Ableton Forum

I had bought license for Live 9 in 2013, and this June, when there was promo with 25% discount, I was trying to buy upgrade to Live 10. I tried all possible ways to pay for it: PayPal, Visa and Mastercard cards, cards that were issued in my country (Russia) and card issued in Europe that my friend from Finland provided to me.
In the end, no any method worked. There was the only message in Ableton's shop: the transaction is declined. I wrote to Ableton's support, tried all their advices, but in vain. I contacted technical support of my bank, they said that the transaction didn't even reach them.
Lots of time had been wasted. I was disappointed.
And now I can't effectively collaborate with other musicians who already have Live 10, because their projects aren't compatible with my environment.

It's unacceptable for me to use hacked software from net, but this is the only solution that I see at the moment. I have always been an apologist for Ableton among my friends and colleagues, and now I don’t know what to say. Just frustration.

Dealing with currencies from multiple countries can definitely be frustrating, I feel your pain. I have some people who want me to do their mastering work, but do to reasons beyond my control none of the financial institutions I use in the US will accept payments from their countries. It sucks for sure. I'm surprised PayPal wound t work though if you already have an account, that's usually the only one that does.

Any chance you have a friend in another country that you could wire the money to and have them make the payment in your name?

The fact is that I tried to pay with a friend's card issued in Europe (in Finland) and the result was the same. I googled on this topic and found that for many people the problem was solved by paying through PayPal, but in my case this did not help either.

Too late for the 25% discount, but you do not have to buy direct from Ableton. There are many online dealers who can sell you upgrades. Upgrades can also be purchased in person in actual stores, if any exist in Russia (or any country you can easily travel to).

Good luck.