The version of CheckBook sold on our site and the one sold on the App Store are functionally the same. But one could say that buying from our site has some advantages.
•The version from our site works with versions of OS X all the way back to 10.3.9. Not everyone can run the latest and greatest. We have a few Macs amongst ourselves, namely PPC Macs that won't ever be able to run the App Store but can still run CheckBook just fine.
•If you are looking at a Family Pack, you don't have to all share the same Apple ID or know the password of the same Apple ID to get access to the application. Multiple family members can maintain their own copy without reliance on anyone else.
•Purchases directly from us are eligible for upgrade discounts from major revision to major revision. When moving to CheckBook 1 to 2, we gave a 40% discount to those wanting to move up. With the App Store, that is not possible. There is no mechanism in place to allow existing users to upgrade at a discount.
•Odds are pretty good if you live in the U.S. you won't have to pay sales tax at the time of purchase. We only collect sales tax
in these states in the U.S. (sorry - we do collect VAT in Europe). The Mac App Store has to collect sales tax in every state that has one.
•Purchases from our online store can update themselves as soon as a new version of CheckBook is available. The Mac App Store usually takes 3 to 5 business days to release updates and, since the Mac App Store is a separate application, it must be running so you can see a new version of CheckBook is available.
•The Mac App Store charges us quite a bit more per order - over 3 times as much as our online store. When you purchase directly from our online store you're giving us more resources to make CheckBook a better app. Thank you!