X-Cart: shopping cart software

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-   -   X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do? (https://forum.x-cart.com/showthread.php?t=78078)

mcinque 12-01-2020 03:04 AM

X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Today I learned with surprise that:

- X-Cart is now "subscription based"
- no more one-time fee licenses
- only Enterprise license available
- most addons freely available in the license

(I'm still waiting for pricing details).

If this is correct, this sounds like a big (and scary) news for me.

Like almost all of other users here, I create online stores for my clients, using X-Cart as e-commerce platform. I tried almost every e-commerce platform available and I always found X-Cart as the best in terms of price/features.

I have tried many types of e-commerce platforms and X-Cart has always been my favorite.

But this dramatic change could be the end for my services with X-Cart, I may have to change the platform I use for my work and this scares me a lot (because I know the alternatives).

The licensing costs were affordable and the performance was great. One-off costs and direct assistance services from Qualiteam for a fee, as needed. I couldn't ask for anything better. Something that is rarely found around.

Now I need to understand how to go forward and whether I will have to change dramatically my work and re-evaluate existing and popular platforms as an X-Cart replacement for new projects, or continue with Qualiteam.

I don't know at this point

- what costs shall be considered in using X-Cart as a platform to build stores?
- what will be the future of the mods and their developers?
- what will be the future of X-Cart4 one-time fee licenses, will be kept patched?

Tell me what you think.

pauldodman 12-01-2020 09:44 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
I've had long discussions with X-Cart sales people on this.
It's an unbelievable, and suicidal move - and not good at all for developers.
If people want a subscription model, they will just go with one of the many other systems that offer that.
X-Cart had a major USP with it's one time payment - not everyone wants to pay as they go - but now X-cart is just the same as everything else.

PhilJ 12-01-2020 12:53 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Puzzling innit.

cflsystems 12-01-2020 04:25 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
I was hit with this about 2 weeks ago. I did not want to be the guy letting the genie out of the bottle so I was waiting for and giving a chance to XC (actually SL) to come out here and announce this as this is the normal way of communicating such drastic change. Let the community know either by posting on the forum, somewhere on x-cart.com or sending out an announcement email/notice. And this - at least a month in advance.
However since this was probably decided a month ago and they have not come out to announce it yet I don't think they will.
This move will definitely cut ties with XC4 users wanting to move to XC5. I have few stores in questions and they will most likely move away from XC because of this. Not good at all.
But then SL is probably not counting on existing XC4 user at all. Which means they are not that many anyway so it's justifiable to ditch them.


Unfortunately I don't think XC will come out and publicly announce this. It is done deal. They may still change some terms but the very fact that this is known as

Quote:

Yes, it is right, now we provide our customers with new solutions for X-Cart 5 - Enterprise. You will benefit from:
- Robust X-Cart core that can be customized to any extent;
- 60+ modules for scaling your business;
- 24/7 Standard Technical Support;
- Full access to the software code - you'll be able to perform any changes;
- Lifelong access to new versions of X-Cart. We keep releasing newer versions of X-Cart almost in every quarter. You'll have full access to these upgrades and will be able to take advantage of them;
- Scalability - you'll be able to add extra modules (both custom and default) if it's needed;
-Unlimited CloudSearch and X-Payments services;
- The possibility to host your store wherever you wish.

This solution is available for $199/mo or $1,910/year on the condition of 12-mo commitment. Extra X-Cart software and services, including any level of custom development service, can be obtained at any stage of this project for an additional cost.




while at the same time the x-cart.com requires anyone to contact them for new license makes me believe the conditions may vary from customer to customer. And also - cutting the man in between - the 3rd party dev.


As Paul I had some conversations with them but again I think it has been decided.
I agree with Paul - the strength of XC was being self-hosted, flat fee platform. In this subscription world we are in right now this move by SL makes XC look like any other shopping cart solution out there and most of them will out perform XC under the same conditions.

Since there is no info on the pricing model at all at this point it is a wild guess if the cart will work if one does not pay the monthly fee of $199. My guess is - it will not. Which completely changes everything XC stands for.

On the other hand XC has always been seen as "cheap" solution and SL needs to get some ROI on their investment.

mcinque 12-02-2020 12:37 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

This solution is available for $199/mo or $1,910/year on the condition of 12-mo commitment. Extra X-Cart software and services, including any level of custom development service, can be obtained at any stage of this project for an additional cost.

This definitely put the XC5 out of my reach. I cannot build anymore stores for my customers with XC5 if there are these costs. This forces me to reconsider other platforms that I have snubbed so far.

Very sad. I never expected to leave X-Cart, expecially in this way (pratically kicked out).

The most urgent and important thing to undestand at the moment is:

What will happen to the XC4 and XC5 stores and licenses we currently have?
As you will surely understand, it's critical to keep the existing stores at the existing licensing conditions.





mcinque 12-02-2020 01:54 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Also, is quite weird we are discussing what will happen to existing licenses or other terms of service, HERE: I mean,qualiteam should have made a specific page or announcement, clarifying the conditions.

Maybe existing customers aren't a priority? If so, this scares me even more.

It is bizarre that WE should ask for information.

thebluedoorboutique 12-02-2020 07:05 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Unless things have changed (again), since my last discussion with X-Cart, the pricing and information listed here are a bit confusing. Obviously, the point that they're going with here is the intent to create ongoing cash flow for themselves that the user-first, open-source business model doesn't provide.

When I talked to them a month or so ago, there were a few options:
- X-Cart Cloud (hosted?) and X-Cart Enterpise
- $1910/yr for Enterprise and $3,340/year for Multi Vendor Enterprise
- You can stay with your current XC4 licenese, and/or upgrade to XC55 license (free/discounted) and the yearly "access fee" to upgrades is $195/yr (within 30 days of expiration), and $350/yr (outside of 30 days)
- It's "worth noting" that the Enterprise plan comes with CloudSearch (~$539/yr+), 24/7 support, and obviously upgrades. The support alone is equal to the subscription fee.

All in all, the take away, again assuming this hasn't changed since our conversation a month or so ago, is that you can keep your licenese and/or upgrade your current licenese, gain access to upgrades thru yearly "access fee".

I'm not sure how this works with new liceneses, but like before couldn't you contact X-Cart directly and purchase XC4 licenses? You could do that, then in turn upgrade them to XC5 "lifelong" licenses?

cflsystems 12-02-2020 07:27 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
There is no more XC4. They stopped selling XC4 licenses long time ago or at least were phasing them out.
The free/discounted XC4 to XC5 license is gone (it was $49). It's been at least 2 weeks now.
The yearly "access fee" upgrade of $195/year and "late" upgrade fee of $350/year is gone. It's been at least 2 weeks now.

The only thing you can purchase right now is Enterprise for $199/month or $1910/year. And with this I assume the cart will stop working if subscription is not paid.

Existing XC5 licenses prior to this are lifetime licenses and they will continue under the terms at the time they were purchased. In other words - $195 or $350 per year. That's what I know but since there is nothing from QT/SL on this it may not be the case. Lifetime XC5 licenses continue to work without paid subscription but cannot get upgrades after subscription expires.

The new Enterprise comes with some products/services that may not be suitable for all. So the possibility is most new XC5 users will pay more than they should because of these unusable to them products/services. Not all want to use XPayments. In fact I think they have bundled X-Payments and ClourSearch into this because they don't get enough signups for these services and it cost a lot to develop/support them.

We don't know what the "60+ modules for scaling your business;" are. I would say even if these 60+ modules are all paid modules typical cart will use maybe 5-10 of them. So for the rest they are paying for something they don't need/use.

All this adds up.

PhilJ 12-02-2020 07:58 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
https://help.x-cart.com/index.php?title=Roadmap


ye of little faith

cflsystems 12-02-2020 08:20 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilJ



This I assume is for existing XC4 stores not for new ones. I just can't imagine them continuing releasing new versions of both XC4 and XC5.
Maybe they should ask one of the 3rd party devs and license the code to them for future releases, support, maintenance...
Maybe you should inquire with them Phil and get your theme as part of the cart core instead of being a custom module. And take XC4 off their hands.

memoto 12-02-2020 09:31 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Please continue to discuss all questions regarding pricing models with our sales team. The X-Cart software is offered as a SaaS solution, allowing our sales team to offer flexible packages for direct customers as well as referral and reseller partnerships.

Existing customers will continue to have access to the software your sites are built upon today.

mcinque 12-02-2020 09:40 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Yes, I will continue discussing prices with the sales team.


But since you answered, I understand that you read the forum.

So having you read some of our concerns, could you please clarify:

- why did Qualiteam did not notify us in time of this great change? Your newsletters are sent regularly. But I found no trace of this big change. Don't you think that customers who have built stores with XC for 15 years have the right to be treated in a respectful manner?

- why it has not yet been publicly clarified what will happen to existing licenses and stores?

I'm quite disappointed.

memoto 12-02-2020 01:53 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
The team strives to consider all impacts to contracted customers & partners. There are no current plans to change what existing customers have access to and we are committed to communicate any future change in advance.

PhilJ 12-07-2020 02:32 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
They're just missing a trick, not everyone wants to migrate to v5 / "The Cloud" etc.

So many options out there for store owners, dozens of carts available, but with X-Cart Classic, at least you own it, and there's some comfort from that.

And FYI, plying us with money to place a review doesn't work.

Maybe I'm just old skool. Waiting patiently (as a lot of the dedicated XC4 folks and my clients are) for v4.7.13.

cflsystems 12-07-2020 05:43 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilJ
And FYI, plying us with money to place a review doesn't work.





Totally. I deleted 3 or 4 emails sent to me for the exact same purchase begging for a review. One is fine, 2 I can tolerate but above that - I consider it spam.

mcinque 12-08-2020 02:23 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilJ
They're just missing a trick, not everyone wants to migrate to v5 / "The Cloud" etc.


Indeed, but I cannot use anymore XC for new clients. No more new XC4 licenses, and only subscription for XC5. So the game is ended.



Quote:

So many options out there for store owners, dozens of carts available
This is the road they've forced to take me with this choice.

cflsystems 12-11-2020 09:31 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by memoto
The team strives to consider all impacts to contracted customers & partners. There are no current plans to change what existing customers have access to and we are committed to communicate any future change in advance.





Well here is the latest comment about the new licensing terms I got from an existing XC4 client wanting to move to XC5. You guys may want to really look into what's happening here with this new decision
Quote:

I'm not willing to pay that subscription fee. That would be a bad business decision. I have no desire to invest ongoing and longterm that way. I am willing to pay you for development costs, but not them for a subscription. What else we can do, what other cart we can use?

pauldodman 12-11-2020 09:36 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
I could have written that word for word as well.

cflsystems 12-11-2020 09:55 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
I think XC/SL should treat existing XC4/XC5 customers the old way and any new ones coming to XC now can be bound by the new terms. Basically allow existing XC4 users to move to XC5 for the initial $495 and $199/year. And for new XC users - try selling them the new terms.

If the goal is to convert all these existing XC4 stores to XC5 stores - it is not going to happen with these new terms for sure. What it will happen is 90% from what's left will jump ship.

memoto 12-11-2020 10:55 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Thank you for the feedback. I've shared all comments in the thread with our management team and asked that they reach out individually if there are alternate pricing structures we can offer

mcinque 12-12-2020 01:15 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by cflsystems
If the goal is to convert all these existing XC4 stores to XC5 stores - it is not going to happen with these new terms for sure. What it will happen is 90% from what's left will jump ship.



^THIS

kevinrm 12-15-2020 08:59 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
If XC4 owners hadn't already jumped to XC5 by this late stage of the game, they never would have anyway. I've been using XC for almost 20 years now, used to do all the file updating, etc, and I'm kind of surprised people still use XC4.x in 2020 but to each their own...

ITVV 12-16-2020 01:13 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by kevinrm
If XC4 owners hadn't already jumped to XC5 by this late stage of the game, they never would have anyway. I've been using XC for almost 20 years now, used to do all the file updating, etc, and I'm kind of surprised people still use XC4.x in 2020 but to each their own...

If I recall correctly you had loads of issues Kevin and at one point wished you had not jumped to XC5 8O

XC4 is an amazing platform; fast, responsive, easy to adapt. Plus if you add on PhilJ's amazing reBOOT skin you have a first class platform.

Q/ What does XC5 do that XC4 does not :?

As you rightly say "...each their own..." Agreed :-)

Kind regards

ITVV

mcinque 12-16-2020 02:20 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by kevinrm
If XC4 owners hadn't already jumped to XC5 by this late stage of the game, they never would have anyway. I've been using XC for almost 20 years now, used to do all the file updating, etc, and I'm kind of surprised people still use XC4.x in 2020 but to each their own...



NOPE.

XC4 is still ok and does things that XC5 does not, and quite good. There is no reason to jump in XC5 if all works well and money is coming from orders.

Of course it's complicated to update, that's why XC5 came out. But it's far to be useless and has still features that XC5 does not have (I wonder why).


It's incredibly fast and less resource hungry and works still perfectly even in stores with hundreds of orders per day.


If not for a specific reason, my clients or anyone else should never switch to XC5 or any different platform.

I've made at least 2 clients of mine migrate to XC5 because they need a complete restyling and update, and doing in XC4 would be too expensive, the license exchange offer was a money saver.

Of course NOW I am forced to use other platforms, there is no place for me if I should add a 1,900 USD annual fee.

kevinrm 12-18-2020 08:48 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ITVV
If I recall correctly you had loads of issues Kevin and at one point wished you had not jumped to XC5 8O


ITVV


Yes, this is true - 3 or 4 years ago on XC5.1 I had terrible issues. However, we're now on XC5.4.1.21 and I haven't had a single update fail in probably 2 years now. I'm having zero performance issues, the thing absolutely flies on my dedicated server.

ITVV 12-19-2020 01:57 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by kevinrm
Yes, this is true - 3 or 4 years ago on XC5.1 I had terrible issues. However, we're now on XC5.4.1.21 and I haven't had a single update fail in probably 2 years now. I'm having zero performance issues, the thing absolutely flies on my dedicated server.

Hi @kevinrm,

Pleased to hear that your issues are solved.

I have not had any issues upgrading XC4 in the past 14 years or so. I also have zero performance issues and our sites fly on our own dedicated server.

I have asked this questions so many times but nobody ever gives me an answer: -

Q/ What does XC5 do that XC4 does not :?

Wishing you and yours the compliments of the season

ITVV

mcinque 12-19-2020 02:24 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ITVV
Hi @kevinrm,
Q/ What does XC5 do that XC4 does not :?



nothing more, in fact it does even less.

XC5 was not born to continue XC4 or for us.

If it was born to continue XC4 it would have all its basic functionalities and logic, while instead it seems to have been born from scratch and from people who did not even know the XC4 team.

XC5 was born to make life easier for Qualiteam: XC4 had simply become too complex to update when highly customized.

Nothing impossible to do of course, but no longer commercially viable with many stores in need of updates.

kevinrm 12-19-2020 05:16 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ITVV
Hi @kevinrm,


I have asked this questions so many times but nobody ever gives me an answer: -

Q/ What does XC5 do that XC4 does not :?

ITVV


It saves days of my life not having to jack around with cutting and pasting code every time there is an update, mostly.

About the only thing I like less about XC5 is the backup module - it used to upload the store backup to dropbox automatically, this one doesn't do that. I miss that (hint hint XC).

cflsystems 12-19-2020 06:36 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
XC4 and XC5 share the name but are 2 different platforms.
Keep in mind XC4 was initially developed in 2003 I believe. While it has been constantly updated through the years at its core it stayed in 2003. And because over all these years there was a patch over patch over patch... its code got really bloated.
There is nothing wrong with XC4 and yes it works way faster compare to XC5. But when you have clients still using XC 4.1.x and do not want to upgrade because "orders are coming in", asking to support modern browsers and latest technology at the same time, saving CC info in database and manually processing orders that's not good.
XC4 code could have been optimized and half of it stripped out resulting in way better admin and customers experience. QT decided to go another way though and simply started from scratch. And keep in mind that XC4 may have more functionality from XC5 however half of that is simply something that was "cool" years ago and just left in the code. Some stores may use it but most don't. XC5 cleaned that up. And still playing catch up.
When QT started on XC5 I always thought it will be more like a framework, a core skeleton and you just add the modules you need. Basically when installed there is no storefront only admin. You want to sell physical products - you add products module, you have only one products - no need of categories module. Having modular structure and being able to simple add/remove without touching any code is a big advantage. Not ideal for those who know XC4 and how to make simple changes though. Not to mention the price tag we have now.
But lets also keep in mind - XC4 is subscription based too. Everyone using 4.6.x and up (I think it started with 4.6) is supposed to pay annual fee in order to get new updates. QT simply has no way of enforcing this. One more reason for them to phase out XC4.
And let's keep in mind XC5 started as subscription based cloud only cart. There are still articles from 6-7 years ago online which refer to XC5 as cloud based cart. QT made it downloadable because of the pressure they had from the forum and because XC4 users were the only potential customers for XC5 at the time. Now this is not the case anymore. As Kevin said "If XC4 owners hadn't already jumped to XC5 by this late stage of the game, they never would have anyway". QT/SL does not count on XC4 users anymore to make XC5 platform usable.

One way I think QT/SL may benefit of XC4 is to release it under "community" license and make it a community supported cart. That way they get it off of their hands and XC4 continues to live. Anyone using it will assume responsibility and that there is not one central place for support/maintenance or new features.

Giving the way everybody is moving to the cloud nowdays, consolidating different services into very few, making everything subscription based, etc no wonder XC5 is moving the same direction too. It's just that I think they could have done it better instead of completely cutting off everybody already using the platform.

ITVV 12-19-2020 09:39 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
@cflsystems

Hi Steve,

Excellent post - thank you.

Some of the reasons I have never considered XC5: -

1/ If you want to make one small change you have to create modules / decorate etc
2/ Next to no development documentation
3/ Over the years next to no forum support for XC5
4/ Performance issues
5/ Hit and miss upgrades
6/ Constant changes to how to own XC5 / pricing
7/ XC4 owners shunted to one side in favour of XC5 owners / subscribers

I had tried XC5 in the past and had issues. Asked here in the forums for help and did not even get an response from QT. I gave up and focused on dev for my sites on XC4.

I fully accept that QT / SL needs to generate cash as a business and that XC4 has limited opportunities. But to marginalise customers by limiting the past forum posts does not make users feel very valued.

Thanks again for a great post.

Kind regards

ITVV

WebsiteCM Support 12-19-2020 11:17 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by cflsystems
QT decided to go another way though and simply started from scratch


* started from Lite Commerce

cflsystems 12-19-2020 12:05 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by WebsiteCM Support
* started from Lite Commerce





Yes that's true, I think the first version was called XC Lite or something like this.
XC5 is still full with Lite references. The main namespace is even called XLite...

WebsiteCM Support 12-19-2020 02:04 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
LiteCommerce was something that at the time many XC4 users were aware of and intentionally didn't use because it was buggy and featureless. Then it was essentially packaged as X-Cart Next which alienated both XC4 and the few existing Lite Commerce users.

LiteCommerce is actually still up on GIT.

Also -> https://www.litecommerce.com/download.html

Triple A Racing 02-04-2021 08:35 AM

X-Cart 5 Business Licence Annual Cost Increased By 299%
 
Previously, the annual fee for "Renewal of access to upgrades" (sic) on an existing X-Cart Business Licence was $99.00 USD Plus... the farcical, numerous, annual fees for any additional, applicable X-Cart Add-Ons being used by the store-holder. The latter being a stupid situation that X-Cart have avoided / never ever dealt with.

Today's impersonal but patronising, scatter gun approach, deliberately vaguely worded and intentionally unsigned, joke e-mail - sent by a Seller Labs Company (sic) way down in Georgia, Y'all - informs us, that this fee has been "adjusted" (sic) to.... $395.00 USD Read that again;$395.00 USD That's a 299% price increase....

As sick jokes go, this is up there with the very best. If you wanted to be convinced, that X-Cart / Seller Labs / New Names Inc etc wanted to kill off all self-hosted packages and switch everyone to convenient, cloud based rentals - here you are. XC have handed it to you on a putrid and unwelcome plate.

A 299% price increase, doled out for a product that is massively behind where it should be, has almost zero 'presence' compared to when it was launched and when all of the world, is in the middle of enduring new, monumental business challenges, due to the severe effects of COVID-19 is about as welcome as chocolate fireguard.

All the "senior people" or so it appears, are now busy trying to recover all of the costs they incurred thanks to their own mismanaged, recent shocking but spectacular X-Cart hosting failures by enforcing all of the other, easy target, non-hosting failure contributory customers, into funding all of their own inexcusable errors.

The preceding is bordering on extortion and is 100% untenable. HERE is the XC "Executive Team" 8O Maybe you want to contact them directly? Quite soon?

Triple A Racing 02-10-2021 08:27 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Thanks to the new 'forum bots', who presumably used to work for George Orwell Inc & who have 'conveniently' moved the last post above, from a separate thread, on to the end of this thread, so as to try and avoid massive, extortionate price increases, being seen as an XC5 Problem :roll: The irony, is that this area is open to the public, not just forum members... They obviously thought it through in detail first and then planned ahead accordingly.... Wonder if they also work on X-Cart Hosting?

Triple A Racing 04-01-2021 08:30 PM

XC5 - Inability To Accurately Answer Questions / Make Progress On Existing Bugs...
 
Within the anonymous, farcical, poorly-written, un-signed e-mail from X-Cart, that's demanding a price increase of 299% for the annual XC5 business licence renewal (Full Details HERE) but which also contains some splendid euphemisms, such as this one:
Quote:

...The X-Cart team continues to keep a focus on developing our software and investing in making all products better, faster, and more feature-rich...
there is presumably, an assumption, that anything that's outstanding / well overdue / still accurately unanswered and/or just plain ignored doesn't count in amongst the entries(are there ANY?) on the '...just sell us more profit - labs!' hypothetical XC5 roadmap (the real one - if it exists, I have never seen...)

NB There's no mention of security, but don't even think of mentioning the very recent malware / ransomware / hostage to fortune XC5 hosting debacle :lol:

Here's some reminders to the bean counters that seem far too preoccupied with increasing the leverage for more cash, than providing a product & service:

Hideously overdue old bugs: https://forum.x-cart.com/showthread.php?t=78157 :D/

New bugs that nobody at X-Cart has rectified yet: https://forum.x-cart.com/showthread.php?t=78160
These are all still in place as part of the XC 5.4.1.26 upgrade process....:roll:

Timely and technically correct progress with Apache: https://forum.x-cart.com/showthread.php?t=78130

Timely and technically correct progress with PHP: https://forum.x-cart.com/showthread.php?t=78092

I was also going to add the written promise (posted here in this forum) of a X-Cart 5 release, that ran exclusively on Nginx, but historically, there's been so many subsequent examples of total avoidance / evasive answers only / hopelessly inept and technically flawed attempts at adding an 'option' within the existing Apache based system, that I've not bothered. A ghost is a ghost, no matter what marketing spin those lab boys try and apply to it.

These are just some of our own facts and observations. There are many, many more from other users. All of which, make the risible e-mail referred to earlier above, to be seem both seemingly delusional & very misleading. Great job all of those back at the labs, great job =D>

EDIT - See The post above RE: 'forum bots' etc who have yet again 'conveniently' moved this post, from a totally separate thread, on to the end of this thread, so as to try and avoid ANYTHING that doesn't suit their current narrative aka being seen as a possible XC5 Problem. It's the same irony, in that, this thread is open to the public, not just forum members... oh & PRAVDA is no longer relevant

john.hodson@iinet.net.au 05-31-2021 04:17 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Yep, we have just become aware of the 299% price increase and will have to decide shortly whether to pay for the annual access to upgrades. When we asked X-Cart why this price increase, we were told:

"A big part of renewal is to ensure you maintain access to our newest software versions and our Product Team is working on the final stages of preparing for our next upcoming 5.4.2 release. Within this release, customers can expect not only ongoing work on general infrastructure and security aspects but also new features such as an enhanced Banner System and Admin Navigation improvements."

Right, so will the annual fee come down after the 5.4.2 release????

So, Triple A Racing, what did you decide to do? Paying for the annual price hike or say no to the "access to to the upgrades"?

We just migrated to 5.4.1.28, and are now seriously considering not continuing to pay for this annual price hike.

Triple A Racing 05-31-2021 05:09 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by john.hodson@iinet.net.au
.....so will the annual fee will come down after the 5.4.2 release???

Nobody that we know / regularly converse with, is aware, yet, of when XC 5.4.2.* will be released.
That might have helped people make their own, informed decision as to: Stay with Self-Hosted XC5 aka 'Subscription Service' / Switch to X-Cart Cloud / Bin X-Cart 5 altogether etc
Each to their own in terms of how they approach this new XC5 'Challenge', but when it becomes due for us, we will not be absorbing the 299% price increase

mcinque 05-31-2021 11:17 PM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
The problem is that in order to continue to exist, a company must grow economically every year.

Having to grow economically leads to making market choices.

Their market choice, was the SaaS model (like many other companies had done).

The SaaS model allows a constant flow of money and is now the path that many are taking.

Although not psychologically pleasing, it is perfectly understandable in order to provide a product that needs constant improvements and updates.

But only if this pricing model didn't raise the costs by 10X.
The problem we're discussing is all there.

I don't think they launched a dice and found the new pricing randomly, this is a precise choice.

For me this move is not only a way to change their sales model, but also to completely change their customer base, eliminating the "little shops".

The sooner we deal with it, the sooner we can find an alternative product.

neonrider 10-17-2021 11:44 AM

Re: X-Cart become subscription based, so what should I do?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by mcinque
This definitely put the XC5 out of my reach. I cannot build anymore stores for my customers with XC5 if there are these costs. This forces me to reconsider other platforms that I have snubbed so far.

Very sad. I never expected to leave X-Cart, expecially in this way (pratically kicked out).

The most urgent and important thing to undestand at the moment is:

What will happen to the XC4 and XC5 stores and licenses we currently have?
As you will surely understand, it's critical to keep the existing stores at the existing licensing conditions.






Me too. At least they could make the "mortgage" in the double digit figures instead of $199.


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