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#291131 - 05/12/2006 10:35 The great Adobe rip off.
sn00p
addict

Registered: 24/07/2002
Posts: 618
Loc: South London
Loving the USD vs GBP rate at the moment.....

We need creative suite CS 2.

The UK price for CS2.3 Standard is £828.
The US price (after conversion) for CS2.3 Premium is £631

It sucks big style. And even though it's available as a download, you can't buy from the US site in the UK.

It's a joke. We've just had a rant at the sales person on the phone, she said it was a very common thing people moaned about.

I'm not paying over $800.00 more (the UK->US price difference for CS2.3 premium full) for exactly the same software.

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#291132 - 05/12/2006 11:34 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: sn00p]
msaeger
carpal tunnel

Registered: 23/09/2000
Posts: 3608
Loc: Minnetonka, MN
Find a USA based proxy
_________________________

Matt

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#291133 - 05/12/2006 12:41 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: sn00p]
andym
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
I've done this a couple of times with people on the board. Saved me a tonne!
_________________________
Cheers,

Andy M

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#291134 - 05/12/2006 14:37 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: sn00p]
jbauer
veteran

Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 1429
Loc: San Francisco, CA
Can I help?

- Jon in SF, CA

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#291135 - 05/12/2006 21:42 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: sn00p]
Anonymous
Unregistered


That extra amount is most likely taxes. So I would call it the "great government ripoff" instead.

Almost everything is cheaper in the US. I'm in the market for a MacBook Pro. Here in Europe, it'll cost me 2000 euros, which is about USD $2660. In the US, it'll cost me USD $1850 for the same product. Guess where I'm buying it?

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#291136 - 05/12/2006 22:20 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: ]
andym
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
Quote:
I'm in the market for a MacBook Pro. Here in Europe, it'll cost me 2000 euros, which is about USD $2660. In the US, it'll cost me USD $1850 for the same product. Guess where I'm buying it?


I gave this serious thought too, but I'm wasn't sure about warranty repairs and stuff like that. Plus, it would be just my luck to get stuck with excise duty like I did with my first empeg.

I figure 15% enough of a discount for me without having to go to too much trouble.
_________________________
Cheers,

Andy M

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#291137 - 05/12/2006 23:03 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: ]
MarkH
member

Registered: 06/04/2000
Posts: 158
It's more than that. The UK duty rate on software is I think 3.5%. Assuming zero delivery costs for a download, then the UK-taxed version of the US price would be 631+3.5% + VAT = 767. So there's still a big discrepancy.

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#291138 - 06/12/2006 06:25 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: jbauer]
sn00p
addict

Registered: 24/07/2002
Posts: 618
Loc: South London
Thanks for the offer. I will have to talk to my boss. The main problem would be getting the money over to you without being raped on the exchange rate!

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#291139 - 06/12/2006 06:27 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: sn00p]
sn00p
addict

Registered: 24/07/2002
Posts: 618
Loc: South London
The really funny thing is that we could buy a ticket over to the US, fly out, buy it, bring it back and it'd still be cheaper!!

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#291140 - 06/12/2006 10:11 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: MarkH]
sn00p
addict

Registered: 24/07/2002
Posts: 618
Loc: South London
Quote:
It's more than that. The UK duty rate on software is I think 3.5%. Assuming zero delivery costs for a download, then the UK-taxed version of the US price would be 631+3.5% + VAT = 767. So there's still a big discrepancy.


That really puts it into context.

You can buy CS2.3 Premium, pay the import duty+VAT and it still costs less than CS2.3 Standard does over here!!!!

It's a joke, abliet, not a very funny one.

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#291141 - 06/12/2006 18:56 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: sn00p]
andym
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
On a mildly related note, say your previous employer gave you an MSDN subscription, which you added to your existing personal .NET passport. Once you left you reminded them on several occasions that said subscription was still active but nothing is done about it. Would it be a sin to grab a copy of XP and Vista for your new home computer? I'm assuming the answer is yes but I thought I'd just ask.
_________________________
Cheers,

Andy M

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#291142 - 06/12/2006 20:32 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: andym]
Cris
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
Sin ??? Nahhhhhh!



Cheers

Cris.

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#291143 - 06/12/2006 20:45 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: andym]
matthew_k
pooh-bah

Registered: 12/02/2002
Posts: 2298
Loc: Berkeley, California
Quote:
Would it be a sin to grab a copy of XP and Vista

I'd say it all depends on the pricing structure. I'd guess your previous employer is still paying for your account in some way, and you have made a good faith effort to inform them of this. As long as it's not going to cost your previous employer anything more, I'd say it's perfectly fine. MS of would probably tell you something different, but I frequently disagree with MS.

Matthew

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#291144 - 06/12/2006 20:47 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: andym]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Well, the official answer is that it would be about the same level as downloading a serial number off the internet. I suppose whether or not that's a sin to you is a different question.
_________________________
Bitt Faulk

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#291145 - 06/12/2006 20:58 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: andym]
g_attrill
old hand

Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
It might technically be an offence under the Computer Misuse Act:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1990/Ukpga_19900018_en_2.htm#mdiv1

...depending on whether the access is "unauthorised". However it is more likely to cause the subscriber to contravene the subscription contract, by allowing somebody other than an employee to have access. Our Action Pack subscription has quite a few restrictions - the software should not even be used outside the company's premises.

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#291146 - 06/12/2006 22:05 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: wfaulk]
andym
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
Quote:
I suppose whether or not that's a sin to you is a different question.


I didn't mean in a strict biblical sense. Think I'll give it a go and see, it'll be running inside a Parallels VM, so it probably won't get that much use anyway. I assume the worst that'll happen is it'll fail the 'Genuine Advantage' bit the first time I do a Windows Update.
_________________________
Cheers,

Andy M

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#291147 - 06/12/2006 23:24 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: andym]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
Technically, anything off MSDN is supposed to only be used for developing something, with the exception being one copy of office for personal use. So if you grab Vista, make sure to open notepad and type out "echo Hi World" and save it as hello.bat.

I still have access to MSDN from my HP job, and still use it. It was quite clear that the benefit of it wasn't something that ended when the job did. The handy thing is I also caught the renewal cycle before I left. My MSDN expires January 2011. That should help me keep up my ability to run the few MS products I do, while still not paying MS directly. Only time I have technically paid for a license of Windows out of my own pocket was when I bought a Dell laptop, and gave up on fighting them over a refund. Other then that, I've gotten my Windows and Office copies from their roadshows or other events.

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#291148 - 07/12/2006 07:33 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: drakino]
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5914
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
Also I seem to remember that you still get to have a license to use the software you got from MSDN, under the same terms (only for development etc), even when your MSDN subscriptions lapses. You just stop getting new stuff.

How that applies to people whose company bought the subscription though, I don't know.

Am I the only one here that has a license for all their installs of XP, but still actually uses a "stolen" (i.e. acquired from a former customer) corporate copy of the XP CD, just because it makes life easier...
_________________________
Remind me to change my signature to something more interesting someday

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#291149 - 07/12/2006 08:17 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: andy]
Roger
carpal tunnel

Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5680
Loc: London, UK
Quote:
Am I the only one here that has a license for all their installs of XP, but still actually uses a "stolen" (i.e. acquired from a former customer) corporate copy of the XP CD, just because it makes life easier...


I do similar. I put together a slipstreamed install CD from a copy of XP Pro at work. I use my license keys, though. Mind you, I didn't pay for those anyway -- we got a bunch of free copies when Rio visited Microsoft way back when.

In fact, I've got several Windows licenses that I'm not using. Off the top of my head, I've got the (mentioned) two free XP Pro licenses, which I am using. I've got a copy of Windows XP x64, which I'm not using. I've got a copy of Windows 2003 x64, which I'm also not using (this one was a freebie from TechEd 2005), and two copies of XP Home, also which I'm not using.
_________________________
-- roger

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#291150 - 07/12/2006 17:03 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: Roger]
tahir
pooh-bah

Registered: 27/02/2004
Posts: 1896
Loc: London
We're just about to buy CS2 Standard too, found it for £359.99 +vat:

http://misco.co.uk/productinformation/~96803~WW~/Illustrator%20CS%202%20WINDOWS%20FULL.htm

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#291151 - 07/12/2006 17:54 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: tahir]
sn00p
addict

Registered: 24/07/2002
Posts: 618
Loc: South London
That's just Illustrator though, not creative suite!

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#291152 - 08/12/2006 09:33 Re: The great Adobe rip off. [Re: sn00p]
tahir
pooh-bah

Registered: 27/02/2004
Posts: 1896
Loc: London
Sorry, tes, appears that all we need is Illustrator, twas the CS2 bit that confused me.

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