday trip.
Mailwasher - and latterly Mailwasher Pro have worked well for me for more than 7 years, and my success persuaded my sister that it was a good buy for her money rather than a "Good-bye" TO her money!
Long life to MWPro & its successors!
I assumed Nick always meant
I assumed Nick always meant US dollars. Which right now really might be a bad idea ;)
One thing I really think you
One thing I really think you should do is to have at least a different speed/colour/frequency of "flashing" telephone earpiece or sink plug (I could never really figure out what it is....) for when SPAM arrives.
The fact that spam does NOT elicit flashing means that you think there is nothing in Mailwasher, and when you go to upload an email, you can pick up a load of spam that you WOULD have marked for deletion and bouncing, had you any inkling that some was there, waiting to download.
Surely it would be simply to indicate that SOMETHING other than known legiitmate emails was actually in Mailwasher -- and we need to check it first, before uploading our outgoing emails?
This is such a useful idea, I am surprised it never came up before.....
I'm using Mac OS X Snow
I'm using Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Just would like to know if you guys have a Mac version of this FANTASTIC software! In the days when I was using a Microsoft PC I was using your FREE version, but would REALLY love to use it again on my Mac and pay for your great app.
Hi guys, Great product which
Hi guys,
Great product which I've recommended to loads of people since I got it. Its so good I bought a licence and believe it was money well spent.
keep up the good work
J
Was pointed in the direction
Was pointed in the direction of this application when I upgraded to Win7 and found my old mail scrubber wouldn't install its driver - and developer seemed in no way interested in developing a signed 64-bit driver - but suggested disabling the signing requirement (muppet!).
Even after a couple of days testing, I was convinced to go Pro. So when going through the purchase and I noticed the voucher code option; I admit that I succumbed to temptation and did a little bit of searching to find a code to get a discount. Was surprised at the 50% discount levied... even felt a little cheap in doing so considering how well it has worked for me.... though the code P***** seems obvious having seen the above flash images :)
Still, I would have paid the full amount had my search proved futile. Not that I like apps that phone home, but perhaps a little counter-signing with an authentication server to continue operation might persuade people to purchase if the codes are voided often enough.
Still feel a little guilty using the discount code - so I will pay reparations by re-subscribing to the FirstAlert! service when it expires.
Great stuff, though we don't
Great stuff, though we don't like folk feeling guilty......we are always partial to small gifts too ;)
http://www.firetrust.com/en/blog/chris/firetrust-now-takes-trade
I gave the free version a
I gave the free version a thorough try-out but, even as a Yorkshireman, parting with my hard earned pieces of eight several computers ago for the Pro upgrade was an easy decision.
I run a web design company and recommend MW to my clients - with almost no success. I think the problem is fear of software download/installation and of setting up email connections after difficult experiences with MS Outlook (BTW Thunderbird seems to do a better job at setup than Outlook). See also item 2 below.
I'm horrified to read that you've had to lay off employees. Some suggestions:
1. Make the "free" version into 60 day free trial then a small fee with a matching discount if the user subsequently upgrades to pro
2. Ship MW with a set of tried and tested "get you started" filters - the go fetch from w5hq.com and the consequent instructions are too much hassle for non-tech users
3. Drop the "Lifetime upgrades for free" committment for new users but make upgrades cost little enough to be "a no brainer"
4. Make the migration process simpler - a button to press that will make an executable zip of everything.
5. mail me for a new closely related product idea (I've implemented but it's a programming mess)
Some good ideas there Rob :)
Some good ideas there Rob :) .....we've discussed very similar ideas ourselves...if not the same.
It was an interesting, albeit nervous time back in 2006 when most of the redundancies took place. There was probably a good 40 different anti-spam programs on the market at that time, then a massive consolidation took hold. Still, we survived that time when many others fell away which boosted our confidence.
1 - Perhaps we are holding on to too much of a nostalgic feeling, but much of the success grew from that first free version and it's a model we still see used often in a competitive market. However we never had success trying to market MailWasher with $$, instead we found our best marketing was word of mouth from our users. Even now I still encounter people who are using our last true free version and we have to consider what impact on that losing the free version might have.
2 - That's a very good idea, we've been working over the last few months trying to make MailWasher as easy as we can to set up. There is always room for more improvement.
3 - Something we'll be doing with the new version we are working on is having a small upgrade fee.
4 - Again a good idea we've always been meaning to get to.
5 - I've deleted the email that contained your address, assuming it was part of the blog comment, you can contact The Big Cheese though using the Business Development address here http://www.firetrust.com/en/company
GREAT 1st piracy attempt
GREAT 1st piracy attempt conversion ad. Not surprised it worked best. Still makin' me laugh. Your conversions on this is probably due to the dudes realizing that you and your company are cool with an awesome sense of humor. Of course we all want an excellent product... but when you like or get a kick outta the people makin the stuff?...$'s are more likely.
Yeah... blah, blah. I've had Mailwasher since the free days and only paid for Pro after reading your pages about even taking trades. (ok... and I got tired of the Free allowing only 2 email addresses) Great idea... I sent cash instead, but the funny a$$ stories are what finally did it for me to want to pay for the Pro.
Good job.
-Will
Awesome, thanks Will :)
Awesome, thanks Will :)
After reading the Chris blog
After reading the Chris blog dated, Wed. 11/29/2009, I take it I am the only one that has a legit copy of MP in the USA. If i had waited awhile I could have gotten a pirated version for free. Tell you what I'm gonna do, if you post some more revealing pictures of the young beauty in the spam t-shirt, I'll stop distributing my ultra secret MP code to all my friends. Better yet, send me her web cam address. You have until sundown to comply. Shiver me timbers (my timber is cold). You would'nt want your one and only customer in the USA too be cold would ya?
I asked her for some more
I asked her for some more revealing photos and her web cam address, but failed to mention it was for someone else, now she won't talk to me any more. So I did try, I guess mothers can be like that sometimes.
The issue of piracy has its
The issue of piracy has its subversive side, the desire to circumvent well known programs and popular. It is a fact, pirated programs, are reconhecidamentes good and popular.
Another issue is the purchase. In Brazil, the MW is in the currency conversion, almost 3x more expensive. And there's the difficulty of buying one. Question as credit cards, currency, fear of entering the data card.
If firms tend to dominate the market, it must be accessible to consumers in all corners of the world. And the prices with the reality of each country.
* Google Translate
I used the free version for
I used the free version for some time and reinstalled it when neccessary.
When I migrated to win 7 I bit the bullet and shelled out of my hard saved pension for some security.
I have recommended it to many people but a lot of my friends use online e-mail ....yahoo, msn, ntl etc.
Yes we still use computers over 65.
A very good and neccessary piece of software
Greetings, I have been using
Greetings,
I have been using mailwasher pro pretty much since 2004 or so and I have been impressed with how it works. I can't be happier with the product. Actually I am so happy I purchased two keys. Hopefully that helped with paying for your rehab stay and you don't have to roll bums anymore although quitting smoking improves your health, increases stress, reduces the amount of that nasty smell you never noticed before, and just makes you hell to live with for a while. Its all good. But MWP is much better. Keep up the awesome work.
Thanks!!!
I am using my license on all
I am using my license on all my 3 computers and don't know if that qualifies me as a pirate on 2 counts.
I would however be willing to buy an additional license if I could get a version for my IPhone 3G.
BTW: Greetings to your mother.
Nah, on 3 personal machines
Nah, on 3 personal machines that's fine :)
Mum says Hi.
I got the US$10 offer banner
I got the US$10 offer banner when I ran the copy of MailWasher Free on my netbook today (Tuesday, February 2, 2010). That got me sold and I clicked on the banner to make my purchase. However the shopping cart is reflecting the price in EURO. What gives? US$ is fine with me, but EURO? After conversion from currency to currency, and tacking on the service fees for conversion by the credit card company, the US$10 offer will end up as a US$12 offer. Could you refine your purchasing screen to enable me to pay in US$, or if it is possible, S$ (yup, that's where I live, in Singapore)....
Hi Benjamin EURO is a major
Hi Benjamin
EURO is a major currency along with USD and the EURO price is E7.50 to reflect the USD10 price. If you live in Singapore then you're going to have to pay conversion fees from USD or Euro’s to S$. Either way, your credit card provider will still charge a service fee for conversion (but everyone has this issue unless their credit card is denomination in USD or EURO). Unfortunately we can’t let you pay in USD since it’s based on location, so that’s why there’s the E7.50 price as it’s more or less equivalent to USD10.
Seems to be better and
Seems to be better and better. Keep it up! I really like the program.
Euros for Aussies, Why???.
Euros for Aussies, Why???.
Hey why can't we buy in Yankee dollars here in Australia.
29.95 euro works out to over $45 of my dollars. Do folks in NZ have to buy in Euros too? Poor buggers if they do ($57+)!!
Means my wallaby and kangaroos are gonna have to go hungry if I buy it.
All the prices work out the
All the prices work out the same when converted from the base price of USD39.95, but we don't have the capability to offer many other currencies, but we're switching payment providers soon to offer more currencies including AUD. We switched to the EURO for now as its much more stable than the USD which is all over the place which makes it hard to budget.
I tried out a pirate copy &
I tried out a pirate copy & was so impressed, I bought a legit Pro version. Sometimes honest people just wanna try an unrestricted version before they part with their $$$.
Howdy. I'm a long time user
Howdy. I'm a long time user of Mailwasher, started out with the free version and graduated to the Pro. Love it, best darn program on the market in my opinion. I noticed that you state that there will be a small upgrade fee for the newest version of Mailwasher Pro when it comes up, I'm wondering if that includes those of us who have been using Mailwasher since it's Beta days, as I don't have credit cards and very limited monetary resources at this time.
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