🚀 go-pugleaf

I was surprized to see Pixar (MacRenderMan) on the Top Ten Ripoffs list
posted here recently.  I asked our Director of Marketing why there was
such a large difference between the domestic and foreign retail prices.
I found her response illuminating and, with her permission, I'm posting
it for you all.  It's marked with a ':' at the head of each line.

:Unfortunately, Pixar has no control over the price set by international
:distributors for our products. Our international distributors receive
:the same retail price suggestions and discount terms as our domestic
:distributors.  International distributors seem to feel that they must
:charge more for the product than the U.S. retail because they assume the
:responsiblity of marketing it in their country.

:Excessive differences between U.S. and international product pricing
:encourages international users to purchase product from U.S. catalogs.
:This is the "grey market" which results in a loss of sales for the
:international distributors.  To combat this distributors ask software
:vendors to provide costly hardware locks or complicated protection
:schemes. We do not do this because it is difficult for us and our 
:users.  

:Overall, the system of international software distribution needs improvement
:because the current method is a disadvantage to the software manufacturers,
:the distributors and most especially, the end users.

So if one of you across the pond wants to start a distribution business, there
would seem to be ample opportunity to undercut your competitors.

		--Craig
-- 
	good@pixar.com
-
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