Chessbase Premium membership renewal blues!

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  • Chessbase Premium membership renewal blues!

    Hi - I have been a Fritz 12 user for over a year, so my Playchess Premium membership which came with the software has ended. I went off to the Chessbase store and saw the premium membership listed at 49.90 euros for those within the EU (they have to pay VAT) or $57.33 USD for those outside the EU. I then went through the purchasing process but was unable to actually select the lower price in US$.

    I then sent off a query to Chessbase and was told that in spite of the information in their store (http://www.chessbase-shop.com/en/products/5805), since the Playchess server is in Germany everyone has to pay the higher price which includes VAT!

    This doesn't make sense to me. If I buy a copy of Fritz 12, which comes with a years Premium membership for the same price as the Premium membership, I get to pay the lower price which does not include VAT. There are many other sources that offer even better prices for Fritz 12 than Chessbase.

    So the cheapest way for me to get a Premium membership is to buy another copy of Fritz 12 that I don't need or want.

    How dumb is that? I love many of the Chessbase programs, but they don't have a clue with customer relations.

    What do you think?

    Dave

  • #2
    Re: Chessbase Premium membership renewal blues!

    Originally posted by Dave Broughton View Post
    Hi - I have been a Fritz 12 user for over a year, so my Playchess Premium membership which came with the software has ended. I went off to the Chessbase store and saw the premium membership listed at 49.90 euros for those within the EU (they have to pay VAT) or $57.33 USD for those outside the EU. I then went through the purchasing process but was unable to actually select the lower price in US$.

    I then sent off a query to Chessbase and was told that in spite of the information in their store (http://www.chessbase-shop.com/en/products/5805), since the Playchess server is in Germany everyone has to pay the higher price which includes VAT!

    This doesn't make sense to me. If I buy a copy of Fritz 12, which comes with a years Premium membership for the same price as the Premium membership, I get to pay the lower price which does not include VAT. There are many other sources that offer even better prices for Fritz 12 than Chessbase.

    So the cheapest way for me to get a Premium membership is to buy another copy of Fritz 12 that I don't need or want.

    How dumb is that? I love many of the Chessbase programs, but they don't have a clue with customer relations.

    What do you think?

    Dave
    I agree they are generally clueless...
    ...Mike Pence: the Lord of the fly.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Chessbase Premium membership renewal blues!

      Originally posted by Dave Broughton View Post
      Hi - I have been a Fritz 12 user for over a year, so my Playchess Premium membership which came with the software has ended. I went off to the Chessbase store and saw the premium membership listed at 49.90 euros for those within the EU (they have to pay VAT) or $57.33 USD for those outside the EU. I then went through the purchasing process but was unable to actually select the lower price in US$.

      I then sent off a query to Chessbase and was told that in spite of the information in their store (http://www.chessbase-shop.com/en/products/5805), since the Playchess server is in Germany everyone has to pay the higher price which includes VAT!

      This doesn't make sense to me. If I buy a copy of Fritz 12, which comes with a years Premium membership for the same price as the Premium membership, I get to pay the lower price which does not include VAT. There are many other sources that offer even better prices for Fritz 12 than Chessbase.

      So the cheapest way for me to get a Premium membership is to buy another copy of Fritz 12 that I don't need or want.

      How dumb is that? I love many of the Chessbase programs, but they don't have a clue with customer relations.

      What do you think?

      Dave
      I think I'll give you $20 for a copy of Fritz-12 that does not include the Playchess for a year code...? :)

      Obviously they are just doing it to encourage people to keep buying new versions of their software, which was great for as long as the new versions were spaced no more than one year apart.
      Christopher Mallon
      FIDE Arbiter

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Chessbase Premium membership renewal blues!

        I switched from ICC to Playchess last year. Personally, I much prefer ICC, so will switch back once my Playchess membership ends in a few months. On Playchess I just bought the normal membership, which means that I cannot watch broadcasts without having to buy ducats. I prefer the interfaces available for ICC too (dasher or blitzin) and the broadcasts and commentary of tournaments (Mig and GM's) as well as the Watson interviews.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Chessbase Premium membership renewal blues!

          I have had a similar problem with New In Chess...

          If you go to their site you will find that they charge $144 CAN for a year subscription to the yearbook (hardcover). They then also give you one volume for "free", which make five volumes for $144.

          It took me a year to realize that you can by single volumes on amazon for 24.57 CAN.

          I sent them an E-Mail asking why I can purchase their product cheaper from a third party, but did not get a reply.
          Last edited by Stuart Brammall; Wednesday, 2nd February, 2011, 10:17 PM.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Chessbase Premium membership renewal blues!

            Originally posted by Dave Broughton View Post
            What do you think?
            It seems quite within the realm of possibility that VAT would be chargeable to a foreigner on a service but not on a thing that entails a service. Canada has had sillier laws, and I'd wager, still has 'em.

            It is also not unusual for resellers to undercut the manufacturer's suggested price.

            Situation Normal. You might as well make the best of it.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Chessbase Premium membership renewal blues!

              Originally posted by Jonathan Berry View Post
              It is also not unusual for resellers to undercut the manufacturer's suggested price.
              However I think it is unusual for a manufacturer who is selling direct to the consumer to allow themselves to be undercut... It's not really a suggested retail price; suggested retail implies you are buying from a third party and that is not the case here. What NiC is doing seems to me quite different then one retail outlet undercutting another; in that case the manufacturer's margin remains constant--

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Chessbase Premium membership renewal blues!

                Originally posted by Stuart Brammall View Post
                However I think it is unusual for a manufacturer who is selling direct to the consumer to allow themselves to be undercut... It's not really a suggested retail price; suggested retail implies you are buying from a third party and that is not the case here. What NiC is doing seems to me quite different then one retail outlet undercutting another; in that case the manufacturer's margin remains constant--
                It's not actually unusual - why WOULD a third party store even bother selling something if the manufacturer is going to undercut them?

                That's why you'll always get a better deal at Future Shop than at Sony Style, for example. It's usually contractually binding that the Sony store cannot undercut Future Shop's prices.
                Christopher Mallon
                FIDE Arbiter

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Chessbase Premium membership renewal blues!

                  I think normally if the manufacturer is going to sell direct to the consumer they would not have third party retailers.

                  I mean, if NiC stopped selling to amazon at a wholesale rate I would be forced to buy from them, in which case they would get both the retail and wholesale margins, while also having full control over the price of the product.

                  Also, since you cannot buy a subscription through amazon, they would have more secure revenue stream (since if I could buy a subscription and get the lower price I would).

                  I can't think of any periodicals I can get cheaper at the newstand then I can through the mail from the publisher-- I think it's clear that is the standard business model.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Chessbase Premium membership renewal blues!

                    Originally posted by Stuart Brammall View Post
                    if NiC stopped selling to amazon at a wholesale rate I would be forced to buy from them, in which case they would get both the retail and wholesale margins, while also having full control over the price of the product.
                    Are you telling that NiC are totally dumbs in economics? :D

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Chessbase Premium membership renewal blues!

                      Originally posted by Egidijus Zeromskis View Post
                      Are you telling that NiC are totally dumbs in economics? :D
                      Yes.

                      (I have thought that perhaps they feel they need amazon to "promote" the yearbook,in the same way that newstands promote other periodicals, and that from such a vantage point amazon refused to stock the product unless they could purchase it at a discount. However the yearbook is quite a specialized product, and I imagine that if it were not sold on amazon its purchasers would seek it out anyway.)

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