Went from L4 Leader to Minimum Cross Grade - Considering L5 Starter

I purchased the L5 minimum cross grade the day after it was released and have been very pleased with my decision. Out of curiosity, I just checked and found that my cost to purchase the L5 Starter resources would be $68. I tallied the "value" of those resources that I don't currently have and it comes out to be $670. Weeding out those resources that I'm guessing I would seldom if ever use cuts that value in half...so it still seems like a no brainer. Before I make the move, just curious if anyone else followed a similar path.

Below are those resources that I think I would use. Are there any combination of these resources that you think makes this a good buy on my part? (My primary uses of Logos are preparation for teaching an adult Sunday School class and personal Bible study)

Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics

The Purpose of God: An Exposition of Ephesians

The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land

Ryrie's Concise Guide to the Bible

Topical Analysis of the Bible

Dictionary of Christianity in America

Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals

History of the Christian Church

Good News Translation

Church Communications Handbook

Biblical Answers to Contemporary Issues

Word Pictures in the New Testament

Jesus Is Lord: Christology Yesterday and Today

The Unexpected Jesus

Foundations of Pentecostal Theology

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Comments

Mark Smith

Out of curiosity, I just checked and found that my cost to purchase the L5 Starter resources would be $68.

It should be cheaper to buy Starter, then to upgrade to MC that visa-verse, so if you decide to buy Starter, call Logos and ask them to refund your MC purchase, then purchase Starter, then after that repurchase MC.

Ted Weis

In general, I think the Baker Encyclopedia series is outstanding. The entries cover the basics in depth and broadened your thinking.

The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land is a fine resource for learning the history of a particular site. I use it often.

Bill Moore

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434090#Comment_434090

Ralph, I agree with Mark. To make things even more more interesting, I would call a sales rep at Logos. Ask him/her what your upgrade prices would be for Starter, Bronze, and Silver under the following scenario:

1. Return the Minimum Upgrade to revert to Logos 4;

2. Purchase Starter or Bronze or Silver;

3. Purchase the Minimum Upgrade.

The reason I throw Bronze and Silver in there is because you may be pleasantly surprised at the resources you may be able to purchase for no more or perhaps little more than the total you laid out with your initial Minimum Upgrade plus the Starter upgrade.

Frankly, I think Silver is the best bang for the buck under the L5 offerings. If Silver is too much for your budget, drop down to Bronze, and if that is too much, drop down to Starter. At the various least, as Mark indicated, you'll doubtlessly come out ahead by returning the Minimum Crossgrade, which reverts your status to L4, upgrading at least to Starter, and then buying the Minimum Crossgrade.

Who knows, you may end up pleasantly surprised. Best to you.

Ralph Wood

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434270#Comment_434270

Thanks Mark and Bill....here's a lengthy follow-up to what has happened since my original post...(stepping back to add more details)

I just had a confusing experience when I called Logos about purchasing the L5 Starter Package resources and I think I just spent much more money than I intended. It could very well be a lack of understanding on my part...but here's the sequence of events leading up to and including the phone call:

I purchased the Minimum Cross Grade earlier this month ($160).
Yesterday, I looked online and saw where the Starter Package would cost me $68. I figured that the additional resources I would get was definitely worth $68.
Yesterday, I posted a forum message related to my possibly purchasing the Starter Package and it was suggested to me that I would have done better by purchasing the Starter Package first...then the Minimal Cross Grade. They suggested I call Logos and get a refund on the MC and then start over with the Starter Pkg.
I called Logos this morning to do that. The associate agreed that I did it in the wrong order and transferred me to customer service to take the necessary action to back out my MC and then purchase the Starter Package.
The person in customer service seemed a bit confused but told me he "locked" my MC and that he would then transfer me back to a sales person to complete the process; which he did.
My assumption at this point was that my account would get credited the $160 and then I would now get the Starter Package and Minimum Cross Grade for something less than $228 ($160 + $68). (Thinking back now, this doesn't sound right).
Turns out that the sales person he transferred me to was the same person that took my original call. She noted that she didn't see the refunded $159...put me on hold...came back and set OK...we're set. Then she said that this was actually going to cost me more doing it this way.
This is where my confusion begins. She asked if I had the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible and I told her I didn't think so. She said something about not being able to make use of the Timeline functionality without the Baker resource (I thought I already had the Timeline functionality with my MC????) and she recommended that I go to the Bronze Package instead. Said it would only cost me $175.
I said twice..."so for $175 I'm going to get the Bronze Package resources" and she confirmed. She again noted something about this would give me the Baker Encyclopedia and give me full timeline functionality.
So...My assumption was that I was getting refunded the MC ($160) and then being charged $335 for the Bronze package making my net cost this morning $175. OK...so my thought process was...this is more than I planned on spending but seemed like a reasonable step to take (but I didn't look forward to telling my wife that I spent even more money on Logos this year)
After the phone call I look at my orders within my account and see that I was charged the $335 but was not refunded the original $160 for the MC)

Funny...all I wanted to do was to take advantage of what I thought was a good opportunity to get additional resources for $68. Thinking back on all of this, I'm guessing that she and I were not on the same page about it "costing me $175." I wanted to know the bottom line cost for me this morning...and I think she was talking about $175 more than something. Thinking back even further when L5 was launched I recall all the conversation about having to go to at least the Silver level to get most of the datasets. So, I'm guessing the real problem is me failing to understand it all. Oh well... I'll let this settle a bit...but I guess I'm going to have to call back and just go back to where I was. It's not a matter of whether the Bronze Package resources and functionality is worth $335; budget is also a factor in value. ($1,200 in one year for Logos was bad enough...I don't need to push it beyond $1,500)

If you made it this far in my verbose post, much thanks for listening.

Ralph

JoshInRI

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434278#Comment_434278

O dear...I think I just goofed similarly. I did the minimum upgrade and then realized as a seminarian I might actually get use out of the timeline and Baker stuff. I hope they credit me and give me the Bronze upgrade without gouging me. My wife will also not be pleased but I will tell her I just spent my work Christmas bonus early. She can use the giftcard they give me to buy groceries or something. Heaven Help Us All!

Mark Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434278#Comment_434278

Ralph, please email Dan@logos.com and refer him to your thread. Your cost for Bronze upgrade should have been no more that $400 and you should be getting $160 back.

Mark Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434294#Comment_434294

On another note, Starter plus MC would be about $110 (or less) and you could use the leftover to get a better Bible Dictionary than Baker. For upgraders the ISBE is about $97 and the Anchor-Yale BD is about $155.

That Logos sales rep mislead you and needs some retraining on how to help customers get what they want.

Ralph Wood

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434294#Comment_434294

Mark,

Thanks so much for all of your input. Looks like no email to Dan is required. Although my orders listed within my account at Logos.com does not show the $159.95 refund, the email that I received from Logos does show it along with the net cost of $175.12.

Thanks again.

Raph

Mark Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434300#Comment_434300

Thanks so much for all of your input. Looks like no email to Dan is required. Although my orders listed within my account at Logos.com does not show the $159.95 refund, the email that I received from Logos does show it along with the net cost of $175.12.

That is great! Thanks for letting us know.

fgh

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434278#Comment_434278

If I understand you correctly, contrary to what you were told, you just lost functionality. There are no less than four datasets that are included in the Minimal Crossgrade, but not in Bronze.

Ralph Wood

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434285#Comment_434285

OK Joshua...keep me posted on how it goes with your wife. I just called mine at work and fortunately she had someone standing at her desk at the time...so she behaved very well. [:P] Seriously, my wife has been great through all of this and supports me 100%. I just like to have fun with it. She's definitely a keeper! Heck...after 41 years we have too much invested in each other to consider other options!!! [:D]

Mark Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434308#Comment_434308

There are no less than four datasets that are included in the Minimal Crossgrade, but not in Bronze.

That's correct. They are:

Ralph didn't take the second step of buying MC back after his upgrade. That will cost about $40 and can be done online, and will get those four datasets if he wants them.

Robert M. Warren

In case it would be helpful to anyone, I have detailed my upgrade path, which had an L4 situation somewhat similar to Ralph's.

Link; http://community.logos.com/forums/t/58395.aspx

In addition to the original post, I added a later comment about the Minimal Crossgrade.

Ralph Wood

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434312#Comment_434312

As Lee Corso would say..."not so fast, my friend!" [:D] I have since gone online and purchased the MC for $19. [:D]

Mark...folks like you should be paid a commission from Logos. Your guidance is invaluable!!

Thanks!!

Mark Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434339#Comment_434339

for $19

Wow! That's great, Ralph. Glad you checked back.

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434339#Comment_434339

As Lee Corso would say..."not so fast, my friend!"

[:D]

Ralph Wood

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/434278#Comment_434278

One final note on this from me to make sure one point is clear. 99% of the confusion that took place when I called Logos this morning was self-inflicted. I was trying to move too fast and was somewhat distracted. When I didn't see the refund reflected in my list of orders online I jumped to the wrong conclusion. The emailed receipt was in my inbox with the refund clearly stated. I just had not looked at it. And, as much as I hate to lay out all of my missteps here, the repurchase of the minimum upgrade was also there...but hurried Ralph didn't even noticed.

Looking back on it all now, it is clear that the sales rep was trying to direct me down the right path and do what was best for me - and she was more than patient with my confusion.

Ralph

(It's no fun growing old at such a young age!) [:S]