I have bought my Fences since v2 for around EUR 8,- and that made sense. The upgrade to 4 was made one and a half year ago, the upgrade before that was longer, so basically I would need two years subscriptions to go to v6. The price to buy it is absolutely ridiculous, but what really gets me:

Normal pricing:

My "discount"

And somehow I did manage to get to a discounted permanent license page, where it cost me EUR 53,XX to buy the permanent license - also more expensive!

Just for chameleon colours? No way!

Sorry guys, but at first I thought it must be the 1st of April. It's not.

I really ask myself who is responsible for this absolute desaster. As an OD subscriber I couldn't care less but SD is losing reputation here with unclear communication and upgrade cost. I read about 5 or more different prices here alone. The subscription model is not for everyone as it seems. And if so many people have to ask again and again there is clearly something wrong with the explanation/communication.

And to be fair and thinking about it 30 $ for Fences alone is a bit over the top.

And it hurts to see, how this is handled.

I'm about to save you $110 per year!

The 9.99 charge is for every year  

Thanks for shedding light on the situation. I understand the partnership dynamics with Valve and the importance of maintaining a good relationship. Reminds of when Epic tried to bypass in-app purchase fees on mobile platforms.

Regarding the Fences upgrade process on Steam, I've heard about a coupon in the past, but I can't find any connected with my account. I reached out to support before, but I didn't get much info, and I remain with the old version of Fences. Is there a way to ensure I don't pay the price as if I was a new customer, considering I've already purchased the previous version on Steam?

Upgrading through your storefront isn't an option for me, and I wasn't offered any solution on Steam either. This adds to my frustration.

In my current situation, it feels like piracy would be a more viable and reliable option, which is disheartening. It's tough when what's offered for free seems to surpass the experience of paying customers. Free is always* better, even if it's not perfect, but I am talking about the experience. Which should always be better for a paying customer. 

Finding a pirated copy would be easier, than upgrading in my case. I genuinely wanted to throw money at you, but I would be forced to overpay.

I apologize, this was regarding my previous upgrade attempt from Fences 3 to 4.

I also just upgraded a Fences 4 license in September so apparently I'm sool even as a long time SD customer. 

What is it with SD's attitude towards long time customers now? 

My "Special upgrade deal" is to be forced to pay 1300 yen / year (a super generous 300 yen discount for being a loyal customer for years) for what was previously a permanent license with upgrade option. 

Bye Stardock, you've lost me as a customer. 

I can also guarantee there won't be any +ve word of mouth marketing from me. 

The only thing I can think of that would make me a customer again, would be a fences "light" version to about a third of the current price for a single permanent license. (I do not use subscription license for anything)

I guess I won't have high hopes for it, but we will see. 

I believe there are still permanent license offer for Fences 5.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

I am not very sure about purchasing upgrade for permanent license. So it best to raise support ticket using the link below, use "Ask a question" option. Include all information details. Remember to record down the ticket number for future reference if needed. Do not raise multiple ticket, that will make your ticket back to the end of the line. Send once and wait. Ticket will be answer by the order they send in.

https://stardock.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/4/group/13

Thanks
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Just another one saving my money.

A subscription is not at all iteresting — ever, and the prices for perpetual licenses are to high.
So Stardock missed out on me upgrading and exctending my license count today.

I see the problem. For the most part the current version of Fences is at the end of the road for new features that most customers would want or are willing to pay for, outside of updates to support new versions of Windows. Realizing this the company is pushing a subscription model by significantly increasing the cost for a permanent license. This includes charging the full price to "upgrade" from a prior permanent license to a new one. Things are further complicated since customers that purchased the software on Steam currently have no upgrade path, though this is more of a problem for other products like Groupy.

I like to customize my PC with CursorFX, Fences, Groupy, Start10, and WindowFX. I enjoy using these software programs but none of them are needed to use my PC. While there are free alternatives to these programs, they're less polished than what Stardock offers. But if the pricing model/tactic for Fences is applied to its other offerings then I'll likely have to go the free alternative route or simply go without them all together.

While Fences is a great product it's a hard sell at $29.99. Also, charging the full amount to "upgrade" is an insult to its existing customers. Most companies offer 25% to 50% off the full price for upgrades. It looks like Stardock scored a winner with Fences. But in the pursuit of profits, it fenced off most of its customers in the process. I hope Stardock sees the error in their way and corrects this problem before it's too late.

Been a customer since Start 8 and have Fences, Cursors, Shadow, Groupy, Sounds, but I'm done. Great products, but not at that price. Retired on SS have to watch my pennies also.