Questions about Alibre one-time offer at $99

[Fx.CAD]

I discovered this offer on http://alibre.typepad.com/ by following a link on this forum. Does this offer apply to existing customers, too ? Is it V11.2 or the coming V12 which is sold in this offer ? Does this offer apply outside the U.S. (rest of world), too ?
I know, there are a lot of questions but the ad on the Alibre website isn't very clear about these little details...

[MilesH]

I guess the offer will end when V12 comes out

[DavidJ]

I'd guess that the 'time limited' is left deliberately vague to give Alibre flexibility over how long to run the offer. If it really generates huge interest, they may be happy to extend the run - if it doesn't deliver extra sales, there is no incentive to reduce the margin per seat.

If you are keen to get v12, the $99 offer + maintenance would still be a big discount but maybe not as attractive as $99 after v12 is launched (IF the offer carries on that long). Experience suggests there are often service pack or sub-version updates shortly after a new version is released - so buying without maintenance might involve some risk anyway.

Outside the USA the exact deal may differ from territory to territory, though I suspect the basic idea of the offer will be the same.

[Fx.CAD]

@MilesH: Yes, I think you are right . I asked if V11.2 or V12 is meant in this offer because the "razor head" ad background graphic has (IMHO) a very little V12 "improved part shading" taste...

@DavidJ: Maybe if V12 has a little flaw that quickly needs a service pack, this offer will last longer...

I think Standard version (even if V11.2) at this price is clearly the best value on the CAD market (including "consumer" and "pro" CAD products).

[Max]

Does this offer apply to existing customers, too ?

Yes.

Is it V11.2 or the coming V12 which is sold in this offer ?

11.2. Buy maintenance

Does this offer apply outside the U.S. (rest of world), too ?

Yes, though it may not be exactly $99. But close. Ask your reseller.

I guess the offer will end when V12 comes out

It will not run longer than v12 - it may not run longer than the next 20 days.

Outside the USA the exact deal may differ from territory to territory, though I suspect the basic idea of the offer will be the same.

Correct

If you are keen to get v12, the $99 offer + maintenance would still be a big discount

Correct

I think Standard version (even if V11.2) at this price is clearly the best value on the CAD market (including "consumer" and "pro" CAD products).

Correct

[NateLiqGrav]

WOW! In addition to the Alibre Design Standard for $99 I just got an email offering half off all upgrades! Doesn't specify exactly when it end only a "limited time".

[wfpelletier]

To me, this is by far the most exciting and courageous thing Alibre has done since their release of Alibre Express. If I did not already own a seat of Alibre design, I would definitely buy it now. If I had use for a second seat of the software (which I can't say I do), I would definitely buy that seat now.

Congratulations, Alibre.

wfpelletier

[swertel]

Have you guys seen the negative press on this already? It's mostly from users and self proclaimed industry pundits. Alibre must be up to something because their is no possible way they can afford to sell software for $99. This is just a ploy to gain market share and then shaft new users with outrageous maintenance costs. blah blah blah

Anyway, the only person with a viable disagreement for this industry breaking offer (if it lasts long enough to make a difference) are resellers and add-on vendors. How much of a margin are resellers losing because of this? And add-on developers are forced to drop their prices, at least for this offer period, because would pay $99 for software and then $599 for an add-on? Deelip, from Sycode, has dropped his add-on price from $195 to $95 for this offer period. He's taking it in the shorts. (At least he's well diversified so it's not like his kids are losing their college fund.)

[wfpelletier]

Anyway, the only person with a viable disagreement for this industry breaking offer (if it lasts long enough to make a difference) are resellers and add-on vendors. How much of a margin are resellers losing because of this? And add-on developers are forced to drop their prices, at least for this offer period, because would pay $99 for software and then $599 for an add-on? Deelip, from Sycode, has dropped his add-on price from $195 to $95 for this offer period. He's taking it in the shorts. (At least he's well diversified so it's not like his kids are losing their college fund.)

I can see how resellers are taking a hit on this, but I am not as sure that the add-on suppliers are taking the same hit. It seems to me, if I am spending less on a piece of software, I would have more money to spend on add-ons. If anything, this will be good for the 'add-on' business. Whether or not one buys an add-on will depend as always on if someone thinks the add-on is good value for the money. I congratulate Deelip for lowering his Alibre add-on prices, but I wonder if it was really neccessary.

As many of you know, I have certainly had some strong disagreements with Alibre in the last year or so. However, I really think they are doing a good thing by 'rocking the boat' of the CAD world with this $99 offer.

wfpelletier

[MilesH]

Deelip, from Sycode, has dropped his add-on price from $195 to $95 for this offer period.

Thanks for the heads-up, Scott.

[Max]

Have you guys seen the negative press on this already? It's mostly from users and self proclaimed industry pundits. Alibre must be up to something because their is no possible way they can afford to sell software for $99. This is just a ploy to gain market share and then shaft new users with outrageous maintenance costs. blah blah blah

Ya, it's funny when they talk about that. As if we, like, didn't ask our resellers for their opinions on the matter and get their buy-in. Rather, we decided to just totally shoot ourselves in the foot, blindly, and disrupt our entire distribution network - if that's the news they want to make up, then whatever ...I mean come on. The story here is the price, not the internal workings of Alibre.

I also haven't seen anyone saying it's a ploy, but if they are making the case that we are going to "shaft users with outrageous maintenance costs", then they should see their doctor b/c clearly they have forgotten the fact that 1 year of SolidWorks maintenance is over $1400 if I remember correctly. Talk about shafting.

[deelip]

Some thoughts on the negative commentary on the Alibre $99 offer and the reason why SYCODE slashed its Alibre add-on prices by half.

http://www.deelip.com/?p=396

[MWhybrow]

I was one of the original 100K and have been very happy using Alibre for my own personal design work (i.e. non profit) but was very annoyed to find the latest update has crippled the functionality seriously. I would take up this offer but the UK dealer, Minitronics, doesn't appear to be offering it; is it available to UK users?

[Pace]

This one-time deal is available to UK users and Mintronics is also offering the promotion

[MWhybrow]

This one-time deal is available to UK users and Mintronics is also offering the promotion

It's not listed on the mintronics website so I've emailed them; I don't know why they didn't email me the offer unless my registration details have an out of date email address which is quite possible.