Rules on sale/regular prices and lengths of sales? (e.g. Waves)

[PhillipOrdonez]

It's ridiculous but I'm glad I got some great plugins for 29 bucks each... Aphex vintage exciter? Gold. Those LA2A/3A and 1176 ones: very usable and get used on every track I mix, especially the 1176.

[Boombastix]

It's ridiculous but I'm glad I got some great plugins for 29 bucks each... Aphex vintage exciter? Gold. Those LA2A/3A and 1176 ones: very usable and get used on every track I mix, especially the 1176.

I understand those who had to deal with the Waves WuP in the past to get through costly upgrades because of major OS changes. Also issues with V8 and older. But thing is these v11 runs nicely and I don't see why I would ever need to upgrade, it is not like Windows will go 128bit.

Anyhow I snapped up the F6 dynamic EQ, for $21 (after the 30% multi discount). You can mid/side each band, sidechain a band, and set attack/release for the dynamic EQ band. Can't do that in Fabfilter ProQ AFAIK, and that one is $179. Sure it may have some other stuff, but not for 21 bucks...

[hurricane]

So what a surprise - one sale ended yesterday and another starts today - 40% off all plugins with code MAGIC40, plus spend $50 and get a plugin free, spend $90 get two plugins free. And sorry Joey - Vocal Rider and Submarine didn't make the magic $29 price point this time.

[joeyluck]

So what a surprise - one sale ended yesterday and another starts today - 40% off all plugins with code MAGIC40, plus spend $50 and get a plugin free, spend $90 get two plugins free. And sorry Joey - Vocal Rider and Submarine didn't make the magic $29 price point this time.

Lol yup. Some ol' same ol' lol

Funny how Vocal Rider went up to $50 for that quick little bundle sale (2nd plugin 25% off...or whatever it was). Now it's right back to $47.99, because if it was $50 it would be eligible for a free $29 plugin...

For the record, I did send them an email and request they create a special order for me—in which they take the $6 from Submarine and tack it onto Vocal Rider, and I pay $53.99 out the door. I mean I figured these people just want money... I got a generic response explaining the sale to me (that we all know VERY well now that it's been going for 5 months) lol.

I then requested they at least consider nudging the prices next time they introduce the same sale as something new. I also asked them when the sale prices would be considered regular prices hehe

[hurricane]

I then requested they at least consider nudging the prices next time they introduce the same sale as something new. I also asked them when the sale prices would be considered regular prices hehe

Lol, watch out man, you're asking questions and causing trouble - they might assassinate you.

[Boombastix]

Funny how Vocal Rider went up to $50 for that quick little bundle sale (2nd plugin 25% off...or whatever it was).

Joey, can't you use MaxxVolume as a vocal rider, using its Leveler function? Not sure, just a thought. MaxxVolume has an upwards compression too and that is not very common.

Haven't tried yet, but I will see if I can make my own "Super" OTT with MaxxVolume and MultiRack. You can add a distortion or saturation per band that way as well.

Looks like $23.99 is slowly becoming te new $29.99

[hurricane]

I've been eyeing the JJP Analog Legends bundle for a while, and I decided to finally get it for $46, so I should be receiving a free plugin (because Waves goes by their price, not what you paid a reseller), and when I pick the API 560 that's going to be about $15 per plugin, so yeah I don't care keep the sales coming.

[dvdrtldg]

I genuinely don't get the Waves hate. Great quality plugins (mostly), for a great price if you're willing to wait for the inevitable $29 price point to roll around. People whine about Waves Central and what a hassle it is, but again, I don't get it. I find it functional and handy, and as someone who upgrades their computer every year, I love that it keeps all my plugin registrations in the one place. Waves Update Plan is a bit of a rort, but I haven't updated anything for four years now and can't see it happening any time soon. Everything just chugs along perfectly

Some of their plugins - the Abbey Rd reverbs, API 2500 and PuigChild compressors, NLS bus, Vitamin, RS56 EQ and the channel strips (Scheps 73 & Omni Channel, TG 12345, Redd) - I couldn't live without, they get used in pretty well everything I do

So Waves have dodgy sales practices. Who gives a shit? What are we, the software retail police? Enjoy your $29 plugins or spend your money somewhere else

[avasopht]

I genuinely don't get the Waves hate. Great quality plugins (mostly), for a great price if you're willing to wait for the inevitable $29 price point to roll around.

...

So Waves have dodgy sales practices. Who gives a shit? What are we, the software retail police? Enjoy your $29 plugins or spend your money somewhere else

I don't think the thread was about hating on Waves, but the business practices.

We aren't the software retail police, but there are laws on sales for good reason. That's all the thread was about. It wasn't suggesting they don't like the "sale" price.

It's a lot like those "My make $1,000,000 course in a month is usually $10,000, but it's $29 if you purchase it in the next 48 hours". It creates a false sense of urgency and tries to motivate impulse buys by manipulating some of our basic human instincts.

It's something that is easy to not see as a problem, especially if you genuinely believe you're saving money on the "retail price." Truth is, the sale price is the real effective retail price.

On the other hand, it makes it easier for companies to identify and respond to changes in perceived value. So they can run a "sale" at $35, and later see if they get as many sales at $40. If they do, they know they can sell it for more. If a sale price $45 earns them less than $40, they can do their next sale at $40.

As to who gives a shit, or why anyone should give a shit - I think it just comes down to some people thinking about these things, and others being indifferent.

But the same can be said about just about anything. "Who gives a shit who gives a shit"? Followed by "who gives a shit about who gives a shit about who gives a shit?"

[EdGrip]

Truth is, the sale price is the real effective retail price.

That's the key point.

Also, "Who gives a shit if a company have shitty business practices?" is a pretty irresponsible outlook, I'd say. I do spend my money elsewhere, entirely because of their dodgy business practices, and that's all we're discussing here. It's a valid thing to chat about.

[danc]

I genuinely don't get the Waves hate. Great quality plugins (mostly), for a great price if you're willing to wait for the inevitable $29 price point to roll around.

...

So Waves have dodgy sales practices. Who gives a shit? What are we, the software retail police? Enjoy your $29 plugins or spend your money somewhere else

I don't think the thread was about hating on Waves, but the business practices.

We aren't the software retail police, but there are laws on sales for good reason. That's all the thread was about. It wasn't suggesting they don't like the "sale" price.

It's a lot like those "My make $1,000,000 course in a month is usually $10,000, but it's $29 if you purchase it in the next 48 hours". It creates a false sense of urgency and tries to motivate impulse buys by manipulating some of our basic human instincts.

It's something that is easy to not see as a problem, especially if you genuinely believe you're saving money on the "retail price." Truth is, the sale price is the real effective retail price.

On the other hand, it makes it easier for companies to identify and respond to changes in perceived value. So they can run a "sale" at $35, and later see if they get as many sales at $40. If they do, they know they can sell it for more. If a sale price $45 earns them less than $40, they can do their next sale at $40.

As to who gives a shit, or why anyone should give a shit - I think it just comes down to some people thinking about these things, and others being indifferent.

But the same can be said about just about anything. "Who gives a shit who gives a shit"? Followed by "who gives a shit about who gives a shit about who gives a shit?"

YES - i give a shit when a company lies about a price being lower than what it previously was.

I look back at the 100's of emails we get from that company and you can see the same never changing LOW price... each day and every day (they send emails everyday).

There are laws for this. Retail stores like clothes shops can get away with constant 70% off sales because they've got seasonal goods and have mastered the art of selling an item at full price for a short few weeks and then reducing them with precision timing to maximise units sold. Whereas.. for a company that sells the same product and doesn't get rid of them for something else, they can't apply the same type of sales techniques - or shouldn't apply the same.. because Waves think they can.

[joeyluck]

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts on this.

Yes, I started this thread because I was genuinely curious how things work, what rules apply, and what loopholes exist. Like many, I'm more familiar with rules and laws that exist in the retail world.

Unrelated, but similar in topic—I remember there being a RE dev at one point who had their REs on sale indefinitely. And this was around the time the shop had been updated with the 'Hot Deals' section. So that developer and those REs would always be seen in the Hot Deals section, often times almost by itself, which seemed unfair and a misuse of the Hot Deals section. I don't remember which dev it was, but they are no longer active.

I have nothing against Waves. I think most all of us have figured to only buy Waves plugins when they are priced $29-$50, as almost every plugin can be found at that price if you have the patience and don't have the immediate need. We know about the extra 10% off coupons (when other coupons aren't in play). These sales though, because it's been the same sale perpetually, have become a little stale. I think they do themselves a disservice by not simply changing up pricing a little bit here and there—bring this one up a little and that one down a little, and then change it up again next month... I think if the sales were constant, but prices were at least changing, the conversation and questions would be a little different.