Upcoming change in CQC pricing

[Dean Roddey]

This is just a heads up for anyone who has been thinking about coming on board with CQC. As you might know, we've always been in something of a bind wrt to pro installers. They don't like that we sell a DIY version which is effectively the same product, for a much lower price. They don't want their customers seeing that and having to get into an argument about why their customers are paying more.

So, we are going to finally reconcile the two pricing schemes in the next version, 3.2. Though we are taking a significant hit on the pro price in order to try to keep the price reasonable, inevitably it's going to mean an increase in the cost of the DIY version. But, it means that we'll be able to openly sell to DIYers and that our integrators can work with DIYers if they want as well, since there's no longer any pricing disparity. So, it'll just be a more comfortable scenario all around, other than the fact that the DIY price has got to go up.

So, anyway, if you have been toying with the idea, this is just a courtesy heads up about what is going to happen, since you may want to do it now and get in before the change occurs. If so, just contact us at support at charmedquark.com.

 

[cgull]

I really appreciate the heads-up on this! The house is about a month out from being finished but I've been thinking about using CQC on top of the ELK M1. Might as well bump up my timeframe for getting this!

Am I safe if I wait until late April to buy it or should I do it in March? Thanks!

 

[beelzerob]

Makes sense Dean, and I always support whatever is good overall for CQS.

One question...does that mean now that any of us schmoes can purchase CQC and install it in someones house and still get support? Before, you had to be an integrator and buy the integrator version to get that support. Just wondering if that's changed since the pricing is the same now.

 

[Dean Roddey]

I really appreciate the heads-up on this! The house is about a month out from being finished but I've been thinking about using CQC on top of the ELK M1. Might as well bump up my timeframe for getting this!

Am I safe if I wait until late April to buy it or should I do it in March? Thanks!

March would be safer. We are going to do a release pretty much just for this purpose. So all it requires is some changes to the licensing system. So it won't be long.

 

[Dean Roddey]

Makes sense Dean, and I always support whatever is good overall for CQS.

One question...does that mean now that any of us schmoes can purchase CQC and install it in someones house and still get support? Before, you had to be an integrator and buy the integrator version to get that support. Just wondering if that's changed since the pricing is the same now.

There will be a paid support system, which pros or DIYers can use, with a few tiers. However, if you want to support for doing installs for other people, you will have to sign up as an integrator still.

 

[Dean Roddey]

So how much of an increase are we taking here? I'm still looking.

It'll be pretty significant, like around 2x for a system equivalent to the current DIY product.

 

[beelzerob]

There will be a paid support system, which pros or DIYers can use,

Well the current level of support for DIY'ers continue to be free, or is that a tier?

 

[Dean Roddey]

There will be a paid support system, which pros or DIYers can use,

Well the current level of support for DIY'ers continue to be free, or is that a tier?

It's a tier, but it's the free tier. Of course someone could go ahead and install other people's systems without signing up, and there's nothing we could do to stop them. But most folks doing it for bucks would want some guarantee of getting some priority support one would hope.

 

[beelzerob]

hehe... those two questions of mine weren't actually related.

 

[Sacedog]

Will the annual license fee go up as well?

 

[123]

Which group, Professional Integrators or DIYers, generates more CQC drivers?

 

[Dean Roddey]

Will the annual license fee go up as well?

That will go away. We will just charge for new stuff as appropriate. Any outstanding maintenance fees will be honored until they run out. When there was only one system configuration and when DIYers paid a lot less, it made sense. But when we'll have many different possible configurations at different prices, and when both are paying the same, it would be hard to come up with any scheme that really worked. It could be some percentage of your system price or something. But that would just get messy.

 

[Dean Roddey]

Which group, Professional Integrators or DIYers, generates more CQC drivers?

Depends on how you look at it. Not a few of the drivers that are written by DIYers are written on a mercenary basis, by folks who make money on the side writing drivers that people want/need. Some of the folks who want/need them are pros, some are DIYers. So there's not a clean divide there. Either way, everyone gets to use them, so DIYers and pros benefit from that.

 

[aslamma]

Something I was thinking. Is if fair to say CQC has steepest learning curve of its DIY competitors? It seems so to be for me. Therefore, its a natural fit for a pro since once you are doing it day in and day out, the learning curve doesn't really matter. But for a DIY guy, the fact that there is a steep learning curve is offset by the discounted price. I don't think your average guy who wants a pro install is really wanting to invest the time to learn it and just install in a single system.

So I can see what the pros are saying, but I also think it makes sense that a DIY guy should get a good discount. I wonder what the impact will be if the price really does double. Would the forum support start to dwindle? CQC is a tricky enough program as it is, and with the price hike, I suppose it would scare a lot of new DIY users off.

 

[myyaz33]

I wonder what the impact will be if the price really does double. Would the forum support start to dwindle? CQC is a tricky enough program as it is, and with the price hike, I suppose it would scare a lot of new DIY users off.

I'd bet the answer for both of these is going to be a big YES, but only time will tell. I have been wanting to get into CQC for some time but have too much invested in Homeseer to throw it away now. So with this change, it pretty much seals the deal for me.

Can't really blame Dean for doing what needs done though. The software business is harsh and to make money in it, things like this have to happen. Not exactly the same thing, but take a look what happened to XLobby.