I have a dilemma, create a new version of my existing product, but it will be fully redesigned and incompatible with old ones, the main reason is to save the product name and rating, also the new version will have more features too. Another way is to create a new product. What do you thing about it?
If it’s a massive upgrade over previous versions (but it’s still the same product), I think you should release it as a new version and make upgrade wizard (so new version is compatible with old one).
I don’t know if Envato rules say something about such strategy, but it would be super-unethical (from buyer’s point of view) to see author doing this (marking a new version as a totally new product in order to force existing user to buy the same product again).
However, if it’s a really new product (even if its main purpose is the same as old one), I think it’s perfectly fine to release it a a different item. Just keep in mind that you might get some negative reviews for your old item (because some of users might not be very happy about such business tactics), which will also affect your overall rating.
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I’m agree with you, the new version will do the same as old, but with new features and backend. The import/export wizard will be a good strategy for the old users. Thanks for the suggestion.
Your old users will appreciate it. One of our products also had a major change (about 30% of total code was rewritten, major new features added, etc.), so we made sure to create an automated upgrade wizard in order to keep full backwards compatibility. According to positive reviews we received, it was the right thing to do 
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I don’t think it’s unethical; it’s just a different business practice. Photoshop used to do it for years (releasing new versions), video games do it every year (Fifa franchise) and there are many other examples. Some of them barely have enough reason to make a new version too.
But I can understand buyers not quite liking it because the model of Envato marketplace has usually been to give free updates.
There are pros and cons to both of these anyway:
New product means you’ll lose ratings,comments and other stats which might help the product rank well. But it gives you some new freshness and time on the frontpage and clean slate, especially if you’re old version has a few negative comments/ratings.
Adding it as a new update essentially gives it to free to all your previous customers, which whilst is a nice thing to do, isn’t going to earn you any extra money bar a few support upgrades. However, for new customers looking to buy software, if they see that you continually release updates for free and improve the software over time, it gives them another reason to buy your product versus one which keeps releasing new versions every year.
You just have to decide what’s best for yourself and business. I’ve tried both in the past but I think with the way Envato is going, keeping ratings/sales/comments on products can be very important for search. It also lets you get into promotions and other offers (because they require the product to have a min of 5 stars, 100 sales etc).
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This is absolutely correct. However, there’s one key difference - Envato advertises free updates for life (which means buyers expect new versions to be free), while Adobe doesn’t. In personal opinion, Envato strategy is very bad for authors (and even Envato itself because they loose a truckload of commissions) because all the “normal” world only offers updates for X months/years (and support is included for free) and then clients must pay for updates/new versions.
For some reason, Envato does it other way, but if author decided to go with Envato, he should respect its terms and provide updates for free (instead of releasing new versions as new items). Of course, it’s just my personal opinion, and any author needs to make his own decision anyways.