Outrageous 55% higher prices for Australia

[Raymondo]

Can someone from Steinberg please explain why Australians pay such higher prices than others?

For example .. in the email I received today regarding the Valentines Day special the one-off price for an activation of WaveLabs Elements 7 is discounted from the normal price of 99.99 Euro down to 49.99 Euro. Using the popular XE currency converter these prices equate to AUD 128.93 and AUD 64.46 . Yet when I follow the email link to the Steinberg site I am quoted AUD 199.99 and AUD 100.00

As these prices are to "unlock the exclusive trials included with Cubase" and so involve only an internet/email exchange then I see no reason for any difference in price. There is no local VAT or equivalent on this type of transaction in Australia to explain the difference. We have already paid a significantly higher price for Cubase 7/the upgrade.

The markup is 55% for both the normal price and the "irresistible time-limited offer". The fine print says "Actual prices in your country will vary depending on local VAT and currency, and are displayed in your shopping cart on the Steinberg Online Shop." I suggest this is at best incomplete and at worst deliberately deceptive.

An Australian Parliamentary committee is enquiring into IT pricing specifically looking at price differences such as this sort of extortionate behaviour. See http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=ic/itpricing/index.htm for further information.

It's an election year and it's reasonable to expect Australian politicians to take action to at least publicly embarrass companies that take advantage of Australians in this manner. In the past few days Microsoft, Apple and Adobe have been summonsed to appear at a public hearing in March http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=ic/itpricing/media/media08.pdf

While formal submissions to the enquiry have closed I understand the secretariat is still considering late submissions.

Yamaha, owners of Steinberg, have management goals that include earning the trust of stakeholders http://www.yamaha.com/about_yamaha/csr/commitments/management/ . Current Australian pricing policies are not consistent with this goal.

Raymondo

[theoldman]

What happened to a level playing field, global economy and all that stuff?