Bargain Center: discussion, gossip, etc.

[goldenanalog]

Thanks, masterhiggins! That’s really good to know!

[goldenanalog]

Still waiting for the PPG synths to be rereleased

Absolutely!

The man behind PA is a genius - and it’s probably important in the context of this discussion that in addition to being on top/in the thick of the current plugin market trends, Dirk suffered severe loss from a Studio flood (he has a brick & mortar business - details online) likely reshaping his long-term business plan.

F29 is seismic: I can get whatever PA currently offers for that. I can get several F29 subs and buy whatever I want; then dump the subs. And PA’s still adding new plugins to their catalog! Bundle subs are still added to w/new content w/o added fees; voucher codes still work but HAVE just been downgraded in their valuation - looks like how they’re expected to be used will change.

Interesting times for PA

The Kool-aid still works even after so many years... amazing.

Kool-aid?!? I stopped drinking cheap shit years ago! It’s Gatorade or nothing, pal!

[Ou_Tis]

Absolutely!

The man behind PA is a genius - and it’s probably important in the context of this discussion that in addition to being on top/in the thick of the current plugin market trends, Dirk suffered severe loss from a Studio flood (he has a brick & mortar business - details online) likely reshaping his long-term business plan.

F29 is seismic: I can get whatever PA currently offers for that. I can get several F29 subs and buy whatever I want; then dump the subs. And PA’s still adding new plugins to their catalog! Bundle subs are still added to w/new content w/o added fees; voucher codes still work but HAVE just been downgraded in their valuation - looks like how they’re expected to be used will change.

Interesting times for PA

The Kool-aid still works even after so many years... amazing.

Kool-aid?!? I stopped drinking cheap shit years ago! It’s Gatorade or nothing, pal!

Haterade or the vacuum gral...!.....

[goldenanalog]

[goldenanalog]

,..

[Teksonik]

Good move from pa , their new fx is 29$ , the same price of the sub forever 29.

Good move from pa , their new fx is 29$ , the same price of the sub forever 29.

$29.99 + $1.00 = about $31, so not quite $29 but close.

If you're talking about the new Lisa EQ, I think one of us is reading something incorrectly.

It's $29 per month plus a dollar extra for the Lisa:

"Individual plugin licenses are still available, starting at $129.99 with voucher code LISA12999"

However if I'm reading correctly "cancel any time" so I suppose you could pay for one month at $29.99, add in the dollar then cancel the subscription?

"Get this brand new plugin at just $30.99 by joining FOREVER 29. Pay a monthly fee of just $29.99 and add any one (1) plugin to your collection every month, at just $1. Of course, you can cancel any time".

In the end "Forever $29" is just a way to sugarcoat a subscription service but at least for a buck more you get to keep something in perpetuity.

It says right in what you quoted that it's $29.99, not $29. They send you a voucher to get a plugin for $1.

In case that's not clear enough:

"Monthly Fee: $29.99 (charged monthly)
Add ANY 1 PA Plugin to your collection for just $1/each!"

(from the email)

OMG I'm so sorry I left off the 99 cents...in one spot. I thought it would be obvious but I guess not.....

What I'm trying to clear up is people who seem to think they can just buy the plugin for $29.99 plus one dollar without joining the "Forever 29" subscription plan.

Good move from pa , their new fx is 29$ , the same price of the sub forever 29.

Yes apparently you can sign up, join, then immediately cancel but that's not the same as just dropping something in your cart and buying it straight away.

[Teksonik]

If you're talking about the new Lisa EQ, I think one of us is reading something incorrectly.

Any misunderstanding is due to PA's convoluted and complex new pricing system, that, although called a subscription, is anything but. Pay $29.99, get a $1 voucher, buy any plugin with that voucher, cancel the subscription. That is not a subscription, that is simply buying a $1 voucher for $29.99. Madness.

However if I'm reading correctly "cancel any time" so I suppose you could pay for one month at $29.99, add in the dollar then cancel the subscription?

Yes, and they actively encourage this. Why? Because their new owner measures success by sales of subscriptions rather than plugins. The more subs they sell, the better their books look. The fact that 99% of subscribers will cancel the moment they get the $1 voucher is unimportant, they still sold those subscriptions. And they'll sell more next month too, and so on.

Well I define anything with monthly payments as a "subscription".

What value would it be for gaining subscriptions that are immediately canceled other than notches on Dirk's belt or to impress some potential investor? "Hey look Mega Huge Bank our subs went up by 20,000 this month, now about that investment you were going to make".....(conveniently forgetting to mention that 19,900 subs were canceled the next day)

I imagine they're hoping some people forget to cancel or let it ride for a few months at least.

For the record I own quite a few PA plugins collected during their numerous "crazy sales" so I'm not a PA hater at all but I'm also not total fanboi either. Their silly high list prices designed to make people think they're getting more value for their subscription has always rubbed me the wrong way.

Hell I'm not above playing Dirk's latest game and doing the subscription for a day or so then canceling just to get a plugin.

I own everything from PA I want right now but if they release something I really want and that's the cheapest or only way to get it then....why not.

[aMUSEd]

Hell I'm not above playing Dirk's latest game and doing the subscription for a day or so then canceling just to get a plugin.

I own everything from PA I want right now but if they release something I really want and that's the cheapest or only way to get it then....why not.

Exactly what I was thinking too

[Teksonik]

Great minds think alike.......

[cel4145]

What value would it be for gaining subscriptions that are immediately canceled other than notches on Dirk's belt or to impress some potential investor? "Hey look Mega Huge Bank our subs went up by 20,000 this month, now about that investment you were going to make".....(conveniently forgetting to mention that 19,900 subs were canceled the next day)

Exactly. In a year-end report or in other marketing documents, Soundwide will feature the total number of subscriptions for the year and the percentage increase over the previous year.

As far as cancellations, that will likely be buried deep in such a report.

After all, this is the same company that overexaggerates retail pricing where they don't expect people to buy at full retail. It's just meant to introduce anchor biasing to encourage people to think they are getting awesome deals during the sales.

[dermage]

I'm pretty sure the measurement for subscriptions is "currently active" subscriptions. So if you don't cancel it will count (and rebill the next month) if you cancel immediately it will not.
Investors aren't that stupid and I guess it would be "fraud" to declare a number of "started" and immediately "canceled" subscriptions as active subscriptions. They only count towards revenue.

[Ceej]

In Europe we have VAT , so the price is more 35$..i will not complain to have plugin for a such low price , 36$ for a plugin like sculpt is a very good price.

Hm, interesting question - are they required to charge VAT on a subscription? If not, then they'd only have to charge VAT on the $1 "purchase"...

[10bd01]

My takeaway here is - provided the earlier question about the licensing being the same is sussed out - all PA plugins are now $31 if you play their game. Their list price is basically fictitious, excluding the fact you need to play the game. You can even buy two subscriptions and you'll get two $1 vouchers, etc. so if they release two in a month you can still get both for $31 each, cancel one of the two of them and move on.

I'm not unhappy with this, and I have experience:

I own all of PA's plugins besides three recent releases (SOMA, TAILS and the new LISA). I've been purchasing them aggressively for the past two years on KVR, Knobcloud, and on PA when deals were on with vouchers, etc. Many I have gotten for free or a few bucks. My average percentage-off for all the purchases I made across KVR and PA? 88%. I feel like that's a good indication of how aggressive I was. Over 150 plugins for an AVERAGE of 88% off.

Average purchase price across all purchases? $20.15. This average includes the free plugins as well.

Is an extra $10 a month worth saving all of the time spent searching KVR, waiting for vouchers to drop, purchasing vouchers, etc? Yep, it certainly is. I definitely spent more than $10 worth of my time in my aggressive PA search each month.

To boot - $50 vouchers now only work on $100+ purchases and $25 vouchers only work on purchases $75+. This means - for me - spending at least $50 on plugins that I could consistently get at $25 before.

I hate subscription models, but I also understand basic math - Dirk, you win this round.

[warrio]

Nvm

[davestretch]

Here's what I do to avoid VAT on PA and other digital purchases. Register a US address in your account with them and then use PayPal to check out and pay. Works for me with most of the Plugin guys.