ToneBoosters: New License Transfer Policy

[JJ_Jettflow]

didn't read everything but here's my take on license transfesr; every one should allow for an easy transfer process period.

first off, everyone at one point in their life can think of a time where they simply did not need something any longer. so they would sell it at a lower price because it was "used", however software does not get "used" like something physical. but it's still entirely possible for it to be unneeded anymore. if the software does not allow for a license transfer, you're sol. you can't redeem anything, you can't even GIVE it away no matter how much you will never use it again. it becomes a digital waste. which is too bad when there could be someone else less fortunate to afford it that could make great use from it, that's a shame. if it were something physical, at least it could be given away. this is why i believe it is important to allow your software to be easily transferred. wouldn't you rather have customers who uses your products instead of one's who do not anymore? sooner or later you will have a few people who simply say they have your plugs but don't use them anymore, and perhaps it's not because they're bad, but they have other ones they prefer. however this could cause others to see your plugins negatively, and word of mouth is a powerful tool in marketing. another thing is, if a person buys something, they should have the right to sell their copy. and even if you don't agree with that it's still a smart move for any dev because now the customers feel as if they did't just buy something BUT also invested in something. it's just the smarter thing to do marketing wise.(for instance, when i bought cyclop i was more willing to buy knowing sugerbytes transfer policy is rather painless and cheap). giving power to the customer will always benefit the developer in the long run. what tone boosters is doing doesn't feel like a smart move for his part. for one, people might be put off about having to buy half the plug again just to sell it. i can understand charging a small fee, but the whole point of selling something second hand is to make some of your money back. this is just taking the power away from the customer and will hurt the dev in the long run. if he just allowed anyone to transfer anything for free and make it nfr after the first transfer, that would be ideal, or charge a smaller fee(i think charging a small fee is the way to go in some cases because one plug could make you plenty of money if it keeps getting resold and bought by people who would never have bought the products at full price to begin with. i think this is the path he is going, but its a little unbalanced in the devs favor). what you would get in the end is people who are happy with tone boosters product without being able to take advantage of him, and that's exactly what tone boosters should want. my advice for him to to charge a smaller fee and give some of the power back to the customer.

+1

[JJ_Jettflow]

the whole premise of Toneboosters increasing the license transfer fee to 50% is because all the 2nd hand sales were hurting his company.

According to whom?

Read my other posts before commenting. I already stated earlier that since Toneboosters has not come forward and given an explanation then the reason could be either due to the amount of LTs taking up his time or the LTs are taking away from his sales too much.

The idea that the price was due to the license transfers hurting his company came from other people posting supporting the move and giving their opinions on why.

[Syntilla]

the whole premise of Toneboosters increasing the license transfer fee to 50% is because all the 2nd hand sales were hurting his company.

According to whom?

Read my other posts before commenting.

I did.

[JJ_Jettflow]

the whole premise of Toneboosters increasing the license transfer fee to 50% is because all the 2nd hand sales were hurting his company.

According to whom?

Read my other posts before commenting.

I did.

So you missed this?

There has been no word from TB on this move and it is pretty much a given that it was done because it was either interfering with his coding time or the re-sales were draining resources. Even so, again there more customer-friendly ways of to implement it.

[Syntilla]

So you missed this?

Nope.

[JJ_Jettflow]

So you missed this?

Nope.

So?

[samsam]

How hard is it to separate conjecture and speculation from fact?

[Aubrey Lamont]

I don't see a problem here. If I'm Jeroen, I probably do the same thing.

Very important info. Thanx for letting us now.

Based on your sarcasm, I can tell you're a bit confused. Allow me to educate you: This is a forum, you know, where anyone with internet access might post opinions, thoughts, etc. that pertain to topics introduced in things called "threads." I made such a post and never represented that it contained "important info." Most posts do not.

If you seek anything more than the thoughts and opinions of audio software customers, you might want try directing inquiries toward an appropriate target. In this case, emailing the developer might be a good start to get such "important info." Shocking, I know, but thankfully I'm here to help!

You're welcome.

[bungle]

I wouldn't sell my TB plugins anyway, but this is totally ridiculous to be honest, no his time is not worth $10, LT are part of the business he has decided to undertake, if he has underestimated the costs involved in running said business, he needs to reevaluate his prices.

This thread is showing some "entitled" attitudes, however, it is not those consumers who have every right to sell a product (they bought/own not rented) and recoup acceptable amounts, but more the "entitlement" of the "we want $20 plugins" brigade.

Effectively JB (lets ignore his immeasurable talent for DSP here) has made his product completely worthless by underpricing and poor licence policy, it is very sad.

[murnau]

True words bungle. Thanx to this thread for my part i bought the few TB plugins i did not already own just a few minutes ago.

[Kr3eM]

Effectively JB (lets ignore his immeasurable talent for DSP here) has made his product completely worthless by underpricing and poor licence policy, it is very sad.

Completely worthless? I guess you could see it that way if you relation with VST plugins are the same as if it was stocks & shares on the Stock Market.

On the other hand if one would vaule the worth of the plugins for what you actually can achive with them when mixing a track , I would say they are far from worthless no matter if I can't sell them or not. (and let us not forget the amount time and satisfaction one could get enjoying using them)

I would even dare to say that for me the amount of time and use I have got from JB's plugins is ridiculous regarding the price, to call that worthless from a producers standpoint is wrong.

Also, saying he needs to reevaluate his prices. You really want him to raise the price ? So what? you can resell it and recope a higher %. Sorry I still don't get it. Let's say JB raise it to €40 so his €10 transfer fee kind of gets in proportion. You would then in a really good deal get €15 after paying the transfer fee, which ends u up with a loss of €25. Seriously? thats more than you "loose" now without selling them.

All in all, JB is offering proper demos, if you then do a purchase which turns out of being of little or no use to you, that would tell you to really reflect how poorly your judgement is. And surely then you should be glad your lack of skills didn't make you buy a $100+ plugin.

I completely understand how one could react and see the transfer fee as something so negative you wouldn't buy and so on. Although, I can only understand that if you disregard/ignore all other things/aspects that comes with a plugin purchase. Doing so, surely is unskillful, and to judge without seeing the whole picture and nature of things is hardly fair to JB.

[Nielzie]

I wouldn't sell my TB plugins anyway, but this is totally ridiculous to be honest, no his time is not worth $10

His time is not worth $10 but the time of the support employee from FXpansion that does the license transfers, is worth the $50 fee?

[khanyz]

I wouldn't sell my TB plugins anyway, but this is totally ridiculous to be honest, no his time is not worth $10, LT are part of the business he has decided to undertake, if he has underestimated the costs involved in running said business, he needs to reevaluate his prices.

So new customers should bear the cost of current customers selling their licenses?

[bungle]

1 Do i want him to raise his prices
Yes if this allows him to have a fair transfer policy for those who want/need to transfer their software, why ? Don't you think his plugins are worth more than the paltry amounts he charges ?
2 His time is not worth $10 but FXpansion rip people off for $50 (Paraphrasing and actually more accurate)
Well lets not pretend that one stupidity justifies another, FXpansion are simply a terrible company for doing this, I gave away all my FXpansion software (A lot) because of this, and it really pains me to say it because they one of the very few british innovators in music software
3 So new customers should cover the cost of customers selling their licence ?
Really ? Are you that distanced from reality that you think that is what is going on here, JB is undercharging for what are easily double the price plugins and still bargains, if he is struggling to cover all his duties within that business framework, he needs to reevaluate, if you or he don't see this then pity us, because he wont last long (Lets be fair here, this is conjecture, we all know he does other stuff and is near enough self funding these plugins, so doubtful he is going anywhere unless he gets bored)

Like i say, i have no bones in this, other than the fact that i believe that every company should offer free transfers, i buy based on a companies policies, and up to this point have been a happy TB customer, but wont be buying from him again because of this (No great loss to him, i know, blah blah, he will be glad to get rid of such a bad customer and blah blah blah)

[gaf_thit]

Does anyone know Avangate's policy on license transfers? Do they charge their clients for doing transfers for them? (Note: Just wondering/speculating)