bjornkn Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Why is it that so many companies charge much higher prices for software in Europe than in the USA? Do they think that we are so rich that we don't care if we're being ripped off? Or wouldn't users in the USA buy PS if they had to pay the same as we do here? The salaries seems to be pretty much similar, but we pay a lot more for things like gas etc here. I was considering upgrading my Photoshop CS2 to CS3 Extended and find that (probably) exactly the same downloadable file will cost me US$349 from Adobes USA store, but almost exactly US$800 if I buy it from the Norwegian Adobe store (NOK 3999)! And they don't even allow us to buy from other countries. I asked/complained about this pricing policy in an email to Adobe today, and received a reply from an Adobe representative in Norway within a few hours. He told me that it is the same all over Europe, and that the price is so much higher because we here in Europe have to pay for translating the program to all our European languages. This is IMO a very thin excuse for charging more than twice the price. I have never bought or used the Norwegian version of PS, and never will, which BTW always cost a lot more than the English version anyway! So who is paying for what, and why should translating it to another language cost more than for the development of the program itself? Adobe is not the only software company trying to rip off us Europeans, but it is one of the worst IMHO - probably because they are getting too powerful/big? Even Europen companies often sell their software much cheaper in the US than in Europe. Why? Hardware prices are not varying that much, even though they actually cost money for materials to produce them, and for shipping and storage. Some years ago you could always shop around and buy from other countries with low prices, like the US, but that's not so easy any longer because vendors of these bloated-price programs usually are not allowed to sell to foreign countries. It is an unfair policy, and I try to stay away from all companies that have a pricing policy like that, if at all possible. Unfortunately they won't notice my little boycot, but it makes me feel a little better knowing that I don't add to their huge profits ... What other alternatives are there to Photoshop nowadays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Gimp? Pixelmator if you've got a Mac? Maybe you could take a vacation to New York, like how some people take a car buying vacation to Germany because it ends up being cheaper that way and they get to travel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAWUK Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I asked/complained about this pricing policy in an email to Adobe today, and received a reply from an Adobe representative in Norway within a few hours. He told me that it is the same all over Europe, and that the price is so much higher because we here in Europe have to pay for translating the program to all our European languages. Wonder how long it took to 'translate' from 'American' into English ...the price from new for CS3 from adobe US is $649 (£325) from Adobe UK £569.....usual bend over and brace yourself responce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manta Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I'm still using PS 7...with no plans to upgrade...it does everything I need it to... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 CS3 does good things for people who render to EXR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Wonder how long it took to 'translate' from 'American' into English ...the price from new for CS3 from adobe US is $649 (£325) from Adobe UK £569.....usual bend over and brace yourself responce. Apparently they needed to translate it back from Norwegian into British. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornkn Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 CS3 does good things for people who render to EXR. Yes, that's the problem - it's hard to find a good alternative, as I do quite a lot of HDR/EXR work. AFAIK you need to buy the Extended version to be able to work with Layers and HDRI in PS? Years ago I was using both Corel PhotoPaint and Photoshop (and Fractal Designs Painter), but ended up using only PS because Photopaint was much more unstable, even though I liked it better in many ways. Maybe it's time to look at it again? There's no way Adobe (and others) could keep on with these bloated European prices if there were equally good alternatives. In these days the pricing is so much more transparent than earlier, so it's much easier to see what they're doing. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to hurt their sales? PS. I was also told by Adobe that if I buy a US version (how can I buy a downloadable US upgrade on "vacation" to NY?) I will get no support here. I haven't used any support from Adobe through the years anyway, so that wouldn't stop me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 (how can I buy a downloadable US upgrade on "vacation" to NY?) I leave the details to you filthy rich Europeans. Have your butler research it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianKitts Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 What are you guys talking about.... no one buys photoshop.... duh! http://blog.epicedits.com/2008/03/28/60-of-photoshop-users-are-pirates/ (I'm not condoning piracy...making a joke here, but the research is real) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landrvr1 Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Everything else in Europe pretty much costs more than in the US/Canada, so why shouldn't software be any different, lol. Actually, given that the cost of American made pharmaceuticals in Europe is about half of what we are charged here, I'd say we are even. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyca Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Actually, given that the cost of American made pharmaceuticals in Europe is about half of what we are charged here, I'd say we are even. In Europe 90% of the pharmaceuticals are paid by Public Insurance companys, and they have more weigt to negociate with those big Multinational. In the US you guys have to pay the pharmaceuticals most by yourself or have a very expencive private Insurance company So i prefer paying more for the Software and pay less (nothing) for my hospital anyway, what i did 6 month ago as i started my company, i took a 3 days trip to NYC and bought myself Max 9, Vray, CS3 Suite, Maya and an iPhone and still save some money compared to here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 So it does work?! Nice. With the amount of coffee I drink, maybe I could travel to Italy on that basis... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 So it does work?! Nice. With the amount of coffee I drink, maybe I could travel to Italy on that basis... Andrew you may need to check conversion rates. You espresso may cost the same as a tank of gas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I don't consider it wrong to use software purchased n the US in other countries, but I think several of these companies state in their agreement that software purchased in the US is only legal to use in the US. Also, we pay more for gas here than what the price on the gas station dign says. It is just neatly covered up and tucked away so we don't realize it. I should stop before it gets political. This isn't a political board. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAWUK Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Its not a case of been political just were abit pig sick of been ripped of here in Europe, especially in the UK or should I say treasure Island were the retailers charge us some of the highest prices in the world. Infact theres just been a report on TV on just that . The reporter went into a DJ's house took a list of electrical goods and and came back with a list if purchased in the US he would have saved over £2500 on the £6500 he spent. That includes all taxes and transport.....And dont get me onto petrol(gas) £1.06 ($2.11) a litre... Anyway rant over Iam going to go and break into a 6 pack of German beer and thank god that if I fall over in a drunken state Ive always got a Free A&E I can sit in for 6hours to sober up in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Our stuff seems cheap to you because the conversion rate is so bad. I'm not at all surprised - last time I was in Europe we got killed on the cost of everything. EVERYTHING paid for in a European currency seems way too expensive when compared to prices in dollars, why should American imports be different? If the currency situation were better, you'd only be paying a small percentage more. All you need to do is elect an incredibly incompetent government for 8 years and you'll see things even out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAWUK Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 All you need to do is elect an incredibly incompetent government for 8 years and you'll see things even out. Just did that by proxy a year ago when 'Brown' took over No 10 ...he's over your way at the moment...can you keep him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornkn Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 All you need to do is elect an incredibly incompetent government for 8 years and you'll see things even out. Well, if that's the secret trick I'd rather live with high prices, even if I can't afford to pay the butler any longer I believe that prices should reflect the cost of producing the goods and bringing them, to the market, and not be made up by some cynical formulas that try to predict how much they can squeeze out of us before we start protesting. If we buy an English version for download from Adobe it should cost the same no matter where in the world you're living IMO. A program like SketchUp is sold at exactly the same price no matter where you come from, even after @Last was bought by Google, AFAIK, and I don't think their business is hurt by that? I don't think I have seen anyone complain about their price policy. Maxon lost me as a customer because of their bloated "export" prices and very unfriendly upgrade policy, so there I just threw US$2500 out of the window I'm quite happy with SketchUp and LightWave, which both have reasonable pricing policies (and upgrades) that make the users happy. I'm still using ImageModeler and PhotoModeler, even though they both have quite bad pricing policy in Europe/Norway vs US. But there are no good alternatives that I'm aware of. Stitcher was successfully replaced by PTgui/Panotools, which are both much better and cheaper. Another favourite was Canoma, which unfortunately was bought and killed by Adobe several years ago, and there still are no alternatives. xara X and Corel are great substitutes for Illustrator, but unfortunately my html editor HomeSite is now also owned by Adobe. If only there was a real competitor for Photoshop I'm sure we would see more fair prices here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landrvr1 Posted April 19, 2008 Share Posted April 19, 2008 So i prefer paying more for the Software and pay less (nothing) for my hospital Oh, your paying my friend. Whether it's higher insurance costs, or higher taxes for a socialized program, we're all paying dearly. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antisthenes Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 what free pixel pusher has free transform? i like Paint.NET and Artweaver but they lack that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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