Vectorworks charging for transfer of ownership

[Cadplan Architecture]

As Vectorworks Inc have gone over to subscription only and cut adrift non VSS perpetual licenses to naturally dwindle, it seems unreasonable for them to continue charge a transfer fee as they will not be offering any support or upgrade options. I would be interested to hear why they think it’s justified.  Please post if you agree.

[Helm]

3 hours ago, Cadplan Architecture said:

As Vectorworks Inc have gone over to subscription only and cut adrift non VSS perpetual licenses to naturally dwindle, it seems unreasonable for them to continue charge a transfer fee as they will not be offering any support or upgrade options. I would be interested to hear why they think it’s justified.  Please post if you agree.

I do agree, but then I also don't like the new pricing situation at all.  I think it will drive people away and decrease sales.  We will see.

[cberg]

I've always been surprised that VW supports license transfer at all.  And it looks like they still do, even as they have changed over to a subscription model?  I can't imagine many other companies doing this. 

 

Having purchased a license from a third party, I know that VW Sales members helped support me in the license transfer process.  The transfer fee is probably less than the cost of the staff time associated facilitating this process.

 

 

[Pat Stanford]

One value provided by an ongoing transfer fee is that VW will be able to help with lock-out problems only if they know who the rightful owner is.

 

VW has a limited number of activations.  If you installed your license on a couple of machines, decided you didn't like it, uninstalled it, and sold the license, It is likely that the new user would not be able to activate due to too many activations. If VW knows the license was transferred they can reset the activation counter.

 

 

[Helm]

1 hour ago, Pat Stanford said:

One value provided by an ongoing transfer fee is that VW will be able to help with lock-out problems only if they know who the rightful owner is.

 

VW has a limited number of activations.  If you installed your license on a couple of machines, decided you didn't like it, uninstalled it, and sold the license, It is likely that the new user would not be able to activate due to too many activations. If VW knows the license was transferred they can reset the activation counter.

 

 

In fact one of the main reasons VW never really conquered the market like ACAD is all that worry about people installing it on too many computers.  To be successful in the CAD market you need users lots of them no matter how they get the program, sooner or later they will pay.  

[Amorphous - Julian]

I’d like to reiterate a point I made in another post, too….

 

In the past, transferred perpetual licenses were upgradable. 

That is why I subsequently invested in several perpetual licences- they had resell value. 

In a single stroke, Vectorworks devalued all perpetual licences- by removing the VSS subscription rights of transferred perpetual licenses. 

As someone who forked out money to support this software... of course, I am not happy to see my investment in devalued that way.... but what can I do. The decision was unilateral. 

 

I was of course quite upset that my investment was reduced to nothing overnight. I’m not talking about one or two licences….

 

Original thread as follows

 

 

 

[Helm]

36 minutes ago, Amorphous - Julian said:

I’d like to reiterate a point I made in another post, too….

 

In the past, transferred perpetual licenses were upgradable. 

That is why I subsequently invested in several perpetual licences- they had resell value. 

In a single stroke, Vectorworks devalued all perpetual licences- by removing the VSS subscription rights of transferred perpetual licenses. 

As someone who forked out money to support this software... of course, I am not happy to see my investment in devalued that way.... but what can I do. The decision was unilateral. 

 

I was of course quite upset that my investment was reduced to nothing overnight. I’m not talking about one or two licences….

 

Original thread as follows

 

 

 

I have not followed the sales program that much but wow, so you can't by an older version and then upgrade it to the current one.  It seems the marketing department is getting desperate.  I' m guessing people will just switch over to Revit, not as good as VW but many more users, more compatibility with other software, and more jobs available.  

[Terri]

On 1/10/2023 at 2:02 PM, Pat Stanford said:

One value provided by an ongoing transfer fee is that VW will be able to help with lock-out problems only if they know who the rightful owner is.

 

VW has a limited number of activations.  If you installed your license on a couple of machines, decided you didn't like it, uninstalled it, and sold the license, It is likely that the new user would not be able to activate due to too many activations. If VW knows the license was transferred they can reset the activation counter.

 

 

What is the cost of a transfer fee? Who is it paid to?