Renewal Prices for quicken deluxe are too high

catonyx

Will I get any incentive to renew my subscription near renewal time or should I start considering alternatives? Any tricks out there?

:'( $51 a year. Wow. Price seems out of control considering the number ongoing bugs and lack of any "real" new features. I think that should be the two year price. >:)

If I let it lapse, how long before I qualify for the new user price again?

jacobs

@catonyx  No, there are not discounts offered for existing subscribers that I'm aware of.

Yes, it seems expensive compared to the past, but they were probably selling it for too little in the past, which is why it stagnated while it was owned by Intuit. The subscription pricing does cost more, but I'd rather pay a little more than to not have Quicken continue to be updated for the next decade and beyond.

I guess it's all a matter of perspective. My cable & Internet subscription is about 60 times more expensive than my Quicken subscription. Microsoft Office... any Adobe software... most subscription software costs significantly more than Quicken. Any time I start thinking Quicken is too expensive now -- usually because I mentally compare it to past -- I think about how much I use this to manage our financial life, and then $4/month doesn't seem quite so much to me.

But to answer your question, it used to be that if you let your subscription lapse for 30+ days, you could be considered new again. But I think they have changed this, and you now cannot be a new user if you were a user in the past. Maybe forever, or at least a very long time. If your email service allows you to create alternate addresses, I suppose you could create a new email address for Quicken each year, create a new Quicken ID each year, and migrate your data file to the new Quicken ID each year. But then you'll get multiple marking messages from Quicken about renewing to your old addresses, so the hassle of doing all that to save $15 or $20 may not be worth it.

splasher

Its only a $1 a week, surely the time it saves you is worth that much.

Sherlock

You may be able to find the Quicken Deluxe subscription for less at retailers at various times during the year.  For example, right now a 1 years subscription at Best Buy is only $31.19.

jacobs

Sherlock said:

You may be able to find the Quicken Deluxe subscription for less at retailers at various times during the year.  For example, right now a 1 years subscription at Best Buy is only $31.19.

Be very careful purchasing a Quicken subscription via retailers. At Best Buy, for instance, the digital download version is clearly labeled "For New Subscribers Only". The physical package you can purchase in a store or have shipped to you does not have that restriction. 

Roger Miller

Best Buy currently has a 1 year Quicken Premier subscription for $46, normally $77. Buy the physical version and pickup or have it shipped, as the digital download is for new subscribers only.

garysmith87

Staples has Quicken Deluxe for $31.19 today...new user version OR renewal version.  

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Roger Miller

> @catonyx said:
> > @garysmith87 said:
> > Staples has Quicken Deluxe for $31.19 today...new user version OR renewal version.  
>
> I appreciate the tip, but I can't be sure this would work. I would have to buy this product now and then wait for my subscription to lapse (in a month or so). And then apply the code or key or whatever? Seems risky. It may not be worth the effort as others have commented. But I hate the policy where some people get a better price than others - just lower the price for everyone. There is no real competition in the market. So, either we pay or stop using quicken. That's becoming a hard choice for me.

Not necessarily. You can install it now, by entering the activation code, and it will extend your subscription for 1 year beginning on the current end date of your subscription.
This is the way it works with all retail purchases.
But, if you buy from Quicken directly, the subscription will become effective immediately when you install it, i.e. it will reset your subscription end date to 1 year from the time you purchase it..

Sherlock

catonyx said:

> @garysmith87 said:
> Staples has Quicken Deluxe for $31.19 today...new user version OR renewal version.  

I appreciate the tip, but I can't be sure this would work. I would have to buy this product now and then wait for my subscription to lapse (in a month or so). And then apply the code or key or whatever? Seems risky. It may not be worth the effort as others have commented. But I hate the policy where some people get a better price than others - just lower the price for everyone. There is no real competition in the market. So, either we pay or stop using quicken. That's becoming a hard choice for me.

If you haven't already, you may want to review: https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-manage-my-quicken-subscription

jacobs

catonyx said:

I appreciate the tip, but I can't be sure this would work. I would have to buy this product now and then wait for my subscription to lapse (in a month or so). And then apply the code or key or whatever? Seems risky.

As noted above, you can apply an activation code to extend your existing subscription anytime within 6 months of expiration. There should be no risk in buying a retail copy at a discount, as long as you're sure it doesn't say it's only for new subscriptions. (I have no idea if they just say that on the box, or if they use different activation codes to distinguish them, but the only risky thing would be trying to beat them by purchasing a "new subscriptions only" package and hoping it will work.)  

catonyx said:

But I hate the policy where some people get a better price than others - just lower the price for everyone. There is no real competition in the market. So, either we pay or stop using quicken. 

(a) While I understand not wanting to see some people get a better deal than others, their choice would definitely not be to lower the price for everyone; it would be to all eliminate discounts to raise the price to full list price for everyone. They have been trying to reform the retail sales channel to the point that only a first-year discount is available for new customers. I'm not sure why they haven't closed all the loopholes yet, but I suspect they will over time.

(b) There definitely is competition in the market. There are other desktop products (I can't name them here because the moderators will remove the names as "soliciting"), and any number of online cloud-based products. (That's why they have invested a lot of time and money into creating the separate Simplifi product for a younger generation of users who largely prefer cloud-based systems.

(c) "So, either we pay or stop using Quicken." Precisely. And their goal has been to eliminate large discounts on the product, while getting everyone to pay the annual subscription. They do allow people to use the software after letting a subscription lapse, but it's manual only (which is only viable for a small subset of users) and with a persistent, obnoxious ad onscreen (to hound you into renewing). They're working to get people past the old model of buying a new copy once every 2, 3, 4 or more years, to a sustainable and predictable revenue model for the company. So you either pay, or stop using Quicken. 

Chris_QPW

catonyx said:

> @garysmith87 said:
> Staples has Quicken Deluxe for $31.19 today...new user version OR renewal version.  

I appreciate the tip, but I can't be sure this would work. I would have to buy this product now and then wait for my subscription to lapse (in a month or so). And then apply the code or key or whatever? Seems risky. It may not be worth the effort as others have commented. But I hate the policy where some people get a better price than others - just lower the price for everyone. There is no real competition in the market. So, either we pay or stop using quicken. That's becoming a hard choice for me.

There is a strange quirk to the way they do these discounts that I'm seeing both at Staples and Best Buy.  If you go for the download version then only the new users get the discount.  But if you go for the package/CD you can get the same discount.  That of course means that if it is shipped you will pay for the shipping at Best Buy, but not at Staples.  At Best Buy you can pick up in from a store for free.

Really strange since all you need off of the package/download is the activation code, but that is the way it is.  And I have noticed this practice going on for several years.

Roger Miller

There is free shipping at Best Buy for the package/CD version. I just ordered it for Quicken Premier.
I agree, though, it is strange how this all is done.

> @Chris_QPW said:
> There is a strange quirk to the way they do these discounts that I'm seeing both at Staples and Best Buy.  If you go for the download version then only the new users get the discount.  But if you go for the package/CD you can get the same discount.  That of course means that if it is shipped you will pay for the shipping at Best Buy, but not at Staples.  At Best Buy you can pick up in from a store for free.
>
> Really strange since all you need off of the package/download is the activation code, but that is the way it is.  And I have noticed this practice going on for several years.

jacobs

Chris_QPW said:
There is a strange quirk to the way they do these discounts that I'm seeing both at Staples and Best Buy.  If you go for the download version then only the new users get the discount.  But if you go for the package/CD you can get the same discount.  That of course means that if it is shipped you will pay for the shipping at Best Buy, but not at Staples.  At Best Buy you can pick up in from a store for free.

Really strange since all you need off of the package/download is the activation code, but that is the way it is.  And I have noticed this practice going on for several years.

I wonder if they are depleting inventory of older retail boxes, and replacing them with only the "New Subscribers Only" boxes. I'd expect that to be the future: retail sales for new subscribers, online renewals for existing subscribers. Of course, that creates an issue with their retail partners: why should they devote shelf space to a product which many people can't buy. And if Quicken cares anything about maintaining retail sales metrics, perhaps they'll continue selling boxes for not-just-new users. I guess there's a question of whether a company could go to all-online sales, abandoning the retail sales channel and the cost of manufacturing, inventory management, shipping and distribution, etc. It would be interesting to know (but we never will) what percentage of their sales come from the retail channel to gauge how important a piece this is for them. 

Roger Miller

It appears that its more than a repackaging. The activation codes on the digital downloads do not work for existing customers. This is evident by reading the comments from the very angry customers at the Best Buy website, for the digital download version.

> @jacobs said:
> I wonder if they are depleting inventory of older retail boxes, and replacing them with only the "New Subscribers Only" boxes. I'd expect that to be the future: retail sales for new subscribers, online renewals for existing subscribers. Of course, that creates an issue with their retail partners: why should they devote shelf space to a product which many people can't buy. And if Quicken cares anything about maintaining retail sales metrics, perhaps they'll continue selling boxes for not-just-new users. I guess there's a question of whether a company could go to all-online sales, abandoning the retail sales channel and the cost of manufacturing, inventory management, shipping and distribution, etc. It would be interesting to know (but we never will) what percentage of their sales come from the retail channel to gauge how important a piece this is for them. 

TTSguy

You can currently buy "Non new user" Quicken Deluxe (CD version) at Staples for $31 and some change.