Buying in Euros? Will ECB QE move affect exchange rate for better or worse?

Hi Guys,
 
EDITED BIG TIME AT 22.24 GMT 21/01/2015 - NEW INFO:

IF YOU ARE FROM EUROPE using the EURO particularly - Tomorrow, 22nd Jan 2015, the ECB is starting its major QE ( Quantitive Easing ) - basically printing money, devaluing the Euro - I think thats the effect? QE amount is rumoured to be flooding the currency markets with €50bn per month going forward through December 2016. The USA did it, now its Europes turn
 
According to this article: http://www.economist.com/...ng-and-euro-zone 

"QE should have a significant effect on the exchange rate of the euro. By increasing the supply of money base the ECB will contribute to a further weakening of the euro vis-à-vis other currencies such as the dollar, the pound and the yuan, thereby increasing exports and boosting inflation."
 
From this it would seem the € will fall further toward parity with the $. If so then one SHOULD BUY NEW SONAR straight away vs after QE starts?
 
I will be upgrading to the full version of Sonar New. Just making sure.

From a European perspective this QE thing could have a further € to $ erosion not in our favour it seems. 
 
Mario Draghi called on the European Central Bank to make its biggest push yet to fend off deflation and revive the economy by unleashing a debt-buying spree of 1.1 trillion euros ($1.3 trillion). The ECB president and his Executive Board proposed spending 50 billion euros a month through December 2016.

( From - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-21/ecb-said-to-propose-qe-of-50-billion-euros-a-month-through-2016.html )
 

There are many reasons for waiting.
 
Saving money anyway you can is probably one of the best (on an individual basis).

aidanodr

cowboydan
I only paid 112 euro by JRR. I think I got more than you are going to get.

I assume thats with current exchange $/€ rate then less your local VAT?

Will be interesting to see if you are correct over next few days cowboydan :D

That was the current exchange. JRR doesn't charge VAT and I got a 15% discount when I ordered. Nice People at JRR.

All I can say is that the price right now is great for users. Upgrade is 112 Euros plus VAT. If I hear one person complain, I'm going to be upset. Also, if you have a VAT ID you can use it. So we are listening to customers rights? :)

Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk]
All I can say is that the price right now is great for users. Upgrade is 112 Euros plus VAT. If I hear one person complain, I'm going to be upset. Also, if you have a VAT ID you can use it. So we are listening to customers rights? :)

Not upset Andrew - It is a great price. This QE thing doesnt damage that for Cakewalks bottom line. All it does is it might mean an even better ( or worse as per what Kyloltan said ) price exchange rate wise for us over the pond in Europe :D

Just not used to near parity $ to € thing .. spoilt for too long :D
 

aidanodr

Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk]
All I can say is that the price right now is great for users. Upgrade is 112 Euros plus VAT. If I hear one person complain, I'm going to be upset. Also, if you have a VAT ID you can use it. So we are listening to customers rights? :)

Not upset Andrew - It is a great price. This QE thing doesnt damage that for Cakewalks bottom line. All it does is it might mean an even better price exchange rate wise for us over the pond in Europe :D

Just not used to near parity $ to € thing .. spoilt for too long :D
 

That's good for you, but maybe not for us :)
 
Bigger point was that people had always complained about our pricing so now it become way more transparent and also we offer way more currencies now. We'll have some growing pains with stuff like that (like we did with CAD) but we are monitoring and fixing. And using your own VAT ID was a big feature request so we did it. 
 
The problems often come with the currency rate becomes unfavorable. We set our prices in Europe much the same way we do in the US. And we roll with it for an entire product cycle unless it was really bad. 

I already bought and am happy with the price. But I do have to agree I've also gotten used to better exchange rates. Buying software in dollars is the way I feel a little vindicated for the gross overpricing of hardware over here.

Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk]
All I can say is that the price right now is great for users. Upgrade is 112 Euros plus VAT. If I hear one person complain, I'm going to be upset. Also, if you have a VAT ID you can use it. So we are listening to customers rights? :)

 
I'm surprised to read this from an official Rep. All my Cakewalk purchases in the past on cakewalk.com were in Euro because I live in Europe and the € prices were always identical to the $ prices, so we were paying significantly more than US customers. Also, I did not have any option to pay in $.
But now you seem to imply that use European customer can perfectly buy stuff in $ via the Cakewalk site ? I would really like to know how.
 

Ah ok, that makes more sense. Now I understand why Andrew then mentions €112 + VAT, since that is actually going to be the price on the Cakewalk store. Very nice move!
 
EDIT: just checked the online store and at checkout I'm indeed getting a price lower than the expected €199. It's however not a true USD-EUR conversion. The price I get is €149 + VAT which amounts to €180.29. Current conversion would result in €172. So it looks like they are now just standardizing on a pre-VAT (instead of post-VAT) price for the whole of Europe and probably took some average VAT tariff to translate the actual $-equivalent price (i.e. €172) into the pre-VAT price.

Wish the Aussie dollar was a bit stronger but I was charged about 10% in excess of the exchange rate.

Again, part of the reason Europeans pay more is the way taxes are structured. 
 
What is the VAT now?  20%?  We don't have the VAT in the States.  The Federal Gov. taxes income off the top of your paycheck.  Almost 15% of all payroll (SS and Medicare, half charged to the individual and the other half to your company).  So if I make a $100 I only see about $85 in my pocket.  The Feds also have an income tax which is dependent upon how much you make and if you have kids to deduct.  That runs for most of us at 5-10%, again off the top.  So we never see that money.  So now your paycheck is down to 75% of what you've "made."   Which means to have a $100 in your pocket you need to make $130.  But wait, there is more.  Individual States usually have a sales tax, like the European VAT (some also have income tax, too, up to 10%).  This is added on after the sale.  Cities and counties can add a tax to the sales, but most of their income comes from property taxes.  Here in Dallas the sales tax is over 8%, which includes State, City and DART (transportation).  That now gets tagged onto any internet sales.
 
So, I buy the Studio version of SONAR for $100.  And my bill comes to $108.20 with tax.  And I have to pay the sales tax too w/ money that was already taxed at least 15% by the Feds.  So to pay for the $100 I need to make closer to $140, tho those taxes are unseen in Cake's asking price.  In Europe, that $100 "costs" $120 w/ my assumed VAT.  Plus whatever taxes are charged before the paycheck and tagged on after.  I don't know what those figures are these days.
 
I know there is income tax in Europe, but the big "hidden" tax for most working folk in the States is Social Security and Medicare at close to 15%  taken off the top of your paycheck.  The VAT is more, but used to be added after the sale like our sales tax.  That was where a lot of the price difference (as far as an individual's buying power) resided - Americans paid VAT-like taxes before the sale whereas Europeans paid it afterwards.  And American sales taxes are not built-into the price Cake charges, but added after.
 
There are other reasons, I imagine, that SONAR costs Europeans more, but you have to add 15% to 50% to the stated US price to get an actual cost, so it isn't quite as large as it seems at first glance.
 
@

AT
I know there is income tax in Europe...

I'll say !  It's what, 70% in places like Belgium and Denmark ?