I have Sketchup Pro 2015. I spent a lot of money after saving up for it back in 2014. Now that I’m finally thinking of upgrading I found out through the upgrade wizard that my license is no longer eligible for upgrade and I have to start over. I find this business model to be a bit heavy handed especially since the updates are not even that significant. There are just a few features I would like to take advantage of like some plugins that require v16 above. I’m asking Trimble to reconsider this policy because many of us pro users do not upgrade even at the upgrade price. So imagine how some of us feel to upgrade at a full price for Sketchup again?
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FWIW, the thing about upgrading your license is described here. This has been the policy since Trimble took over SketchUp.
*Please note, there’s a $60 Enrollment fee if your Maintenance and Support has lapsed more than 30 days. If the Maintenance and Support Plan was expired more than 3 years, it can no longer be renewed.
Imagine how those of us who have kept our Maintenance and Support up to date all these years would feel if they make an exception to the policy.
Still, you should contact the sales department and plead your case. Maybe they will make an exception.
Maybe we should stop rewarding companies for this behavior. You may be able to afford or are willing to go along but many of us are not willing to do that or can afford it. If someone spends a lot of money on a product, they should be treated as valued customers not be discouraged from continuing with it. I’m not spending 100s of dollars again as a mostly hobbyist. Is it not reasonable for someone to skip versions that have features that do not justify the yearly charge?
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In the old times that I miss, when vendors released a new version of an application, the users of earlier versions could usually upgrade for a fee that increased for every intermediate version that you hadn’t paid for. It was quite usual for the discount to apply to 2…3 previous versions, and upgrading an older one would in practice cost about the same as buying a completely new license. Very few vendors charged the same for an upgrade regardless of the version you owned.
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Most of the software companies I have dealt with over the years have the same model. If you do not stay paid up, pony up the $$$$
No…most companies do not have the same model. Most of the software I own give an upgrade price. Some I have for many years. For most programs I know of, if you are a paying customer, you are offered an upgrade price. That’s common. I’m not asking anything for free. But come on. A forced maintenance fee for what? Guess I will be using 2015 pro for the foreseeable future and supplement with Blender going forward.
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I can imagine something like this:
Hi, do you remember me buying bread, 2 pieces three years ago? Please give me a 50% discount off your current price! I remember you told me something like that if I buy regularly…
Way to compare buying Sketchup to buying food. Enjoy spending your money. I’m not gonna argue anymore here. Just giving some feedback as a customer. The way I see it, if you make your product less affordable to a large user base, you may get more money per sale, but you get less sales. And a large portion of disappointed users who actually love Sketchup but are forced to stay where they are and/or move on.
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I don’t think it was a bad business behavior. As a user who makes money every week from my use of SketchUp, $120 a year to those working to (at least) keep it up to date with all the latest OS developments is worthwhile. I don’t want them to fail and go away. I don’t even choose to upgrade the version very often, but I don’t want them going out of business.
I don’t like that this is no longer an option, but I’ll keep using the software I have a perpetual license for, and someday I might subscribe to get an update if I have to.
I think the software WAS more affordable and did build the base. A number of software companies do that and then the price goes up (or they go out of business).
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Now you know the price to upgrade.
The price to upgrade before November 4th is another $700+ dollars. It’s buying the same product twice but with a few more features. Most software companies do not do this.
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It really doesn’t matter what other companies do. The policy is the same as it was when you bought SketchUp 2015. You agreed to the policy then.
I was for some reason under the impression when I bought it that I would lose my maintenance support but pay more for an update later on than I would if I kept paying the update…which actually makes no sense thinking about that logic. I just assumed a highly priced software would not charge a customer the exact same original high price again as an existing customer down the road. There is no other software I have (besides Thea Render) that does not honnor existing customers in a way they do not buy the product over again at full initial cost. For example users of a music program that cost $400 can buy an upgrade for $125-$150 no matter if they bought the program 10 years ago. This is the case with most software I own. Some even are generous and give fixes and updates free unless it’s a major upgrade.
I made piece with this situation. Trimble have every right to do what they want with their product and we are not by any laws entitled to our own wishes on how they conduct business for themselves. I’m just saddened that the once thriving community I enjoyed since the @Last days are now over as future Sketchup development seems to geared towards those who are fortunate enough to have a company pay or have enough work to sustain moving forward with Trimble as it is becoming further unreachable by hobbyists and new users who once had the option of downloading a copy to use on their desktop who will now only be using older versions. I have the same sadness about Thea Render too.
The bright side is the versions of Sketchup I do have still and will continue to work and I will continue to use it. I am still interested in getting my hands on SU 2020 if I can. I just wish more software companies would put the community and access with better priority as that is how the company will stay in business IMO. I disagree with many CG artists who call Sketchup a joke or a toy but the direction Trimble is taking is not helping win over more users. Programs like Max have such a following because they give it away like candy in schools growing a user base from the ground up. Generosity is not a business killer in fact it only helps. Sorry for this wall of text. I’m just a lover of Sketchup and want to see it survive.
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Did you get this email? I received it on Tuesday July 7
More features more often
Upgrading your license isn’t fun. Unless you’re getting away with something! Why switch? You’ll get instant access to new features and unlimited tech support.
Get your first year of a SketchUp Pro subscription for $120 (a $299 value)!
Use promo code 1YEAR120 at checkout.
If so you should get the subscription for 2020.1
That e-mail probably only went out to those who have a current Maintenance and Support plan in place. Probably not to those who have let it lapse for years.
Thanks for that but I’m not interested in being locked in a subscription for my 3D software needs. I do some professional work but mostly hobby stuff. I don’t want to get used to features that I may one day not have access to because of financial limits especially the way things are going in the world today. I just want a standalone copy as I always enjoyed. Time flies you know…
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Everyone, whine all you want. It won’t make a difference.
I have an issue with the tens of thousands of users that are making money and are using SU17 or another “free” version.
My primary source of income is building. SU is a tool I use. I’m happy to pay for it and have since 2007, yearly.
I am not happy that my perpetual licence will expire this/next year.
But you know what? If it keeps people using for free what I’ve been paying for over the last thirteen years, so be it!
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So 5 years X $120 you haven’t paid = what?
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Autodesk products are the same, but substantially more. So is Camtasia, Blue beam, Lumion, all Adobe pro products, and all Microsoft products.
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Mistro, I basically agree with your position. My problem with Trimble is that they have become a Marketing Co. that is into monetizing for monetizing sake. There happy clappy promotions of how newer versions have such great new features, like dashed lines or changing the Layer name Tags to dramatically increase productivity is, at best, a joke. Somewhere along the line software companies gentrified EUA’s to the point of bend over and agree to the terms or you can walk. I get coders should be paid well and software theft is a real concern.
I make the analogy of buying software to buying a tool, let’s say a parallel rule to draw. When the company says you can buy a new one for three times the cost of the original, because we added better rollers. The new feature is not worth the cost. And the attempt to justify it with maintenance and phone support is, again, just a marketing ploy. I was not happy to open my wallet and say here is $120.00 for a yearly upgrade and sub-par new features, but that worked into the fact I was using to SU to make money. Fine. But to charge $299.00 (as if 299 sounds better than 300), with new features that should be considered updates and not version upgrades is just plain monetizing a product for monetizing sake. This love it or leave it, agree to the EUA or else attitude frustrates consumers and some comments in this thread that basically say take it or leave just reinforces bad corporate behavior. I love the SU community, but the tainted corporate attitudes just dampens the joy.
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