Adobe Lightroom pricing ripoff?

ChrisN

ChrisN

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I've played with the Lightroom trial software, and was impressed. The 30-day trial is about to expire, and I was prepared to shell out the US$299 for the software. However, when I try to buy online I am directed to a page that is trying to charge me AUD$505, or 48% more than the US price of US$299! There seems to be no easy way around this as my credit card is of course linked to an Australian address, and it won't let me purchase the US product at US$299.

Does this reflect a deliberate policy of charging a stiff premium to non-US customers? I feel like I'm being ripped off - do they think we are stupid?

Does anyone know anything more about this?

Sorry Adobe, you've lost me as a customer.
 
ChrisN said:
Does this reflect a deliberate policy of charging a stiff premium to non-US customers? I feel like I'm being ripped off - do they think we are stupid?
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Seem so. :mad:

In Europe they're asking 297,80 euro (that's 436,49 US$) for LR. :bang:
 
The best thing is to write them an email and let them know of your decision and why you made it. If enough people write in, they might begin to take notice.

As someone involved in selling software across the world, there really is no justifiable reason for them to have this kind of mark-up.
 
Chris,

This seems to be a universal policy of all vendors. (For example some Canon inkjet paper costs 6x more in Oz than the US.) I just order from Adorama and have them ship things (usually 3-4 days). I did this with my most recent Photoshop upgrade. From the US, under the FTA, we can do this up to $(mumble) without being a "proper" importer and under $1,000 there's no GST payable.

Some day soon vendors might realise that globalisation is happening, the internet exists and we can all look up prices in other markets. The real losers are authorised resellers and wholesalers, who get charged more than O/S retail prices - and lose customers accordingly. I was giving a Canon printer rep a nice earbashing the other day re paper and ink.

...Mike
 
Americans (the US sort) pay a lot less than most of the world.

At one time, not now I think, a return air ticket NYC to London was way cheaper than a return air ticket London to NYC. Same airline same dates.
 
What is their justification for charging more in non-US markets?

Cost of delivering the product? (via internet download)

Cost of providing "service" and "customer support"? (via email and web-based "expert" systems)
 
Canadians have been screaming about this issue since our dollar hit parity and for about a month was worth more than the US dollar.

There has been threads initiated about the merits and philosophy of supporting your local retailer versus big internet outlet. I don't think the argument holds a lot of water with this price spread. I shop for the best deal you can, getting fleeced you you can support the local supply chain is plain dumb if pricing does not reflect current realities.

If I were you, I would order from an American retailer and wait for Lightroom to come to you.
 
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Sounds like a ripoff to me. I just checked one Canadian retailers web site and you can get Lightroom V1.0 for $319.99 from them. Still a $20 surcharge considering our dollar in relation to the US dollar but nowhere near the Oz surcharge.

Bob
 
I'm in exactly the same boat as ChrisN -- I'd been getting ready to buy Lightroom for the equivalent of US$299, and it _does_ seem ridiculous to pay a good 50% or so more. I understand the need to support local retailers and distributors for physical products, but this is a different kettle of fish: it's software, distributed by download and serial number (assuming you buy the download, not a shrinkwrapped box).

It appears that Adobe's webservers for handling the store and the download service are all run from their USA webservers, so their different stores are only for localising the currency. Distribution costs and probably transaction costs to Adobe are the same in this case, regardless of where you're buying from. Many, many other companies get global direct sales right -- and I'm sure there are other customers who've balked at the pricetag the same way we have.

I'd be very interested in a statement from Adobe as to exactly how they justify this, actually -- has anyone contacted them?
 
Actually, looking around at the Aussie retailers, it seems that you can find the boxed release of Lightroom for AU$375 to 400 fairly easily. So perhaps Adobe's RRP is just behind the times. :)
 
Here in Cayman I can't buy it at all, no matter what price! Cannot enter a Cayman address for credit card...

:bang: Crazy, as I would really like to buy it..
 
Justin Viiret said:
I'd be very interested in a statement from Adobe as to exactly how they justify this, actually -- has anyone contacted them?
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No, I just worked around them. I did have a long conversation this week with a couple of reps from Canon regarding their prices for lenses and inkjet paper and ink (their prices for cameras seem to match international prices if shipping, taxes, currency etc. are factored in; lenses less so; and printer consumables are just shocking). They told me that they've complained - but head office sets the sell price to the local subsidiary and hasn't yet listened. They've gathered screeds from local distributors to feed back and got me to write my views up from a customer perspective.

We (the distributor I was with and I) were able to show examples where the price to the distributor here was substantially higher than the retail price from Adorama or B+H, including FedEx/UPS air shipment from NY to Sydney. The reps will feed that back to Japan and see what happens. Best guess: nothing.

...Mike
 
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On the other hand, most of the world pays far less for prescription medicines then we do here in the US...I wish it were the other around!!
 
I use GIMP. Free. I'm not a professional Desktop guy but GIMP seems to do everything my PS did 3 years ago. I'm not really sure what features I need in full blown CS3 but I do basic photo editing.
 
BigSteveG said:
On the other hand, most of the world pays far less for prescription medicines then we do here in the US...I wish it were the other around!!
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:eek: Health economics :eek: Its like California water politics: if you fall that hole you might never emerge.

...Mike
 
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