Here Adobe, this is my left kidney- I'm British!

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by LordShiva


They can, but that affects supply, not demand.

Is there a difference in demand between the two markets beyond the simple case of a difference in possible frequency of use of these products in the two markets?

For many software products I might expect additional differences but I'm not seeing what it would be between the UK and the US.

Like I said above UK customers don't seem to have more disposable income, there doesn't seem to be any obvious reason to expect them to be more dependent on the software, and I wouldn't expect this long into the life of these product lines for there to remain much of a difference in the number of extant copies of the older versions.

Why might Adobe expect UK consumers to be willing to shell out so much more than they can get in their US market?

[Dinner]

BTW I have this software. It's ok but I don't do a lot of photoshopping so it wouldn't be worth it to pay the asking price. It's useful for the odd funny picture though.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by MRT144
why would i buy (or care about price) from your local store if i cant logistically get it?

As a consumer I would care because I would assume that if the product can be profitably sold for less elsewhere then I would expect there to be someone willing to profitably sell an equivalent product at that same lower price here. If I can't find one I start to wonder if some sort of defacto monopoly is at work here that those abroad are able to escape from.

In any event I'll resent the company for not giving me the better value for the dollar when it's clear they can profitably do so for other customers. I'd feel singled out and cheated.

[Q Classic]

Originally posted by Oerdin
BTW I have this software. It's ok but I don't do a lot of photoshopping so it wouldn't be worth it to pay the asking price. It's useful for the odd funny picture though.

There are oss alternatives.

Gimp, if you want to deal with the horrid interface.

Paint.net, if not.

[Nubclear]

What is price, exactly?

[Q Classic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i0X_PK7K6A

Not quite your question, but it's what that reminded me of.

[pchang]

If you live

in an area where customer support costs are higher, then you should expect to pay more.

One model would be to charge a price for the product and then a support price. For simple things like end user software, this is a bit impractical so they just bundle the higher support cost into the cost of the overall product.

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Geronimo
Why might Adobe expect UK consumers to be willing to shell out so much more than they can get in their US market?

Unfortunately, British consumers are a bit too used to getting ripped off in many markets with no forseeable alternatives. So many things are expensive here, and the standard of living is so low, that to an extent we are depressed into accepting crap living standards. We need to break the cycle.

[Geronimo]

Re: If you live

Originally posted by pchang
in an area where customer support costs are higher, then you should expect to pay more.

One model would be to charge a price for the product and then a support price. For simple things like end user software, this is a bit impractical so they just bundle the higher support cost into the cost of the overall product.

I considered this, but isn't support usually outsourced to some third location like India for simple things like end user software? It seems odd that it would cost substantially more in the UK.

[pchang]

There is a growing outcry

against outsourcing things like customer support to India. A decent percentage of what was once outsourced to India is now outsourced to local companies (many of them are in Belfast and others are in Ireland).

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by Adagio


What would you do if games/applications (or whatever) is sold at twice the price where you live compared to elsewhere in the world? Wouldn't you feel cheated?

I might (I have a different use for the word cheated though, I don't consider myself "cheated" if one of my choice is avoiding buying the whole thing. For me, being "cheated" is buying a car and the guy gives you a shoe instead.)
I completly understand the feeling but that's irrelevant.
I would in no way feel MORE justified to copy\steal the software.
Either copying software is ok, or it's not.
The price that it cost in the US vs UK has nothing to do with it.
See my examples with the clothes.
IF you feel just taking clothes from a store is stealing and wrong, does the fact that it's more expensive than somewhere else justify stealing them now?
Obviously not.

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by Adagio


Why shouldn't it? Why would someone want to pay twice as much for software (or whatever) than everywhere else? If the local stores charged twice as much as everywhere else I would buy everything online from other countries

By the way you pay as much as 10x or 20x the price of food compared to many other countries.
Same with clothing etc...
Did you ever feel cheated before?
In fact, unless you live in a third world country, the chances are you should feel cheated pretty much anything you buy, using your logic.
I guess people in third country must be envious of you...

There are two main points.
-There are many economic reasons why things don't cost the same everywhere. It's not always in the company's hand.
-EVEN if the only reasons is that the CEO hates British and wants to cheat you out of your money, that does NOT JUSTIFY stealing. If it's ok to steal a 10000 $ software, it's ok to steal a 5$ one.

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by Adagio


Why shouldn't it? Why would someone want to pay twice as much for software (or whatever) than everywhere else? If the local stores charged twice as much as everywhere else I would buy everything online from other countries

Get me a price list of clothing, food etc. from where you live.
I'll get you a much cheaper one (less than a third) from somewhere else and next week you start buying all of that online.

Ah yes, there's taxes, transportation costs, fact that not everything can be bought online etc...

[Dauphin]

Re: There is a growing outcry

Originally posted by pchang
against outsourcing things like customer support to India. A decent percentage of what was once outsourced to India is now outsourced to local companies (many of them are in Belfast and others are in Ireland).

Amusingly, many of them are owned by Indian call centre companies.

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by MRT144
Provost Harrison also has issues that obscure tangible relationships between people, so cut him some slack.

And what is that supposed to mean? You know I am tired of people thinking they know something about me at this place when the reality of the matter is, they know precisely zero.

It's one of those values thing where people who think they are entitled to rip off companies because they disagree with the pricing. Its only because they are able to rip them off so easily that they do, not because they debate the morality of the matter.

I also like to point out that for the most part, people that pirate software are also the same people that aren't ever really serious enough to utilize the product for financial gain. People that pirate microsoft products probably arent writing huge proposals with it, people that pirate photoshop are using it to create ****ty myspace images that sparkle, and people that pirate music software arent writing big musical hits with it. Amateurs pirate, professionals buy.

The reality is, you're not entitled to products because you think they are overpriced, easy access or not. It's customer arrogance that says "The customer is always right." It leads to business situations like Nordstrom's where you can return shoes you didnt even buy there without a receipt. And while you're sticking it to the man, you're also that guy who pulls scams like that.

The customer in situations like this are the most important part of the business but it's not arrogance releasing a great product, at a price they determine. If it was a ****ty product, why would anyone pirate it, let alone buy it? If pricing your own product is arrogance then you're all in the wrong economic system.

Take Oracle for example which charges by the processor. All their software is available to download for free from their site but it's the support, expertise and integration they can give you that they charge for. They charge by the number of processors that use the software for a lot of their products, and then enforce compliance through survey and tech support. (as an aside this is why they are currently suing SAP, for posing as customers, downloading docs, and then offering support to customers for Oracles product)

On the flip side, it is up to the companies to enforce compliance and if they can't then it's too bad. Various methods may work, and may not.

So it is OK to price it considerably differently to one market than another? It is always you yanks who are so easygoing on it when it is your nation that is ripping everyone off.