EDIT: Completely rewrote this post …
GetJar/Tapjoy could EASILY offer a cash payment solution for developers who don’t have access to Google Payments etc. in their location.
Right now developers in such locations CANNOT monetize “whales” i.e. cannot have users pay $100 etc. for features/coins for games etc.
Although there are always some offers on Tapjoy for “Buy Skype credit” or such - which ARE in a way cash payments - and these earn large amount of Tapjoy coins.
But these are usually for services OUTSIDE the interest of the developer at that moment.
EDIT: corrected - “interest of the user”
What Tapjoy etc. should do is release a paid app on Google Play called:
“Pay $1 for 10K coins”
Just like many game developers do …
Tapjoy could then place this app always at the top of the OfferWall - so users who REALLY want to buy a ton of Tapjoy coins can just buy that app.
Google would get their 30% cut - and Tapjoy could negotiate some more equitable split so it benefits Tapjoy as well.
This maybe a problem for Google in that it may make such apps the TOP SELLING ones - so for this Google would would have to supply an opt-out program where the seller of such “dummy” apps would indicate in the developer console that these are actually a “special” kind of app (and may have HUGE number of downloads NOT indicate of actually being related to some ONE app’s greatness).
Tapjoy could also have a separate OfferWall that has paid apps:
“Pay $1 for 10K coins”
“Pay $10 for 100K coins”
“Pay $100 for 1000K coins”
What this would allow is for developers to charge HUGE amounts (to address the “whales”).
Current Tapjoy offers just CANNOT leverage the “whales” because most offers are related to some user labor/work/effort (i.e. “Download and run this app”). Such effort CANNOT scale when you want to charge $100 (would require 1000 app downloads etc.).
Basically CASH has a value density that is WAY beyond anything else (just like petrol has an energy density that cannot be rivalled by battery power that easily) - essentially the WHALE market EXISTS because there is a demographic of users who HAVE THE CASH (which they may not have earned themselves, their father is a mafia don or whatever, or corrupt third world official or rich exec in Silicon Valley).
The WHALE user is PRECISELY the one who DOESN’T want do the effort - in fact the whole “whale” monetization model is dependent on a perception that the user can “cheat” his way ahead because of their special access to cash - i.e. they don’t have to “stand in line” like the plebes - and can rush ahead just because they have cash.
So the whale model essentially is a pandering (and a leveraging of the psychology) of the rich elite.
Precisely for this reason you CANNOT expect a user to earn $100 by working to download 1000 “Download and run this app” - as that defeats the purpose - a “whale” wouldn’t do that - as that “requires work” (when they have plenty of cash they are willing to pay instead to AVOID such work).
So by Tapjoy having plenty of HIGH PRICED apps available for download (suitably blocked out from Google “best selling apps” list - by informing Google of such) - would allow developers to leverage the “have cash but don’t want to wait with the plebes” demographic (i.e. the “whale” demographic).
Currently developers in non-Google-Payment-supported locations cannot charge $100 etc. EVEN if they have great features or a great game. But a Tapjoy addition like above could change things for everyone.
GetJar was CLOSE to this with their integration of Google Payment - BUT it was restricted to the app developer offering GetJar coins in lieu of payment - however the value of that was you could potentially earn the coins (by paying cash) in “Cut the Rope” app - and then the user could spend it in your app. However even that is a complication - as a simpler solution would be that the “paid app” which is the conduit for the transaction actually be a GetJar “paid app” on Google Play - which any one could buy.
Since that seems like a SIMPLER solution, I don’t see WHY it has not been implemented - and I suspect the real reason maybe that Google was just being wary of such stuff and may not have given it’s approval for such stuff (i.e. basically it is nothing to Google as it doesn’t harm them - but WHY should they do so … so unless there is developer clamor for Google to be responsive on Google Payments they maybe under no pressure to move). Further reducing the pressure maybe that the majority of developers who are of any size WOULD have ability to situate in Google Play supported countries.
But it still leaves out the small developer from this market.