Upgrade price to Komplete 26 Ultimate for S-series hardware users no longer available?

Question

I recently purchased a Kontrol S61 MK3 keyboard with the intention of upgrading the included Komplete 26 Select license to an Ultimate license, after having read multiple threads online about being able to get a really good loyalty deal/upgrade price.

Now though, after having registered the keyboard and redeeming a Komplete 26 Select Band license to my NI account, I only have a cross-grade price of $1049 for Ultimate.

Several weeks ago, before purchasing the keyboard, I also had that same cross-grade price (probably due to owning Kontakt 8 and a bunch of expensive plugins like the Odes, Fables and Lores bundle).

Have they recently removed the ability to upgrade to Ultimate for a good price and if so, why?

PoorFellow · Answer

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/266954#Comment_266954

I just expect the loyalty price for Ultimate to be a fair bit lower for  someone who purchased an $800+ keyboard and got a free Select license with that purchase, than for someone who didn't buy a keyboard and just purchased a regular Select license for $99.

Well , with any NI keyboard purchase then you get both the Komplete Select  (value €99 and the Ableton Live Lite DAW)  , so it's not like that you get nothing.  And as you have apparently noticed then if buying at a particular opportune moment then you can also buy the keyboards bundled with Komplete bundles at a price.   But this is really not any different from when NI in time has offered the Komplete bundles themselves bundled with third party software or plugins which has upset people that already had bought the bundles.  Previously we have also seen promotions where e.g. the S-Series keyboards has been bundled with Kontakt full version for free on top of what it comes with as standard  and we have seen promotions where people have received a voucher for a free choice of NI Kontakt instrument valued up to I think € 499.   But such is the nature of the passing promotions , you get whatever advantage that you get from taking the offer that you take when you buy and NI do not give previous buyers free of what later buyers gets as incentive to buy from passing offers.

There has to be a way to get this sorted.

Personally then I'd advice to stick with 'realistic' expectations based on  how things are or have been in the past that way there is less chance of getting disappointed.    What we have seen in the past is that NI sometimes have let previous buyers enjoy incentives from a present promotion if they bought like 'super close' to start of the promotion , but that is sort of it.  Of course then what I write here is merely my own advice and N.I. and  N.I. Support holds the final words on everything sales and promotions  so again you'd have to ask  N.I.  Support. to see what they say.

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Garmonboozia · Answer

Thanks again for taking the time to reply, PoorFellow!

I don't mean that I necessarily want the license tied to the hardware. I just expect the loyalty price for Ultimate to be a fair bit lower for someone who purchased an $800+ keyboard and got a free Select license with that purchase, than for someone who didn't buy a keyboard and just purchased a regular Select license for $99.

In all other scenarios, NI seems to only make you pay the difference when you upgrade from for example Standard > Ultimate or Ultimate > Collector's Edition, so why would it not be the same when purchasing a keyboard. It doesn't make sense to force people to purchase a keyboard + Ultimate or keyboard + CE license right away and not give people a chance to upgrade later?

In this scenario, I'm better off refunding the keyboard and then purchasing it again, just bundled with the Ultimate upgrade, which seems incredibly unnecessary for everyone involved.

I'll just get in touch with support. There has to be a way to get this sorted.

PoorFellow · Answer

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/266946#Comment_266946

but I was really under the impression that the $800+ hardware would yield a better loyalty pricing. What a massive disappointment if that's not the case.

Personally then I have never before noticed any offers from NI based on the ownership of e.g. Komplete S-Series keyboards.  I have seen plenty of offers with bundles offered with the keyboards but not based on already owning.

While typing this, I even found this upgrade available from Sweetwater in the US, specifically for owners of S-series MK3 controllers:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Komp26UUpS--native-instruments-komplete-26-ultimate-music-production-bundle-upgrade-for-s-series-mk3-controllers

I have never seen such an offer before.  Though it is essentially almost the same as an upgrade from Komplete Select to Komplete Ultimate , only specifying that in this case it is not enough to have the Komplete Select on account but you need to have the hardware tied to account also.

When registering the hardware to account then you get a voucher to get a free Komplete Select which traditionally has been considered as base software for the device , a base software that traditionally has been locked to your account but also a base software that you would keep when selling your keyboard and which any secondhand buyers also would get for free with same caveat (free to get and keep but locked to account).

So I honestly do not understand why you are so eager to getting this bundle upgrade with this condition , since as I read it then this specifies that you need to have (keep) the keyboard hardware on account for the upgrade to work , where as if you get the upgrade from Komplete Select (free with keyboard) then you are free to sell the keyboard and the software would still work.

Unless this is some smart sales ploy where it actually only requires ownership of Komplete Select and not that you keep the hardware then I personally would advice against the investment.

Anyway , to me it appears as being a sales ploy where to both offer an perceived advantage to S-Series MK3 owners , but also a ploy to offer a %50 discount to bundle upgrades ahead of time to user that meet this requirement.   Since this is basically almost the same as offering the discount to Select owners that also keeps the hardware on account indefinitely.

I would rather purchase it directly from NI though and not from a retailer in the US, since I live in Sweden.

That HAS to be possible, right?

You would have to contact N.I. Support and ask them when this offer will be generally available.  But since this  offer is offered through a third-party seller then you can not be sure that it in fact will be offered on the NI site…  (third-party sellers are seen selling at lower prices)

I do not have the time to look more into this at the time of writing but you might be able to find a similar upgrade offer from a European source , so watch the prices if this is what you want , I personally would advice that you wait for a regular %50 off offer on bundle upgrades and then upgrades from Kontakt.

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