It’s no secret Google took their cue from Apple when they designed the pricing structure for app purchases (and in-app purchases): like them they keep 30% of any and all sales, with the developer getting the remaining 70%.

This is fair for apps; after all they offer exposure, easy and integrated payment, and the greatest platform there is (hmm, does he mean Apple or Google is the greatest platform, or both?). And since 75% of paid apps on the Play Store are sold for less than $2.50, the fact that Google keeps close to a third of it doesn’t matter much.

For in-app purchases, especially fairly expensive ones, it does matter a bit more! So I’m happy to report that you can now purchase maps at a discount when you get them directly on our site.

We use Google Wallet for payment, and since that’s the same back-end Google uses for the Play Store, if you’ve ever bought an app or made an in-app purchase on Android, your account should be already set up.

Coupled with the upcoming MyTrails integration with Google accounts, this should make buying maps a snap. And about 10% cheaper than IAPs. The prices listed on our topo maps pages remain the IAP prices, and you can click through for the direct price.

At the moment, the prices indicated on our storefront are in Euros, but once you click the Purchase button, Wallet should translate that into Pounds pronto.

We’ve also taken the opportunity to redesign the account page to make it less ugly. Please let us know if we missed or broke something!

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