Buying HL - Well, this is awkward...

[Fox Lee]

So, um... I've been trying out Hero Lab's demo for a week or so (ENWorld referred me), and the last thing I want to do is have to move back to that nasty pile of Silverlight that WotC calls their character builder. However, you've made it really very hard for me to buy the product! ^^;

I'm from Australia, you see, and charges to my debit card from international entities incur a $15 handling fee. Don't get me wrong, this product is excellent, and I want to buy it. But on my budget $30 is something I have to consider carefully - $45 is just too much. And then additional licenses for my other computers will then be $25 each :\ Normally I rely on Paypal to get around this, but that's a no-go for you guys. This is very frustrating - I really want to give you my money >3>;

Phsyical retailers are out; none of them is even in my state, and the only one in Australia that has a valid website (Milsims) doesn't seem to have Hero Lab listed.

At this stage, all I can think of is to corral one of my American friends and send them money with Paypal, so they can buy HL for me as a gift. That should work, right? ^^;

[SAbel]

Hello Fox Lee,
As a note when you purchase Hero Lab you may install it on two PCs (you recieve two licenses) So for example I have one on my desktop and one on my laptop, (which I take to cons) you also recieve one data set when you purchase Hero Lab. I am sure that the Wolf Lair people will be able to help you with your purchasing problem very soon.

[Fox Lee]

I did check that, and it will cover my home computer and netbook nicely But I actually have four computers I want to use it on, so I was hoping to buy additional licenses further down the track (when I can afford them ^^; ). One data pack is fine, as we only run 4e right now, but it's not impossible that I'll want to pick up the d20 or Pathfinder sets further down the track.

[rob]

Wow! They charge $15 of service fee?!?! That's insane!

Unfortunately, there's no solution I can think of that will work well for you, unless you involve a third party. Do you have any friends there in Oz with an actual credit card (not a debit card)? If you do, I'm guessing their Visa/Mastercard terms are similar to here in the States, so you won't get a ridiculous $15 fee. You could have one of them make the purchases for you and then just hand them cash (or PayPal if that works better for you).

If you have someone here in the States make the purchases for you as a gift, you'll need to coordinate things with them. They will first need to purchase the core product for you. Then you'll need to activate the license. After you activate the license, you can then have them purchase the additional secondary licenses for you. However, to do that, they will need your license number and email address, since they will need to log into your license account on our server in order to add the secondary licenses to your account. It's all definitely doable, but it will take a little bit of coordination.

If you've got a friend there in Oz, you can get together at the same location with one of your computers (e.g. the netbook). Then you can make the purchase on your netbook with your friend's credit card, activate your license, and then easily purchase the additional secondary licenses through the activated license on your netbook. That's definitely going to be a lot faster and easier if you have that option.

Hope this helps....

[Fox Lee]

Originally Posted by rob

Wow! They charge $15 of service fee?!?! That's insane!

Unfortunately, there's no solution I can think of that will work well for you, unless you involve a third party. Do you have any friends there in Oz with an actual credit card (not a debit card)? If you do, I'm guessing their Visa/Mastercard terms are similar to here in the States, so you won't get a ridiculous $15 fee. You could have one of them make the purchases for you and then just hand them cash (or PayPal if that works better for you).

Actually, my debit card is a Visa card... they just don't like international transactions, peroid ^^; It's pretty standard here - you involve an overseas bank, you get a fat processing fee. Some are bigger than others, but I don't know any bank here that doesn't have them.

Anyway, thanks for your reply < Looks like having somebody else buy for me is really my only choice. Just to make sure I understand correctly - to purchase data sets or additional licenses at a later date, I'd have to give my intermediary access to my Hero Lab account details, because you can't gift add-ons once the initial license has been transferred?

(And while I have your attention, is there any way to kill graphical smilies in my posts? I hate those things >3>; )

[Leonal]

Originally Posted by Fox Lee

(And while I have your attention, is there any way to kill graphical smilies in my posts? I hate those things >3>; )

If you click post reply, and don't use the quick reply you can disable smilies in the post by clicking the check-box below the typing area.

And $15 is insane. That's even more than I pay for sending money internationally (without IBAN) though my bank.

[rob]

Originally Posted by Fox Lee

Actually, my debit card is a Visa card... they just don't like international transactions, peroid ^^; It's pretty standard here - you involve an overseas bank, you get a fat processing fee. Some are bigger than others, but I don't know any bank here that doesn't have them.

Here in the States, there is a massive difference between a Visa *debit* card and a Visa *credit* card. The rules for debit cards are dramatically different, as are the fee structures. It's quite possible (I'd say probable) that similar huge differences exist between the two in Oz. So you might ask a friend that has a *credit* card (*not* a debit card) whether he/she incurs the same sort of fees. Hopefully, the fees will be comparatively small, which might make the entire process much easier than having someone do it for you here in the States.

Originally Posted by Fox Lee

Anyway, thanks for your reply < Looks like having somebody else buy for me is really my only choice. Just to make sure I understand correctly - to purchase data sets or additional licenses at a later date, I'd have to give my intermediary access to my Hero Lab account details, because you can't gift add-ons once the initial license has been transferred?

That's correct. Any purchases associated with your license will first require that the purchaser log into your account to select the additional game systems, add-ons, and extra licenses that are to be bought. Logging into your account will require a license number and the email address you associate with it.

[Lochnesshamster]

thats Weird i use a visa Debit card, It's From ANZ Bank, and they only charge a small fee not 15 bucks, that's a rippoff

[Fox Lee]

Originally Posted by Lochnesshamster

thats Weird i use a visa Debit card, It's From ANZ Bank, and they only charge a small fee not 15 bucks, that's a rippoff

Really, it depends on your situation. I chose a smaller local bank - I pay almost no fees otherwise, and I make very few purchases from overseas that process the card themselves (none, in fact, since City of Heroes started accepting Paypal). So really, it's a very good choice for me, and all things considered I haven't found a better one yet.

(In retrospect, I think I have actually overstated the charge - I think I'm remembering the fee for cashing international cheques, not making international purchases. But the point is the same - they charge a significant fee, enough to be a concern for a pair of uni students.)

[Fox Lee]

I had another idea! I know you can buy Visa "cift cards" that are pre-loaded with a certain amount of money, and are supposedly accepted wherever real Visa cards are (and I think they advertise them for travel, so they must be okay for international stuff). I can't imagine there could be any bank fees associated with that.

Rob, would you have any way of knowing whether you processed an order made with such a card? I'd like to make sure it would work, but I'm guessing there's no way for the seller to tell if a card is pre-paid or not ^^;