Sonar X3 Current Special Offer Pricing - $99 not = £79 inc VAT!

Maybe buy a T-Shirt with it?

@200bpm (I know you are reading this) people who use pounds are from the UK and speak English, funnily enough your country (USA I assume) inherited our language. You are thinking about the Euro. How the heck you suddenly get to put the UK and China under the same roof beats me (totally irrelevant to the OP anyway), perhaps consult a map and leave US borders once in a while to get a view of the world outside your bubble.

The real answer is that the exchange rate has been fluctuating recently and this seems cheaper than usual to be honest. Normally it's more expensive, the scenario is to always overcharge UK/Europeans rather than undercharge. It's not too bad right now however.

RickJP909
Hi, can anyone explain the rationale around the current offer as my maths equate the answer differently.
 
Producer Upgrade from X2 to X3 = $99
At the current exchange rate $99 = £58!
Adding UK VAT of 20% = £11.60 + £58 = £69.60
Perhaps it's postage and packaging but hey, there's no media as it's download only!!!
 
So how does that compute anyone?

This subject has come up many times in the past and it never makes sense so you basically have two choices:
Suck it up and forget about it or get all twitter and bisted. Complaining on this forum has never led to a change (I've been there and tried that) so blindly accepting the status quo is the stress free option .

Grum.

We will be back for tea! :).

It's for this reason that I decided not to let them have any more of my money.
 
That and having to pay for an upgrade to fix historic bugs.
 
I'll stay on X2 until it becomes obsolete then take my spending elsewhere.
 
Been with Cakewalk since Pro 5 (MIDI only) about 1995 but no more!

Well done Stockport, that was a well written e-mail.
 
At the end of the day guys, it's not about £11 lousy pounds or thereabouts but the fact that we've been offered a "loyalty upgrade" for $99!!!  So being loyal means we pay an additional premium?
 
Well, being OCD as I am and not particularly wishing to spend hours downloading, I like to purchase the media set so in that case, this whole package comes to £104!
 
Et Cetera a UK Cakewalk dealer are doing the whole package for £110 boxed, with disks, printed manual and VAT!  They also provide e-mail and phone support for UK customers direct!
 
So on that basis, for UK customers buying from the Cakewalk store doesn't compute.
 
In the past, I was offered X2 Pro as a loyalty upgrade for £39 and I snapped that up.  Now that's what I call looking after your customers so for the time being I'll wait until it drops sub-£50...
 
BTW 200bpm, most European's use Logic Pro or Cubase for that reason as they have multilingual staff and Sonar hardly gets a look-in so if Cakewalk want to break that market, they need to ensure they're being fair.
 
Also, Sharke I understand and accept what you're saying but we're talking about download software here which other than hosting fees, has little cost attached to it as there's no manufacturing, packaging or shipping costs, etc.  Also, you can't send an e-mail to overseas customers telling them that they can buy an upgrade for $99 and then charging more for having it in your own currency.
 
So, in that case let us UK/Euro folks buy it in dollars as I can tell you, my bank will charge 1 exact pound for such a transaction and I'll get the product at the near exact price.
 
Doing what Cakewalk have done is like me coming to the US and going to one of the shops you mentioned and for those same goods a salesman saying, "ah you're from the UK, well you can't have it at $99 but you can have it for $124", as that's the equivalent exchange rate which is being charged!!!

Stockport
 
Support failed to answer this second email. Seems they are more than happy to exploit their UK customer base and will continue to do so.

 
The math is a bit off, but at least they responded.  Also... keep in mind that Sonar upgrades are cheaaap compared to other sequencers.  AND they honor OLD versions of their software.  I just upgraded from SONAR XL to X3 Producer for $149, which included AD2, Melodyne, and several other plugs that can be used in other sequencers . Granted I gave Cakewalk a good bit of money for early versions of CWPA.  Other platforms penalize you heavily if you are more than one version old.  
 
For instance, I have been upgrading with Samplitude since v7, when the program used to cost $1000 (so Ive given them a ton of money.)  They recently lowered the price to $500 for ProX and they want $359 for my upgrade to stay in the "Pro" tier, which gives nothing but 64bit versions of plugs I already own.  Think about that.  I've probably given them $1500-2000 over the past 8 years or so, and to go from v11 to v12 they want another $359, when all v12 gives you over v11 is 64bit, and mild UI tweaks.  And if I don't upgrade now, the price will go to something like $600 (for the pro tier) if I wait until v13.
 
I think you should look at the big picture.  Cakewalk is upgrade friendly.

In my experience Cakewalk are the only company with pricing like this, maybe someone can give examples of others?

Interesting.......we seem to have a divergence of opinion between those who feel exploited (UK/European Customers) and the US customers who are not being thus exploited and wonder why we should be making a fuss? Funny as I thought it a matter of common decency and respect to treat ALL customers in a just and equitable manner and as a matter not only of honour but of laws of offer and acceptance to fulfil the terms i.e. $99 or it's equivalent exchange rate. We are talking about a simple download no shipping or external factors.
 
BJN suggests the complaint may not lie with Cakewalk but it surely does! Cakewalk made an offer and then changed the terms to actively discriminate against non US customers.
 
I suggest that non US customers do not let the matter lie. I have still yet to receive a reply from Customer Services following my second email but will continue to pursue the matter. I can't help but feel that if the circumstances were reversed many of those who contributed above would be equally disgruntled! It's not a matter of it being 'the price of a few beers' it's about how you treat, engage, respect and further a loyal customer base.

"UK and speak English, funnily enough your country (USA I assume) inherited our language."
Never forget, we are two countries separated by a "common" language!

T

Stockport
Interesting.......we seem to have a divergence of opinion between those who feel exploited (UK/European Customers) and the US customers who are not being thus exploited and wonder why we should be making a fuss? Funny as I thought it a matter of common decency and respect to treat ALL customers in a just and equitable manner and as a matter not only of honour but of laws of offer and acceptance to fulfil the terms i.e. $99 or it's equivalent exchange rate. We are talking about a simple download no shipping or external factors.
 
BJN suggests the complaint may not lie with Cakewalk but it surely does! Cakewalk made an offer and then changed the terms to actively discriminate against non US customers.
 
I suggest that non US customers do not let the matter lie. I have still yet to receive a reply from Customer Services following my second email but will continue to pursue the matter. I can't help but feel that if the circumstances were reversed many of those who contributed above would be equally disgruntled! It's not a matter of it being 'the price of a few beers' it's about how you treat, engage, respect and further a loyal customer base.

There is no law which says products have to be the exact same price in every country. I also feel like you need to reassess your definition of the word "exploit." And maybe look into what markets are and how they factor in determining prices.

Respectfully disagree

Try to use some logic:
 
You are singling out Cakewalk, but EVERY DAW company does the same thing.
 
DAW software made in Germany (Ableton, Cubase, Samplitude) all sells in the USA for a _99.00 price.   They are priced at 99.00, 199.00. 299.00, 399.00, 499.00 etc.
 
I am absolutely positive that the amount paid by US customers is different than what German customers pay.  If they worked it out to be the same by exchange rate, then we would be paying oddball amounts (523.87, 12.34, etc)
 
Is there a reason you are singling out Cakewalk and not other companies?

CakeAlexS
@200bpm without a unit of currency being quoted next to the figures, your post is meaningless to me. Cheers...

Really? Seems obvious that the first set of figures is dollars and the second set represents "some other currency."

Cactus Music
And then there is the publishing of books that are clearly marked $10.00 US and $15 Can. The exchange rate has been closer to zero for years.. For the last  few year we were actually ahead of the US buy 4 or 5 cents  it's just recently they have snuck ahead, but only by 8-10 cents,, never $.50 ever!   All books and magazines  ( sheet music too) have always had this ridiculous differance... we just suck it up.
Advantage we have here in Canada is if we purchase from the US with a Visa card it nails the exchange rate to the penny. It's better to order directly from the states if they will ship to Canada too. If not,  I'm on the border and just go pick it up from the General Store in Danville Wash.
The Download from Cakewalk was in US dollars $99, My Visa charged me $102.77 Can. that day.

My experience of living in both the UK and the US is that almost everything is cheaper in the US. Most notably, technology and clothes. I have never visited Canada but I suspect it's the same. There are many things which affect prices in a county - things like taxes, regulations, red tape, distribution costs and the price of competing products. I suspect the overall size of the market has a lot to do with it, as well as the price that people are prepared to pay for a product in various countries (people have different priorities, expectations, attitudes etc).

When my friends and family from the UK visit me in New York, they go nuts buying stuff because it's so much cheaper than it is back home.

In the case of books that have a US price and a Canadian price on them - those prices are never going to be a direct conversion of each other. They're priced according to the book market in each country.