The pricing for the standard plan looks confusing and inconsistent when first 
encountered. It’s also further complicated by the "add on" options.

There are 2 add ons:
email support
Pro Package (Device Debugging, code optimization tool, the network layer (tsNet 
library), iOS accessory access, pdf library). The info box on this still 
references the Community and Indy licenses which supposedly don’t exist.

Hopefully I have this figured out right. If I’m wrong it could reflect poorly 
on me or the plans ;-) 
Here’s the rounded-off pricing if you just buy deployment options. After the 
first platform you can substitute 1 of the 2 add on options for platform in 
each of these tiers. 

1 platform = $300
2 platforms = $500 ($200 more)
3 platforms = $900 ($400 more)
4 platforms = $1000 ($100 more)
5 platforms = $1500 ($500 more)
6 platforms = $1800 ($300 more)
All 7 platforms = $2000 ($200 more)

Here’s the rounded off per platform/options pricing for each tier. 
This looks like it makes slightly more sense than when it’s listed the other 
way.
1 platform = $300
2 platforms = $250
3 platforms = $300
4 platforms = $250
5 platforms = $300
6 platforms = $300
All 7 platforms + the 2 add ons = $222

This issue was brought up previously by Sean Cole. Jacqueline Landman Gay 
suggested that it might be tied to the popularity of specific platforms.   
Here’s how she explained it. "The way I figure it, each platform is $300. But 
since many of us build for the two major ones (Mac and Windows) you get a $100 
discount for that bundle. After that it's $300 each except for 
4 and 7 platforms, where there's also a discount.” Yes, apparently, but why?  
The popular desktops/ mobile bundle? Why then are the add ons priced the same?  
Is there really equivalent value there? Number 7 is obviously discounted for a 
buy everything tier. That’s OK, I guess.

The problem with Jacqueline’s explanation is that it doesn’t matter which 
platforms or add ons you select, the same pricing pattern persists.  I can 
justify different prices for different platform deployments and different 
options, but this inconsistent pattern could be hard to explain to prospective 
users and business accountants to whom we have to justify purchases. Jacqueline 
may be right about the reasons but these are “hidden” bundle options based on 
an assumption of what the user is likely to want. It also can make some 
combinations that are probably much harder to justify/explain than others. 

While I can come up with some other explanations for this and a case could be 
made that it has a lot of flexibility, I wonder if a more transparent 
pricing/bundling/discount structure might be better.

Any chance we can get some clarification on the rationale behind the pricing to 
help us with our purchasing requests? 


Tim Bleiler, Ph.D.
Instructional Designer, HSIT
University at Buffalo

_______________________________________________
use-livecode mailing list
use-livecode@lists.runrev.com
Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription 
preferences:
http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode

Reply via email to