Splice rent to own Serum plan, what do you think?

[Daags]

first of all, i detest contemporary ventures in to 'subscription' models. i will never support such models.

as far as renting-to-own goes.... ok, that's better than the subscription model for sure. but, the issue I see if this model would 'take off' so to speak, would be devs pricing the plugin higher as a result. both because it is easier for the consumer to stomach since they are paying in modest installments and since they'll be thinking in terms of monthly costs, and because the dev will simply be motivated to get maximum possible return.


then of course, you inevitably get the question of ... well, if consumer X is paying the same total in dollars as I am, but being given 18 months to do so via rent-to-own... why don't I get any 'reward' for paying the whole sum upfront, in the 'normal' fashion. the customer who pays the total upfront should be rewarded/incentivised to do so, as far as I'm concerned...

ultimately I see the price of plugins going UP with these kind of schemes. and if they must go UP, i think the price increases should be carried by the rent-to-owners.


ymmv.

[Zexila]

but Serum didn't try to emulate a Virus sound

Still, it's there at least for this one.

[OneOfManyPauls]

well, if consumer X is paying the same total in dollars as I am, but being given 18 months to do so via rent-to-own... why don't I get any 'reward' for paying the whole sum upfront, in the 'normal' fashion. the customer who pays the total upfront should be rewarded/incentivised to do so, as far as I'm concerned...

the rent-to-own has to go via splice/xfer - but you can buy outright from a reseller and take advantage of *their* discount codes.

[Daags]

well, if consumer X is paying the same total in dollars as I am, but being given 18 months to do so via rent-to-own... why don't I get any 'reward' for paying the whole sum upfront, in the 'normal' fashion. the customer who pays the total upfront should be rewarded/incentivised to do so, as far as I'm concerned...

the rent-to-own has to go via splice/xfer - but you can buy outright from a reseller and take advantage of *their* discount codes.

this presumes that, for the product in question, [a] it is available via a reseller there are discount codes that will apply to it [c] you know what those discount codes are.

my thoughts and criticisms were made in principle ... not based on solely serum. and what you propose here, while it might apply to Serum - currently, does not really address my concerns with this system.

cheers

[mattetti]

I'm from Germany, and the biggest issue I have with companies if you're interested in something, then have to sign up to even see on "checkout" if VAT applies or not. I'm fighting for years that developers address this in a FAQ right form the start "VAT where VAT applies", etc. Because this would change the total price of the "Rent-to-Own" deals.

We do not collect or charge for VAT but if you need to report it to your own local agency, you are welcome to.

Another thing I didn't see on your page, is payment options. I think this is a huge topic that needs to be addressed IMO.

What do you have in mind here? We support credit/debit cards and paypal.

And another thing that be of interest:
What if there is a user than can pay 10 bucks per month, but then has to sit out 1-2 months, then realizes "hey, I got like 40bucks plus, let's continue this", then the next month he pays another 10 and he continues that until he bought the plugin/instrument in question.

Long story short: custom rates per month, is that an option for anyone that would go for it?

We currently support monthly installments (fixed amount payments) and paying off the remaining amount all at once. We are exploring allowing users to pay X installments in advance if for instance they received a small amount of money for a gig or a birthday. As you can imagine, adding more complexity to an offering needs to be thoroughly evaluated, we'd love to hear more feedback from people who would actually use this feature. I laughed when reading the earlier comment that was suggesting to pay $10 this month and put the extra $30 in a saving account until you can pay off the entire plugin. It's actually not a bad idea.
To be very honest with you, a rent-to-own offering with no fees is a big risk for Steve and us. We are currently focusing on seeing if this experiment is working out and how to improve things. Your feedback is therefore very much appreciated.

What about those users that have no online rig, yet still want to use that offer?
Is there an alternative solution in this case?

Yes, the alternative solution is to pay for the plugin upfront, it works 100% offline, no Splice, no internet needed.

* Do we get access to Serum FX?

I think what should also be mentioned on your page, a bit more prominent at least, is what you also offer in "parallel". You know... "goodies" and stuff. This might be another selling point on the long run.

You are right, we have already started working on messaging and other improvements. There are many things we think we can improve and we have more exciting things coming up. Stay tuned.

[ObsoleteAcc99]

[DELETED]

[Teksonik]

Once you’ve paid off the plugin cost, the Splice desktop app will no longer be required and you’ll receive a lifetime license with unrestricted offline access to Serum.

So if one buys the plugin full price right from XFerRecords.com that version does not install any part of the Splice application ?

[OneOfManyPauls]

If it was 10 a month and you owned it once you hit say 20 payments, that would be cool.

would 19 x $9.99 do you? https://splice.com/plugins/purchase/serum

[Zexila]

you know, all these subs add up. 10 a month on it's own is nothing, but it all adds up, what about if you are subbing mcdsp, slate, eastwest, adobe, and now let's just add another 10 on top, and so on. Oh and the daw too if you use sonar or pro tools.

Still, it's way cheaper than having to pay for all of that upfront and you can actually make music with it all the time, other way around you could barely buy a DAW or a plugin for that amount.

If it was 10 a month and you owned it once you hit say 20 payments, that would be cool.

You own Serum once you pay the full retail price in installments, 10 bucks minimum as long as you want, you pay 10 to use it that whole month, you can pause payments and continue any time, it's yours in the end.

plug in alliance does a zero interest payment plan, splice should maybe look into that. And if you don't meet all payments you lose. That would be fair.

Still this way is way better.

[musikmachine]

I did mean Slate Digital. As for this scheme, PA and a few others have had payment plans for a while but it's usually on bundles, never thought i'd see it from a company like Splice though, been a subscriber for a while and it's great.

Agree with CompyFox about the extras, didn't know about that nor how the Splice server works; assumed i had to have it running to use Serum and i usually don't go online until the afternoon and offline DAW use did cross my mind.

@Engee i meant do best from what i've heard so far. I think this is a synth i'd use for more out there sounds cause of the sound design angle. Right now i'm looking for sound banks though to get a feel for the overall sonic character cause it has to offer something a bit special, already synthed out.

I saw comments about this being the best softsynth ever and people rave about it online so i was expecting jaw dropping, mind blowing eye boggling sound when my little pinky plonked the key.

[Zexila]

then of course, you inevitably get the question of ... well, if consumer X is paying the same total in dollars as I am, but being given 18 months to do so via rent-to-own... why don't I get any 'reward' for paying the whole sum upfront, in the 'normal' fashion. the customer who pays the total upfront should be rewarded/incentivised to do so, as far as I'm concerned...

Because both of you are going to pay for it nonetheless, Steve got time, nobody is forcing you to pay all upfront, can't you just be happy that now others can afford it too, no I guess.

[Shabdahbriah]

Once you’ve paid off the plugin cost, the Splice desktop app will no longer be required and you’ll receive a lifetime license with unrestricted offline access to Serum.

So if one buys the plugin full price right from XFerRecords.com that version does not install any part of the Splice application ?

That's a fair assumption. No reason to, as you get a serial number with your download. Done.

[quote="TheoM"

plug in alliance does a zero interest payment plan, splice should maybe look into that. And if you don't meet all payments you lose. That would be fair.

Still this way is way better.

Much better. This isn't a "subscription plan" (like 'Adobe' cloud crap, or many of the 3D/CGI/CAD apps, which are WAY big bucks annually). This is a "rent-to-OWN" plan, which you can "pause" (essentially) and then resume when you want/can. There is no "punishment", or loss factor. Win/win.

Though I personally don't care for the "log-in daily" thing, as sometimes I have my machines off-line for several days. Preferably that does not mean literally "sigh-in" but is a simple button-click, like checking the "about" drop down, and it updates itself, and says "hi there, we missed you so much, have you had your latte' yet?". (etc.)

I'll be doing this. Have wanted Serum for a long time, but couldn't swing it, and would much rather give Steve his due, than buy second hand, and only give him the $25 transfer fee. So THIS works really well for me too.

Brilliant move Steve. I hope many follow this example.

[Zexila]

Much better. This isn't a "subscription plan" (like 'Adobe' cloud crap, or many of the 3D/CGI/CAD apps, which are WAY big bucks annually). This is a "rent-to-OWN" plan, which you can "pause" (essentially) and then resume when you want/can. There is no "punishment", or loss factor. Win/win.

Brilliant move Steve. I hope many follow this example.

Exactly, this is huge win-win for everyone...well except for elitists among us.

[sin night]

I don't like subscriptions models and I prefer buying things when I have the money to pay upfront, but I recognize a rent to own plan may be very useful to some people.

Sure, if you have a lot of these fees every month, they definitely add up... but you're paying for a whole studio that you will own at the end! It's loan vs rent when you compare a rent to own plan to a "pure" subscription service.


I think this shows, once again, how great XFer is!

[hivkorn]

I hope this is a new era for the plugin , i hope every dev will do the same.
I dreams to buy Exhale by Outputs but i'm not ready to paid the full price in 1 time...Now I hope it will happens a day!