Purchasing Affinity

[Truman]

I would like to purchase Affinity, but at the moment I have a Windows work computer.  If I later buy myself a Mac, and stop using the work computer for photo editing, do I have to purchase Affinity again (for the Mac)?

[JFisher]

Hi Truman,

Welcome to the forum :)

Yes, you would need to purchase a separate license for each OS. 

[Alfred]

2 hours ago, Truman said:

I would like to purchase Affinity

 

Please note that Affinity is a suite of programs. There are two apps (Designer and Photo) currently available, with Publisher to follow when it's ready.

 

[R C-R]

Also please note that currently, there is no iPad version of Designer. That should be released "soon" but no specific release date has been announced.

 

The Affinity apps are sold & licensed through three different stores, one for each platform:

 

• The Mac App Store ("MAS") for the Mac versions, accessible through the "App Store" item on the Mac's Apple menu.

• The iTunes Store for the iPad Affinity Photo app, accessible in the iTunes app.

• Serif's own Affinity Store for the Windows versions, accessible through country specific links at https://affinity.store/.

 

The first two are maintained by Apple & linked to the purchaser's Apple ID. Apple does not share individual purchaser info with Serif/Affinity or with any other third party seller for privacy & security reasons. Thus, there is no way for Serif to know specifically who bought these versions or offer them discounts or package deals on multi-platform licenses. The third is maintained by Serif. Purchasers receive an email with the authorization key, which is linked to the Affinity Store account users create to buy Affinity Store items (including the Designer Workbook).

 

Serif's policy is to maintain price parity for the Mac & Windows versions. This is based on Apple's product matrix for MAS apps. There are different "tiers" for different countries, based on Apple's cost of doing business in each country (so it is not based only on the currency exchange rate).

 

I think all of the above should be in a FAQ somewhere because this question is asked very frequently in these forums, often more than once per day!

[Alfred]

37 minutes ago, R C-R said:

There are different "tiers" for different countries, based on Apple's cost of doing business in each country (so it is not based only on the currency exchange rate).

 

Well, almost! There are different "tiers" for different base prices, where the base price is set in US dollars and the price in each country is based on that. The normal price tier for the Affinity desktop apps is Tier 50, so they cost $49.99 in the US, £48.99 in the UK and 54,99 € in Eurozone countries. The Australian price of 79.99 AUD is 63.39 USD at the current exchange rate, and the Norwegian price of 549,00 NOK is an eye-watering 68.33 USD.

[R C-R]

4 hours ago, Alfred said:

The normal price tier for the Affinity desktop apps is Tier 50, so they cost $49.99 in the US, £48.99 in the UK and 54,99 € in Eurozone countries. The Australian price of 79.99 AUD is 63.39 USD at the current exchange rate, and the Norwegian price of 549,00 NOK is an eye-watering 68.33 USD.

What I was trying emphasize is that Apple bases its price tiers on more than just the US currency exchange rate. Because Apple has a physical presence in dozens of different countries, the cost of complying with each of their various business related laws & regulations varies considerably. This cost is passed on to buyers on a country by country basis. Because Apple is among the most profitable corporations in the world, every country tries to get as much revenue from Apple as their laws permit, & strictly enforces regulations for everything from consumer protection to employee benefits & working conditions.

 

So one way to look at the "eye-watering" differentials from the US currency exchange rate is as a proxy for the differences in the costs of doing business around the world.

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

What I was trying emphasize is that Apple bases its price tiers on more than just the US currency exchange rate.

 

Yes, I understood what you were getting at. All I was trying to emphasize is that the "tiers" are for different base prices, not for different countries: a Tier 50 product retailing in the US at $49.99 doesn't become a Tier 550 product in Norway just because its price there is 549 kr.

 

[R C-R]

6 hours ago, Alfred said:

Yes, I understood what you were getting at. All I was trying to emphasize is that the "tiers" are for different base prices, not for different countries: a Tier 50 product retailing in the US at $49.99 doesn't become a Tier 550 product in Norway just because its price there is 549 kr.

Just to be clear about it, I referred to the pricing model as "Apple's product matrix" because the App Store Pricing Matrix is a two dimensional matrix of tiers vs. countries. However you want to explain what that means is fine with me.  

[Alfred]

13 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Just to be clear about it, I referred to the pricing model as "Apple's product matrix" because the App Store Pricing Matrix is a two dimensional matrix of tiers vs. countries. However you want to explain what that means is fine with me.