Package Upgrades

Fos Zoe
Fos Zoe Member Posts: 108 ✭✭
edited November 2024 in English Forum

If I buy a Silver Package and later want to upgrade to Gold and then further down the road to Platinum. Do I just pay the difference in package cost? I emailed sales with this question and was told yes, but the numbers in the email didn't add up :)

Surely I am not the first to want to do this.

The Following was the reply to my email.

"To clarify – you only ever pay the difference.

Orthodox Silver to Gold would be $1,169.76 – we cut out what crosses over and only charge the difference. Upgrading from Orthodox Silver to Gold to platinum would be the exact same as going from Orthodox Silver to Platinum.

In short with base packages. You won’t pay for something twice and you won’t lose or save any money in how you purchase the packages. It is more expensive however to purchase bubndles on their own and then upgrade to a package that has them, because you get the credit for the price they are in the package.

Let’s say a bundle of books is $500 – that same bundle comes in a Library – your price for that library is $1000. If you purchase the bundle for $500, your price for the library goes to $950."

Comments

  • Fred Chapman
    Fred Chapman Member Posts: 5,899 ✭✭✭

    All base package and most bundles incorporate dynamic pricing. This means you will never pay twice for the same resource. For specific pricing questions I would contact sales.

  • Dave Thawley
    Dave Thawley Member Posts: 621 ✭✭

    For me its a great way to increase your library. I have a couple of lower base packages and have gradually built them up. I am not sure if you get the same level of discount than if you went for a high end base edition but the savings are still massive - I think most of the upgrades I've bought give you 80-90% off total cost price. I am sure some of the books are ones I won't usually use but it is great to have them in my library. 

  • JC54
    JC54 Member Posts: 311 ✭✭

    So what the email says is this: No, you will pay more than the difference in cost.

    If silver is 500 and Gold is 1000. You buy silver and later want to add Gold, Gold would cost around 600. So the price of buying just Gold is 1000, whereas first silver, then gold would be 500+600=1100.

    These aren't exact numbers!!! But in my experience it worked out like this, generally I am not dissappointed in the amount of discount you get.

  • JT (alabama24)
    JT (alabama24) MVP Posts: 36,523

    So what the email says is this: No, you will pay more than the difference in cost.

    Joren is correct. It would be cheaper to purchase the large package now (in the long run). You should be aware, however, that base packages change over time... meaning what is being sold TODAY may not be what is sold a year from today. There is a good chance new base packages will be released by the end of this year, although FL does not let us know in advance. 

    If you do buy a base package now (with L6), you will be able to update your software for free (as is always the case), but some new features will require you to either 1) subscribe to "Logos Now," 2) Buy a new base package or 3) Buy a cross grade. 

    I would closely look at the resources in the various packages to see what you might really want before making a decision. Generally the most "cost effective" way to pick up resources is in a base package.  You may decide to get a lower package now and when L7 comes out, purchase a bigger one. You just have to realize the commentary set you are hoping for in platinum may be removed from the next iteration of packages. By the time you know, it will be too late. 

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  • Dave Thawley
    Dave Thawley Member Posts: 621 ✭✭

    alabama24 said:

    and when L7 comes out

    Is there any news on L7 ?

    Cheers

  • JT (alabama24)
    JT (alabama24) MVP Posts: 36,523

    Is there any news on L7 ?

    FL will not announce anything before they announce it... so "no."

    ...However: it is commonly believed that FL is moving towards a "2 year" release cycle, which would put things this fall. A comment from Bob roughly supports that timeframe, although it could be pushed out... but I doubt it. Also: "Logos Now" includes features which will be in L7, so there is that. 

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  • Dave Thawley
    Dave Thawley Member Posts: 621 ✭✭

    Thanks for this. I guess it makes sense because as soon as they announce it it could kill sales of L6.  Fall sounds good. Im relatively new to logos - got it at L6 about a year ago so its good to know. I see Bob was talking about changing some of the company's business model to go more subscription based. It will be interesting to see if this impacts the core software. or if the subscription is going to be for other stuff like Now and .tv etc. Only time will tell I suppose. Thanks again for the reply

  • JT (alabama24)
    JT (alabama24) MVP Posts: 36,523

    I guess it makes sense because as soon as they announce it it could kill sales of L6.

    Well maybe, but this isn't a situation like Apple coming out with new iPhones. With Logos, the SOFTWARE is always free, so when we say "kill sales of L6," what is really meant is sales of base packages. From a customer's perspective, it would be great to have a window where you could purchase the old package OR the new one (and know the difference between the two), but that is unlikely to ever happen. The licensing agreements with the publishers for base packages may well expire once new packages begin to be sold. 

    I see Bob was talking about changing some of the company's business model to go more subscription based. It will be interesting to see if this impacts the core software.

    Faithlife introduced Logos Cloud, which is the core business. Users are able to subscribe to different levels (similar to base packages) on a per month basis. NOTE: the tiers are not equivalent to the base packages because of licensing agreements with publishers (for example, some don't allow web access at all). The new web app (currently part of Logos Now & Logos Cloud) lessens the dependance (for some) upon the desktop software engine.

    I am not worried about Logos dropping support for the desktop engine, nor for those who prefer to "purchase" (such as myself), for the foreseeable future. We are the "core." However, if FL wants to expand its market, it needs to move this direction. 

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  • Dave Thawley
    Dave Thawley Member Posts: 621 ✭✭

    alabama24 said:

    I am not worried about Logos dropping support for the desktop engine, nor for those who prefer to "purchase" (such as myself), for the foreseeable future. We are the "core." However, if FL wants to expand its market, it needs to move this direction. 

    alabama24 said:

    Well maybe, but this isn't a situation like Apple coming out with new iPhones. With Logos, the SOFTWARE is always free, so when we say "kill sales of L6," what is really meant is sales of base packages. From a customer's perspective, it would be great to have a window where you could purchase the old package OR the new one (and know the difference between the two), but that is unlikely to ever happen

    Thanks again for all this information. I thought I would have to pay a premium to upgrade to 7 when it comes out to get the new features - unless they give the software away and sell the linksets for the data ?  I appreciate your opinion on the desktop engine as well. I also like the idea of owning something rather than leasing it :-)

  • JT (alabama24)
    JT (alabama24) MVP Posts: 36,523

    I thought I would have to pay a premium to upgrade to 7 when it comes out to get the new features - unless they give the software away and sell the linksets for the data ?

    Faithlife continues to develop the software engine, and just as you can get a free update from 6.8 to 6.9, you will be able to get a free update from 6.x to 7.x when it comes out. Some of the new features will require a purchase of resources/datasets which drive those new features (and keep Faithlife in business). You will not have to "pay a premium," but you will need to decide which method you want to take*:

    1. Buy a new base package (while receiving a "dynamic price" discount on resources you already own). This will give you both new resources & datasets.
    2. Buy a cross grade (this will give you datasets and a minimal amount of new resources (only those which are needed at a basic level to run the features).
    3. Subscribe to Logos Now (you won't own any of the new datasets, but you will have access as long as you subscribe).
    4. Only get the free "core engine" (you will get some new features, but only ones which don't require new resources or datasets. Also, you will have to wait a month or so to allow those making a purchase to download the software first). 

    * The options here are based on "how things have worked in the past." I assume that will be true for L7 when it comes out... whenever that might be.

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  • abondservant
    abondservant Member Posts: 4,798 ✭✭✭

    The model previously outlined is certainly how it has worked up until now.

    With Logos 6, my experience was different.

    IF starter was 500$, and Gold 1000$,  and I bought Starter, the price of Gold dropped to 500$ (or whatever the actual balance was).

    The way things used to work is one of the things that kept me from climbing the package ladder too high. Especially when I had to put things on a payment plan.

    This time however it worked out to be a better way, and In the past year or so I've worked my way up to collectors edition, and have the top base package for many of the denominational offerings as well.

    L2 lvl4 (...) WORDsearch, all the way through L10,

  • JT (alabama24)
    JT (alabama24) MVP Posts: 36,523

    IF starter was 500$, and Gold 1000$,  and I bought Starter, the price of Gold dropped to 500$ (or whatever the actual balance was).

    I fully admit that I might be wrong, but this is the first I have heard of that. I do know, however, that if a user bought silver and soon wanted gold they could essentially return the one and get the other... but that is a bit different than buying now and getting something else 6 months later. 

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  • Justin Gatlin
    Justin Gatlin Member, MVP Posts: 2,331

    Let me do simple numbers to show how dynamic pricing works. Suppose Silver has $100 worth of books in it and costs $20. Gold has $200 worth of books and costs $35.I buy silver first ($20), so I own half of the items in Gold. When I buy Gold, I get it at half price, because I own half of it (17.50). So my total cost is $37.50. 

    To do it with the real numbers:

    Cost Value Savings (1-cost/value)
    Starter 294.95 3177.61 0.907179
    Bronze 629.95 6695.41 0.905913
    Silver 999.95 10640.39 0.906023
    Gold 1549.95 16502.68 0.906079
    Platinum 2149.95 23343.29 0.907899
    Diamond 3449.95 34675.82 0.900508
    Portfolio 4979.95 47968.14 0.896182
    Collectors 10799.95 99502.96 0.891461

    So if I buy silver, I own $10640.39 (or 64.4767%) of the books in Gold. I don't own 35.523% of the books in Gold, so I will pay 35.523% of the price of Gold ($550.59), for a total cost of $1550.54. The discounts are so close, which is how I assumed abondservant thought it didn't matter.

    (By my math, it looks like the discount decreases past Platinum, which is not what sales had told me would happen. I posted a question about it here: https://community.logos.com/forums/p/122930/803167.aspx#803167 )

  • SineNomine
    SineNomine Member Posts: 7,012 ✭✭✭

    alabama24 said:

    IF starter was 500$, and Gold 1000$,  and I bought Starter, the price of Gold dropped to 500$ (or whatever the actual balance was).

    I fully admit that I might be wrong, but this is the first I have heard of that.

    Back when Logos 6 and Verbum 6 base packages came out, it was noted on the forums by at least one knowledgeable FL employee that, this time around, all of the base packages at all levels across all of the streams have almost exactly the same discount percentages.

    “The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one thinks about reforming himself.” St. Peter of Alcántara

  • Greg Corbin
    Greg Corbin Member Posts: 303 ✭✭

    I think the biggest issue is not how the dynamic pricing works as much as the content of the base packages themselves. There was considerable change in the packages when Logos 6 came out. So, I would advise you to view things through the lens of the package contents. If a higher package contains a pricey set you want and will use, then there will never be a better deal than the bigger package because you will get those resources you want along with many others - some of which you will wind up using. If there isn't anything you know you will use in the higher package, then I would advise you to add those resources as you can and as they come on sale.