More Fredo6 plugins becoming paid extensions

Rich O Brien · 18 May 2022, 12:20

Unfortunately, Turkey has forbid PayPal so there's nothing we can do.

jsteacy · 20 May 2022, 01:12

Hi, I'm long time user (and admirer) of your plugins, more than happy to pay for them. I see that I can get a set for one user or a corporate set. I manage SketchUp at my office and I have anywhere from 4 to 6 SketchUp users at any given time (we get arch students that show up for a few months then go back to school). What is your advice for licensing my office? Corporate seems like too many for us and I don't want to have to make a handful of SketchUcation accounts to buy the plugins a few times over.

I know I'm asking a lot here but I'd also like to buy all of the fredo6 plugins, not just the most recent bundled set. I have bought a few on my personal account already but I'd like to buy for my office use along with my co-workers. and ideally all in one shot. Is that possible?

Regardless of your response, thank you for all your hard work over the years to Fredo6 and the SketchUcation team. You have helped me excel at SketchUp for over a decade!

TSquaredProductions · 13 Jun 2022, 19:57

Is there a way to get a refund on accidentally buying a license twice?

Sketchucation doesn't make it clear that the payment went through (It's not your fault, Fredo), so I accidentally bought another license, and I would like to cancel it and get a refund.

Rich O Brien · 13 Jun 2022, 20:13

@tsquaredproductions said:

Is there a way to get a refund on accidentally buying a license twice

We got your email and replied

eqc1 · 16 Jun 2022, 13:14

Hi Fredo6,

I don't know what I did wrong, but it took me a very long time to find the purchase page for your bundle, I only found a link inside this thread provided by Rich.
Maybe you could make it easier in your plugin descriptions and provide a direct link like "buy here".
Just saying...
Thanks for your work anyway!
Emilie

Rich O Brien · 16 Jun 2022, 13:28

@eqc1 said:

Hi Fredo6,

I don't know what I did wrong, but it took me a very long time to find the purchase page for your bundle, I only found a link inside this thread provided by Rich.
Maybe you could make it easier in your plugin descriptions and provide a direct link like "buy here".
Just saying...
Thanks for your work anyway!
Emilie

Yeah, its a case of the cart before the horse. But we are working on evolving the buying element in the site.

First was make sure the licensing worked they users wanted it to. In 99% of users this is the case.

So expect better 'discoverability' in the coming weeks as we move towards a better shop listing.

eqc1 · 16 Jun 2022, 13:54

Great!

fredo6 · 16 Jun 2022, 14:04

@eqc1 said:

Hi Fredo6,

I don't know what I did wrong, but it took me a very long time to find the purchase page for your bundle, I only found a link inside this thread provided by Rich.
Maybe you could make it easier in your plugin descriptions and provide a direct link like "buy here".
Just saying...
Thanks for your work anyway!
Emilie

For each plugin, there is a menu entry "License..." in the plugin menu (in Tools > Fredo6 Collection... > <plugin_name>).

This shows the License dialog, where there is a button 'Obtain License' which direct you to the Purchase page.

The license dialog can also be called from the message box informing you that the Plugin needs to be licensed.

What else do you need?

eqc1 · 17 Jun 2022, 10:32

Hi,
Thank you for mentioning this!
Indeed, I didn't see this option which is very convenient, but not that obvious (in my opinion). I didn't get the prompt within Sketchup (with all extensions up to date), and usually, purchases are also available in the developer's website or the host platform, so I did search for an hour on Sketchucation where to purchase rather than in Sketchup settings.
My suggestion is just to add a purchase box or a link within the plugin description, or even the description you just gave me
This is just my experience, and I assume it could be more convenient for others as well

TampaPowers · 27 Jun 2022, 13:57

Maybe I missed something so please correct me, but from what I gather these newer versions mean whenever someone now updates they are suddenly greeted with a prompt to buy a license after 30 days when their previously installed version was perpetually free.

While I agree that work should be compensated and the plugins are quite good for their pricing, essentially pulling the rug out underneath people that might have used these plugins quite often is what I would call a "dick move".

I get it, there weren't many donations coming in and the level of work required to maintain the plugins and do support for them is quite something and doing that for free is a lot to ask, but equally I suspect if the plugins weren't free to begin with they likely would never have grown to that point. In a way it also alienates a lot of users that otherwise might not have the capacity to purchase the licenses. At least setting up another payment gateway to allow more international purchases. Coincidentally that's usually part of the reason people do no donate as they otherwise cannot use the particular gateway provided.

It's strange to watch this unfold and get a lot of attention while other portions of the forum seem to sit abandoned almost. I posted the other day about something and didn't get a response for two weeks now. I'm not entirely on board with Sketchucation expanding into the realms of paid things when it has been a bastion and counter to the inherent commercialization Trimble has embarked on with Sketchup. For this place and the plugins and resources it provided to just follow that notion is sad to see.

Rich O Brien · 27 Jun 2022, 15:54

@tampapowers said:

Maybe I missed something so please correct me

No probs...

Fredo has archived the free versions and commercialized newer versions. Having support retroactively for SketchUp versions is getting harder and harder to maintain.

Fredo and Sketchucation are separate entities. Fredo has hosted his tools here for years and we are happy to continue to do so. If he choses to monetize his newer tools after many years that is his choice.

It is your choice to purchase or not. Our motivation is and always has been to support plugin development. How developers roll out tools is beyond our control.

As for a rug pull....its been 10+ years of free use. You may have not noticed the many announcements and threads Fredo has posted to inform users of his move to paid tools. Many have supported his move and are happy to support him in future.

There are still 100s of free extension here and anyone can create a free account. As for Trimble's strategy in making money I've no knowledge about it. We are not affiliated to Trimble.

giuntolinicolo7 · 22 Jul 2022, 10:58

Hello Fredo6, I've bought the pack of the plugins and installed them on my Sketchup 2020, they all work except "ToolsOnSurface" (it appears on the ketchup but when I try to click on the icons nothing happens) Do you know why and how to fix this problem?
Many thanks
Nico

fredo6 · 22 Jul 2022, 12:46

@giuntolinicolo7 said:

Hello Fredo6, I've bought the pack of the plugins and installed them on my Sketchup 2020, they all work except "ToolsOnSurface" (it appears on the ketchup but when I try to click on the icons nothing happens) Do you know why and how to fix this problem?
Many thanks
Nico

Before launching a tool of ToolsOnSurface, could you open the Ruby console to check if there are errors displayed when launching ToolsOnSurface. If so, could you report them.

giuntolinicolo7 · 1 Aug 2022, 19:31

Hi everyone, I'm having problems with the plugin of Tool OnSurface from the pack of the Fredo6 that I have just bought!
All the plugins have been normally installed and all licenses have been applied all the other plugins are working and the only one that isn't working is Tool OnSurface, (which appears on display) but when I'm clicking on it, it isn't working.
Could someone help me fix this problem?

Many thanks
Nico

giuntolinicolo7 · 1 Aug 2022, 19:53

@fredo6 said:

@giuntolinicolo7 said:

Hello Fredo6, I've bought the pack of the plugins and installed them on my Sketchup 2020, they all work except "ToolsOnSurface" (it appears on the ketchup but when I try to click on the icons nothing happens) Do you know why and how to fix this problem?
Many thanks
Nico

Before launching a tool of ToolsOnSurface, could you open the Ruby console to check if there are errors displayed when launching ToolsOnSurface. If so, could you report them.

I checked the ruby console and no error messages, also in the extension manager the plugin is correctly installed and signed In with a license, it don't allows me even to update it (on the screen it's shown also with the new icons designs as updated).
Previously worked and now all of a sudden stopped, I've tried even to uninstall it and to install it again but nothing happen, the same issue.