Adobe prices

    It is really interesting stuff. Eastern - Central Europe is not amongst the most wellfare countries. However software companies (the bigger the more) seem to be ignoring this completely. I have my explanations - and I know that the hungarian gov’t likes to tax companies heavily with all kinds of made-up taxes and customs. There’s also a 20% value added tax here (similar to sales tax in the u.s.).

Despite all this it is interesting to note that e.g.  Adobe’s CS3 master collection (full, not upgrade) costs

- 2500 USD in the U.S.

- 3386.79 EUR (2799 EUR + VAT (21% interesting to note that it is actally 20%) in Hungary

Just fyi: 2500 USD is cca. 470,000 HUF, whilst 3386 EUR is 864,000 HUF - ok, I guess most companies can get back the VAT after some time which makes it 714,000 HUF. Still there’s a HUGE price difference between 470,000 and 714,000. Are we some special customers here in Hungary? Why is this? Can someone explain? I know that according to their EULA it is forbidden to buy in the US and use it in Hungary. I think what matters is if the company buying is registered in Hungary. An individual can buy wherever he or she wants from. Also I can’t stress enough the advantages of offshore companies. In this case you are not hungarian anymore. A nice place in some far away place where your ‘company’ is registered is all you need - and now you are also legally ok. Or what. This is all a huge pile of crap if you ask me, but whatever.

Microsoft also does this. A copy of Vista costs 60 USD in China (I am pretty sure everyone buys software there legally. They have no interest in getting the shit for $1 on the street).
In Hungary it is between 50-75,000 HUF if you buy retail, but usually you get the shit preinstalled on your computer (and pre paid - how nice, even if you do not want to use it) also in the states you can get it for 100 USD - if you have the inclination for that.