Plugin Alliance new transfer policy caused concerns and is corrected...

[mutantdog]

Same plugin not being transferred twice refers to selling multiple licenses for the same plugin, so if you've bought and sold it once before then you can't sell it if you buy it again. iZotope have a similar policy.

[4tune]

If you "cannot transfer ... licences that were previously transferred to you" then how can "the same plug-in only be transferred twice"?

I think this means if you`ve owned licenses for the same plug; say bx_opto (bought as new twice or more), then you can only sell bx_opto twice. The third one that is in your account would be NFR. I guess this is to prevent people trading by picking up the same plugs with vouchers, to sell on.

(mutantdog, beat me to it)

Does it seems like PA is playing games with this? Is trust being erroded?

Even though things seemed to have been fixed with transferred licenses now going into the Transfer-License page, a further public statement would be welcome/ change of website text.

If they want to change the policy/ enforce an original policy that was not being enforced, then they should just say so. Give people a reasonable grace period to sell on as current licensees as full (non-NFR), say 3-6 months then start policy up again on a specific stated date. Then for any new license purchases, you know where you stand.

[escalona]

If you "cannot transfer ... licences that were previously transferred to you" then how can "the same plug-in only be transferred twice"?

I also had the same question. Someone pointed out that some people may have bought several licenses of the same plugin (i.e., several tuners, to get the bulk discount), so you get to sell only one tuner.

[DarkStar]

Thank you, guys. I did not think of buying multiple licences them selling all but one onwards.

[yellowmix]

I was looking at their FAQ for something else and decided to see if the Transfer section was updated. To my surprise, it was. No more talk about "previous transfers", and it looks like they have clarified existing policy (transfer fees, free plugins, etc.). I am now open to considering their portfolio again.

[reggie1979]

Is it still 20 bones to the payee? That is a concern for many.

[plexuss]

Is it still 20 bones to the payee? That is a concern for many.

Yes. $20 for the buyer for 1 plugin, $40 for 2, $50 or 3 or more.

I'd rather this than say Melda (20% of retail transfer fee) or those that do NFR.

[iftango]

The public FAQ indeed allows transfer (has it ever changed?) but not the Transfer page:
"You cannot transfer inactive licenses, free licenses, licenses with a fee required, licenses that were previously transferred to you,...". It's still hard to believe that there is one page on the whole of their website that they have not been able to update since December 2018 even though we have been pretty vocal about it.

I'm still not happy to read that I can and can't transfer my licenses. It makes me think of some legal bullshit allowing them to shield themselves if they ever decide to revert their policy again.

Here is the interesting part of the FAQ for reference:

Yes, you can resell and transfer your plugin licenses. Once you have found a buyer, please make sure that the buyer has created an account on our website and also make sure that they are aware of the fees associated with the transfer: $20 per plugin or $50 for 3 or more plugins. The buyer will have to pay this before they can start using the plugins in their Plugin Alliance account.

You are unable to transfer free licenses or licenses with a fee required.
If you have a license with multiple versions they need to be transferred together (for example bx_console e and SSL 4000 E)
There is a limit of 10 transfers per month however in exceptional circumstances more than 10 can be transferred but will require contacting Customer Support.

[4tune]

Just looking at this again today it looks like the wording on the Transfer License page has changed, not mentioning 'previously transferred licenses' anymore:

If you want to transfer / sell any of your PA licenses to somebody else, you can do this here.

Below is a complete list of all your active licenses that are available for you to transfer to any other customer. You can select multiple licenses to transfer, but only one person to transfer them to at a time. If you want to sell various licenses to a number of different people, you can do so, but please read the instructions below!

After you transfer any licenses, the person you transferred them to will have to pay a transfer fee of $20 per plugin before they can activate them. Dynamic Discounts will apply, so the buyer will save up to 60% when activating several transferred licenses at once. If you activate 6 plugins or more the fee goes down to $8 per plugin this way.

We will apply the same stepped discount for activation fees that we apply to plugin purchases, so you'll save 20% on 2 activations, 30% on3, 40% on 4, 50% on 5, and 60% on activations of 6 or more plugins.

Also, you can pay license activation fees with loyalty voucher codes if you have some!

You can now transfer as many licenses in one transaction as you want, and you can initiate as many transactions per month as you want. You cannot transfer inactive licenses or free licenses.

Remaining Restrictions:

You cannot transfer inactive licenses, or inactive licenses which require a fee to be paid.
You cannot transfer subscription bundle licenses!
If you have a license for a multiple versions of a plugin (for example, bx_digital V2 and bx_digital V3), then those licenses cannot be transferred separately.

FREE Licenses can’t ‌be sold, for example the ones you get when you open a PA account, like bx_cleansweepV2, bx_rockrack Player, bx_solo, bx_subfilter, elysia niveau filter, bx_freeranger, etc.

Plugin Alliance is not involved in any financial agreement or transaction between people who transfer licenses (aka buyer and seller).

[Calenberger]

That‘s in their interest because they earn a lot of bucks via this second hand transfers...

[jochicago]

Oh goodie! They were able to win the battle against the draconian computer system that wouldn't let them fix this months ago. I'm sure it was like 3 lines of code, but computers can be a real pain. As I understand it, you have to find the right line of code to change. Computer programs can have thousands of lines. They probably needed to hire a team of profit strategists to find the right line of code.

In other news, I just bought another plugin for $4. So the sales are back.

[Calenberger]

The second hand prices are slowly going up (my impression)...

[escalona]

The second hand prices are slowly going up (my impression)...

Supply and demand... I guess.

[iftango]

Oh goodie! They were able to win the battle against the draconian computer system that wouldn't let them fix this months ago. I'm sure it was like 3 lines of code, but computers can be a real pain. As I understand it, you have to find the right line of code to change. Computer programs can have thousands of lines. They probably needed to hire a team of profit strategists to find the right line of code.

Ah, good memories of support writing ten months ago "We have a small glitch with updating the text however we are working on it." followed by a "the system that we need to use to update text on our web FAQs has a bug that we are trying to fix".

I wonder how much our rebelion had an influence on the resolution of this "bug".

[Calenberger]

PA is more or less back on track of their previous flash sale / urgent sale / sale of your lifetime behaviour. Subscription not working well? Or just fishing off the remaining vouchers?