Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Affinity Photo UK Price Increase


Recommended Posts

Apple adjusted all UK prices in their Mac App Store and because of that the UK price for

Affinity Photo and Designer where then adjusted too.


On the 20th of January customers and possible customers got informed that from

the 1st February the price for the £ will go up.

 


Why did it happen?

It has to do with the devaluation of the £ pound and the planned geopolitical shifting of Britain 

or better known as the so called Brexit.

 

Please note; I am not giving a political statement about this topic.

Sketchbook (with Affinity Suite usage) | timurariman.com | gumroad.com/myclay
Windows 11 Pro - 22H2 | Ryzen 5800X3D | RTX 3090 - 24GB | 128GB |
Main SSD with 1TB | SSD 4TB | PCIe SSD 256GB (configured as Scratch disk) |

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apple adjusted all UK prices in their Mac App Store and because of that the UK price for

Affinity Photo and Designer where then adjusted too.

 

Why should Apple decide.  If I'm based in the UK and am purchasing software directly from a UK software company, why should I be subjected to Apple's crooked exchange rates?  50 US Dollars does not equal 49 British Pounds.

 

I presume Apple can't force companies to distribute the Mac versions of their software exclusively through the Mac App Store.  Why can't Serif distribute Mac versions directly from their own site as well?  That way purchasers worldwide (not just the UK, but Australia, Norway, etc.) aren't forced to use Apple's anti-consumer exchange rates.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why did it happen?

It has to do with the devaluation of the £ pound and the planned geopolitical shifting of Britain 
or better known as the so called Brexit.

 

Although it may have something to do with geopolitical shift, it has nothing to do with the value of the UK pound (which fell immediately after the Brexit vote, but hasn't changed significantly in the last few months).

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apple adjusted all UK prices in their Mac App Store and because of that the UK price for

Affinity Photo and Designer where then adjusted too.

 

 

Note that it's the same price for Windows...

 

 

I think that's what 'myclay' meant: Apple adjusted their price matrix for the MAS, where the Mac versions of the Affinity apps are sold, so the prices of the Windows versions were automatically adjusted to match.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yes Alfred, that is what it meant. :)

 

Here is the official statement and comments from users regarding the price changes;

Sketchbook (with Affinity Suite usage) | timurariman.com | gumroad.com/myclay
Windows 11 Pro - 22H2 | Ryzen 5800X3D | RTX 3090 - 24GB | 128GB |
Main SSD with 1TB | SSD 4TB | PCIe SSD 256GB (configured as Scratch disk) |

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why can't Serif distribute Mac versions directly from their own site as well?

They could, but that would mean taking on all the costs of international sales & distribution, including complying with all the legal requirements & liabilities various countries impose on such things that Apple handles now as the legal seller of record. They also would have to provide an alternative to the worldwide software hosting services Apple provides, build whatever license-compliance/anti-piracy protections they think is necessary into the Mac versions currently provided by Apple for all apps purchased through MAS, & do the same for providing software updates.

 

Assuming they sold both through MAS & directly, that would mean three versions of every app to maintain (MAS, Mac-direct, & Windows). If they sold Mac versions only directly, they would forego the promotional value of selling through the MAS app (which do not forget is built into every Mac that can run Affinity).

 

Taken together, I suspect all these things would result in increased costs they would have to pass on to all their customers with higher purchase prices, but I have no idea by how much.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I checked this morning £39.99 (the old RRP) is converting to $49.86. So 13 cents difference, not £20 or $24.93!!!

 

I enraged by this profiteering by US companies, hence my excitement about Serif being a UK company on top of the good software they've been developing.

 

Adobe has been simply changing a $ to a £ for decades for it's Uk version of the same software. It's claimed that it's gone through localisation, however colour is spelt color etc. It's not like translating into French, Arabic etc. Before that they said it was down to shipping when things were still supplied on disk.

 

Last time I checked posting an App on the App Store it was possible to have DIFFERENT prices for different regions too... If it IS to do with the Apple Store then it still doesn't explain the Windows price increase.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I enraged by this profiteering by US companies, hence my excitement about Serif being a UK company on top of the good software they've been developing.

Apple bases regional prices not just on exchange rates but also on its cost of doing business in each of them. This includes things like the cost of compliance with different consumer protection laws, the cost of record keeping & submissions to various legal bodies, & (because it has a physical presence & workers employed in many different countries) the costs of complying with all applicable laws & expenses associated with that, like mandatory worker benefits, rent & real estate cost differences, & so on.

 

This is becoming standard practice for large corporations with substantial international sales. Since there are a lot of governments eager to find new revenue sources, even companies with far fewer international sales are starting to consider doing something similar.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apple bases regional prices not just on exchange rates but also on its cost of doing business in each of them. This includes things like the cost of compliance with different consumer protection laws, the cost of record keeping & submissions to various legal bodies, & (because it has a physical presence & workers employed in many different countries) the costs of complying with all applicable laws & expenses associated with that, like mandatory worker benefits, rent & real estate cost differences, & so on.

 

This is becoming standard practice for large corporations with substantial international sales. Since there are a lot of governments eager to find new revenue sources, even companies with far fewer international sales are starting to consider doing something similar.

 

I understand what you are saying, but it can't suddenly now be over 20% more expensive to do business in the UK.

 

As we are currently still part of the EU, surely the compliance issues must be similar (if not the same) for the time-being at least?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have no idea how (or how often) Apple & other companies calculate all the factors that affect price differences. I suspect that some of it is based on projections of pending or likely changes in legislation (& some of that is probably wrong). Some probably is intended to influence politicians or the public to support policies more favorable to their international sales (& profits, of course). Almost certainly, part of it is based on historic or projected regional sales volumes -- smaller volumes mean amortizing fixed costs over fewer users, which would result in higher per user costs passed on to them.

 

An economist probably could explain this much better than I can. All I really know is the prices are not based on exchange rates alone.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The UK also charge 20% Vat. Sales TAX in the US is often much lower or zero for digital goods.

Apple charges sales tax on MAS purchases in the U.S., but only in states where digital goods are taxable, at that state's tax rate, determined by the billing ZIP code. It is added on to the advertised price, not included in it, & only appears on bills & invoices as an aggregate item for all taxable items.

 

In Texas, the rate is 8%, plus 0.25% for local taxes for goods bought within my city's jurisdiction. So for example, I bought Affinity Photo on sale for an advertised price of $39.99 but I paid $43.29 for it. Many states have lower sales tax rates but Texas does not have a state income tax, so other taxes are often higher in comparison to compensate for that.

 

Amazon also has to collect state sales tax for most items it sells here. It does not matter where they originated; because Amazon has a large distribution center in North Texas, that physical presence requires it under state law.

 

<insert the Beatles' Taxman here>

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The UK also charge 20% Vat. Sales TAX in the US is often much lower or zero for digital goods.

 

Most European countries charge around 20% VAT, but the sterling equivalent of the MAS price for Eurozone countries is considerably less than the UK price.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎20‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 2:15 PM, TonyB said:

The UK also charge 20% Vat. Sales TAX in the US is often much lower or zero for digital goods.

Amazon however don't charge their customers an exchange rate of $1 to £1 for digital downloads.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 15 [Download]:
£47.97
$59.99

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6 PC [Download]:
£99.99
$142.99

Microsoft Office Home and Student 2016 [Download]:
£99.99
$115.00

VEGAS Pro 14 [Download]:
£336.66
$449.95

 

Neither does the Steam Store

Rise of the Tomb Raider - 20 Year Celebration:
£39.99
$59.99

Resident Evil 7:
£39.99
$59.99

Arma 3 Apex Edition:
£44.99
$69.99

 

Nor the Ubisoft Store

For Honor:
£39.99
$59.99

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands:
£39.99
$59.99

Far Cry 4 - Gold Edition:
£44.99
$59.99

 

Nor the Origin store

Watch_Dogs 2:
£39.99
$59.99

The Sims 4 Bundle:
£39.99
$49.99

Battlefield 1:
£49.99
$59.99

 

GOG neither

Torment - Tides of Numenera:
£34.99
$44.99

Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt:
£34.99
$49.99

Tyranny - Archon Edition:
£44.99
$59.99

 

Nor the Microsoft Store

Quantum Break:
£29.99
$39.99

Forza Horizon 3 Standard Edition:
£39.99
$49.99

Resident Evil 7 Biohazard Deluxe Edition:
£38.49
$49.49

Gears of War 4 Ultimate Edition:
£49.99
$59.99

 

Meanwhile, on iTunes...

Affinity Photo:
£48.99
$49.99

Adobe Photoshop Elements 15:
£99.99
$99.99

Logic Pro X:
£199
$199

Final Cut Pro:
£299
$299

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Seemingly the Euro prices got a hike as well...

did apple also change our prices scale? that's annying, it's 5€ more expensive

 

They could, but that would mean taking on all the costs of international sales & distribution, including complying with all the legal requirements & liabilities various countries impose on such things that Apple handles now as the legal seller of record. They also would have to provide an alternative to the worldwide software hosting services Apple provides, build whatever license-compliance/anti-piracy protections they think is necessary into the Mac versions currently provided by Apple for all apps purchased through MAS, & do the same for providing software updates.

 

Assuming they sold both through MAS & directly, that would mean three versions of every app to maintain (MAS, Mac-direct, & Windows). If they sold Mac versions only directly, they would forego the promotional value of selling through the MAS app (which do not forget is built into every Mac that can run Affinity).

 

well regarding the hosting and legal things about selling I dont see the problem. it's not much different than selling the windows software, which also happens directly, the only real problem would be DRM.

also if they just ax the apple store completely this means they neither have to pay a yearly fee, not the 30% from every puchase, meaning they either can get more money or make the price lower, and the best, the windows users dont have to essentially pay more just because affinity uses the Mac Store.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If they ax the Apple Store completely, they have to find some other way to advertise the apps to Mac users. As it is, every Mac that can run the Affinity apps has the Store app built into the system, easily accessible from the Apple menu. The exposure both Affinity apps have received from being featured products on the Mac App Store continues to make both apps among the top grossing & most popular ones sold through the store throughout the world in every country or region where the store has a presence.

 

Also, any Mac user with an Apple ID can buy the Affinity or any other app sold through the store without having to create a separate user account with the seller or do anything else besides click on the "Buy" button once they are signed in with their Apple ID. For Mac users, buying through the store is a low friction, secure process that offers some niceties like optionally downloading or downloading & installing updates in the background, even when the apps are not running.

 

Regardless of what they do on the Windows side, they would be foolish to abandon the Apple Store.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.