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Wow. I'm figuring that this review section is just a marketing tool. So many high priced "reviews" of crap that either has a free alternative or is just plain cannon fodder.

Very useful but way, _way_ too expensive. Lower the price to $9.99 and you (Indev) will have way more customers.

I can't believe that I haven't found this yet. I'm trying out the 30 day trial and have already decided to buy it. I get quite annoyed with people and the price points argument these days. The downside to the app store is it has gotten people used to cheap prices for software. These guys don't have the impact of being on the app store as no doubt this would not be approved. It's only $30 guys. Well worth the cost to turn Mail into a pro mail option.

If you do a ton of emailing, $30 will pay for itself in no time. How many stories have we read about Inbox overload? I think an add-on like this, when used properly, can shave 10 to 15 minutes off a busy person's day. A week, and it's paid for. A month at most.

$10 bucks for some add-ons, maybe. $30 bucks for an add-on that integrates so well you'd think it was part of the Mail.app is well worth it, IMHO.

Have used MailTags since it first arrived and consider it a "must-have". All add-ins should work this well. I especially appreciate its compatibility with the OpenMeta tagging standard.

 MrEnglish, on 29 June 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

Ok I'm gonna call you on this one. State the free alternative that is even a fraction as good. Take your time.

I thought Mail Act-On was expensive when I bought it. It's worth every penny and then some.

I have been using MailTags since v1 and find it to be one of the most useful tools I use on a daily basis. Easily worth $30 if you need to organize and search for email and/or you have appointments and todos that start with an email message. Along with TextExpander, Alfred, and 1Password, MailTags is a must-have app for every mac that I use.

MailTags has been on my Mac for about three years, and is my essential tools.

However, I would reserve my strong recommendation because some version of MailTags had memory leak and eats up gigabytes of memory.

 MrEnglish, on 29 June 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

Do tell. What's this free alternative of which you so highly speak?

 shish1, on 29 June 2012 - 09:17 AM, said:

Ah, I remember the days when many good utilities were $30 or more

In my experience, a tool such as MailTags has a rather niche appeal—lowering the price won't necessarily increase sales enough to make up for the lower price per sale. And those who do find it useful will pay $30 because they find it useful enough to be worth the money.

 MrEnglish, on 29 June 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

The reason I gave this a 5-mouse rating is that it is the opposite of crap. In the 7 reviews I've done recently, only 1 received this rating; another got 4, and the others got 1 or 2. I'm not an easy grader. I've been reviewing software since the Mac came out; in MacUser magazine (anybody remember it? - it started the "mouse rating" system) , I don't think I've given 5 mice more than a dozen times, if that.

This is an elegant piece of work. There is great attention to the interface, and it integrates seamlessly with Mail. It provides an incredibly useful, time-saving tool to anyone inundated with email, or even those with less of an inundation but needing a good way to "catalog" things as they come in and go out. Was there something in my review that led you to believe this software is "crap"? Have you used it - and would you like to then leave a more helpful comment about what you didn't like and how you came to your conclusion?

Why did you put "reviews" in quotes? Did I forget to cover something you wanted to know about the software? We write these things to a specific word count, although I could've gone on with more of its great features and value.

In case you didn't catch the sarcasm, I know why you put "reviews" in quotes, since you also say this review section is a "marketing tool." Surely you realize reviewers get paid at the same rate regardless of whether they give software a 1-mouse or a 5-mouse rating? When it comes to "marketing," what Macworld "markets" in regard to software is the expertise of its staff and contributors in recognizing and describing software, good and bad, to save its readers time and money.

"Free alternative"? What? Where? "Cannon fodder"? Perhaps you should look up the meaning of that term. Perhaps you meant "filler"?

 MrEnglish, on 29 June 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

Wow. You figured wrong.

MailTags has been indispensable to me for several years. However, I can't usefully think of MailTags in isolation; it very tightly and synergistically integrates with Mail Act-On. As a pair of utilities, these turbocharge my email productivity.

 SharonZardetto, on 04 July 2012 - 08:16 PM, said:

Sharon, I have read your reviews, posts and other interesting literary creations. You are right, thank you for not over feeding the trolls, but calling attention to what your review was meant to be.

Rick Boman

Sorry, but I have to come down on the side that says $30 for this add-on is too expensive. Halve that, and maybe. But I have to agree with shish1, $9.99 is a good target price.
One of the reason's I feel that it is too expensive for what you get, is that it only tags email. But what works in direct concert with email? Contacts, obviously. How about a tagging system that allows you to tag a contact like they are in real life? The person you work with also is a member of a club you are in, and also goes to the same church. You want them in three lists. Currently, that is a hassel in Contacts. Now, if it was able to tag your contacts so they can show up on multiple smart lists with no hassel, the current suggested price might be justified.