SW Upgrade Pricing Question(s)...

Hi,

I see that the latest ver. of SolidWorks Prof. costs $5495 ($5500) < I have
this one now
And I also see that latest ver. of SolidWorks Prem. costs $7995 ($8000) < I
want this one

That is a difference of $8000 - $5500 = $2500

My "VAR" said that the upgrade from SW Prof. to SW Prem. is $3495 ($3500)

Why is the upgrade not $2500 i.e. the difference in price??? What am I/we
getting "special" for the added $1000 in cost???

Thanks for any of your thoughts, I want to upgrade ASAP,

Aron
SW2006, SP3.1

 

Why is the upgrade not $2500 i.e. the difference in price??? What am I/we

you're getting a prorated share of your VAR's boat payment

 

There is the Sticker price on the Saturn sports car, and then there is
the Stickee price you have to pay to pry it from their greedy hands.

Bo

 

What did they say when you did the math for them?

 

Hi,

Sorry for the long post:

Of the 4 VARs I have talked with so far, they said it was a part of the
upgrade fee and most do not understand the charge either. They just say
SolidWorks sets the price and that is it. It has been very difficult to
even get people (VARs) to talk to me about this. Most say it is how business
is done right now or it is just a pricing structure to entice new
customers... thus no real answer for me wanting an upgrade other than tough
luck or "there is always a group of customers upset with the new pricing
structures". One said that SolidWorks believes we get a large amount of new
features for each new version, and that is why the price is higher for
existing customers???

Most all of the VARs do agree that SW primary focus is new customers, new
customers,... and of course to get more customers. However I always ended
the conversation with saying that focus needs to shift to existing customers
(a while ago) for upgrades and service, if not then SW will have a lot of
customers, but they will be unhappy ones. And I told them my position was
that I have supported SW for three years now, and that I was upset with the
way they treat people with existing seats.

Personally, I think they do it to lure people from Autodesk products (and
others) and have not really thought much about there own client base in
actuality (like SP releases that actually fix problems). It is obvious that
most of SW cash is spent on advertising to get new users. I am sure senior
management is stretched thin, but someone needs to really watch over the
existing customer base and have real assets to provide for the existing
users. We have all seen the results of rushing to get a product out the
door, it takes its toll on service visits.

Currently a happy SW user, we will see what happens.

Aron