Difference between buying VIP subscription through iTunes vs smule.com

[[Member giul…]]

Hi everyone! 

I'm here because I need your help. I have an iPhone and I really want to become VIP on Smule Sing! app. The problem is that I've seen (sorry if my English is not so accurate) a price on the application which is different than the one I've seen on smule.com. And I read that you can either buy the same subscription on iTunes or on the Smule website. But why do they have different prices? The iTunes one is way bigger (insanely expensive) than the smule.com one. Probably these prices are different in each country and I don't know if that happens in yours too. But anyways I'm a little scared that if I buy the subscription on smule.com I won't be able to use it on my iPhone... But the website says it will work both on Android and Apple?? I don't know please help!!! 

[[Member open…]]

7 minutes ago, giuliabertelli said:

But why do they have different prices?

Because on the app store, Apple gets 30% of the price. 

Smule has recently raised the prices in the app stores and rolled out their own payment options. Yes, its much cheaper. 

7 minutes ago, giuliabertelli said:

I'm a little scared that if I buy the subscription on smule.com I won't be able to use it on my iPhone... 

Yes, you can use it in your iPhone. That’s what its made for. It’s a regular VIP subscription tied to your account, paid via credit card and it renews after a months or a year. 

[[Member giul…]]

Thank you very much!!

[[Member Mila…]]

Hi buddies

I have the same situation.

I want to buy my VIP from Android because i have credit on my Google play account. 

is android vip work on IOS ? 

[[Member open…]]

5 minutes ago, Milad Jfrr said:

Hi buddies

I have the same situation.

I want to buy my VIP from Android because i have credit on my Google play account. 

is android vip work on IOS ? 

No. If you buy it through the Google Play store, you won’t be able to use it on iOS. 

[[Member chea…]]

if i buy vip on smule.com, i will can use it on ios app right?

[[Member open…]]

Subscriptions from smule.com work on iOS and Android. 

[[Member mist…]]

I don’t want to sound like a wet rag, but don’t Apple have a policy whereby if you are introduced to a service through the App Store, Apple still require 30% of any subscription fee, even if the subscription was subsequently taken out independently of the App Store?

[[Member PEAC…]]

Der Preisunterschied ist aber nicht 30%, sondern mehr als 100%.

———————————————-

The price difference is not 30%, but more than 100%.

[[Member Brai…]]

Tagging a price to something whose marginal cost is near zero is a kind of art. 

I've used some international proxy service to check prices worldwide and I've found this:

Australia: 23.99 AUD        -> 15.32 € = 18.72 $
Ireland:   27.99 €            ->              34.19 $
California 39.99 $            -> 32.74 €
Singapore: SGD 25.59        -> 15.81 € = 19.32 $
 

What I wonder is if I can buy in Australia (or whichever country it is cheaper) with a web proxy, and then , once my user/pass has become vip, log-in anywhere.

[[Member open…]]

It’s tied to your actual location indirectly. The Smule website will only accept local credit cards and similarly you can’t buy in any iTunes store you like. 

[[Member PEAC…]]

bordered on fraud, right?

[[Member open…]]

No. Why? Feel free to make a case—not just a suggestive claim about possible illegal activities.

There are obvious direct reasons such as taxation, payment fees, reseller shares and so on which might be different in different countries or distribution channels. The resulting price differences for customers are normal and expected. I wouldn’t do it any other way as a vendor. 

And I don’t even see a problem with price changes by region, which have none of the above reasons. It’s normal to have students discounts, senior discounts and things like that for example—so different prices for exactly the same product or service. And very few have a problem with that. You group people together, who on average, usually have a smaller income than others. Vendors might do the same for digital products and group by country for example. That’s also not surprising. The worth or value of a product isn’t the same everywhere on the world, because the income and financial situation of people isn’t the same everywhere on the world. So what do you expect? You might live in a rather rich country with rather high wages and still want the lowest possible Smule price they might charge in a third-world country? Is that really fair? 

Considering all the above, I don’t care at all what Smule VIP costs in Australia or wherever. Why would I? Smule makes an offer to me in my country. And I judge if that price is right for me. That’s it! I won’t start wining (or suggest fraud) if Smule charges someone else less or more. 

[[Member PEAC…]]

But in a country where wages are higher and Smule's fees are lower, it is not fair either.

Other question: Can one activate the subscription with the Apple cards?

[[Member open…]]

You mean gift cards? Kind of. Again, the gift card is tied to local stores and in addition Apple requires at least double the amount of credit the subscriptions costs, so you can actually pay a subscription and are not “broke” after the first payment. 

[[Member PEAC…]]

So with me in Austria, the annual subscription would cost 57.99 EUR. would be enough if I buy 3x20 EUR cards, right?

[[Member open…]]

No. Double the costs for one subscription period. 

[[Member PEAC…]]

So I'm forced to book 116 EUR. An impudence.

[[Member Brai…]]

Customer segmentation is not fraud, it is just plain old economics. Every business does it. Smule practices it a bit aggressively , and based on geographic criteria (I suppose they have a hard time doing it any other - better - way).

With software apps, once you've set up the whole thing rolling, the cost of adding an additional client to the system is nearly zero, so actually you could charge him anything you want. 

But you cannot stop growing and you're there to earn money, so what you do is figure how much you have to charge to maximize the earnings (well, and the number of clients, as you also want to f..k competitors).

The optimum would be reading the mind of each customer and charge him as much as he is willing to pay for your service, from one cent to whatever. As that is not possible or even legal , they just choose some criteria and try to segment their customers, and also try to avoid that clients willing to pay more sneak into the cheaper queue. 

Here they chose geographic criteria, and some thinking mind decided that a user from Ireland is willing to pay double than an Aussie. Salaries are only one of many variables.

Our task, as customers, is try to sneak into the cheaper queue.

More on this practices: Tim Harding book, the undercover economist.

http://timharford.com/books/undercovereconomist/

[[Member PEAC…]]

ok, but what's the difference between the payment methods, credit card, gift card or Paypal? I mean, if there is enough credit in each of the mentioned payment methods to complete an annual membership, then it is ok, right?

[[Member open…]]

It’s okay on Smule’s website, but last time I checked, credit card is the only payment method they allow at this time. 

Apple has their own  rules and payment methods – this is unrelated to Smule. And a new subscription is indeed much more expensive on the iTunes store currently. 

[[Member PEAC…]]

43 minutes ago, opentype said:

It’s okay on Smule’s website, but last time I checked, credit card is the only payment method they allow at this time. 

Apple has their own  rules and payment methods – this is unrelated to Smule. And a new subscription is indeed much more expensive on the iTunes store currently. 

Hab soeben gesehen, du bist aus Deutschland.

[[Member Samm…]]

That’s strange that you can’t use your android subscription on an iOS device since I was doing that from the start of this year because I changed to an iphone. My android membership was still working on my iOS device..My subscription expired and now I can’t seem to be able to use that method anymore .. odd

[[Member Marc…]]

Hello, my wife and I both downloaded the app today and it seems like it will be fun, weird thing is l that hers says $4.99 per month when she clicks VIP while mine says $19.99 per month. What is going on with this? I'll attach screen shots.

[[Member Brai…]]

I see that the free trial option is also out ... Is it possible that you are viewing an offer for recurring vip users? I've heard that when you are vip, renewals keep the old rate.