OT, I’m fuming over Adobe, this should be illegal

[Walter Biscardi]

[Peter Wiggins] “What has Apple said about this? nothing?”

Zippo and honestly, if you want to read the entire saga, it’s over in the Silicon Color forum.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”

Read my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi

[Bret Williams]

I looked at the UK site, and the price seems very similar, maybe 15% more which is understandable. Probably some shipping, tariffs, etc. But below the listed price, is a price listed as VAT and is approximately 90-95% of the price. I don’t really understand VAT too well, but it seems to me that that’s not the US problem, but the UK’s problem. If the UK is collecting a nearly 100% VAT, how is Apple responsible for that?

On the UK site…

CS3 Design Premium
Upgrade from
546.38
(465. ex VAT)

That reads to me that there will be a 465.00 VAT tax added to the price. It certainly isn’t included in the price, because that would be ridiculously cheap.

So if I’m reading it all correctly, yeah it should be illegal. Illegal for the VAT to rip you the UK off like that.

[Peter Wiggins]

Compare like with like, granted the US version might have sales tax added.

https://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=77267474&nclm=MacAdobeCS3

https://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=19333EF4&nplm=TM721LL%2FA

VAT is 17.5% in the UK, not 100% I can’t work out the US tax as i haven’t got a US zip number.

Peter

[Walter Biscardi]

[Bret Williams] “how is Apple responsible for that?”

Considering we’re discussing an Adobe product, Apple doesn’t even set the base pricing on it, Adobe does.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”

Read my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi

[Peter Wiggins]

Walter,

Remember its the squeeky wheel that gets the oil.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Apple say all of the people with FT liceneces get shiny new Octo machines 🙂

Peter

[Bret Williams]

I was looking at pounds, but converted for euros! Also, it looks like the prices are witih VAT and without. In converting your particular upgrade, which is 465 pounds pre VAT, the exchange rate comes out to 914 US dollars. The US price before sales tax is 599 US dollars.

That’s a 50% price hike. Not 130%.

[Bret Williams]

Oops. Obviously meant Adobe.

Check post below – in doing the math, it’s a 50% price hike for that particular upgrade not 130% in GB pre VAT. So not knowing what embedded US and GB taxes there are on imports/exports, plus international shipping, it may come out about equal. I don’t really know.

[Gary Adcock]

[rafalaos] “I do not understand why they should put different prices in different countries. Which reason, distribution expenses?”

Actually with the UK right now it is the cost of doing business in a global economy, the GBP is at near record highs, I know I have been traveling a lot over there lately and it is really really costly to do business in the UK with the Dollar as your standard. ( exchange rate last week was over $2.07 to 1 GBP)

We can blame everything, but it gets down to global economics and right now US companies are getting their collective butts kicked do to the downtrodden dollar. This is not going to change until there is an awakening of the populous here that we are not an island surrounded by water but a cohesive and commanding leader in a global marketplace and that we have no right bulling the rest of the world to succumb to the wishes of a single country, not even this one.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows

[Peter Wiggins]

So if I was to buy the upgrade in the states, what would be the average gross price?

Peter

[Peter Wiggins]

Gary,

I couldn’t agree with you more. I launched my volumetrix plugin when the pound was at its highest to the dollar for 14 years and guess what, I priced it in dollars.

The taxman sees me as a global company, all my sales and earnings are subject to sales tax at source and profits are taxed too. In this case why can’t I buy my software from the States?

Surely the cost of CS3 should actually be lower than the US price and lets face it, each item is just a DVD in a box with shed load of R&D to pay off.

As I said before this large difference will only encourage ‘software tourism’ (you heard it here first) and pirate copies

Peter