paulo

paulo


Hey all

Anyone managed to get an answer from Cake as to why you have to pay so much more for a download of 8.5 in the UK compared to US ?  (99$ = £89  ? - not according to any exchange rate I've ever seen !)
I've tried asking the question directly via e-mail, but as per usual in my experience  - no reply !

For the record, so that you all don't just think of me as Mr Negative Moany-Pants, I think Sonar is a great product and have learnt a great deal from the many good people on this forum who take the time to answer peoples questions - and I thank you all for this.  I also know from many hours spent reading the posts on this forum that some of the nice people from CW are often on here too, so how about it guys - an answer please ? 

UPDATE : Just received a reply from Cakewalk "Customer Service"  - The answer is that they don't know why the prices are different !! Well, that clears that up nicely then !
I can't believe that at least one of the regular CW staff who visit the forum hasn't seen the threads re pricing. Help us out here people ! C'mon ! The product is great, but you are letting yourselves down badly here by just ignoring questions you don't want to answer. If there is a perfectly good reason for the UK price premium, let's hear it.

Still nothing from CW. No great suprise there, but very disappointing. Anyway, if there's anyone in the UK out there who wants the upgrade, I suggest you go to Digital Village where for £89 (just bought one) you'll get the complete 4 disc 8.5 version with a manual with no downloads req'd (except for some extra Sonic Reality drum samples if you want them)  rather than the £109 "physical kit" version from the CW store which still requires a download for the .5 bit, which reading other threads on this forum seems to have been less than straightforward to obtain. Proves that there's no reason for the download to be £89 in the UK and that CW are just overcharging UK customers for no good reason.

Fog


http://www.dv247.com/comp...-from-version-8--68550

it states it as £99 , so just curious maybe you got charged the wrong price..

The internet price is £99 as you say, but I went in my local store and they reduced it to £89 without much persuasion. Don't know if you go to DV but if my local store is anything to go by I would recommend them to anybody. Very knowledgeable staff and not averse to negotiation on price.

Oh no not this again I hear you all groan :(

To those who ARE interested, just thought you'd like to know that in response to the new CW thread - about what you like about 8.5 I said that I liked the way they charged UK customers more for a download than US ones and then just ignored them when they asked why.

I've just had an e-mail from CW saying that my post has been permanantly deleted - tells you all you need to know really !

I've also sent them emails asking them to clarify the price differences.

What do I get.
NOTHING.
NO REPLY.

Looks like Cakewalk Customer Services are a bag of poo.

Susan G


Hi paulo-

To those who ARE interested, just thought you'd like to know that in response to the new CW thread - about what you like about 8.5 I said that I liked the way they charged UK customers more for a download than US ones and then just ignored them when they asked why. I've just had an e-mail from CW saying that my post has been permanantly deleted - tells you all you need to know really !

I don't know enough about the issue to weigh in on it, but the thread title is "What's Your Favorite Feature in SONAR 8.5?", so I can see how they though you were being sarcastic in your response and decided it didn't really contribute to the thread.

That's not to say you don't have a good point; the mods just decided it didn't belong in that thread.

My take, anyway.

-Susan

Susan, as always, your appreciation of the situation is spot on
 
Where Paulo and myself (and a lot of others) are a bit peeved is that none of the Bakers have offered to explain the big difference in price (for downloads specifically) in reply to any number of e-mails sent to them through the 'proper' channels.
 
What really gets my goat though, is that everyone seems to be of the opinion that Cakewalk don't answer these questions in the forum, yet when they want some ego-massaging 'postive' feedback, they start their own thread.... in the forum
 
Obviously they can do what they like in any way they want, it's their forum - but you can understand why some of us get rubbed up the wrong way when it appears to done with such hypocricy.

I hear what you're saying Susan, but they don't respond when pricing is the topic and neither do they respond to enquiries through the official channels, so I took the opportunity to raise the subject somewhere where we knew for sure that it would be seen. There have been many people in various threads asking this question ever since 8.5 was announced and they could have put this matter to bed by replying to any one of them - that is what is so annoying to people.

Well, I certainly appreciate Brandon's candour, most particularly

QUOTE
Some pricing parity to protect local dealers and distributors in your home countries.
UNQUOTE

which I believe I mentioned as a likely cause for the discrepancy in a previous post on this topic, which I can't locate at present. (there are several threads on this, I think)

I will be equally candid, therefore:-

When a product is being supplied as a digital download and not as a physical product, I don't feel region-specific pricing is defensible, unless there is a clear issue of additional cost being incurred by the product provider for that region. There are no extra shipping charges to justify such a difference.

VAT is certainly (potentially) chargeable and in the UK this is currently 15%. At current exchange rates and including VAT, this makes the fair UK price £69 by my reckoning and, frankly, I'm simply not going to subsidise the local distributor the extra £20. Why on earth should I?. Am I supposed to be sending them mince pies and a goose for Christmas as well, out of sheer gratitude for their very existence?.

Brandon also mentions currency fluctuations. Since this is a download there is absolutely no reason why the amount cannot be quoted in USD; other vendors such as Cockos don't have a problem with this. Therefore the amount billed to your credit card will automatically track any currency fluctuation.

I'm simply not going to upgrade until such time as this issue is resolved fairly. Implementing a 'region specific local distributor tax' is not a fair way to resolve the issue, in my opinion. It's simply exploiting people unlucky enough not to reside in the US. Which, by the way, has distributors, too. So what's the story there - don't they get a cut. Or is it less of a cut, hmm?

The download prices appear to be different around the world for a number of reasons: 1) VAT - sorry but we have to charge for it. 2) Some pricing parity to protect local dealers and distributors in your home countries. 3) We don't adjust for daily changes in currency rates so the difference can vary depending on the day (for better or for worse).

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk
]

1) that would be nice if it was true. Australia charges a GST of 10 % on ALL retail goods and Services yet that charge is not added either at the time of purchase from Cakewalk or on entry to the country (Customs). As the US has a Free Trade Agreement with Australia wouldn't you have a responsibility to collect the GST on behalf of the Aust Govt. if you're charging VAT for the UK.
 
2) When purchased from Australian retailers it has GST added, BUT I've always bought it from the US as its cheaper than the inflated price the Australian distributor sets for the product. So the supposed pricing parity in this case loses sales to the Australian retailers because its cheaper to order from the US, pay the USD$35 shipping and exchange rate and its still cheaper than going to your local Aussie retailer. and believe me, I have never once seen a single advertisement in Australian magazines for a Cakewalk product so they can't have advertising overhead as a reason for inflated local prices.
 
I guess the Aussie case is the complete opposite to the UK price situation. I don't mind getting the product cheaper but I don't accept the explanation given for the pricing variance