Need confirmation on Apple's percentage from in-app purchases revenue in free apps

My understanding is that Apple takes 30% of every digital good sold inside your app. But check the App Store rules for confirmation.

That’s not helpful.

“On the iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS App Store, Apple charges a 30% fee for apps and in-app purchases. However, the fee doesn't apply to free apps.”

Because the app is available to download for free, Apple will not take a percentage of the "in-game-currency" revenue, correct or did I misread?

No, that's not correct. Apple take commission on all in-app purchase transactions.

The only case where Apple don't take commission is when you are selling things that are non used within the app - for example, physical goods that are sent to the user, as in a supermarket or food delivery app. But in those cases, you need to provide your own payment processing; you can't use In-App Purchase.

You may want to argue that "tipping other users" falls outside the "used in the app" definition. I don't know about that. It may depend on what the other users are doing that deserved tipping. For example, I guess you can tip your Uber driver and not pay Apple. But it is that aspect that matters, not whether the app is initially free or paid.

Note that in many cases the commission will be 15%, not 30%.

“On the iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS App Store, Apple charges a 30% fee for apps and in-app purchases. However, the fee doesn't apply to free apps.”

Where does that quote come from?

Do read your developer agreement! It has all the answers.

Thanks for your input. I did read the entire developer agreement and then some, which is why I posted here. Nothing denies nor confirms the above quote from Apple Insider, which is why I created an account to post this question.

The quote is from here:

https://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/230272?_gl=1%2A1n8rnv1%2A_ga%2AYW1wLVRRNnc0UGpVdnE1Y2xldWlIM2lPbVE.

Maybe the author mis-worded the statement but I would like to get an official “No” from someone with a similar business model before I structure my pricing around it.

The Apple Insider quote is odd. Obviously a totally-free app pays no commission, because it's totally free. Maybe he considers a "free with in-app-purchases", aka "freemium", app to not be a free app?

I don't have a similar business model, but I am pretty confident of the following: whether an app is initially free or not does not influence whether Apple takes commission on subsequent in-app purchases.

Here is a quote from schedule 2 of a developer agreement:

3.4 Apple shall be entitled to the following commissions in consideration for its services as Your agent and/or commissionaire under this Schedule 2:

(a) For sales of Licensed Applications to End-Users, Apple shall be entitled to a commission equal to thirty percent (30%) of all prices payable by each End-User.

That's followed by describing the reduced rate of 15% for subscriptions after the first year and the small business programme. No mention of a zero rate for IAPs for initially-free apps.

I appreciate this. I commented on the story in hopes to get the author to clarify what was meant. It’s possible the author was stating the obvious: 30% of zero dollars paid for the app equals zero and therefore no fee but did not mean there is no fee for in-app purchases of free apps. I usually find Apple Insider to be a trustworthy source.