Ulysses Subscriptions: When 50 == 25

Benjamin Metzler
Aug 23, 2017 · 2 min read

tl;dr: UA screwed up their discount announcement; users apparently can’t read the what the announcement actually says.

There’s the 50% off we keep missing

So you’re upset because you think UA is only giving you a 25% discount. Read on.

The developers of the Ulysses app screwed up when they announced their migration to a subscription model. In their announcement, they said the following:

To encourage existing customers to switch to the new model, the are offered a permanent, life-long discount on the yearly plan (50% off the regular monthly subscription).

The problem is that everyone focused on the 50% part and not the monthly part. As a result, when Ulysses 11.0 was published the discount was applied to the yearly (already discounted) plan, it showed “50% off”.

I, and others, being able to basic math quickly pointed out that $29.99 off of $39.99 (the regular yearly price) was 25% off. UA, to their credit, acknowledged this and quickly issued 11.1 with new text that read 25% off. But the damage was already done.

Many of the people complaining the loudest were doing so about not receiving 50% off of the yearly price. They, like me, only saw the 50% off part. They, like me, were in the wrong. They, like me, didn’t read the announcement fully, or didn’t understand it.

It’s not that UA is absolved of blame. They should have done the announcement better. They should have just said they were giving a 25% off the yearly price for existing customers.

So if you want to know how you are getting a 50% discount as an existing user (all numbers rounded for easier math):

  1. A monthly purchase is $5, or $60 a year if paid one month at a time.
  2. The annual price is new users is $40, a 44% discount a years worth of monthly purchases ($60)
  3. The annual price for existing owners is $30, a discount of 50% off the 12 monthly purchases ($60). This $30 is 25% off of the usual $40 off the (discounted) annual price and 50% off the yearly price if payed month to month.
)
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade