# Is it me, or were Black Friday prices very disappointing this year ?



## ManicMiner (Dec 2, 2019)

I had my eye on a few things this BF.
Focusrite had a 30% sale last year, so I was looking at their 3rd gen interface. It didn't go down even $1.
I also was looking at bx_subsynth which has been as low as $29. It was stuck at maximum price of $149, and still is.
I had my eye on some Moog samples, and a week before BF they went *up* in price, and stayed up.
A new GPU for my computer - prices either stayed static or just dropped $10 or so. : (
Just feel like this year was very disappointing.
Soundtoys had a good deal on Crystalizer though... but apart from that. 
I held onto about $400 I was expecting and willing to spend this BF. Meh, I'm waiting for Christmas.


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## ThomasNL (Dec 2, 2019)

More and more companies realize it actually makes them loose money instead of increase revenue


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## KallumS (Dec 2, 2019)

I actually thought there were way more really tempting deals this year than last.


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## Peter Satera (Dec 2, 2019)

For me, they were as good as per usual. I didn't pick up any huge libraries, two smaller ones, tbh. Joshua Essentials and Shevannai _(which has been on my pick up list when on 50% sale)_. I did pick up Metro Ark 3 and 4 recently from NI - both which I love using.

I do find HZStrings (pending update), JXL Brass (pending walk through) and KeepForest Devastator (pending price) possible expenditures, so I was keen to hold back anyway. I try not rush into buys in general anymore, if you have patience then the sales come around again.

I don't know about others here, but I'm becoming quite jammed-pack with libraries, and this makes any purchases more difficult to buy into. Purchases are more of a *"It would be nice to have..."*, rather than a *"I need that for my template..."*. I guess that was my thinking behind the question I asked Tom Holkenborg; "Does JXL Brass replace or add to his existing brass library template?" (He said it replaces).

*shrugs* I guess my GAS is _sorta _running out of gas.


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## Monkey Man (Dec 2, 2019)

I'm with you, MM.

I too found them to be not very different from the usual periodic-sale prices overall. Definitely was expecting more-radical reductions.


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## MarcHedenberg (Dec 2, 2019)

I bought the ERA II Medieval Legends library this year. It was on sale for £132, which I found to be generous for what you get. So for my part, I'd say I wasn't too disappointed. 

I saw tons of smaller plugins on sale for 50-75% off. The bigger orchestral libraries definitely had smaller discounts, which is probably because those companies don't want to encourage too many people to buy exclusively during Black November (which is essentially what Black Friday has become).


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## Land of Missing Parts (Dec 2, 2019)

50% off at Cinesamples is one of the highlights of Black Friday 2019 for me.


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## Tice (Dec 2, 2019)

None of the things I had my eye on this year had any sales pricing. Last year I did have a lot more things I was yet missing though. It made me a lot pickier this year. I'm not sad though, it just means I already have most of what I need!


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## W Ackerman (Dec 2, 2019)

I had no problem exceeding my budget! But I think the real measure of my Black Friday decisions and the value obtained will have to wait. I'm dismayed that many of the purchases I made last year, as opposed to previous years, are gathering dust on my hard drive. I was definitely more selective this year, building up resistance to the trap of "I should grab this bargain because I might need it someday." I did fall for an iZotope package in the hopes of upping my mixing game.


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## greggybud (Dec 2, 2019)

I guess it depends on what you are looking for?

Waves Gold...yesterday, using 2 codes at Audio Deluxe was $67. I have never seen it that low, and if you only had that package, you might as well re-purchase it for version 11 instead of WUP. Today I see it's back up to $85, but last year it seems it was in the $120 range? Anyway, everyone's got it except the newbies. Waves has been cheapened so we expect everything to be $29.

UAD. Same as last year. You can get 4 tools for $400. Check your cart because there already may be a $25 discount, and if there isn't, there will be one once you make a purchase. A new bundle this year is 2 tools for $224 (after the $25 discount.)

SoundToys. Prices look to be about the same as last year. If you buy single tools, it seems the bundle offerings are very generous depending on what you currently own. I have absolutely no regrets about SoundToys.

Tracy Collins at Indiginus decided to toss in a freebie guitar if you purchase one of this regular tools. Personally, I love his stuff because it's much more flexible than sampled riffs i.e. NI guitars, and the prices are good. I don't think Indiginus has ever done this before.

For the first time ever (I think) Zebra is/was on sale. I bought it, but was then a bit disappointed I couldn't buy HZ Dark for a 30% discount.

For a newer developer like Leapwings StageOne, I wouldn't expect much of a discount so I was amazed to see StageOne at $130. I have tried many alternative tools however StageOne really stands above everything else I have used mostly because of the quality depth. They all spread...

A new GPU? I would guess the market is so competitive all year round there isn't much room for a discount? 

And finally....as predicted....no sale from SoundQuest MidiQuest. My guess is certain developers target a certain market, and the MidiQuest target market isn't one that impulse buys on BF. Editor Librarians have almost vanished. Problems arise with specialized midi interface variations. So maybe keeping high prices and no sale means excellent customer support and fewer newbies asking for support? He has always provided excellent support for myself.

There is still plenty of time.


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## paularthur (Dec 2, 2019)

Cinesamples was amazing.


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## VivianaSings (Dec 2, 2019)

W Ackerman said:


> I had no problem exceeding my budget! But I think the real measure of my Black Friday decisions and the value obtained will have to wait. I'm dismayed that many of the purchases I made last year, as opposed to previous years, are gathering dust on my hard drive. I was definitely more selective this year, building up resistance to the trap of "I should grab this bargain because I might need it someday." I did fall for an iZotope package in the hopes of upping my mixing game.



This was a big one for me. Last year I fell for a lot of hype and scooped up libraries left and right over black friday weekend to the tune of almost $1000 regardless of even if I write the kind of stuff that uses them - I mean, the prices were good enough for a "what if" scenario. Here I am a year later and 90% of it has sat unused because I don't write in genres that use those libraries. I should have listened to my gut. 

This year it was a lot easier to pass on a lot of the libraries because I just had to remind myself that a lot of the "what if" scenarios I was preparing for I'm still waiting for a year later.


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## MartinH. (Dec 2, 2019)

I was looking to buy something that fixes my crippling forum addiction, but instead I ended up with a bunch of audio stuff that I'll never fully use anyway...


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## AllanH (Dec 2, 2019)

For gear, I didn't find a single BF deal for what I was looking for. Ill keep looking at as we get closer to Christmas.


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## NoamL (Dec 2, 2019)

Seemed about the same as previous years. But this used to be the ONLY time all year you could get 30-50% discounts from certain developers, and that has changed.



VivianaSings said:


> This year it was a lot easier to pass on a lot of the libraries because I just had to remind myself that a lot of the "what if" scenarios I was preparing for I'm still waiting for a year later.



Totally, Viviana. I like to make wishlists and then only buy things when I get a particular gig that needs them.


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## NekujaK (Dec 2, 2019)

I felt a little spoiled this year with the endless barrage of Black Friday-like sales throughout the year. By the time "real" Black Friday rolled around, I had picked up most everything I wanted. But in spite of that, I still managed to spend far more than I planned last week (shhhhh... don't tell my wife).

I thought there were some really great deals, and some that I had to pass on because the discounts weren't significant enough to soothe my beleaguered wallet. But overall, I feel fully sated. It's time to devote my energies to music making rather than bargain hunting. Because quite honestly, I have far more tools and libraries than I'll ever use in this lifetime.

But of course, I can't help wanting more...


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## Morning Coffee (Dec 2, 2019)

I've held off because the exchange rates haven't been very good this year.

The best deal this Black Friday for me is The Ton collection by Spitfire Audio (British Drama Tool kit, eDNA Earth, Orchestral Grand Piano). The Ton collections they have put out over the last few years have all been great I reckon.

However, the best deal for me so far this year was the 8Dio Case bundle (Orchestral Aleatoric Solo Effects) for $48 from a few months back, absolute bloody bargain.


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## givemenoughrope (Dec 2, 2019)

errr....I made out like a bandit, bought nothing from SF (again), and almost pulled the trigger on SM or SWAM strings but didn't. Between 8dio Strings and Acustica Audio I'll be busy with these purchases for a while.


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## artomatic (Dec 2, 2019)

Much better deals all around for me this year!


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## GtrString (Dec 3, 2019)

Sorry, everything was black. I couldnt see shi*!


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## Crowe (Dec 3, 2019)

I felt the same way. None of the companies I was looking at had sales, a bunch of the companies I follow had the same sales they've had throughout the year and the general feel I had this black friday was that most companies pretend to be a part of it with pretty meager sales.

Even VSTbuzz and Audioplugin.deals offerings were mediocre at best. I guess the 'blowout sales' idea of black friday is a thing of the past.

Saved me a bunch of cash though!

I would, however, be remiss in not mentioning Iconica and Cinesamples, which had very decent offerings I didn't particularly have a need for.


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