Pricing?

[carca]

What? no special upgrading price for those who bought and own version 1???

Bernard

[Pšenda]

1 minute ago, carca said:

What? no special upgrading price for those who bought and own version 1???

-40% seems a little to you?

[carca]

It sure is, but what I was refering to. is that no difference seems to be made between user/buyer of version 1 and customers new to the program...

[fde101]

4 minutes ago, carca said:

It sure is, but what I was refering to. is that no difference seems to be made between user/buyer of version 1 and customers new to the program...

Correct, and we have been told for several years now that it would be this way.  This was to be expected.

[Pšenda]

29 minutes ago, carca said:

is that no difference seems to be made between user/buyer of version 1 and customers new to the program...

Except that the current customer (owner of version 1) probably received an email/information that version 2 is being released, which is provided with a 40% discount for a certain period of time. Someone who doesn't own version 1 yet, and learns about Affinity only later, will have to buy version 2 at full price - that is, 40% more expensive than you as a version 1 owner.

[cookepuss]

40% off seems more than generous. Plus, Serif routinely offers discounts during the year. Anybody who misses out on this intro period will surely catch another sale soon enough. Also, even with the price bump. They're still cheaper than anything from camp Adobe.

[Pšenda]

58 minutes ago, cookepuss said:

40% off seems more than generous.

And yet some users feel cheated and defrauded 🙂

[cookepuss]

18 minutes ago, Pšenda said:

And yet some users feel cheated and defrauded 🙂

Yeah. I mean... It's ridiculous. I was more than prepared to pay 2x that this morning. Saving as much as I did is just icing on the cake. Pricing for V2 is a steal. It may not have checked off my wish list, but I'm sure that there are many people quite happy atm.

I'll be honest with you. Thanks to my in-law's employee discount, I could get the entire Adobe CC suite for even less than this discounted price.  However, Adobe lost my money the day they started up with subscriptions and the associated "pay to play or go away" tactic; You pay regardless of whether they add new features or not, which is just a bit of a joke.

Consequently, I will continue to support the non-Adobe alternatives. A 40% intro discount and being able to buy a perpetual license to Affinity's trio for only $99.99... Like I said, a no-brainer. I didn't even have to read the new features before clicking "BUY". All I needed to see was "Serif" (ie. not Adobe).

In a whole lot of ways, even at a nearly $70 full price tag per app, you're still getting WAY more than enough functionality to get the job done and with the least amount of hassle. (I recall paying way more for older Adobe equivalents that had less going on under the hood; Apps that I beat the heck out of and to good effect back in the day.)

[Emagineer]

I'll give a +1 to Carca's original question. I don't feel cheated or defrauded, but...

I would guess that most of the Affinity users are not active on the forum, and didn't know the pricing would not include an additional upgrade discount. The software is great, and we recommend it to others. I for one have seen enough of the competition through the years, and I am thankful for this alternative. But that doesn't mean that everything the Serif team does is perfection. 

Serif is bucking the current subscription trend by following an older tradition: a set product price and no subscriptions. That's great. But that tradition also includes an additional "upgrade" discount to those who have already supported software development all along the way. I feel that it's a worthy tradition and that it encourages customer loyalty.

Again, the upgrade discount is for those who have supported the software development all along the way.  In my own case, I have spent $120 on software, $120 on "workbooks" (which I really need as PDFs, by the way), plus some additional brushes. How will I continue to support the software development? I expect to buy the new versions of the software, and whatever new workbooks come along for it. 

Why will I do this? To continue to support the Affinity team. The upgrade discount is one way they can say thank you through the pricing. It's not a new idea.

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by EmagineEngine
typo fix

[Pšenda]

10 minutes ago, cookepuss said:

It may not have checked off my wish list, but I'm sure that there are many people quite happy atm

The wish lists of individual users are long, and certainly different in many items. However, there is a chance - and Serif has such rules of the game (see also version 1.x, which it updated and supplemented for free for the entire 6 years) that other functions and additions will be added gradually and free of charge.

[euronesia]

I think it's a great deal, it gets the job done, it's heavily improved, and it's still light on hardware. Event with full price It's worth it. 

[Pšenda]

7 minutes ago, EmagineEngine said:

Again, the upgrade discount is for those who have supported the software development all along the way.

Yes - and that's why you get a 40% discount!!! Doesn't it seem like enough? How much would you imagine?

 

8 minutes ago, EmagineEngine said:

I would guess that most of the Affinity users are not active on the forum

Did you not receive an email?

[Emagineer]

I'm not here to argue, just to give another viewpoint.

The 40% discount is for everyone so no, it's not enough. If you gave a 20% discount to new purchasers and 40% to existing customers, that would be enough. It's not the discount, it's the distinction between new and existing users.

I receive a lot of email.

Let's remember we are united in our love for the Affinity suite!

[cookepuss]

1 minute ago, Pšenda said:

The wish lists of individual users are long, and certainly different in many items. However, there is a chance - and Serif has such rules of the game (see also version 1.x, which it updated and supplemented for free for the entire 6 years) that other functions and additions will be added gradually and free of charge.

Oh. I'm well aware of that. I just find it curious that some REALLY basic things like symmetry and path simplification in AD don't exist even after years of begging; Same with even the crudest, most rudimentary of layer-based animation timelines for Photo, something which has existed in $0 apps for many years. You can go back 5+ years and still see people asking for some of this stuff that other app users take for granted.

Honestly? My wish list isn't large. I'm not even asking for groundbreaking functionality that reinvents the wheel. I'm looking for simple things that add more substance to preexisting tools instead of me having to cobble together workarounds using in-app hacks or 3rd party filler.

So, when I say that I want a timeline in Photo, I'm not asking for a Moho substitute. A simple ability to preview and scrub though layers flipbook style is more than enough. It's a little feature that can add a whole lot to our workflow with only a modest amount of effort on their part; I've built flipbook playing routines before so I know how little it requires, programming-wise.

[PaulEC]

1 minute ago, EmagineEngine said:

it's the distinction between new and existing users

As Serif have pointed out. they are unable to make this distinction for customers using the Apple/Mac/Microsoft stores, they can only distinguish old customers from new in their own Serif/Affinity store. Therefore the fairest thing is to give everyone the same discount!

[cookepuss]

9 minutes ago, EmagineEngine said:

The 40% discount is for everyone so no, it's not enough. If you gave a 20% discount to new purchasers and 40% to existing customers, that would be enough. It's not the discount, it's the distinction between new and existing users.

 

EDIT>>> I misread. You want tiered discounts to differentiate between new and older users. Eh... Six of one. Half dozen of the other. You're still benefiting the same either way.

[debraspicher]

$99 is a nothing burger to me for 3 apps across 3 OS', though right now, some people can't afford a burger. Doesn't mean that $99 isn't a great price.

I believe I've been following since Designer was announced to Windows (not sure on Photo, idr) and we've received several updates since. So in many ways, we've already received a discount by not having to pay for those updates yearly...

[APuser]

I'm happy with the price, but I bought V1 from Apple's App Store. Would there be any advantage to buying V2 directly from Serif, and would the Serif version be compatible with the App Store version? I wouldn't want to lose all my presets.

[Emagineer]

2 minutes ago, cookepuss said:

Now you want them to lower it even further to 60% off instead. 

Nope, didn't say that. 

[Pšenda]

12 minutes ago, EmagineEngine said:

It's not the discount, it's the distinction between new and existing users.

If I understand it correctly, a discount for existing/informed users is OK, but most importantly, don't get a discount for those who haven't bought Affinity yet? Really?
And isn't that exactly the case - see my previous post, because those new/uninformed users won't find out about the discount in time, and therefore won't get it with a high probability?

[Emagineer]

16 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

they are unable to make this distinction for customers using the Apple/Mac/Microsoft stores, they can only distinguish old customers from new in their own Serif/Affinity store. 

Ah. Thanks. Sounds like they considered it and didn't know how to make it happen.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Emagineer

[iuli]

40% off is a huge discount IMHO. Would anyone feel better if the new Affinity users would have to pay more? I really don’t think so. 

[Albie]

I’ve been using Affinity products when AP first released. I have no problem with the pricing and happily just bought the universal license. I honestly feel over the years I’ve mare than got my monies worth and have no feeling of entitlement to a deeper discount because I’ve been using their products all these years. 

[Baz101]

 I think people are missing the true value of having a suite of professional software for a one-time only payment of £89.99!

I bought all 3 V1 apps during one of the sales for around £75. I'm not a professional/freelance designer and have no intention of becoming one either. I have used AD occasionally, and have never touched AP yet

I will be more than happy to pay the discount offer for the V2 universal licence, not that I need all the apps, but because I want to support a small business competing against giants.

I hope the success of this new launch secures Serif and its products (and non-subscription model) for years to come. Wish others felt the same way.

[Jolinar]

I think the discount is enough, what I'm a bit iffy about is not knowing how long I'm paying for (I'm still gonna be buying V2). At least the old versions are not made obsolete and as long as there's file compatibility (I hope?), then it's not an issue.

I've seen some concerns about it, especially when people don't know how long they're paying for until V3 comes out. A year? Six months? Three months? (Realistically, no, but the question is still valid, I think)