SketchUp Licensing doubts - from India

SketchUp Pro
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1

Hello all

I need some clarifications on EULA and on licensing SketchUP Pro here in India.

Only very recently a new re-seller has been appointed for SketchUP sales in my Region / State in India.

  1. I had inquired for 2 copies of New Licenses for SketchUP Pro 2017 and he has given me a quote. (the current price on SketchUP website is $695 USD - which includes one year’s maintenance charges too). But here in my place, the dealer/vendor has quoted the price split into two - basic price for SketchUP Software and separate charges for maintenance and he has added 15% service tax on the maintenance charges.

In the SketchUP web site, I do not see any splitting of the price into two - it just says $695USD - which is inclusive of one year’s maintenance charges. Wondering why the vendor in my region split the price and added a tax to the maintenance charges.

  1. The second question is an important one. Kindly see the copy pasted text from SketchUP’s licensing web page:

“If you have a single-user license, you can authorize your license on up to two computers running either Windows or Mac OS X. If you already authorized your license on two computers, you can remove a license on a computer in order to use the license on a different computer”

It says one could authorize a single user license on 2 computers ( presuming one is for either home use or for use away from the office ). Autodesk & Adobe products too offer 2 activations for a single license - again for home use or for use away from the office provided only one license is used at any point of time.

I had specifically asked this question to this vendor - but he replied to me over phone that only one activation was allowed for each license - which is contrary to what is mentioned on SketchUP’s licensing page. I am giving below the actual link:

Could any staff from Trimble SketchUP clarify these questions. I would be greatly obliged if they clarified since I wish to make my purchase after getting clarifications. Was my vendor wrong ? Especially on the activation on 2nd computer for home use?

Thanks in advance
PRSS

2

What is the name of the reseller? Are they listed as a reseller on the SketchUp site?

3

Thank you Dave for the immediate response. The reseller is KL iTech Solutions, Chennai, India.

No I have not checked if he is listed on the SketchUP website. He has given a 20 percent discount to members of Indian Institute of Architects here - a limited time offer.

I just checked in the reseller list on the SketchUP website. This company is not there - probable he is a reseller to another company in India. Here is the link on SketchUP web page:

Best regards
PRSS

4

So a reseller for a reseller? I can’t advise you directly but my gut feeling is to be very careful. You should contact SketchUp’s Sales directly though SketchUp.com and see what they have to say.

5

Thank you Dave again. In fact I just wanted to do that - but I could not find any contact info to SketchUP Sales on SketchUP website like a contact email id or the like.

Best regards
PRSS

6

At the bottom of the main page you’ll find a Contact Us link. Click on it and choose the option for pro sales.

7

Thank you very much Dave. I shall do so.

Thanking you once again
Best regards
PRSS

1 Like
8

Hello all

I contacted Trimble. They gave a positive answer “YES”. Here is the copy pasted version from their email to me:

**Sketchup Support prosupport@sketchup.com via 4zmi53pjml7gmhb8.mkdjqa.4-81l2eaa.na2.bnc.salesforce.com **

03:34 (4 hours ago)

to me
Hi Sivakumar,

Thanks for your note and your thoughtfully composed inquiry. The answer to your question is “yes”, you can (as long as it is the same user authorizing up to two computers with a SketchUp Pro license).

A Single-user license of SketchUp Pro is assigned to one person and can only be used by the registered user. That individual can install the license on up to two computers he or she is using. Basically, “One user, two computers”

For more information on how to authorize up to two machines per single user license, please visit the following page:
Classic License: Transferring to a new computer or licensing multiple computers | SketchUp Help

Please reply to this email if you need further assistance with this specific issue.

Regards,
Lisanne
The SketchUp Team at Trimble Inc.

So, I got the final answer for this and I am fully satisfied with the answer. For the benefit of all, I copy pasted it here so every one knows the “terms” of SketchUP Pro (in case someone like me did not know)

Thank you SketchUP Team for the helpful answer !

Best regards
PRSS

9

Hi what about this query? The same has happened to me. The re-seller is not listed as well they charge separately for maintenance and sent mail to me stating its mandatory.

Kindly update on the same.

10

Hello Kumar

Yes, the re-seller is not listed. He is sub dealer for the main vendor at Delhi which have branches elsewhere in India but not at Chennai. This, IMHO, should be quite OK.

And yes, all the taxes he he had mentioned to me were applicable. Because I inquired with my vendors of Autodesk products ( I have several licenses for Autodesk products and the Chennai vendor is a major Autodesk partner (Autodesk calls their main vendors as partners) and they said what the Chennai vendor to SketchUP had quoted was correct. In India, because there are different taxes applicable for sale of software and sale of services (maintenance is “services”) and so whatever taxes he had quoted were also right.

I also checked with my Adobe & Microsoft vendors. They too concurred. So I paid up and purchased the licenses.

If you went through all the web pages available in SketchUp web site, (I have gone through all the pages from their main link as well as their other links found from the Homepage), somewhere it says that the tax structure would be according to your own laws of the land - or something meaning to that effect. The price quoted in SketchUP website (as far as I understood) applies to the U.S., not to India.

There is a peculiar tax structure in India. If you received the software on a CD or DVD or USB media, then it is a “product”. (here, the media means media by SketchUP company with its name stamped on it and if it is CD/DVD it has to be a stamped CD from the software company itself.). If the software was a “downloadable only” then it is deemed to be a “service” and it attracts service tax.

Regarding the mandatory maintenance subscription for one year, the Chennai vendor had clearly mentioned it that the software price included one year’s maintenance contract (which is the same as what you see at SketchUP’s website). He has split it as a separate module because of the peculiar tax system in India. I verified this with quite a few people and got satisfied myself that whatever quoted by him were quite correct - as far as I understood it.

And, since, anyway I was willing to renew subscriptions to my copies of SketchUP every year - in fact I have told him to remind me on this when my subscription was nearing the end so that I could pay up - I did not really bother on the maintenance subscription part of it.

If you still had serious doubts, you have to consult with legal consultants in India who are very familiar with software sales. And let me tell you that the scenario might be different from the 1st of July 2017, when GST gets fully implemented in India. Tax structure may be different at that time and interpretations also may differ, One has to only wait and see.

Hope my explanation helps you.

Best regards
PRSS

11

And let me mention this too. If you purchased SketchUP or any other software directly from their website through online international payment, from U.S. or from any other country, Income Tax Auditors told me that Customs Duty has to be paid to Indian Govt. for “importing” the software. If you purchased it from an Indian vendor, the main vendor has already taken care of these import duty or whatever it is called. So, to play it safe, IMHO, it would be best to buy from an Indian vendor - again from whatever I understood.

To me, all these were quite complicated. So, I took the safest route. Bought from the Chennai vendor and I am quite happy on my decision.

Best regards
PRSS

12

Hello Kumar,
I have posted my reply in the Forum thinking it was a forum update . as i
regularly get Forum updates. So please kindly see my forum posting here:

13

Hi,
I agree with you regarding reseller thing - and also regarding tax structure that varies between country. But the site states clearly as well mail from sketchup states that

1 year of maintenance and support is included in the $695 price.

But here they like charging it separately. Thats my doubt in it.

Regards

14

Hello Kumar

I don’t think I have any answer to this !! This tax structure matter really confused me. Since other software vendors agreed on this, I did not question this !

Best regards
PRSS

15

Hello Sketchup user can u tell me what is the step by step process to purchase this software from India.Because I am facing problem to purchase it. It would nice if u help me because I am naive enough to deal with this. ASAP Thanks in advance

17

How should I contact them via email or phone call? Should I contact them all? Because earlier I contacted two of them via email but they don’t reply.

18

I had asked the questions by emailing to:

prosupport@sketchup.com

Hope this helps.