Anybody else put off by some sales?

[fluffy_little_something]

Well, people want to buy stuff, so they might not want to wait and hope that what they want might go on sale god knows when.

What's the problem then? Just go for it.

As far as I can tell, iOS stuff is usually just a variation of the main desktop plugins.

No. There are also iOS exclusive synths. Also, it takes modifications to make them run on iOS. iOS is a different market. When you sell 10 times as many plugins, you can just take 1/10 of the price as well. Regardless of other reasons, like, staying competetive on a market whwere prices are much lower, or the advertising factor.

And yes, a good desktop synth usually is $xxx. And that's no arbitrary price, but kind of reflects the cost plus a little profit.

Again, that is just incorrect. It reflects the price the developers thinks is feasible for the market. If you take KV331 Audio, for example, they offer a 180 € synth for 99 €, with frequent 40 or more % off discounts. It's a different strategy, creating more sales, and it seems to work for them. It's a good example to show how different prices can lead to similar results. After all, we're talking about software, not a physical product, which also has to cash in production costs, for the hardware part.

A developer can't make an iOS synth like Zebra for 20 bucks unless they have other products to compensate for the loss. I don't think the iOS plugin market is big enough to sell 10x as many licenses as the desktop market.

Synthmaster stuff is cheap because that guy is from Turkey, which has a lower cost of living than cities in the West.


Anyway, I think the percentage is decisive. A sale at about 70% of the regular price is accepted by most people, below that people start to feel cheated on.

[thecontrolcentre]

As far as I can tell, iOS stuff is usually just a variation of the main desktop plugins.

You're so wrong on that one. I have a friend who makes all his music on iOS these days. He reckons its "the future". There is already a bewildering amount of great music software that is iOS only. He keeps recommending me plugins that you just cant get for Windows. Some of the samplers. drum machines and sequencers you can pick up for next to nothing on iOS are outstanding.

[GMusic]

Like I said, I like a good sale. 15%-40% once in a while is nice. But if you're going to release a product for $300, you are valuing your product at $300. If you have a plan from the get go to make it 40%-50% off in 1 month, then a few months after run it on the same crazy sale or add it as a freebie, you are truly valuing your product lower. You know only a handful of anxious or loyal people will buy at $300. You know you can sucker those loyal customers and fools to make lots of extra cash. Then soon after snag even more people when you run an insane "too good to pass up" deal because it's significantly lower than the original asking price.

I'm just going to call out the companies you should know overprice and run sales all the time. It's their routine to overprice items, then run sales and flash sales, and also sale them on sites like VSTBUZZ or Audio Plugin Deals. You should know if you want to be an informed customer. I'm not saying buying from these companies is wrong, as they make excellent products, but if you feel cheated when you buy full price only to find the same product just weeks or months later at 50%+ off, then wait for the sales...

Big time over-pricers with crazy 50% off+ sales. If you can wait a couple months or weeks, you can save hundreds to thousands of dollars if you buy multiples of their expensive stuff: 8DIO, EastWest, Waves, Izotope, Native Instruments,... And those who allow their products on vstbuzz.com and audioplugin.deals (Impact Soundworks, Keep Forest, Sound Iron, BOOM, Kirk Hunter, etc)

Frequent reasonable sales (e.g. 20-50% off) : Vengeance, Plugin Guru,Big Fish Audio, Ilio almost all big sample and preset library sites like Producer Loops, Black Octopus, ...

Infrequent but predictable annual sales : ReFX,...

These are just examples and again, not saying they sell bad product or are bad companies, but be aware that their products don't hold price value.

Don't hold your breath to wait for a sale on Spectrasonics or Xfer instruments. These companies price their products upfront and keep their value.

[Aloysius]

What is your definition of a Loyal Customer?

[GMusic]

What is your definition of a Loyal Customer?

It's not so much my definition. It's simply what the dictionary defines them as.

Loyal = giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution.

Customer = a person or organization that buys goods or services from a store or business.

Put together, loyal customer = a person or organization that buys goods or services from a store or business, giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution.

For example, I am a loyal customer of 8DIO in that I do support their business by making thousands of dollars of purchases over many years and share positive views on their products. However, their business model of releasing products at something like $399, but with a "special" intro price of $349 for 2 weeks, then goes back to $399 for a couple weeks, then goes on sale for $299 right after. Then there will be some insane promo like now with Symphonic Shadows ($298 normally, now $38) or getting a $199 product for free on a BOGO type deal. I refuse to buy their products at full price now because they practice the overpricing game with people, which annoys me. Their products are lovely, so I continue to be a customer, but one aware of their practices.

[Aloysius]

There's not much point in being a Loyal Customer, if there are no Loyal Companies. Just buy the stuff you want. You're not getting married to these people (I assume).

[core]

I've been keeping a list of deals at https://rekkerd.org/deals-deals-deals/ and I see there's definitely more sales each year, and discounts are getting greater. Many companies have annual sales, summer/winter/black friday, as well as intro sales, but flash sales and random discounts are getting more common for sure.

Simply buy something at full price if you want it right away, otherwise wait for a sale.

[lfm]

In between when there is 50-75% sudden discount on a product - I feel a bit for those that purchased while it was full price.

So sometimes I wonder - what are they thinking - treating customers like that.

Rather quickly I found what Waves are about - so never purchased at full price.
It's always to wait for a campaign.

But still mixed feelings when you see the massive discounts - like 40% off upgrades on Cubase and stuff.

[omac]

Everybody has sales. The question is whether you see it or not. Between vstbuzz, jrrshop, pluginboutique, etc. they are all participating. I don't see the harm since they need to sell product. Some people are not as concerned about price. They won't look around before purchasing. Companies that participate regularly in steep sales cause people who are concerned about price to wait before purchasing. Those who aren't as concerned and want it now, don't wait.

Products that have been out for a while and are experiencing a drop in sales will be discounted to stimulate sales. That's going to happen. It's just good business. A product will find its price point. A company cannot afford to keep the price high and not sell a product. If the product was not priced at a level where the desired amount of sales was reached then the company will lower the price one way or another. I confess to being confused at the idea of a particular value of a product associated with price. If it were true then products that cost more would be better in some way. Maybe they are. Maybe they're not. The value is subjective because the price will have to fluctuate to reach sales goals. The actual worth of a product is actually only what it is worth to me.

[fluffy_little_something]

As far as I can tell, iOS stuff is usually just a variation of the main desktop plugins.

You're so wrong on that one. I have a friend who makes all his music on iOS these days. He reckons its "the future". There is already a bewildering amount of great music software that is iOS only. He keeps recommending me plugins that you just cant get for Windows. Some of the samplers. drum machines and sequencers you can pick up for next to nothing on iOS are outstanding.

Individual developers without employees and responsibilities can do so, just like such people make free desktop plugins, for instance the guy behind Full Bucket.

But a real company like U-he, NI or Arturia could not survive making only cheap iOS apps.

[chaosWyrM]

people complaining about sales? this is all i hear:

[SampleScience]

I agree that 60% to 99% is a bit of a stab in the back of the people who paid full price, especially for plugins that are sold 100$ and more. Personally, I don't go beyond 50% as I would feel really uncomfortable doing 80-99% off crazy sales. But my prices are fairly low anyways.

[thecontrolcentre]

As far as I can tell, iOS stuff is usually just a variation of the main desktop plugins.

You're so wrong on that one. I have a friend who makes all his music on iOS these days. He reckons its "the future". There is already a bewildering amount of great music software that is iOS only. He keeps recommending me plugins that you just cant get for Windows. Some of the samplers. drum machines and sequencers you can pick up for next to nothing on iOS are outstanding.

Individual developers without employees and responsibilities can do so, just like such people make free desktop plugins, for instance the guy behind Full Bucket.

But a real company like U-he, NI or Arturia could not survive making only cheap iOS apps.

[chk071]

But a real company like U-he, NI or Arturia could not survive making only cheap iOS apps.

Why not? Imagine they'd sell 100 times as many apps as they sell plugins (let's imagine a price of 15 € for their imaginative iOS apps). That'd be a gain of 1000% for their business. Actually, i know a few people who got into iOS app development. Seems to be a lucrative business.

[fluffy_little_something]

But a real company like U-he, NI or Arturia could not survive making only cheap iOS apps.

Why not? Imagine they'd sell 100 times as many apps as they sell plugins (let's imagine a price of 15 € for their imaginative iOS apps). That'd be a gain of 1000% for their business. Actually, i know a few people who got into iOS app development. Seems to be a lucrative business.

Why would they sell 100x as many iOS apps as plugins?
Most musicians use desktop and notebooks. And I doubt that 99% of musicians have not bought plugins so far because they are too expensive.