3 Replies Latest reply: Jan 20, 2014 5:39 PM by eschelar RSS

    Amazing 40% annual price increase for Creative Cloud

    Narr GM Coro Community Member

      Well, Adobe is off to monopoly pricing.

       

      I got an offer to suspiciously save in the new year. I could save "$30 a month".

       

      This was off the new price for Creative cloud: Raised to $69.99 per month for this new year!

       

      That is _$20_ more than the previous year, regular prices both.

       

      It's slightly better if you do the bait and switch for previous customers.

       

      However, 40% increase in only the second year of this CC program is an amazing display of offshore-orientated management.

       

      Completely unfair, and in a special way idiotic, don;t you think?

        • 1. Re: Amazing 40% annual price increase for Creative Cloud
          eschelar Community Member

          Regular price is $49.99/month if purchased with an annual commitment.

           

          It's still pretty stupid for anyone that isn't using the whole master collection.

           

          We have staff that use AI and once or twice a year Indesign as well. I know ***MANY*** users in that boat. Master Collection really is overkill. Especially for small business budget.

           

          I use the Production Premium Suite, and I can afford a bit more, maybe $200-250/yr (it was $375/upgrade and I upgraded every other version), but $600.yr is still too much for my blood.

          • 2. Re: Amazing 40% annual price increase for Creative Cloud
            Narr GM Coro Community Member

            Looks like the problem here was an offer on Creative Cloud for Teams, which was indeed $39.99 discounted from 69.99.

             

            I can't recreate the ad shown me, after looking at the web version of an offer email. It's possible I clicked on a side offer due to a hypersensitive trackpad on a new laptop.

             

            Apologies, then, but you can see the emotions underlying resistance to this CC idea that doubles what most people pay by requiring them to pay for every update, and also takes away all capability the moment there is a lull in paying.

             

            How many copies would ever have been sold if this were the launch plan? Thus, it is simply trying to take advantage.

             

            I can see the possible advantage for young who can't afford a lump sum, and for specific other use cases. But even they will reach points where having to afford a forever lease just to use the software will be show for the unfairness it is.

             

            And what happens, when Adobe just decides to raise the price, as looked like it had happened here?

             

            Looking around, it looks like Mac is the place for a good range of alternatives. Thus this is where I may return to at such times as CS6 falls out of capability. Meanwhile, Adobe, you'll have missed all the upgrades you'd have had from my buying pattern over years...

            • 3. Re: Amazing 40% annual price increase for Creative Cloud
              eschelar Community Member

              Looks like the "for teams" plan is pretty terrible then. If it costs more than the individual license plan paid monthly, that sucks.

               

              I'm not sure what kind of programs you are looking at on the mac as alternatives to adobe, but I know I am very concerned about the next couple of years when pricing doesn't look like it will expand to include sensible solutions for small businesses and small business contractors.

               

              There does appear to be a very 'now-centric' thinking on the CC pricing that simply does not mesh with the thinking of users. It might be justifiable for some big businesses where financial decisions are made by people with budgets and little knowledge of how Adobe Anything works, but in circumstances where the paying decisions are made by the types of people who have spent countless hours studying and learning and in many cases planning for the future with the creation of a business, it's quite plainly a bad financial proposition.

               

              The payment plan for Photoshop and LR are pretty good at $9.99/month, but the primary attraction there is for PS hobbyists and stay-at-home mom's wanting to learn something useful.

               

              There's no real option there for serious professionals either using a basic 2D suite (PS + AI + maybe one other) or a more advanced suite (like Production Premium).

               

              The logic of drawing customers in to CS6 packages that were well priced and well suited to people who could afford to upgrade every couple of versions and then locking the door on them is bizarre.