Direct Source Inc, a California software mail order house, has opened toll-free telephone lines from Australia, France and the UK, with ordering services available during the overseas countries’ normal business hours, reports Newsbytes. The company even offers multi-lingual staff to answer questions and take orders. The minimum order on the service is $150, and payment must be made in advance by bank transfer or at the time of purchase using a major credit card, subject to a 3% handling fee. Freight and import duties are also billed direct to the customer by the courier or air freight company concerned. Biggest attraction for European users is that Direct Source’s pricing looks extremely attractive to anyone aware that the favoured practice of US computer and software companies marketing in the UK is simply to change the dollar sign on their pricing to a pound sign, leaving the poor benighted user to pick up a tab 60% to 70% higher than a US user would pay. Lotus 1-2-3 Version 2.0, for example, costs $330. WordStar costs just $240, compared with a UK price equivalent to about $450. It’s the high cost of passing the money, plus customs costs and hassles, which keep many computer users from buying software direct – and Direct Source looks to have cut that to a minimum.
