How can vBulletin Justify the $170 Upgrade Costs for V4?

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Fergal Crawley

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  • #1
    Please see a copy of a post below, posted here on the VB forums. vBulletin (VB) is the forum software that runs very many online communities, including UK Business Forums.
    How can VB Justify the Upgrade Costs for V4?
    The cost to upgrade a VB owned licence from V3 to V4 is $170. When purchasing VB owned licences, I understood that they were owned lifetime licences and that the only future costs for using the software would be the annual membership fees - my best guess is that many other customers had the same understanding.

    In my opinion, the upgrade fee is incredible given that;
    • Competing forum software sells new licences for around $150
    • I can purchase a completely new VB 4 licence for $195. Hence, I only save $25 by upgrading (195 - 170). Surely VB 3 licences are worth more than $25!

    How can VB possibly justify an upgrade fee of $170 per licence?
    Click to expand...

    I'd be interested in members' opinions on this issue.
     
    L

    letterboxunlimited

  • #2
    Fergal Crawley said:
    Please see a copy of a post below, posted here on the VB forums. vBulletin (VB) is the forum software that runs very many online communities, including UK Business Forums.


    I'd be interested in members' opinions on this issue.
    Click to expand...

    I suppose its the new owners taking advantage VB being the best known, best developed platform around.

    I am not convinced this new publisher platform 4.0 looks that good and has a long way to go before it gets people to switch over from a WP - VB setup which has the same features but a far larger , positive thinking community
     
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    Fergal Crawley

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  • #3
    letterboxunlimited said:
    ...I am not convinced this new publisher platform 4.0 looks that good and has a long way to go before it gets people to switch over from a WP - VB setup which has the same features but a far larger , positive thinking community
    Click to expand...

    I'm not convinced either. Just to clarify the $170 upgrade cost applies to VB users who only want the forum functionality, if they want the CMS with blog features the upgrade cost will actually be greater.
     
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    ICU_Clean

    ICU_Clean

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    Oct 27, 2009
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  • #4
    I run a community forum and purchased a lifetime licence agreement back on 07. I don't need to have the latest all singing all dancing software which is why i purchased the lifetime licence as i knew i wouldn't be upgrading for a good while.

    A few days ago i received an email saying that i was using a Vb forum without the required licence and that i should purchase a licence right away or face legal action. I am guessing for piracy or whatever. I chose to ignore it, but was alittle miffed by the strongly worded email that all but accused me of using counterfeit software. :mad:
     
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    SwanOfficeSupplies

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    Nov 23, 2009
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  • #5
    I run a personal website that uses vBulletin and I chose to upgrade to v4. The main reason is my website has a forum and also a main site and it is a pain keeping both up to date.

    I'm quite keen to get the community and advertisers providing content - v4 was a good choice for personally so I don't mind the upgrade cost.

    cheers
    Russ
     
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    letterboxunlimited

  • #6
    SwanOfficeSupplies said:
    I run a personal website that uses vBulletin and I chose to upgrade to v4. The main reason is my website has a forum and also a main site and it is a pain keeping both up to date.

    I'm quite keen to get the community and advertisers providing content - v4 was a good choice for personally so I don't mind the upgrade cost.

    cheers
    Russ
    Click to expand...

    I don't think its as much the price as it is the total disrespect the entire VB community seem to be getting. I would have no issues paying £150 for an off the shelf complete solution but I would be offended if I purchased something in good faith and then got told I'm a criminal!
     
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    SwanOfficeSupplies

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    Nov 23, 2009
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  • #9
    letterboxunlimited said:
    I don't think its as much the price as it is the total disrespect the entire VB community seem to be getting. I would have no issues paying £150 for an off the shelf complete solution but I would be offended if I purchased something in good faith and then got told I'm a criminal!
    Click to expand...

    Which version of vBulletin are you using? It's a bit odd you received an email. Did you change anything i.e. ugprade the version etc?

    cheers
    Russ
    SwanOfficeSupplies.com
     
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    ICU_Clean

    ICU_Clean

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    Oct 27, 2009
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  • #10
    Subbynet said:
    Is $170 a lot of money?

    Maybe if you're running a personal site with no ads, but surely anyone running in a forum (business) shouldn't find that price to much to handle?

    Ultimately, you can stay on v3 can't you?
    Click to expand...


    I have not looked into it too much, but the forum i run isn't a business website. So yes the money is a lot of money. That isn't the point though, a lifetime agreement should be exactly that. After all the cost of a lifetime (owned) licence is considerably more than a leased licence. If they have now moved the goalposts that is completely wrong, and i wouldn't upgrade on principal if that was the case, but as i said i have not looked into it. i got as far as "you don't have a licence give us some more dosh" at which point i deleted the email assuming it was an admin error.
     
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    Fergal Crawley

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  • #12
    Subbynet said:
    Is $170 a lot of money?...
    Click to expand...

    It's not a huge amount of money, but I hate feeling that I'm being ripped off. I paid about $160 each for lifetime owned licences a few years ago, on the basis that updates were free, provided that I paid the annual membership fee. Now customers are being asked to pay $170, which is more than most of us paid for owned licences in the first place, for an upgrade.

    Some people say you don't have to upgrade, however if you are serious about your forum and you want to keep it secure from hackers you need to be on the latest version of the forum software.

    Also, it's not easy to change to a different forum software, especially if you customised your forum and added various mods to it.
     
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    reggiemental

    reggiemental

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    Feb 21, 2008
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  • #13
    I too thought I was buying into a lifetime agreement, with a nominal annual cost to cover upgrades.

    It gets quite expensive when running a hobby site, as I do, especially when all mods/upgrades have to be done by a 3rd party due to my technical limitations.

    I'm running 3.8.0 so will hang on as long as possible until such time I get 'forced' into upgrading to 4.0.
     
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