What's the deal with Softube upgrade prices?

[Agreed]

I mean it's fine to say now that you don't mean the clearly-implied threat to pirate their stuff because you're unsatisfied with their customer service, but at the time they did not have that context that you were not serious. I understand stepping back from having said something uncalled for to acknowledge that of course we reasonable folk do not feel this way - but you said that to them anyway without any such qualifier when you were mad, and that does help to explain the less generous exchanges thereafter.

I have personally had help from Softube support, but I'm not really trying to put my foot into the issue of support generally - I do appreciate you sharing your side of the exchange. I would normally not try to offer much advice on this sort of thing, but since you've made it public, can I humbly offer that it is not going to be a winning move to threaten any company that because you're upset with them (regardless of how it is you came to be that way) you might just give yourself a five finger discount on their products.

I can sympathize with feeling that you didn't get the best value for your money, even compared to potentially having used a different purchasing strategy or trying to go at it a little more optimally. I think a lot of us have been there, with the way modern plugin companies do deep discounts and high RRPs it can sometimes be challenging to actually get the best price, to know when you're getting it. However, when you made those purchases, and in general when we commit resources for plugins or other goods, isn't the idea that we are free to also not do that, and so it is our decision and our choice? Which presumably we're happy enough to do, I mean, you don't spend that much on plugins by accident, you must have liked what they were doing or something. Again I sympathize with feeling that you didn't get the best deal, but to get nasty with customer service and threaten in some way to steal their products is not a fair response - in my opinion - to this feeling that you did not get the best possible deal or that they could have given you a better one.

[plexuss]

I dont fight with dev anymore. I just look at what they have to offer and decide if I want it or not. It helps that at this point i have a wide selection of tools in my folders. Sometimes I let the dev know if I have an issue with product pricing etc. Usually I dont because it rarely helps. the odd dev will extend a discount after a complaint but I often do not accept them and point out that this is what they should have done in the first place. I let my my money and purchases motivate devs and if I decide not to buy because of what I consider to be a dumb sales decision, I also let them know because otherwise they won't know.

[sQeetz]

Sometime last year october or so, a new customer service person took it over and asked me some questions that I had answered several times before, I got upset and said so....
She said you know, I am going to really try and get this sorted but I need more information from you, she then asked me for logs etc that no one else had asked before, and I calmed down.. It was clear she was really trying to make a difference not the usual,[...]..

Was it Sara? She is lovely Had an issue with Modular and she was a really nice person to deal with.

[zvenx]

I think it was indeed.
She is extraordinary isnt she.

rsp

[sQeetz]

the second issue is still ongoing, probably three/four years ago, opengl has huge graphic issues on my macbook pro,

OpenGL and "lagginess" within Modular was one of the issues I had. Rumor has it that Softube is switching to Metal for MacOS. Take it with a grain of salt, though... but I'm optimistic

just to be clear: I assume it based on stuff I've read here on KVR (beta testers who can't disclose anything in particular). Not because of anything a Softube representative told me.

[zvenx]

They should have done this years ago.
But fingers crossed.
rsp

[dermage]

The least I can say as Windows beta tester, I'm reporting lagging / stuttering issues and they're taking feedback usually serious.
The situation got better, at least on Windows in the recent releases. I guess it's not that easy to fix these kind of things, as GPU models are varying and especially on MacOS Apple makes it not easy to have a stable product for some time, as they often deprecate interfaces and re-do everything fundamentally. That's one of the things a Apple user have to accept by using their ecosystem I guess.

[Knutorius]

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So I recently got mail from softube about their current sale.
In it an offer about aquiring the Summit Audio Grand Channel for a stunning 99€.


A few weeks back I already got the Summit Audio TLA 100-A at sale for 49€, so I thought 'hey, thats exciting!'
The TLA 100-A is part of the bundle together with the EQF-100, the grand channel including both the EQ and the Compressor and another version for Console 1. (so four items)

After checking out the upgrade price I was left confused and angered and send an email to support about my concerns and questions. They forwarded it to sales and it's currently pending.

Much like @newjunkcity I was irritated by the difference between prices for new customers and the upgrade price.

• The bundle on sale currently goes for 99€.

For sake of simplity this means that a new customer or someone who doesnt own any of the plugins would "pay" 33€ or 25€ respectively for each piece of software included. (Only the EQ and the compressor are available for purchase individually!)

• I have spend 49€ on one on the TLA-100A which is included in the bundle

• The upgrade price is 84€

https://www.softube.com/grandchannel (https://www.softube.com/grandchannel)

It's so wrong on so many levels.
Another fun fact is that they sell the TLA-100A currently for 79€, which is only 20€ away from the full bundle.

Like, wtf are they thinking

[Agreed]

They're thinking in terms of maximizing profit, I reckon; I might personally believe that it could be better maximized by having bundle prices reflect current products owned better, but each is the captain of their own vessel and nobody at Softube is asking me for my opinions there. I will say, though, after having bought each of the other amps included in the Marshall Collection at $19 each, with a similarly low price for the Marshall cabinet collection, I'm going to have to pass on upgrading to the full Marshall Amp Room for another large investment, or paying close to $60 for the single remaining amp model when it goes on sale individually. Selling the rest at the prices mentioned has established an expectation for me, I guess, and if they put that last one I lack on sale for $19 as they did the others that got me to this point, I'll gladly collect it. Just depends on when they decide they want that money, versus how much they expect to be able to get for the kit from people who probably aren't in the same position and might be willing to pay more.

I really like the quality of many Softube products but their pricing makes them out of reach for my discretionary plugin budget much of the time. I'd own more if they'd make sales deeper and more available, I'm sure a lot of folks are in the same position, but they are of course free to make their own calculations as to how to approach marketing and selling their stuff.

[CrystalWizard]

PSP makes some fantastic stuff (imo) and they have a nice loyalty pricing. Still it's a bit peaches vs plums because of the bundle. Softube seem kind of unfriendly with their pricing structure. I wouldn't expect any company to give a price that discounts every dollar you've spent (that's unreasonable) but some sort of discount. PSP has a graduated discount, the more stuff you've bought the better the deal.

OP that was a definitely uncool move to post Softube about searching free (stolen) product. I understand frustration and anger but that was not a nice thing to say. I admit to getting irritated by canned responses.

[Knutorius]

update on my case:

After contacting softube during sale about the discrepancy between the upgrade and the regular sales price support returned to me, admitting a mistake on their end and adjusting the upgrade price to the €49 I suggested.

That, of course, is very nice.
I wonder if this adjustment is limited to my account or if it was applied to the whole system.

Anyway, good news.

[I_Am_Become_KVR]

I've never seen anything on softubes site that doesn't cost more there than it does elsewhere. Even with the supposed upgrade "discounts", the total price for the same product (on normal sale) is still less elsewhere with a touch of patience.

I've also noticed that "upgrade" prices are apparently of zero value. For example, if you have 1 of a 3-plugin bundle, you get "discount" price of, say, $150. But if you have two of a 3-plugin bundle, you get... $150! Ok, so only one plugin counts, whatever, that's fine, except that $150 is $100 more than just buying the remaining plugin. Soooooo... what's the point of the upgrade system?

Great plugins though! Just gotta be patient and wise about when and where to buy them, and wait for superdeal bundles that happen once or twice a year.

[bnz]

Do you guys know whether an ongoing deal for a bundle (like the tube-tech bundle) will also lower the upgade price for that same bundle? Or will the upgrade price stay unaffected by running deals? (haven't read through all posts, sorry if it's in here).

[thievedletter]

I wouldn't bank on getting much of a deal when it comes to Softube upgrades. I have about half their plugins and that knocks like $25 off the bundle, or something like that.

[UltimiGiorniRecords]

I wouldn't bank on getting much of a deal when it comes to Softube upgrades. I have about half their plugins and that knocks like $25 off the bundle, or something like that.

I have all Softube plugins and I remember last year that to update a Tubetech fx the knocked down price was only 25€ off