Adobe rips off rest of the World - a warning
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Decided it was time to update Adobe applications for use with Vista. Went on to the Adobe site to upgrade to Robo Help 7 $499 - pricey but fair enough they have to make a living! Entered the shop and then get re-directed to Adobe UK shop, price is now £506!! or $1012 Over twice the price... A web site bug, racist, greedy or what? Spoke to Adobe and apparently it’s not a program bug, but company policy to rip off anyone outside the US at over twice domestic for the same downloaded product. Apparently I was not the first call today complaining! Guess its time to vote with the feet! PS if you are in France its even more!
Thats one way to compensate for the weak dollar...:rolleyes:
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I had exactly the same experience with Adobe last year - unfortunately I absolutely had to have CS. Happily, my brother lives in the US so he bought it for me and forwarded it on. Adobe suck.
I wonder if there's a legalese clause in the EULA about regional distribution and licenses?
I'm largely language agnostic
After a while they all bug me :doh:
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I wonder if there's a legalese clause in the EULA about regional distribution and licenses?
I'm largely language agnostic
After a while they all bug me :doh:
Probably - but they can KMA if they think I'm paying them a penny more! :)
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Decided it was time to update Adobe applications for use with Vista. Went on to the Adobe site to upgrade to Robo Help 7 $499 - pricey but fair enough they have to make a living! Entered the shop and then get re-directed to Adobe UK shop, price is now £506!! or $1012 Over twice the price... A web site bug, racist, greedy or what? Spoke to Adobe and apparently it’s not a program bug, but company policy to rip off anyone outside the US at over twice domestic for the same downloaded product. Apparently I was not the first call today complaining! Guess its time to vote with the feet! PS if you are in France its even more!
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Decided it was time to update Adobe applications for use with Vista. Went on to the Adobe site to upgrade to Robo Help 7 $499 - pricey but fair enough they have to make a living! Entered the shop and then get re-directed to Adobe UK shop, price is now £506!! or $1012 Over twice the price... A web site bug, racist, greedy or what? Spoke to Adobe and apparently it’s not a program bug, but company policy to rip off anyone outside the US at over twice domestic for the same downloaded product. Apparently I was not the first call today complaining! Guess its time to vote with the feet! PS if you are in France its even more!
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They are trying to make enough money in advance for when the EU sues and fines them. :-D
led mike
led mike wrote:
They are trying to make enough money in advance for when the EU sues and fines them.
As funny as that seems, companies do project the cost of doing business. If they're projecting additional costs because of EU judments, you can bet that's incorporated into the local price. Cheers, Drew.
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led mike wrote:
They are trying to make enough money in advance for when the EU sues and fines them.
As funny as that seems, companies do project the cost of doing business. If they're projecting additional costs because of EU judments, you can bet that's incorporated into the local price. Cheers, Drew.
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Drew Stainton wrote:
As funny as that seems
Truth is normally funnier than fiction. Since you seem to think I was missing that aspect of my own comment. ;)
led mike
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They are trying to make enough money in advance for when the EU sues and fines them. :-D
led mike
Good point, I shall write to my MEP and complain - we'll soon see how quickly Adobe cave in :D
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Bob1000 wrote:
racist
Uh, unless they had a box on the order form that asked "Race?" I'm not sure how on earth they could be accused of being racist just because they charge a higher price in a certain country. Country != Race. Cheers, Drew.
Was being slightly flippant – but on reflection it can actually it can be construed as racist - trying to think of an example that won’t offend anyone :) For example, if you charged more for people who live in Wales than Scotland, as more welsh people live in Wales than Scots, then you are discriminating against the welsh race. Now whether the welsh can be considered a separate race is another matter, but we like to think we are, and I bet the Scots do! Cheers
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Was being slightly flippant – but on reflection it can actually it can be construed as racist - trying to think of an example that won’t offend anyone :) For example, if you charged more for people who live in Wales than Scotland, as more welsh people live in Wales than Scots, then you are discriminating against the welsh race. Now whether the welsh can be considered a separate race is another matter, but we like to think we are, and I bet the Scots do! Cheers
Bob1000 wrote:
Now whether the welsh can be considered a separate race is another matter
Yup, that's the crux of the problem. I'm Canadian. I'm certainly not American, but I am definitely Caucasian and would still be whether I was born on this side of the border or the other. ;) Cheers, Drew.
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Bob1000 wrote:
Guess its time to vote with the feet!
I just hate adobe products. I just won't use any of their products any more.
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im with you on that vote with ones wallet and they wonder why people in poor countries pirate software *shakes head*
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
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Decided it was time to update Adobe applications for use with Vista. Went on to the Adobe site to upgrade to Robo Help 7 $499 - pricey but fair enough they have to make a living! Entered the shop and then get re-directed to Adobe UK shop, price is now £506!! or $1012 Over twice the price... A web site bug, racist, greedy or what? Spoke to Adobe and apparently it’s not a program bug, but company policy to rip off anyone outside the US at over twice domestic for the same downloaded product. Apparently I was not the first call today complaining! Guess its time to vote with the feet! PS if you are in France its even more!
Maybe there's some requirements for overseas sales? Taxes, exports and such. In reality a download is a download but the end sale, regardless of medium, may have other overhead involved. I'm not sure. As a US person, I don't think I've ever bought any software product from a UK company. Even then I couldn't compare it to the US regs for import/export as it would be different, I would think. Good question. But I wouldn't say "Adobe rips off" unless you can substantiate that. It may not seem fair but they may have reasons for it.
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Decided it was time to update Adobe applications for use with Vista. Went on to the Adobe site to upgrade to Robo Help 7 $499 - pricey but fair enough they have to make a living! Entered the shop and then get re-directed to Adobe UK shop, price is now £506!! or $1012 Over twice the price... A web site bug, racist, greedy or what? Spoke to Adobe and apparently it’s not a program bug, but company policy to rip off anyone outside the US at over twice domestic for the same downloaded product. Apparently I was not the first call today complaining! Guess its time to vote with the feet! PS if you are in France its even more!
aren't there fees associated with importing products? Like customs fees or import taxes?
Steve
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aren't there fees associated with importing products? Like customs fees or import taxes?
Steve
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Maybe there's some requirements for overseas sales? Taxes, exports and such. In reality a download is a download but the end sale, regardless of medium, may have other overhead involved. I'm not sure. As a US person, I don't think I've ever bought any software product from a UK company. Even then I couldn't compare it to the US regs for import/export as it would be different, I would think. Good question. But I wouldn't say "Adobe rips off" unless you can substantiate that. It may not seem fair but they may have reasons for it.
Yes there is local VAT about 17.5% which they have to charge (like sales tax), but even this can be avoided if a business purchase (and you have a VAT number). As far as exchange rates/commissions go - it’s picked up by the customer on the credit card bill, as is any import duty if a physical shipment. Have not seen this level of abuse with other companies selling from the US to UK/Europe (or vice versa!). Judging by the comments of the service agent I spoke to at Adobe, they find it embarrassing and difficult to justify too! So yes "Adobe rips off" is perfectly justified and substantiated. Come to think it of it, always have had a fair deal and service from the smaller software companies, its big ones that make the buying experience bad!
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Yes there is local VAT about 17.5% which they have to charge (like sales tax), but even this can be avoided if a business purchase (and you have a VAT number). As far as exchange rates/commissions go - it’s picked up by the customer on the credit card bill, as is any import duty if a physical shipment. Have not seen this level of abuse with other companies selling from the US to UK/Europe (or vice versa!). Judging by the comments of the service agent I spoke to at Adobe, they find it embarrassing and difficult to justify too! So yes "Adobe rips off" is perfectly justified and substantiated. Come to think it of it, always have had a fair deal and service from the smaller software companies, its big ones that make the buying experience bad!
I don't know about that. For example, Windows Vista Ultimate is 399USD or 369GBP
-- Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?
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I don't know about that. For example, Windows Vista Ultimate is 399USD or 369GBP
-- Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?
Typical UK street price is £115.15 inc tax (which compares well to $399!). Have seen the dual 32/64 bit retail version at £316, but the retailer said he only had 1 copy, and it had a lot of dust on it! Guess I think you should be able to buy any legal product from anywhere, that’s why I hate the con of DVD regions by the film industry....Just as immoral as ripping off a DVD! But that’s a moan for another day… :)
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Typical UK street price is £115.15 inc tax (which compares well to $399!). Have seen the dual 32/64 bit retail version at £316, but the retailer said he only had 1 copy, and it had a lot of dust on it! Guess I think you should be able to buy any legal product from anywhere, that’s why I hate the con of DVD regions by the film industry....Just as immoral as ripping off a DVD! But that’s a moan for another day… :)
I'm pretty sure that's the OEM version, not the retail version. The OEM version in the US is $169 for Ultimate.
-- Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?
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Yes there is local VAT about 17.5% which they have to charge (like sales tax), but even this can be avoided if a business purchase (and you have a VAT number). As far as exchange rates/commissions go - it’s picked up by the customer on the credit card bill, as is any import duty if a physical shipment. Have not seen this level of abuse with other companies selling from the US to UK/Europe (or vice versa!). Judging by the comments of the service agent I spoke to at Adobe, they find it embarrassing and difficult to justify too! So yes "Adobe rips off" is perfectly justified and substantiated. Come to think it of it, always have had a fair deal and service from the smaller software companies, its big ones that make the buying experience bad!
Actually, your post got me intrigued as to why that would be. I've never purchased software or hardware from any country other than the US. So I searched around and found this explaination from Adobe. I don't 100% agree, but it explains some of the reasoning behind the pricing disparity. ------- Thank you for contacting Adobe Customer Service. Here are some concrete examples of factors that make costs higher in Europe compared to North America. It costs Adobe 5 times more to manufacture and manage inventory in Europe because: —We must maintain different sku’s for each language version to support different labeling requirements, support information, and sales requirements. —We maintain smaller quantities per language, in keeping with market sizes, which increases costs for printing, inventory management, and inventory disposal. The costs associated with our value-added reseller channels are 25% higher. We maintain 2.5 times as many field marketing employees in Europe as in North America to support our creative business at a certain level of quality across local markets. However, the revenue per employee is smaller, so the overall costs per unit of revenue is 4:1 in Europe compared to North America. Variable marketing expenses are 46% higher. Development costs are approximately $2.5–$3 million per language for each of the 14 languages Adobe Creative Suite supports. We cannot provide specific numbers, but these percentages and multiples capture real differences. It’s natural to compare pricing and pricing uplift across similar companies, but in this case, the comparison can be deceptive. The value of different products to customers—and the cost to companies to develop, sell, and support those products—can vary significantly from product to product, and manufacturer to manufacturer. Adobe does not develop our pricing for Europe or the rest of world by simply applying an uplift to the US pricing. As stated earlier, we develop our pricing by weighing customer research and our costs of doing business. We can’t comment on the methods that other companies use to set their prices for Europe and the rest of world. It’s understandable why customers would expect to be able to purchase the same product at the same price when ordering and downloading directly from the Adobe Web site at www.adobe.com. Today, however, we still sell the majority of our products through traditional retail channels, and we optimize our pricing for that way of doing business. We depend on our retail pa