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It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

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Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#61

Post by Nursie »

rmc wrote: post #55
Nursie wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Australia is extremely expensive for a lot of stuff. Europe is too, but less so (having lived in both). Part of this is that the AUD has appreciated in value so much over the last few years, and retailers are just not willing to drop their prices in line with the new purchasing power of the dollar. They also haven't caught up with the modern world in a lot of ways, considering that they still have a captive audience…

Part of this is that the AUD has appreciated in value so much over the last few years Yep, many other countries have had economic downturns lately, a lot of australian economy is based off mining, which is going OK. Ergo, currency appreciates. Part of the problem is retail rental rates are so high DANGER WILL ROBINSON! That's partially a sign that the property market is in a bubble or inflated. Many other countries h…

I did start to wonder, when a coworker said he had made some sort of investment in a long term retail let that they were then short-term subletting, if this was entirely normal.

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#62

Post by Luc »

relix wrote: post #6

These articles take the wrong perspective - it's not that Australia is much more expensive in tech matters, it's that the US is much more cheap. I don't know where the recent Australia-specific articles are coming from, but it's been like this since as long as I can remember - that the US is much more cheap than any other country I'm familiar with for tech stuff, including Australia, but also almost every other count…

I think you forgot to subtract VAT (which you'd not pay if you're using this as a pro). The price on Adobe Belgium is EUR 3386.79, which without VAT comes to EUR 2799, or about $3770.

Still a huge difference with the US.

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#63

Post by rmc »

This is a bug with the copyright system. The software is copyrighted and only Adobe can sell it. So they can sell what they want.

One copyright reform I'd make, would be removing copyright protection from works like this where are sold as massively different rates between markets. You'd need to look at average wage in the country and compare (rather than a simple metric of 'can you fly to $OTHERCOUNTRY and buy it for less overall?'). If this was the law, then in this case, the software would not be copyrighted in Australia and people could bootleg it legally. Adobe would only get copyright protection if they offered it for sale at a fair price.

Another advantage of this approach is that TVs/Films/out of print books are only copyrighted and 'locked up', when they are actually for sale. A film hasn't been released in UK but is in USA? No copyright protected in UK! Force them to release at same time. (NB: an online shop that ships anywhere counts as "for sale in that country")

But instead, there is global copyright without any restrictions.

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#64

Post by gregsq »

brotchie wrote: post #49
gregsq wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starting a business in Australia is ridiculously expensive. In the UK it's £20 ( last time I looked ). In Australia it was $900 or so when I looked. Lots of regulations on this and that. My pet theory is that it started out militaristically and has stayed that way ever since.

Incorporating a company is relatively cheap ($450AUD) and the last time I did it, it was done You can then register with the ATO ( Summary: In Australia <$500 and <20minutes gets you a Pty. Ltd. from your couch at home.

Thanks for that. I only had a cursory look at starting a company with an ABN when in Australia. It was a few years ago, but I was initially shocked at the difference. In the UK it's £20 to register a private limited company, £15 for the annual return, and that's it for companies house. Inland revenue and employment is extra, but it's cheap to set up trading companies in the UK. And the more of those you have the more likely you are to have competitive pressures in retail.

I'm no expert on Australia's seemingly top heavy retail structure. Maybe it's just an incorrect impression I have that the top end of town gets accommodated, but that the rest have lots of hoops to jump through.

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#65

Post by carlob »

stevoski wrote: post #36

I make sure my software my company creates and sells is more or less an equivalent price no matter where you buy it from. In the age of digital delivery, it seems the correct way to do it.

Then again, even books sometimes have a 'mass market edition' for countries like India, that costs about a fifth than the US paperback.

I'm not sure it makes sense to sell at the same price all over the world. What does it even mean 'to sell at the same price', who defines the exchange rate?

The exchange rate of some currency often reflects market forces and speculation, and the purchasing power parity exchange rate can be wildly different. In some countries, such as Zimbabwe, the exchange rate with the USD depended strongly on who you were and where you bought it! [0]

Maybe you could define a hourly-rate-equivalent-price: if a Photoshop license costs $2500 [1] in the US and one hour of the median Photoshop-using professional is worth $25 in the US, then Photoshop should cost like 100 hours of work in the country where you sell it, so maybe 500$ in India and $200 in China.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_dollar [1] All the numbers that follow are pulled out of my own ass

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#66

Post by EvilLook »

rmc wrote: post #63

This is a bug with the copyright system. The software is copyrighted and only Adobe can sell it. So they can sell what they want. One copyright reform I'd make, would be removing copyright protection from works like this where are sold as massively different rates between markets. You'd need to look at average wage in the country and compare (rather than a simple metric of 'can you fly to $OTHERCOUNTRY and buy it for…

>One copyright reform I'd make, would be removing copyright >protection from works like this where are sold as >massively different rates between markets.

Great. When you're done there, can you tell others what to do with the things they've created? Because surely you know better than they do. How about you tell startups what price to offer their software at and how they must license any patents they create?

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#67

Post by nicholassmith »

thisone wrote: post #22
lunchladydoris wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget the 20% VAT which is included in the British price. The US price doesn't include any tax.

though VAT makes up for some of the difference, it doesn't make up for nearly 1:1 USD:GBP pricing. If they can charge it, they will. That assumes all companies charging an extra percentage are actually paying their VAT bills as well.

VAT is avoidable, but the tax man makes that sure that no one is going to.

However, corporate tax and a few other bits and bobs payable on overall revenue are perfectly avoidable if you channel it out and about.

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#68

Post by atlbeer »

chiurox wrote: post #52

I'm surprised no one mentioned the exorbitant prices of electronics in Brazil compared to the US. For example, the top of the line Macbook 15" retina in the Brazilian Apple store costs R$12599 which is around $6395USD, while the same in the US is $2799. A Brazil/Miami return flight is also around $1000 depending on the time of year. So theoretically it's cheaper for Brazilians to go to Miami, have a nice weeklong vac…

And that's not Apple's fault. Brazil has insanely high import tariffs to protect local industries.

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#69

Post by Radim »

Wingman4l7 wrote: post #54
icebraining wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would they need an "excuse"? Pricing is only indirectly related to costs; doubly so with software, where gross profit margins are often higher than 90%. Why is this particular arbitrary price bad, while other arbitrary prices aren't? Sure they'd still make money if they charged the same, but so what?

Maybe because it's particularly insulting to the intelligence, especially when your customers are computer savvy people who know just how arbitrary region-based pricing of digital goods is?

Exploiting human irrationality and stupidity is one of the most venerable, time-proven ways of making money.

If you feel your intelligence insulted, then don't buy it...?

(aka, vote with your wallet, and let others do the same)

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#70

Post by joelthelion »

rmc wrote: post #63

This is a bug with the copyright system. The software is copyrighted and only Adobe can sell it. So they can sell what they want. One copyright reform I'd make, would be removing copyright protection from works like this where are sold as massively different rates between markets. You'd need to look at average wage in the country and compare (rather than a simple metric of 'can you fly to $OTHERCOUNTRY and buy it for…

How about allowing other distributors to buy a license anywhere in the world and resell it, just as if it were a physical good?
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