Err, Yeah, So Adobe released Lightroom 3 which I will purchase, but I have a question first, Adobe…

Why, when I opt to purchase and have the product delivered via download which saves you packaging costs but costs you 250mb of hosting plus a crapper load of bandwidth for downloads, do you charge me two pounds more than if I were to buy a boxed copy – Download £76.88 – Shipped £74.66

Umm, Adobe, Don’t you mean.. [mind the rude word, oh la la!]

Or, now thanks to UBPICS, I’ve been informed that it’s EU VAT LAW that makes it more expensive to download than to box and ship… so, effectively, EU VAT LAW is helping to destroy trees everywhere!

So, I wanted to confirm this… I popped onto the Adobe Live Chat and this is what happened…

None the wiser, I will buy a downloaded version of the product – I realise that you have to off-set the download / electricity / server with the box manufacture / delivery truck / trees – I’m sure it’s a lose|lose situation – but I still don’t get it… Adobe? Insight?

UPDATE: “Technically it is still Adobe’s “fault” as they chose to locate it Ireland… Rate of Corporation Tax is 12.5% compared to 28% in UK whereas VAT is 21% in Ireland compared with 17.5% UK (at present). For the download your order is fulfilled by Adobe Ireland so VAT charged at the Irish Rate. Physical product shipped by Adobe UK so charged at UK rate. Adobe could setup a UK download centre so you save a bit on the VAT but they’ll pay a hell of a lot more Corp Tax on their profit per copy.” — Thanks to Brad at www.ubpics.com for this

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