Quicken's New Subscription Model - Your Quicken Data Will Be Read-Only If You Don't Pay Up

Quicken Inc recently announced a new subscription model. The subscription i s for 1 year and the price point appears to be approximately 2.5 times what the current year versions sell for.

More concerning than the price increase is your Quicken data will become re ad-only if you fail to renew the subscription.

This new model is currently being test driven with the Canadian version of Quicken 2017 and, if nothing changes between now and the roll out of Quicke n 2018, it will likely be the model for US versions of Quicken.

To read the details of the subscription model, see the Quicken Canada Order Questions here:

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Here is an excerpt from the order questions FAQ with the info on what happe ns if your subscription expires:

What happens when my Quicken subscription ends? When your Quicken subscription ends, you'll still be able to access, view, and export all of your financial data. You will never be blocked from acces sing your financial history. However, Quicken will switch to a reduced func tionality mode. In this mode, some features may be limited or unavailable. For example: ?You can open existing data files and see all your ex isting data ?You can view, edit and delete existing transactions?includ ing attachments. ?You can create, run, print and save reports. ?You can export your data, make or restore a backup, and make a cop y of a file. ?You cannot access any Connected Services such as bank downloads, s tock quotes, online bill pay, bill linking, credit score, or mobile sync. ?You cannot add new transactions via file import or manual entry.

There is a suggestion on the Quicken Community forum that Quicken Inc shoul d reverse its decision to change to a subscription that makes the user's da ta read-only if they stop paying, with a lengthy discussion on the topic. T hat discussion has been closed to further comments, but you can still vote for the suggestion. Note - you will need to register for the forum to vote.

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If you feel strongly about the new subscription model and would like to con tact Quicken Inc CEO Eric Dunn, you can find the corporate headquarters add ress and phone number here:

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Reply to
plateau.eyes
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I do, but I doubt writing to what appears to be an extortion-happy CEO is going to make an iota of difference in the execution of a strategy that is in place.

Reply to
Fred

I would not mind a subscription but 2.5 x current price per year seems greedy to me.

Current pricing equivalent of upgrading every year, assuming no price increases, is 1 x, upgrading every second year 0.5 x, and every third year, 0.33 x.

A fairer price would be 1x for a 1 year subscription and multi-year subscriptions lower per year. Maybe offer 1.6x for 2 years, and 1.2x for

3 years.
Reply to
Zaidy036

I'm on the other side of this sort of.

My big concert is that the new Quicken owners create a sustanable business model - because I know of no alterntive to Quicken.

Today, Quicken in effect costs me $15 a year - which is way less than I think its worth.

The danger as i see it is that if they set the price too high and loose customers they won't get them back by dropping the price. But if they set it too low they'll go out of business!

Reply to
Marc Auslander

Current pricing models were set when nearly everyone had a PC or laptop. Those days have long passed.

It's not about fairness, since everyone's definition of fair is different. It's about setting a price that maximizes profit and reflects how much buyers value the software. If they price it too low or too high, they go out of business.

Reply to
Arthur Conan Doyle

Quicken's annual upgrades are just incremental and sometimes only cosmetic and that is why I think 2.5x per year is excessive. I now upgrade only every 2 or 3 years but I am willing to pay more to keep Quicken in business.

My suggestion would increase everyone's cost except for those that now upgrade annually. It would also increase the company's income and provide a continuing user subscription base for them to plan future offerings.

Reply to
Zaidy036

I agree completely. I also upgrade only every two or three years, but would be willing to do so every year if there were real improvements in the new year's version.

And I wouldn't mind paying for an annual subscription if the price were not excessive. Going to 2.5 times the current selling price is

*way* too excessive. If they do this, I fear that they will lose a large percentage of their clientele, and go out of business; that would be a terrible shame, not only for the company, but for all of us who use Quicken.
Reply to
Ken Blake

Ken Blake wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

The Canadian model of 2.5x - is that Canadian dollars? If so, that number should be less in dollars US for the company to get equivalent revenue.

Reply to
John Carter

"Zaidy036" wrote

Quicken's annual upgrades are just incremental and sometimes only cosmetic and that is why I think 2.5x per year is excessive.

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You are only able to determine whether Quicken's price is excessive to you.

The "market" for financial software is the only place where appropriate prices can be determined. Just because you do not find sufficient benefit to cause you to pay the price, does not mean others share your opinion. Neither Quicken nor any other product/service can afford to set their prices so that every buyer, and potential buyer, will believe those prices are worth paying.

Your personal choices can only speak to your own opinion - they can not speak for other's personal choices.

If you do not believe Quicken provides you with benefits that are worth the price, you are welcome to exercise your options: use another financial software product; use a substitute product (such as Excel); commission someone to create a product for you; create your own product (practically everyone claims to be a "coder" today - but none have been able to create a better product than Quicken ... should make you think); or use pencil and paper.

Quicken must attempt to choose a price that maximizes their profits - which requires providing the combination of features and cost that produces the best financial result ... which causes enough customers to pay for the product to cause it to remain a viable product.

Customer price preference comprises only one of the two parts of the "right" price - if customers of a product are not willing to pay for the features they want ... one way or the other, they will not get those features from that product.

Reply to
John Pollard

Although a steep price increase is concerning, my primary reason for postin g was the fact that your data file will become read only should your subscr iption lapse. The confirmation of subscription will be done using the Intui t ID. So you're continued ability to enter data will rely on successfully p honing home to Quicken Inc periodically.

No one else finds this aspect of the new subscription model concerning?

Reply to
plateau.eyes

Yes, the free market will determine the price for the product, but they take a big risk with home users simply wanting to manage a couple of checking accounts and credit cards. An increase as large as proposed will push many of us out, to the bank bill pay services and other software, like MoneySpire. These may take a little more effort but with the small number of accounts and transactions it's not a substantial burden. This is the way we used to do it before CheckFree. I hope they will reconsider the pricing. Perhaps have several options for cheaper versions if you don't want investment or tax tracking or allerts or budgetting (as Money Spire does now). Just basic household management.

I've been using Quicken since MS-DOS and would love to just keep it going but not at 2.5 times current cost.

Reply to
nobody

You are only able to determine whether Quicken's price is excessive to you.

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Yes, the free market will determine the price for the product, but they take a big risk with home users simply wanting to manage a couple of checking accounts and credit cards. An increase as large as proposed will push many of us out, to the bank bill pay services and other software, like MoneySpire. These may take a little more effort but with the small number of accounts and transactions it's not a substantial burden. This is the way we used to do it before CheckFree. I hope they will reconsider the pricing. Perhaps have several options for cheaper versions if you don't want investment or tax tracking or allerts or budgetting (as Money Spire does now). Just basic household management.

I've been using Quicken since MS-DOS and would love to just keep it going but not at 2.5 times current cost.

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It seems you missed the point.

Neither you, nor any other user, is in a position to determine whether an estimated future subscription product will be successful in the U.S. ... and you should not be trying to pretend that you can do so.

Individual users will make that determination on their own, and the net effect of their decisions - which can only be known sometime well after the the new pricing is in effect - will be the deciding factor. No user should be foolish enough to rely significantly on the estimates of other users, who have no meaningful insights. The value of a product or service is 100% an individual decision - and not all users/potential-users will value a given product the same. Just because you do not think you will like the result means nothing to determining whether other users will find the product/price acceptable.

Further: I see no evidence that the experiment in Canada (which is priced in Canadian dollars for the only two Canadian versions) indicates that the new price for a subscription to Quicken in the U.S. will be 2.5 times the current cost for any U.S. user - it's more likely that the subscription price for U.S. users will be cheaper for those who typically upgrade every year, and "slightly" higher for those who typically upgrade every three years.

I suggest you recheck your premises.

Reply to
John Pollard

I'm not pretending anything. All I suggested it that economics 101 says raising cost decreases consumption. I simply suggested some things that might cause that to happen.

Why are you putting words in my mouth? I agreed with what you said.

Reply to
nobody

John Pollard,

I find your answers here and previously on the Quicken Community forum to be extremely helpful and accurate.

I would very much like to know your opinion on the proposed data file locking on subscription lapse. Do you find this concerning?

Reply to
plateau.eyes

I hope you're right!

Reply to
Ken Blake

John Pollard,

I find your answers here and previously on the Quicken Community forum to be extremely helpful and accurate.

I would very much like to know your opinion on the proposed data file locking on subscription lapse. Do you find this concerning?

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Thanks for the vote of confidence.

If I ignore everything else, I can safely say I would prefer that there be no restriction on access to my Quicken data if I do not upgrade.

The trouble I see is that "everything else" is too important to ignore.

I start by asking myself how much I want Quicken to remain a viable product. While I can't put my wish into objective terms that would give others a number to compare to, for example; I can say that Quicken is valuable enough to me that I am prepared to accept what some consider to be unacceptable, in order to keep the product viable. If Quicken went out of business because they failed to implement this new subscription feature, I would be a very unhappy camper. [They may go out of business anyway, but they should not do so without trying every approach to avoid it.]

Quicken is the only personal financial product I know of that gives me the capabilities I want. [For users whose needs are very limited, there may be several other products that would be acceptable to them - I have no argument that would favor Quicken in that situation. But I don't believe that gives those users any legitimate ammunition to complain about Quicken's efforts to remain viable: if a person can use another product, they are fortunate but they should not want to interfere with those who can not.]

To some extent, the issue will boil down to whether the described "subscription" model is necessary and sufficient to keep Quicken in business. I don't believe any user has the information necessary to determine that - and I think even Quicken is making some guesses on the matter - but Quicken is clearly in a better position to know what it takes than any user.

Those users who claim the subscription model is a scam or an attempt to earn undeserved profits appear to be hoping that their claims, for which they have no evidence, will influence Quicken and other users away from the subscription model. My position is that I don't know whether the subscription model Quicken eventually implements will help: I suspect only time will tell. I have no information that would allow me to second guess Quicken; and I'm surely not going to try to tell other users how they should think or what they should do: choosing to use the subscription model is an individual decision; the same product, or service, will have a different perceived value for different individuals.

A lot of what I have read from users on this subject has been a rush to judgement. If you want to read some of that, you can check out this Quicken Community discussion:

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[Note the link at the bottom of that discussion which will display the hidden comments.]

In my opinion, Eric Dunn's comments in that discussion make sense. When all users eligible for support are on the same version, Quicken will be able to provide better support, and to free up more resources to apply to fixing problems and introducing new features.

As it stands now, subscription model users will have complete "access" to their data even if they do not upgrade. As Eric Dunn says, " ... even after the subscription ends, users will have full access to all of their Quicken data, including the ability to edit,run/print reports, and export". At this point, I believe users should be asking Quicken for details about the meaning of "edit" and "export" in that sentence. [I believe the question about "export" has already been asked in the Quicken Community, and that Quicken is looking to provide an explanation. Since the Canadian subscription model is somewhat of an experiment, I suspect that the final features/limitations for the U.S. subscription version have not yet been determined.]

Many users have falsely represented the new subscription model as a large across-the-board price increase. Some of those users have failed to consider that the only prices known at this point are for the Canadian versions of Quicken. First; those prices are in Canadian dollars, they'd need to be converted to U.S. dollars for comparison. Second; there are only two Canadian versions, the equivalent of the U.S. Deluxe and Home & Business versions (while there are some five or six U.S. versions), so again, direct price comparisons may not make much sense.

What Quicken has said about pricing is that users who were upgrading every year will be paying less under the subscription model, and those who were upgrading every three years will be paying slightly more under the subscription model. I know of no one who has verifiable information which refutes that.

At the end of the day - if there are no new bombshell restrictions in a U.S.subscription version of Quicken, I will continue with my current practice, which is to purchase every new version. I start using a new version either when my current version expires, or sometimes when a newer version has some feature I really want (and/or fixes a problem that I really dislike about my current version). I purchase every version because: I want to know how it works and to be able to investigate claims made by others about how it does, or does not, work; and I want to support Quicken ... I want Quicken to continue to be around; it is by far my most valuable software product (and I consider it well worth its current price, and estimated future price).

Reply to
John Pollard

Another shill for the owners of Quicken. You have folded like a cheap Italian suit. This is the time when a strong, solid wall of disapproval should be shown. You are a very poor negotiator.

Reply to
Sharx35

I completely agree.

I am concerned about the potential instability of Quicken's required software updates in the new model.

Reply to
Sherlock

I'm hoping this will get better! Today, Quicken has a confused mix of subscription - every three years - and new features - every year. So they need to try to encourage updates at more than three year intervals.

With pure subscription the only reasons to modify the software are true improvements or response to (non existent) competition. So hopefully product stability will have more value and low value changes less value to the developers.

Reply to
Marc Auslander

John, thanks for your usual thorough and thoughtful response.

Reply to
plateau.eyes

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