Bargain Center: discussion, gossip, etc.

[Mushy Mushy]

I’d love to know how they’re doing. My gut feel, and I’d love to be proven wrong, is they’re the most precarious of the large developers.

Mine is that accolade belongs to Waves. They probably have higher fixed costs but in order to try to keep the plates spinning have got to the point where you can almost buy a big bundle for less than the cost of WUPing it. That in turn further puts off off their large installed base: the one that has been paying the high-margin maintenance charge on a fairly regular basis. Maybe knocking out $29 instruments to hobbyists outweighs the stream of WUP on Mercury installations but at some point they are going to have to make a decision to go completely one way or the other. Because their larger hobbyist base is even less impressed with WUP than their traditional base.

PA has probably overcooked the deep-discount sale thing from a sustainable-business perspective but it's more of a franchise operation, so lower fixed costs. They do the storefront and testing and some of their own stuff, but other devs take on the R&D cost. If those suppliers get fed up they can walk (probably) but it seems to be holding together at the moment.

Very interesting. I would have said Waves are steamrolling ahead second only to NI. This is only gut feel obviously.

My assumption is:
- NI
- Waves
- U-he

[systmu]

I don't understand. I was getting a $75 voucher and buying the new plugin every month. I own every other plugin. So the discounts are meaningless. Now you don't get to make any money from me PA. Your only chance on making money off me is ruined. I'm def not paying full price the new plugin. Smart. Real smart. Punish your most loyal customers who have spent probably thousands lol. As I said Rip PA...

[Mushy Mushy]

dupe

[systmu]

I’d love to know how they’re doing. My gut feel, and I’d love to be proven wrong, is they’re the most precarious of the large developers.

Lol what??? are you kidding you know there are millions of producers and mixers and these guys are like top 5 companies. a few years ago dirk was showing off his new lamborghini or some shit. I think they are doing fine. LMAO. They just had a stellar year. some of the best plugins they've done. They treid pulling this crap last year to a lot of backlash and restored everything. They are sneaky. They want to sneaky it in. Like noone will notice.

Notice how the email is like "WE never send a voucher in december" They have alsways sent voucher every December since I can remember. This is some 1984 shit. "Good news! We are raising the chocolate rations to 4 this week!" mean while it was 6 last week.

Not to mention brainworx is a huge UAD developer too.

[Gamma-UT]

Very interesting. I would have said they’re steamrolling ahead second only to NI. This is only gut feel obviously.

My assumption is:
- NI
- Waves
- U-he

You could well be right but enduring deep discounts are often a sign of trouble from my experience. It's a hard trap to escape from when you realise that the drug is wearing off on the market and you have no other way of drumming up business...because everyone expects to be $29 in a few weeks' time. They've kind of short-circuited that by offering it at $39 (or just gone straight to $29) from the get-go. It's not long before you're in SoundSpot territory. "Another free copy of Oracle? Err, it's OK. Maybe I'll shop somewhere else."

NI does good sales but not all day, every day and not to the 80% point of some of Waves latest bundle offers.

u-he almost never does sales of that kind and seems happy to deal with a probably smaller but stable stream of money.

[Mushy Mushy]

I’d love to know how they’re doing. My gut feel, and I’d love to be proven wrong, is they’re the most precarious of the large developers.

Lol what??? are you kidding you know there are millions of producers and mixers and these guys are like top 5 companies. a few years ago dirk was showing off his new lamborghini or some shit. I think they are doing fine. LMAO. They just had a stellar year. some of the best plugins they've done. They treid pulling this crap last year to a lot of backlash and restored everything. They are sneaky. They want to sneaky it in. Like noone will notice.

Notice how the email is like "WE never send a voucher in december" They have alsways sent voucher every December since I can remember. This is some 1984 shit. "Good news! We are raising the chocolate rations to 4 this week!" mean while it was 6 last week.

Not to mention brainworx is a huge UAD developer too.

Ok calm down pal. As I said it was gut feel based on their incredibly inconsistent sales plans recently. Giving and then taking monthly vouchers, rental options, deep discounting, NFR policies, etc.

It’s like they’re desperately trying to find a system to keep them afloat.

[JerGoertz]

I don't know what they're thinking. These plugins are for buyin' and sellin' not for recordin'.

Buyin' and sellin' and collectin', but basically yeah

[systmu]

The collecting is my favorite part

[nathanj]

Their website still states that they give monthly vouchers up to $75 and they dynamic discounts are available; and, the email said that December was gonna be different. So hopefully they go back to normal in Jan.

It is a head scratcher though.

[Debutante]

Whatever. I now expect my Xmas AND boxing day gifts - I'll take hybrid reverb for one and maybe SSL collection for the other. Don't forget new year s is also just around the corner.

[dandezebra]

I might contact PA and find out if everyone will now get an extra month added to their voucher calculations. I am at $75 now so 1) I've spent a lot and 2) would be silly if I dropped after this month.

[mutantdog]

These X-mas codes do appear like they are personalised so at least the usual voucher vendors can continue their trade throughout the month.

[Feelshallright]

It’s funny how people act like they are entitled to get a PA voucher. Looks like they don’t care in the end what is the final sale price.

First offers on the month includes a plugin with a 19$ price with a code inside the email, but it’s not good, because customers didn’t get their voucher!

That’s just a different way of getting a rebate. It’s not the « holy » voucher, it’s just another way to get a sale price.

If the sale they offer this month don’t please you, just wait next month for your next voucher and thanks them for the money you saved this month.

[Kalamata Kid]

and now for a little humor

Four old retired men are walking down a street in Yuma , Arizona .
They turn a corner and see a sign that says, "Old Timers Bar - ALL
drinks 10 cents. "


They look at each other and then go in, thinking this is too good to be true
.
The old bartender says in a voice that carries across the room, "Come
on in and let me pour one for you! What'll it be, gentlemen?"

There's a fully stocked bar, so each of the men orders a martini.
In no time the bartender serves up four iced martinis shaken, not
stirred and says, "That'll be 10 cents each, please."

The four guys stare at the bartender for a moment, then at each other.
They can't believe their good luck. They pay the 40 cents, finish
their martinis, and order another round.

Again, four excellent martinis are produced, with the bartender again
saying,"That's 40 cents, please."

They pay the 40 cents, but their curiosity gets the better of them.
They've each had two martinis and haven't even spent a dollar yet.
Finally one of them says, "How can you afford to serve martinis as
good as these for a dime apiece?"

"I'm a retired tailor from Phoenix ," the bartender says, "and I
always wanted to own a bar. Last year I hit the Lottery Jackpot for
$125 million and decided to open this place. Every drink costs a dime.
Wine, liquor, beer it's all the same."

"Wow! That's some story!" one of the men says.

As the four of them sip at their martinis, they can't help noticing
seven other people at the end of the bar who don't have any drinks in
front of them and haven't ordered anything the whole time they've been
there.

Nodding at the seven at the end of the bar, one of the men asks the
Bartender, "What's with them?"

The bartender says, "They're retired people from Florida . They're
waiting for Happy Hour when drinks are half-price..."

[Fleer]

Buyin’
And sellin’
And not for
Recordin’

(Dusty PA)