pricing anomalies

[Tatran]

They have some IP tracking that doesn't allow you to switch currencies.

So, what will happen?

 

[V. Soma]

Prices are set in each region based on the local market forces. This is nothing new with digital distribution. Countries with populations with a smaller amount of disposable income will typically have things like games sell for a lower price than richer countries.

The whole of continental Europe as one unified entity with same disposable income everywhere? Khm...
Definitely there should be a Western and Eastern "half" set apart...

 

[Nictel]

Why do they make me pay more money in ca. 12-15 EUR value than the others???

Various reasons:
- They'll undercut retail otherwise, which will not be happy.
- Profit.
- Profit.

 

[Chalks]

The whole of continental Europe as one unified entity with same disposable income everywhere? Khm...
Definitely there should be a Western and Eastern "half" set apart...

Not if you're part of the single currency - that's pretty much the whole point.

The UK gets prices in £ - still more expensive than the US but for us at least they don't pull the whole "$ = € lololol" thing.

 

[V. Soma]

Not if you're part of the single currency - that's pretty much the whole point.

The UK gets prices in £ - still more expensive than the US but for us at least they don't pull the whole "$ = € lololol" thing.

Hungary - for instance - is not part of the euro... we still have HUF

 

[Osama Bin Davis]

Not if you're part of the single currency - that's pretty much the whole point.

The UK gets prices in £ - still more expensive than the US but for us at least they don't pull the whole "$ = € lololol" thing.

There are heaps of countries in europe without the euro! there are even many inside the EU itself that don't use the Euro!

 

[Chalks]

There are heaps of countries in europe without the euro! there are even many inside the EU itself that don't use the Euro!

Yep, being from the UK I did notice this.

 

[Samez]

I will buy my (hard) copy of CIV V in the UK as it is usually cheaper than buying games in euros p yeha exchange-rate). There are also to other general advantages in buying games there:
- no censorship (not really important for civ I would guess)
- modability (many games haver much more mods based on the English language than on any other, this is esp important for file structure and audio files. Best example is c3c where only renaming nearly all your folder will make it possible to play most mods from here)

 

[Alki]

Doesn't Steam benefit from it since its getting 2 games bought using its service instead of 1?

I've got a German friend who exchanges games with people so he can get the uncut version. The uncut version works in Germany when purchased by non-Germans because apparently the Americans on the German military bases are big gamers.

You realise it's illegal to buy many uncut games in Germany?

 

[Nictel]

You realise it's illegal to buy many uncut games in Germany?

But not own, I think he circumvents the law like that.

 

[Mercade]

So, what will happen?

Hmm.. Not quite sure what you did, how you did it or what your question is. When looking at the steamworks website I wasn't able to change the interface so that I would get pricing in USD.

If there was a way to do that, I'd most certainly be interesting in considering the US$ 49.99 version instead of the EUR 49.99 version (which I would certainly preorder in a local (web)store).

 

[Chalks]

Hmm.. Not quite sure what you did, how you did it or what your question is. When looking at the steamworks website I wasn't able to change the interface so that I would get pricing in USD.

If there was a way to do that, I'd most certainly be interesting in considering the US$ 49.99 version instead of the EUR 49.99 version (which I would certainly preorder in a local (web)store).

You can use a proxy - but they really don't like you doing it so there may be other measures in place to prevent this (such as binding your account to a particular region)

 

[Mercade]

You can use a proxy - but they really don't like you doing it so there may be other measures in place to prevent this (such as binding your account to a particular region)

Obviously, but without the proxy / gifting option I was wondering if there existed a method for a single person to change the currency (similarly to my ability to buy something from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk or amazon.de at different prices or even at play.com where I could select between GBP and EUR and take advantage of whichever exchange rate suited me best). But so far it seems that steamworks has this angle covered by means of an IP check. I have no interest in exploring a proxy option.

 

[Rub'Rum]

The thing is, if I buy 50$ of stuff (any stuff) in the US, I need about 80$ to buy the same stuff (any stuff) in Europe anyway... It's not like it's only games, hehe.

 

[Mercade]

Cross-posted from this thread.

Somehow I wonder if Steam simply didn't use the right currency on their page for Australia. Since they recognize Australia as a separate market, maybe they intend to ask 79.99 AU$ instead of 79.99 US$. That would be somewhat more in line with e.g. Mighty Ape asking 72.99 AU$. It's still overpricing, but in line with how they overprice in UK asking 29.99 GBP versus 24.99 GBP by e.g. Amazon and HMV.

It's completely pointless comparing the prices in different regions as:
A) certain things are more expensive relative to other things in other countries (loaf of bread vs standard CD vs pint of beer)
B) cost of living (things are very expensive in Norway and Japan but wages are very high - I have a friend in Norway who works in a bar and who gets six or seven times the wages of what I would in the UK for the same work)
C) exchange rates
D) smaller markets in smaller areas are more prone to having prices raised higher due to lack of competition

Of course there is some relevance to the fact that there are price differences between markets. However, we're talking about a digital product here. There are no extra costs for the vendor apart from a difference in VAT, if applicable.

Moreover, my point was that if Mighty Ape charges AU$ 73 including shipping (see the preorder list), what's the rationale for the Steam website to ask AU$ 93 (US$ 80) for the same product in the same market? Apart from the privilege of not getting a box with a DVD.

Now the fact that Mighty Ape asks US$ 13 more (AU$ 73 = US$ 63) than US webshops and retailers can be explained by the extra transport costs and higher costs in the local market, but the fact that Steam asks AU$ 20 more than a local webshop cannot be explained by the same logics.

In the UK, by and large, it's cheapest to buy CDs, DVDs and books on Amazon, then other online retailers and Tesco, then actual stores. This isn't the case in all countries and in general it can be the opposite in smaller ones.

According to the preorder review, Amazon neither the cheapest, nor cheaper than other on-line stores.

 

[spyroware]

As mentioned, finding a friend in the Americas to buy games and gift them to you is a great money-saving choice. I consistently send the price in euros of a normal edition to a friend in Venezuela through paypal and he buys me the deluxe/collector's one and earns some profit from the remaining change (there's always some) to boot. Have in mind though that even while you can receive the gifted game on the day of US release it will be locked till it gets released in the EU.

Also, what are those 'uncut' version you guys are talking about? I always thought the games are released with the same content in both US and EU (Europe gets some localisation options but that's it). I only knew of Australia having those strict rating rules that they have to censor games and that's to blame for the usual delays and price markups.

 

[Svip]

Let me clear this up for you, guys.

Steam prices are 1USD = 1EUR. This is nothing new, in fact, it is a pretty old thing and there is even a Steam group about it to protest it.

However, Steam and Valve have spoken about why this is. You see, the European prices includes VAT, taxes and whatnot. It's the total price. The US prices, however, does not include these kind of things, because they vary from state to state or other countries that use the US part of the Steam store. So what you see for US customers is not necessarily what you pay. Thank your lawmakers for that.

In addition, YES, you can buy a Steam game in the US or UK and use it in Europe, there is no IP-tracking restrictions on that. You can even get a friend to purchase it for you from another price zone.

 

[Mercade]

Steam prices are 1USD = 1EUR. This is nothing new, in fact, it is a pretty old thing and there is even a Steam group about it to protest it.

However, Steam and Valve have spoken about why this is. You see, the European prices includes VAT, taxes and whatnot. It's the total price. The US prices, however, does not include these kind of things, because they vary from state to state or other countries that use the US part of the Steam store. So what you see for US customers is not necessarily what you pay. Thank your lawmakers for that.

That's all fine and dandy, but doesn't explain the 60% price difference charged in Australia, namely US$ 79.99 versus US$ 49.99 in US. The GST in Australia is 10%, making a fair price US$ 49.99 + 10% = US$ 54.99 (which is exactly the price that play-asia.com is asking in Australia).

So how do you explain the other USD 25.00 of price difference asked by Steam/2K in Australia? Rent for the undersea cable to bring the mega-download to the big island?

 

[Jugalub]

As we learned it, pricing of Civ5 is as follows:

normal edition: 50 USD / 50 EUR / 30 GBP

Deluxe ed.: 60 USD / 60 EUR / 40 GBP

Why is this inequality???

On equal terms, it should be sg. like:

Normal edition:
50 USD? then: 38 EUR / 33 GBP
50 EUR? then: 65 USD / 43 GBP
30 GBP? then: 45 USD / 35 EUR

Deluxe edition:
60 USD? then: 46 EUR / 40 GBP
60 EUR? then: 78 USD / 52 GBP
40 GBP? then: 60 USD / 46 EUR

Why do they make me pay more money in ca. 12-15 EUR value than the others???

The game is £40 in the UK. Just reduced to £29.99 on Steam right now and £24.99 on Amazon.

 

[OzJeremy]

That's all fine and dandy, but doesn't explain the 60% price difference charged in Australia, namely US$ 79.99 versus US$ 49.99 in US. The GST in Australia is 10%, making a fair price US$ 49.99 + 10% = US$ 54.99 (which is exactly the price that play-asia.com is asking in Australia).

So how do you explain the other USD 25.00 of price difference asked by Steam/2K in Australia? Rent for the undersea cable to bring the mega-download to the big island?

Exactly. This.

2K doesn't deserve a single Australian sale while this garbage exists. 60% markup on a digital product indeed. Get stuffed.