Hey guys.
Any chance I can buy said version in USD and not EUR?
Hi,
this depends on your location. If you are located in the US then you should be able to pay in dollars. I just googled and saw the preview was listed in $ and turned to € the moment I opened the website (I am in Europe).
Just out of curiosity: is there a price difference with regard to exchange rates and potential taxes?
Two months ago, UAD charged something labelled as “estimated” tarrifs. I have never seen that one before…
1 Like
go to sweetwater.com
2 Likes
Thank you guys. I did so, but they are like “we can only sell it within the US”. Which is fine, because I can arrange for someone to buy it on my behalf. My main concern is: will I be able to install and run this discounted US-purchased version outside of the US? I live in Peru. I started a new thread on this, but if you guy have any thoughts they would be much appreciated.
Hi,
I’d say you can. The DAC is probably not coded in terms of country/currency. It’s more about applied taxes and tarrifs which is a different (legal) question.
I can’t pay in $ in Europe, too. It would be significantly cheaper. When it comes to US tarrifs: I heard a lot of different stories, noone seems to know for sure, e.g. “estimated” taxes on UAD products…
They always used to geo lock activation to some extent. It’s likely still the case if they tell retailers not to sell outside of USA.
Interesting.
If you’d activate the Download Access Code in the country where you purchased the product then it should be just logged in and registered to your account, right? In other words, someone could activate the product in the US and afterwards you could use it anyplace else you like? I guess it would be illegal, though.
No. There 's nothing in the eula that requires you to be anywhere. People travel all the time in this line of work
Hi everyone,
Following advice from a previous thread, I reached out to Sweetwater to purchase Cubase Pro in USD. However, they informed me that they can only sell it within the US. That’s fine—I’ll arrange for someone in the US to buy it on my behalf, since I live in Peru.
Now, my main concern is: Will I be able to install and run Cubase Pro outside the US without any issues? I asked Sweetwater, but their response was: “We cannot advise you on that.”
So I’m turning to Steinberg and the community:
Does Steinberg officially support the use of a US-purchased Cubase Pro license internationally?
To get an actual authoritative answer from Steinberg staff you would have to contact them directly.
But think about it – the software is used by people who move around the world quite a lot. Such a limitation would be draconian, and far removed from the company’s spirit which is characterized by their willingness to be flexible in many scenarios.
Anyway, if the eula doesn’t say you can’t use it in country X then there’s no problem. As far as taxes go, it’s the seller, not the manufacturer who must forward that money to the government, at least in the USA
1 Like
Thanks @steve . I was referring to taxes but then again, I am no expert. I have heard so many contrasting stories (software and hardware) - I’m lost. At least the EULA is clear on the activation as so much as it doesn’t matter where you activate a product!
1 Like
no way you will be blocked to use a Cubase version purchased in the US in a different country. This is just a legal technicality for the actual sale. Surely Steinberg want direct sales as much as possible, but they realise a big player like Sweetwater is a good partner to sell their software. I know a few other US based website that now do not sell Cubase but did before. Cubase is also sold via Thomann which has all of Europe as marked, and also a big player in Europe. I have used my Cubase license in about 10-12 countries, spending longer periods of time in 3 different countries. If you have a valid license you use it were you are. Also there have been several people having issues buying directly from the Steinberg site. Steinberg had no issues to suggest them buying a copy from another site.
2 Likes
Yes, of course you can use your product wherever you are.
There are three levels
- Purchase and related taxes?
- Activation => no restrictions
- Using the product => all good
Well let’s hope they got less draconian in the last decade because there are posts here and at GS from 10-12 years back where users either had issues activating from another country or received warnings the US version was not officially supported outside US. Probably the fact there is nothing recent means this has changed.
I’m sure in worst case you could use a vpn to pretend you are in US and run activation and as said, using already activated license is not a problem from anywhere.
1 Like
This is likely to become more and more of an issue given that the Euro retail exchange rate is approaching US $1.25
1 Like
yes I am in Europe but do not have the Euro. If I can buy in USD I do it and have for a while
1 Like
Yes, I see it the same way. Things have changed a ton over the years.
The info is in the eula, which I just read. There is no mention of region, nor country, and no specification that the products must be used anywhere in particular.
It is specified that users may sell their licenses, which I find appealing.
There’s no need to trick the company with a vpn, and anyway, if a company really wants to control the license by geographic location they would certainly disallow connections from vpns, which SB does not.
Years ago I was an independent Yamaha/Steinberg product rep, and I know they put a lot of resources in non-direct sales. Yamaha is behind them, and in the USA we get support from Yamaha people, not Steinberg.
I don’t think they’re at all concerned about direct sales. They are concerned with keeping up with marketing trends and making products that their customers will buy. For example, Steinberg have repeatedly stated that they don’t do subscriptions, and they haven’t, but they do allow other companies to create deals like splice.com.
Yeah, and their deal with SB might limit their sales to the USA- this isn’t to protect direct sales – I would think it’s for the benefit of other retailers outside Sweetwater’s “region”, and vice-versa
All my own opinions.
1 Like
It may be just that particular retailer’s policy, possibly due to some distribution deal. A UK distributor, Arbiter. long since bankrupt, used to have similar inflexible restrictions in place around Steinberg software.
1 Like
If it’s any help - I recently upgraded my Cubase 13 to 14 whilst located in the UK, from the Steinberg site. The 40% off price was shown in dollars. I used PayPal , and received my download key instantly. It was a straight conversion of currency, with no added taxes (British VAT is normally 20%).
1 Like
I can’t definitively answer your question, but I can tell you that I buy my copies of Cubase in the UK and download and register it there. I visit Peru often and can use Cubase there without any issues - never had any problem in 15 years from version C5 to C14 either on Dongle or the new licensing system.
2 Likes