I do. And that is appreciating the price of Poser figures, clothing, props, and all the rest. I hear a lot of statements that folks can't afford some of the Poser stuff, which affects a lot of us, but also that the pricing is high, but about the highest you will see is around $35 for maybe a Stonemason set. Most probably average around $15.

Take a look at what you can buy from some vendors for other apps.
For example, there are some figures..lo rez figures, on the current issue of 3D World #`119. There are 10 of them. They don;t do much within Poser other than stand there, but they fulfill a need for lo rez figures...at least until Poser 8 is released...anyway, I went to the website to see about obtaining more of these figures, and the DVD is $500USD for 20 figures...there are some other files as well, but if you look at DAZ , you will find some lo rez dude and woms for around $15. This site also has high rez vehicles at $94 per 10, which isn;t too bad probably. But other sites are even higher.
Even Victoria is pretty darn cheap, or any of the other DAZ figures.

so the bottom line is the bottom line. Appreciate what you get for a few bucks in the Poser arena. And I gues we can include DS in there as well.

Amen. Preach on, my brotha. Preach on. -Les

sixus1 is the perfect example..thanks for stopping by , Les :)
Great creatures, a big variety of stuff, for so cheap its actually amazing the prices are what they are. It must be love, or something :)

hahahaha... for what it's worth, I don't mind charging the kind of prices we do, but it would be reeeeeealllly nice if there were more ways to get the word out to potential customers. The way things are kind of throttled into a select few having so much control is what I see as the single biggest problem with this market, and even the software on a pro or hobbyist level, either one. I guess it's just another instance like so many in today's economy where it's starting to look like the only way to keep a free market open is actually through some kind of regulation. Too bad we're too small a market to come under governmental concern. But then again, who regulates the regulators... ugh.... It's just a messed up time to be "indy" in anything I guess. -Les

sixus1 whatever happened to the movie you were working on? Was hoping to see it, did it release to dvd so I can rent it? Was pretty exciting to have one of our own out there in the big world.
Thanks

Yep a major appreciation especially for Acadia's generosity of gift certificates plus rendo's 15% off coupon. I got 3 items without spending a dime and I think I even have some change.

If you're referring to Dominator X, it was canned because of some pretty underhanded dealings from one individual. Can't go into it more than that, but it's still a shame to me because the work I had done on that is something I'll always be proud of  and I loved the direction it was going in.

There was another project Rebekah and I were putting together on our own based on a really kickass script she wrote for a kind of off beat Lovecraftian action/horror/comedy cartoon. We actually got most of the characters built, rigged and tested, and I even had about 3/4 of the environments done and ready for animation. We found ourselves at a loss though, because we just couldn't get the damn voice talent we needed to do the thing. I'm still aggravated by that and would love to pull that out of the ashes. It's the kind of thing, too, where if we could get any level of funding behind it, I know it would pay off in a ridiculous way, but at the moment, with this economy, it seems like 1. getting anyone to fund anything is pretty much a joke in itself and 2. we have to work our asses off to keep everything going as it is, let alone bring on a project as huge as that movie would have been. Basically, if I could come up with the funding to be able to work on it for about 1 year solid and nothing else, it would get done and probably be pretty darn cool. That ain't happening, but it's in the back of my head and I'm just thankful that I've been able to work in the industry to some degree at this point, plus I really do enjoy the work we do for the Poser community. I know I have skills that some of my "high end" peers think are wasted on Poser. But you know what, it was Poser stuff that helped build those skills, it was friends I made in Poser stuff who have helped build my career and it's Poser users who have paid my bills in one way or another for the past 10 years. I have a lot of respect for that.

Frankly, people buy our stuff and really never know just how much I really appreciate it, but I do and I'm glad the people use our stuff. And as hard as times are for everyone right now, one thing that helps keep my motivation and morale up is the thought that whatever I'm making right now, whatever the next package is we put out, might just excite someone or give them an idea for some artwork to spend time on that might brighten things for them, even if it's just a little. Sure, we charge for our stuff. It's how we keep the lights on. Sure, I'd LOVE to see more sales and our business grow. But the cash is only part of it and I really am thankful that I make my living making stuff that so many people have come to use and enjoy. -Les

I hear ya there Les- I've given away way more of my stuff then I've sold over the last 7 or 8 years. I love it when stuff gets used.

Amen. I do this to help pay bills so I can stay home with my kids, but the greatest thrill is to see my stuff used somewhere.

Then you have us over the other side of the pond who have a terrible exchange rate and when it's really bad we have to pay almost twice as much as the Americans. Don't get me wrong, i'm not ungrateful but when you have to spend more pennies each month then it kind of sucks. At it's worse last year i was paying $14 a month for my Daz subscription instead of $7.95 which hurt but i didn't want to let it go and miss out on all the $1.99 goodies..lol

If you want a bargain I'm pleased to announce that sometime in the next few days a new site will be up and running and prices starting from $1. Watch the forums for announcements.

Quote - Then you have us over the other side of the pond who have a terrible exchange rate and when it's really bad we have to pay almost twice as much as the Americans. Don't get me wrong, i'm not ungrateful but when you have to spend more pennies each month then it kind of sucks. At it's worse last year i was paying $14 a month for my Daz subscription instead of $7.95 which hurt but i didn't want to let it go and miss out on all the $1.99 goodies..lol

Exchange rates are an artificial construct so you really aren't "paying more than the Americans" you've just been conditioned to think so. Step back for a minute and really think about it.....you have (X) number of monetary units, an item costs (Y) number of monetary units in your currency. Doesn't matter what anyone else's currency unit designation is because you are working in a local system.

X>Y = purchase

X<Y = save monetary units and purchase at a later time

price = price at the end of the day

Americans paid $7.95USD,  you paid $14 in your currency - it's the same thing, the cost of the product.

Now had you been charged $14USD then you would be paying nearly twice what the US buyers are charged. Adobe and a few others have been accused of engaging in that practice.

The only time exchange rates matter is if you are buying and selling currency which has pretty much been declared illegal except for governments and financial institutions.

Stupid tariffs on the other hand are a completely different story and are a major cause of inflated prices.

Quote - There was another project Rebekah and I were putting together on our own based on a really kickass script she wrote for a kind of off beat Lovecraftian action/horror/comedy cartoon. We actually got most of the characters built, rigged and tested, and I even had about 3/4 of the environments done and ready for animation. We found ourselves at a loss though, because we just couldn't get the damn voice talent we needed to do the thing. I'm still aggravated by that and would love to pull that out of the ashes.

All I have to say is 9-9-09 and Shane Acker.....reason not to quit.

Quote - > Quote - Then you have us over the other side of the pond who have a terrible exchange rate and when it's really bad we have to pay almost twice as much as the Americans. Don't get me wrong, i'm not ungrateful but when you have to spend more pennies each month then it kind of sucks. At it's worse last year i was paying $14 a month for my Daz subscription instead of $7.95 which hurt but i didn't want to let it go and miss out on all the $1.99 goodies..lol

Exchange rates are an artificial construct so you really aren't "paying more than the Americans" you've just been conditioned to think so. Step back for a minute and really think about it.....you have (X) number of monetary units, an item costs (Y) number of monetary units in your currency. Doesn't matter what anyone else's currency unit designation is because you are working in a local system.

X>Y = purchase

X<Y = save monetary units and purchase at a later time

price = price at the end of the day

Americans paid $7.95USD,  you paid $14 in your currency - it's the same thing, the cost of the product.

Now had you been charged $14USD then you would be paying nearly twice what the US buyers are charged. Adobe and a few others have been accused of engaging in that practice.

The only time exchange rates matter is if you are buying and selling currency which has pretty much been declared illegal except for governments and financial institutions.

Stupid tariffs on the other hand are a completely different story and are a major cause of inflated prices.

Sorry, i may be a dimwit sometimes but thats rubbish..

1.00 USD = .606 GBP
1.00 USD = .703 EUR

but no matter, the point of the thread is the fact Poser content is much cheaper than content for most other applications and we, as consumers should appreciate that fact. If you're on the other side of the pond, the Poser content is still cheaper than the pro stuff foor max, etc from the "pro" sites.

Quote - Sorry, i may be a dimwit sometimes but thats rubbish..

Well.....continue as you are and excuse me for phrasing my illustration in such a way that you perceived it as me thinking you are a dimwit, that has been corrected.

The aforementioned being the case there is absolutely no need to engage in further discourse.

Sorry, i may be a dimwit sometimes but thats rubbish..

One man's rubbish is another man's treasure.

If Deni67 is a dimwit, then I'll join the Dimwit Club.  The only measure of value that matters
is the sweat of your brow.  If a Brit has to work for one hour to buy Goth Fairie Stripper
Shoes For V4 while an American has to work for only a half hour to buy Goth Fairie
Stripper Shoes For V4, the Brit is getting shafted (by comparison), and it's not an
accidental or inevitable shaft either. 

Under the current system exchange rates are not a natural phenomenon like gravity,
they are a playtoy of the rich, and are manipulated to help the rich in one country or another.

Rich American companies have gladly gone along with China's manipulation of
exchange rates, because it allows rich American companies to pay near-slave
wages for brow-sweat.  Lincoln is spinning in his grave, and so is Henry Ford.

It seems that  some people don't understand exchange rates and how things go when  businesses don't update their prices with the change of strength of one currency or another compared to the USd.

eg. If the US dollar is = to .75 of  the British pound for a while and prices are based on that, when the US dollar falls in value to .50 of the British pound but the  businesses don't change the price of their products in pounds. then the one buying in GBP is getting the shaft.

So Deni67 is NOT deluded and I think i have some stuff i want to sell lisarichie  because  she sure doesnt understand how exchange rates work.

When I was in the navy I went to Bahrain and i pulled out 10 dinar from the base ATM the exchange rate was 4:1 in their favor so yup you guessed it  that 10 dinar bill  was 40 bucks US.By lisarichie's logic i should have only had 10 bucks us withdrawn from my account but let me tell you that was not the case. luckily I had several months pay backed up so it was no problem though it was kinda expensive there.

Why thank you Ockham and welcome to my once lonely dimwit club..lol
Thank you also Dasquid, you both explained it much better than i ever could..

I'm confused and also interested, so I'm asking for more info. (Note: I'm not taking any sides here - just genuinely curious and open minded.)

I thought that when you buy things on the Internet to be delivered as an electronic download, it doesn't matter where you are or what currency you use. I thought the seller receives the asking price in the asking units. And that your credit card company handles the conversion using current rates, plus some markup for the favor, allowing you to pay in your natural currency. The exchange rate fluctuation can cause a shift in effective price over time, but the true price is the asking price in the asking unit.

For example, when I was in France, I drank some wine, and they charged me 10 Euros. My credit card company paid 10 Euros, and I had to pay them 15 US dollars. I was extremely happy because when I purchase a similar quality of wine in the US, I usually pay 45 US dollars.

On the other hand, in Paris in the same restaurant, my daughter's Coke was 6 Euros or 9 US dollars which is a totally mind bending ripoff - about 4.5 times more than a Coke is "worth" according to prices in the US.

I understand physical goods like soda and wine are not comparable to digital files, and those effective prices had nothing to do with exchange rates or being American, but rather because I was in Paris buying products that come from or didn't come from Paris.

So leaving aside the exchange rate, how did it come to pass that a month of DAZ happiness is $14 when purchased from outside the US? Do they actually charge 10 Euros to those in Europe, or do they charge $7.95 US to everybody, and your credit card/country tariffs make up the difference?

DAZ asks for Dollars; PayPal or some credit card company does the rest. When the exchange rate changes, things get more or less expensive, for me at last - obviously this is a factor for some people here.

Quote - We found ourselves at a loss though, because we just couldn't get the damn voice talent we needed to do the thing. I'm still aggravated by that and would love to pull that out of the ashes.

Les, if you get interested in the project again, I'd love to help out. I've got some experience doing voice work (a little TV, more radio, and live stuff on stage), and I can do several accents and variations. Plus, I've got some good vocoders for extending the range of what I can contribute. I'd be happy to help out for nothing if you want to do some demo reels to sell the project; if you want me for a commercial project, I'm happy to work for not much off the back end net, so you don't have to pay me anything, unless you get rich off of it.

I don't have a full studio, but I can at least do a demo for you, if not the whole thing, from here. If you've got access to a recording studio for the project, I'm only a couple of hours from Cincinnati. I love to get over to the Shadowbox in Newport, so I get down that way from time to time anyhow.

I might even be able to wrangle up one or two other voice actors locally who would be willing to work for the same scale.

Animation is a hobby with me, but I've got access to some pretty good tools, so I'd be happy to help with that, if you like.

Quote - It seems that  some people don't understand exchange rates and how things go when  businesses don't update their prices with the change of strength of one currency or another compared to the USd.    

Not only do we have non-mathematicians we apparently have non-readers also. If you don't get what I mean by that go back and try reading for comprehension this time.

I would be more than glad to buy from you using your brand of specious logic.

Watch closely, we'll use your logic here and your numbers for the first section. In the second section I'll be the person whining about the exchange rate and you be the merchant with flex pricing. We'll even pretend the prices a Poser merchant charges are based on the exchange rate. (Any Poser merchants out there do this for real?)

Section 1
To keep this really really simple we'll do this based on $10 USD item price so you can follow along easier but we’ll borrow ockham’s Goth Fairie Stripper Shoes for V4 as the item. Okay now that the scenario is set up let's press onward.

Using your illustration:

1 USD  = .75 GBP   therefore  10 USD = 7.5 GBP  

I pay 7.5 GBP and the bank changes that to 10 USD (We’re together so far right?)

Now the exchange rate drops to:

1 USD  = .5 GBP  therefore  10 USD = 5 GBP

I pay 5 GBP and the bank changes that to 10 USD for you.

(If you don’t see it yet you aren’t going to…ever. There is an error in presumption in your post related to your math.)

The exchange rate has fluctuated but you as a merchant are still getting the price you’ve placed on your item in your native currency, which is the value you’ve decided your labors are worth. (Note the change in what I pay as a Brit….explain precisely how I got shafted by you.)

Section 2

Now let’s take this on to the next step in the logic loop you’ve created, flex pricing. By the reasoning expounded by several of the “club” USD prices should be adjusted according to the exchange, overlooking the fact that the exchange rate is a normalizing vector for monetary exchange that functions to balance pricing between nationalities. So…for this part let’s assume I’ve moved to Australia. Checking the current exchange rates:

1 USD = 1.22 AUD  therefore  10 USD = 12.20 AUD

I pay 12.20 AUD and the bank gives you 10 USD

Still on track and you are getting the price you’ve placed on your labors in your native currency.

Now I’m going to whine and say “but that’s not fair I’m paying $12.20 for a $10.00 item.” (Completely overlooking the fact that the rate of exchange is designed to balance pricing across international borders.)

So I belabor you until you price the item compensating for the “exchange rate” and sell the 10 USD item to me for 10 AUD.

I pay 10 AUD and the bank pays you  8.22 USD

So as a merchant you are now getting 8.22 for the labor/item  you priced at 10 USD.

Do you get it yet coming from the merchant perspective?

Now, do you really think you or any of the other “club” ever need to make another snide comment at me?

Quote - > Quote - We found ourselves at a loss though, because we just couldn't get the damn voice talent we needed to do the thing. I'm still aggravated by that and would love to pull that out of the ashes.

Les, if you get interested in the project again, I'd love to help out. I've got some experience doing voice work (a little TV, more radio, and live stuff on stage), and I can do several accents and variations. Plus, I've got some good vocoders for extending the range of what I can contribute. I'd be happy to help out for nothing if you want to do some demo reels to sell the project; if you want me for a commercial project, I'm happy to work for not much off the back end net, so you don't have to pay me anything, unless you get rich off of it.

I don't have a full studio, but I can at least do a demo for you, if not the whole thing, from here. If you've got access to a recording studio for the project, I'm only a couple of hours from Cincinnati. I love to get over to the Shadowbox in Newport, so I get down that way from time to time anyhow.

I might even be able to wrangle up one or two other voice actors locally who would be willing to work for the same scale.

Animation is a hobby with me, but I've got access to some pretty good tools, so I'd be happy to help with that, if you like.

Dude!!!  Hell yeah!  Send me a pm or email or something so we can get some details together. I have a small but very ample recording setup here in case it's needed, but it sounds like you probably have at least enough to get some rough stuff together. So far, I only ever had one actor come in and it was great. Dude knocked out most of the lines for two major characters in just one session. Like I said, get with me via pm or email and we'll see what we can do. BTW: we used to live in Indy so that's pretty familiar territory. We should definitely meet up sometime. -Les

Ok, now that we've had an in-depth lesson on 3 people's view of the exchange rate, I would like that line of conversation to stop in this thread, please.  I don't want it getting heated.  This started as a way to appreciate those who create what we use for our art, whether it's for free or we pay money for it, whatever the exchange rate may be.

Jeni

*When I was in the navy I went to Bahrain and i pulled out 10 dinar from the base ATM the exchange rate was 4:1 in their favor so yup you guessed it  that 10 dinar bill  was 40 bucks US.By lisarichie's logic i should have only had 10 bucks us withdrawn from my account but let me tell you that was not the case. luckily I had several months pay backed up so it was no problem though it was kinda expensive there.

Your lucky!   When I was in the Marines we got paid in chits.  They were good for the geedunk and the First Sargeants beer wagon. 

You know of course,  the only purpose of the Navy is transportation for the Marines(Ooh Rah!)

bagginsbill :) when I was in the Philippines a 2 liter bottle of coke was one peso- about 12 cents USD.

That soda you bought was probably made there in France - or somewhere nearby.

It's not what a products value is- it's what the market will bare.

Amway is a local company around here. It cost less then a nickle to make a tube of lipstick that sells for $20

Quote - *When I was in the navy I went to Bahrain and i pulled out 10 dinar from the base ATM the exchange rate was 4:1 in their favor so yup you guessed it  that 10 dinar bill  was 40 bucks US.By lisarichie's logic i should have only had 10 bucks us withdrawn from my account but let me tell you that was not the case. luckily I had several months pay backed up so it was no problem though it was kinda expensive there.

Your lucky!   When I was in the Marines we got paid in chits.  They were good for the geedunk and the First Sargeants beer wagon. 

You know of course,  the only purpose of the Navy is transportation for the Marines(Ooh Rah!)

Yeah you know what Marine stands for right?

My Ass Rides In Navy Equipment.