[Leica] Expensive software

[hopsternew at gmail.com (Geoff Hopkinson)]

Larry this has been common practice by a lot of companies for a long time
in various markets.
 Another tool used by some companies is geo-blocking (via ISP) which
prevents customers from shopping in other world zones. Some people use
Virtual Private Networks or forwarding companies or foreign credit cards to
try to circumvent this.

As I mentioned in my first reply its no longer relevant with Adobe products
delivered by subscription.
Another irritating practice just starting here is the use of a local branch
of a BIG shopping site for ordering. This adds no benefit for the consumer
but does mean the local Goods & Services Tax (10%) is added to the item
cost and the shipping charge.





Cheers
Geoff
http://www.pbase.com/hoppyman


On 2 January 2014 15:15, <lrzeitlin at aol.com> wrote:

>  Howard.
> You are right. I received the original post from a friend who claimed it
> came from an Adobe PR. I was so astonished that I had to check it out with
> the only Australian I knew who might be familiar with the pricing. I know
> that when I lived in the UK most photo and computer gear was about 50% more
> expensive than in the US. Every time I went back home I carried a shopping
> list from all my Welsh colleagues. When I checked your information I saw
> that it did come from the How to Geek website. But is it true? What a
> markup!?
> Larry Z
> - - - -
> That certainly doesn't sound like a press release from Adobe! It condemns
> the publishers rather than tariffs.
>
> Looks to me like it's from "Geek Trivia" on the How-To Geek website:
>
>
> http://www.howtogeek.com/trivia/rather-than-buy-locally-its-cheaper-to-fly-roundtrip-from-australia-to-the-us-for-what/
>
>
> ?howard
>
> On Jan 1, 2014, at 11:34 AM,?lrzeitlin at aol.com?wrote:
>
> Goeff,
> Is this really true? It's from an Adobe press release.
> "Australians frequently complain about the price of imported software, and
> rightfully so. From operating systems to applications, the price of
> software is typically 50% or so higher than it is in the United States.
> In fact, the price of Adobe Creative Suite (of which Photoshop is one of
> the most famous elements) is so expensive in Australia ($4,334 as of
> mid-2013), that it?s actually cheaper to book a round trip flight to the
> U.S. and purchase a copy while visiting for $2599. Based on the average
> cost of flights over the last year, you?d save around $600 pulling the
> stunt.
> While it would be easy to blame import tariffs or other government
> intrusions for the absurdly high prices, the blame rests almost entirely on
> the software publishers. The Australian government has conducted multiple
> inquiries into why local prices are so high, going as far as summoning
> representatives from Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe to justify why they gouge
> Australian purchasers so severely."
> Larry Z
>
>
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