Subscription cost increasing AGAIN

[Erin_Hunt]

this may seem petty to some, but to me it's upsetting. I've always enjoyed using adobe products for 10+ years and was rapt when they began the subscription service. It meant that their products were now streamlined and affordable.

Now though, they've increased their subscription price twice in as many years I doubt I am going to be able to continue with it. I have periods where I work and periods where I don't, and to keep having to deal with the increase in prices when what made it all so attractive in the first place was the competitive monthly cost is making it more difficult to justify.

This is a shame, it's upset me. I really don't know if I can afford $73 per month, it stings when I think i started off paying much less than that.

[s1mplem1nds]

The reason why it is "unfair" is because Adobe's reasons claimed for the price hike are not true. If Adobe were to say our prices are doubling (because it is double..), have a read of the email they sent me: Seriously, you don't have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out.

I was paying $34.95 AUD per month. This then increased to $39.00 per month because of the added GST for online purchases - totally understand that. Now, I'm being told its going to be $72.59 per month because of currency exchange rates - see below, Note that its mentioned that the exchange rates go up OR DOWN, but- as darrenh55843548 pointed out, if the prices of exchange go down, this will not be adjusted on the customers end accordingly.

I don't think i can "dumb it down" any more than that. Seriously, if Adobe has to blame currency exchange rates for doubling the price then clearly they had no genuine reason to increase the price otherwise there would have been an explanation or better justifcation mentioned. SO , yes , if you are unaware of how trading laws work in Australia, Australians have access to investigative departments facilitated by the Australian Government to investigate these types of claims. Adobe, Microsoft and Apple have already been under fire for this back in 2013. A quick google search will demonstrate this.

"As part of doing business globally, Adobe monitors currency exchange rates in order to make adjustments to our pricing up or down as needed. You may be aware that currency exchange rates have fluctuated significantly over the last few years. As a result of recent changes in exchange rates in your region, the price of Adobe products and services is increasing starting on 5 June 2017. Learn more ›

The current price of Adobe Creative Cloud will change to A$72.59 per month incl. GST on 5 June 2017. During your current subscription term, the price for your subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud will remain the same. At renewal, your price will reflect the local currency price on your renewal date of 1 September 2017. Please note that you will be renewing at the regular price, as the promotional period comes to an end. A reminder email with your new price will be sent as your renewal date gets closer.

[darrenh55843548]

Exactly, it is not hard.

The fact that Adobe have not communicated anything about GST to me and other Australian customers and have given a very poor and spurious reason is my issue, even when I contacted Adobe directly. That is my whole point. Others don't get this piping. Adobe have been deceitful.

[s1mplem1nds]

I didn't get contacted about the GST either, and although not happy about it there is nothing i can do - however price hike regarding exchange rates is a whole lot of baloney. If the exchange is at a point where the price for Adobe CC has doubled, why haven't other subscription software companies that are US based done the same? i just renewed MS office for $119.00 annual a year, same as last year... and truth be told i'm getting more updates from Microsoft than i do with Adobe?  - anyhow, the point is Its price gouging at its finest and Adobe can get away with it because people/businesses rely on their products. Its not an easy option for people to cancel and then find/learn an alternative and that kind of response is disgusting.

[darrenh55843548]

Spot on. I asked Adobe directly if they would lower the price if Australia had a favourable exchange rate. They said no. Unethical and dodgy, which is why I cancelled my subscription.

[R Neil Haugen]

What is the current price you're paying per month in Australian currency? Looking at a currency calculator, it's showing 1 AUD becomes 0.7435 USD. Or go the other way ... 1USD = 1.3448 AUD. If the $73AUD/month rate mentioned above is accurate for Australia, then the current US rate of $50USD/mo ("all apps" not including stock) would become 67.24AUD.

I don't know the comparative costs and/or tax structures ... there is no American equivalent to say the VAT in most of Europe or other such things that are typically added into or onto the price of stuff. There's no general US sales or other tax on the product, other than the income taxes on the profitability of the company. I know in many countries, there are national taxes on nearly everything. No idea of Australia's setup.

When I've talked with family (Norway) and friends from across Europe, they have great trouble with the concept that there is no general sales or value-added tax or anything like either of those for the United States.

Now, as to whether Adobe in general handles things with well-thought out customer service notifications ... um, that's an area that they seem to have problems. Frequently.

Neil

[hanahp]

Any updates on this? I did not know about the increase until just before the renewal and had to downgrade to only Photoshop since it was such a massive increase in cost that I could not justify it anymore. I am looking to practice on an alternative to Photoshop too so I can stop that as well.

They have even increased the cost of the student and teacher editions here in Australia.

[rayek.elfin]

Many alternatives out there, but it depends on your needs what the best alternative would be that doesn't require paying for rent. For image editing it's reasonably simple: Affinity Photo, PhotoLine, Gimp, Corel PhotoPaint, or even Fusion, Nuke, or Natron  ... Or downgrade to Photoshop Elements with the Elements XXL plugin.

For Raw processing again a whole range of professional options, some that out-perform Lightroom's RAW developing. Excellent DAMs out there as well.

But in the end it entirely depends on your specific needs.

[darrenh55843548]

Don't be fooled, it has NOTHING to do with GST. This is what Adobe have said in their email to me:

As part of doing business globally, Adobe monitors currency exchange rates in order to make adjustments to our pricing up or down as needed. You may be aware that currency exchange rates have fluctuated significantly over the last few years. As a result of recent changes in exchange rates in your region, the price of Adobe products and services is increasing starting on 5 June 2017.

When I cancelled my subscription, I was automatically offered AU$11 per month or 60 days free.

It is just greed and ripping off non-US customers.

[Matchstick22]

When they don't pay any tax in your country, where do you think the GST is going?...

[darrenh55843548]

who knows. This is not Adobe's reason for the price increase. I have ditched Adobe subscription now.

[rayek.elfin]

It's simple: if you do not like the CC rent hike, stop paying the rent, and switch to alternatives for your work. As long as the majority keeps using Adobe, nothing will change. If half of the Adobe CC users decide to stop their CC rents, this will motivate change at Adobe. 

Vote with your wallet, right? It really is up to YOU. When you rent, you give power away - it's always been that way.

People here act as if they do not have a choice - well, you do. So many great inexpensive and/or free software alternatives out there now.

[darrenh55843548]

This is the only reason for the price changes, provided by Adobe itself, all other reasons are speculation.

As part of doing business globally, Adobe monitors currency exchange rates in order to make adjustments to our pricing up or down as needed. You may be aware that currency exchange rates have fluctuated significantly over the last few years. As a result of recent changes in exchange rates in your region, the price of Adobe products and services is increasing starting on 5 June 2017<x-apple-data-detectors://1>

[Erin_Hunt]

I would love to vote with my wallet, it's just about finding a suitable alternative. My workflow involves a lot of Adobe products

[GrizzlyAK]

Sorry to hear this, but you should have known better. Welcome to the world of renting SW. Now they have you hooked because you can't open any of your CC projects in earlier versions like CS6, even if you own it. You will have to continue paying forever if you ever want to use those project resources again. Even if you cancel, you'll still have to buy a whole year subscription (even if you pay monthly) just to use it to open one project for one hour. I am still using GoLive CS2 on Windows 10 to manage a corporate web site, and it costs me nothing. Adobe can force you to upgrade your SW, even your HW, or leave you obsolete in the next release if they wanted to, forcing you to continue paying.

I was warning people about this move by Adobe before it even became permanent, but everybody was like "This is cool! It's cheap, I get everything, and I can cancel any time, and I get all these new bells and whistles immediately, and people telling me if you don't like it, then don't buy it!". This move was made by Adobe management to appease shareholders who wanted to see a better stream of steady income instead of the flagging upgrade record Adobe was seeing due to loss of innovation and buggy software. I know, I was an ADBE shareholder once, and followed it closely.

Subscription SW is BAD for the consumer, period. I only hope Adobe will change its policy and start offering at least the option of perpetual licenses once again, like other companies who offer subscriptions do. Otherwise, I see others coming to the same realization as you, but after it is too late. One option is to purchase CS6 Master Collection, if you still can. It has significant capabilities. I've just completed an entire film production using Pr, Au, Sg, Ae, Ps, and AME. Good luck.

[ProDesignTools]

GrizzlyAK  wrote

You will have to continue paying forever if you ever want to use those project resources again. Even if you cancel, you'll still have to buy a whole year subscription (even if you pay monthly) just to use it to open one project for one hour.

That is not true. You can get a month-to-month subscription plan for any CC tool, and pay for only a single month if you want – and you can cancel at any time without penalty. Adobe also offers a 14-day refund policy.

You can also open your files/projects with a free trial version for a future CC release.

You can also open files like .PSD, .AI, .PDF and .INDD with third-party tools, some of them either free or inexpensive.

You can also, in some cases, open CC files & projects in CS6.

Can You Open/Use/Export/Save Adobe CC Files on CS6 – and Vice Versa?

[GrizzlyAK]

ProDesignTools  wrote

That is not true. You can get a month-to-month subscription plan for any CC tool, and pay for only a single month if you want – and you can cancel at any time without penalty. Adobe also offers a 14-day refund policy.

Wrong: (from Adobe CC subscription Business Page)

>>>>>>>

Subscription and cancellation terms

Once your order is processed, service begins immediately and you (or the acting Admin) can invite team members and delegate access. You'll be charged the sum stated at the time of purchase, plus applicable taxes (such as value added tax when the stated rate doesn't include VAT), every month for the duration of your annual contract. This sum is based on your initial mix of products and licenses, priced at the rates stated at the time of purchase. If the applicable VAT rate (or other included tax or duty) changes during your one-year term, the tax-inclusive price will adjust accordingly.

Team Admins can purchase additional licenses at any time. Added licenses are priced at the rates available at the time of purchase. All team licenses will co-terminate and renew automatically, on your annual contract renewal date, until you cancel. Licenses that were purchased as part of a special offer will renew at their contracted price, in accordance with the offer's terms. Licenses that weren't purchased as part of a special offer will renew at their regular market rates. We'll always notify you prior to billing. If you cancel within 14 days of your order, you'll be fully refunded. Should you cancel after 14 days, you'll be charged 50% of your remaining contract obligation and your service will continue until the end of that month's billing period. Cancellations can be made any time by contacting Customer Support.

>>>>>>>

Of course you CAN do the Monthly plan as an individual, but then you'll pay $25 more per month, so after a few months, there's you penalty (compared to the annual plan paid monthly)

Also, one only needs to search this forum to see how successful (or rather, problematic) opening current projects in previous versions is. Not sure where you're getting your info.

[ProDesignTools]

The info comes from the article linked above. How successful it is typically depends on which application and the complexity of the project/file. And as noted, other third-party tools can open several major Adobe file formats.

Also you mentioned nothing in your previous comment about Business/Teams licenses, but rather made a blanket statement about "having to buy a whole year" with all CC plans for just a single hour of use. Clearly, that's not the case.

Finally, your math is inaccurate. Even when paying more per month for the flexibility of cancelling at any time, the breakeven vs. an annual plan comes at 6 months. In other words, for usage up to six months, you would come out ahead (or pay no more) with the month-to-month option, and can still stop it at any time (even after one month, with refundability for the first 14 days).

[GrizzlyAK]

ProDesignTools  wrote

The info comes from the article linked above. How successful it is typically depends on which application and the complexity of the project/file. And as noted, other third-party tools can open several major Adobe file formats.

Also you mentioned nothing in your previous comment about Business/Teams licenses, but rather made a blanket statement about "having to buy a whole year" with all CC plans for just a single hour of use. Clearly, that's not the case.

Finally, your math is inaccurate. Even when paying more per month for the flexibility of cancelling at any time, the breakeven vs. an annual plan comes at 6 months. In other words, for usage up to six months, you would come out ahead (or pay no more) with the month-to-month option, and can still stop it at any time (even after one month, with refundability for the first 14 days).

Whatever you have to keep telling yourself...  You had to figure out a 'breakeven' point. I think that says enough. 

[R Neil Haugen]

"Whatever you have to keep telling yourself...  You had to figure out a 'breakeven' point. I think that says enough. "

Everything as a professional expense has a break-even point ... so this comment is rather odd. I've been calculating break-even points on a regular basis for 40 years now.

Earlier, you stated that subscription software never works out for the customer. Another rather odd statement. I'm spending less per year in my small shop for Adobe software than I did in the "perpetual" days, and using four or five more "major" programs than we could afford in those pre-CC days.

In our business ... this whole subscription CC thing has paid off very well for us.

Your mileage will vary, of course.

Neil

[Paul Hannah]

I paid $1144 for CS5.5 in May 2011.

That worked out at $32 per month until June 2014 when I switched to Creative Cloud.

12 months later Adobe informed me that the $30 Iwas paying for CCC was an 'introductory' price – when I pointed out that their promotional email failed to mention the 'introductory' price they extended the $30 for another 12 months.

Since then?

January 2016, $50.

February 2017, $58.

June 2017, $72

If I'd stuck with CS5.5 my monthly cost for using adobe products would be less than $16. Admittedly I wouldn't be able to take advantage of the new 'bells and whistles' but I use them so rarely it doesn't warrant the extra $56 I'm now paying.

Paul

[R Neil Haugen]

Which subscription do you have? How many apps are you using? And which dollars is that in? Doesn't sound like a single-app fee.

We had Photoshop and a couple others, including Lightroom, and tended to upgrade every other cycle. Roughly every 18 to 24 months. Subscription was a bit less on a month-to-month basis than what we'd been paying, and we started using a number of the other apps we couldn't afford before.

Many of our other professionally used apps were already subscription, so it didn't seem at all odd to us to migrate to the CC versions.

I know the costs for some educational institutions jumped under the new scheme. So it wasn't as painless for everyone.

Neil

[Paul Hannah]

I use the same apps as the software in CS5.5: InDesign, Photoshop,

Illustrator, Acrobat.

I'm not sure what relevance the currency is. Whether its Australian dollars

(my case) Sterling, Euros or whatever, when the cost more than doubles in

just three years that impacts anyone's livelihood. And I really don't want

to get into a discussion about different exchange rates and countries'

taxes.

The point I'm making is that, for me, the costs of subscription do not

compare favourably to buying software outright.

Paul

[R Neil Haugen]

Understand about the cost per copy for you.

Although, when you buy a product made in another country, you can't get away from currency fluctuations. It's a fact of life.

Went to Norway in 1984, when the Kroner was unusually low against the USD. For an expensive country to visit, it wasn't too bad. Went back in 1988. Ouch. A small burger, fries, and a pop in an Oslo McDonald's was over $25USD, and at the time was about $4.95 USD here in Oregon. Exchange rates do matter. And for a while the cost in Australia for CC per comparative price was quite a bit lower than here in the states. You offering to reimburse us for paying more? Not thinking that would be of interest. Or any sensibility.

There's a number of things we buy that are "international" in origin, where the price one month to the next is all over the place. It happens.

Neil

[Paul Hannah]

Like I said previously – 

"I really don't want to get into a discussion about different exchange rates and countries' taxes.

The point I'm making is that, for me, the costs of subscription do not compare favourably to buying software outright."

Paul

[R Neil Haugen]

Yea, as especially buying with a flexible time scale you can cherry-pick when rates are best. A constant-cost item ... not. And we knew some other photographers who typically went 3-4 years between upgrading. For someone like that, the CC model was a definite increase in cost.

Neil