Flag user

When I told my land lady before that I wanted a piano in my room, she advised me to buy one in December as prices would go down.

The same rule applies for virtual instruments and other music making software. If you can wait, wait until December. I had seen many discounts, and hence, was able to purchase Miroslav Philharmonik Orchestra and Kontakt 5 at 1/3 and 1/2 their regular prices respectively. In fact, there are too many such promos, that I decided to only discuss the products I actually bought and just give a more comprehensive link in KVR Audio for the rest. Elsewhere in the interwebs, audible (UK) has given a 30% off on all audiobooks (I’m a lazy reader) and Actual Tools sold their multiple monitor taskbar with a 50% discount. For sure there are more discounts for other products during the December holidays.

Christmas has some good effects. I would like to believe that deep in their hearts, vendors just simply want to give, when they are possessed by Christmas spirits. But of course, marketing wise, Christmas promos get them more publicity, attract customers who would otherwise never buy their products, and for those selling tangible stuff, get rid of the year’s unsold products. In any case, if you are not tricked into impulsive buying, it is a win-win situation IMHO.

So, if you think a product is great, but have no immediate use for it, it may be good idea to be patient and wait. Also, if it software delivered via download, you don’t have to worry that it will run out of stock. If the software is famous/reputable, its website would most probably still be around within the year.

You might even realize that you can actually live without it as time goes by and you discover alternatives. :)

Risks and considerations

What you could worry about is that the price may go up as you wait. There is the possibility of inflation, and prices may rise with continuing software development expenses. But so far, I’ve seen price increases are moderate when they do happen. Another consideration is major software upgrades. There are a lot of complaints when software undergo extreme make-overs like when MS Office 2007 was introduced. As the most affected are those who are used with the previous version, this may not be a problem for new customers. I haven’t used any previous versions of Guitar Pro before, so unlike what others may claim, I find Guitar Pro 6 to be just fine. Whether or not an upgraded version will be discounted or for free if you have a previous version is another concern. It could be sad to pay extra a few months after buying a previous version.

Coda

What a great way to start a year by waiting for it to end. I actually don’t feel very comfortable talking about all that buying stuff and whatnot as I prefer talking about free stuff which all of us can appreciate. But as consumers or prosumers, buying things is just part of getting things done.

Happy New Year! :)