Are Australians getting ripped off?

[little.09]

OK so heres my story. i went into EB games not looking for anything in particular. just a game i could play for a day or two. when i was looking in the PC games section i saw that a lot of the new games came with a price tag of $109.00. i understood the $100 price tag when the Australian dollar was low but now it works out to be around $112 usd. now I'm pretty sure that the average price for a game in america is around the $60 mark. So anyway enough of my rambling I have two questions 1. how much do you pay for your games on average? and 2. how can the biggest video game retailer in Australia(they're not the only ones who do this but as a specialty store shouldn't they be looking after the self imposed limited market. Also they're main competition GAME do this as well)do this and continue to get away with it?

EDIT: sorry for the lack of paragraphs

 

[Salem_Wolf]

Well it depends what the value of their dollar is with ours and if their currency uses the exact same format. I know Canadians usually pay more (or did) at one point for things than us, but they also had a slightly different format for their currency and dollar value; not to mention their economy. Personally? We should all use rocks.
"I'll trade you 15 rocks for this PS3 game"
"Make it 17."
"Deal."

I'm far from an expert, but what might be 20 dollars to us might be 30 to them, so I wouldn't know if they are or not. Gotta weigh all of it at once.

 

[Fanta Grape]

We are getting ripped off. I don't tend to buy new games though. The last one I bought was Birth by Sleep on the PSP

 

[little.09]

Well it depends what the value of their dollar is with ours and if their currency uses the exact same format. I know Canadians usually pay more (or did) at one point for things than us, but they also had a slightly different format for their currency and dollar value; not to mention their economy. Personally? We should all use rocks.
"I'll trade you 15 rocks for this PS3 game"
"Make it 17."
"Deal."

I'm far from an expert, but what might be 20 dollars to us might be 30 to them, so I wouldn't know if they are or not. Gotta weigh all of it at once.

Google says $110 aud (Australian dollars) is $112 usd(united states dollars)

 

[Salem_Wolf]

Well it depends what the value of their dollar is with ours and if their currency uses the exact same format. I know Canadians usually pay more (or did) at one point for things than us, but they also had a slightly different format for their currency and dollar value; not to mention their economy. Personally? We should all use rocks.
"I'll trade you 15 rocks for this PS3 game"
"Make it 17."
"Deal."

I'm far from an expert, but what might be 20 dollars to us might be 30 to them, so I wouldn't know if they are or not. Gotta weigh all of it at once.

Google says $110 aud (Australian dollars) is $112 usd(united states dollars)

SON OF A -- yes, in reply to your original post. >_>;

 

[u4527646]

Or go to JB HiFi, I'm not sure if you have it where you live, but in Canberra it's where everyone buys their games from. They have games for like $80/$90 on release day. They are much cheaper, often having new games cheaper than EB/GAME will be selling their preowned versions for.

I don't want to advertise them but I HATE EB, not only are they stupidly expensive but they are also evil. I once saw them tell a old woman that the (2nd hand) game she bought for her son couldn't be returned because it was cracked, when she pointed out that she bought whatever their stupid 2nd hand game insurance is they told her that it didn't cover cracks, just scratches... EB are evil. NEVER shop there... Unless they are selling something cheaper, just always buy cheapest... Which will rarely be EB.


EDIT: Oh yeah, I also compared EB prices to Steam and noticed a between 100 and 400 percent mark up, if the game is on Steam, BUY IT FROM STEAM! Especially with Christmas sales etc...

 

[Smooth Operator]

Ofcourse Australians are getting ripped off.
You know why prices are so high? Because they can get away with them, and they will keep pushing the price up much as they can.

I also noticed in my usual shop games that become popular suddenly spike in price, but that is simply how you make money, you screw people.
So if you don't want to be screwed look for alternatives, ebay, Steam,....

 

[RicoADF]

Yes, Australians are stupid and will eat whatever shit is served up to them.

No we're not stupid and wont eat shit, its a matter of theres no store that sells games for a better price. And no online isn't an option for everyone as not everyone has credit cards/debit cards, the net or are willing to wait to get the game they paid for. Fact is the stores should be forced to sell at a decent price, but theres no regulations in reguards to IT and gaming.

I generally just wait for the price to drop or a sale to come on.

 

[Spoonius]

I use Steam, for the most part.

Yes, Australians are stupid and will eat whatever shit is served up to them.

GTFO.

 

[defult]

I understand there would be some "lag" between the prices and exchange rates but it is getting stupid. The worst bit is the only person making the money would be the middle men, the store would be buying the games from the distributer at the same price and the developer is still getting paid the same. So the buffer will be the importers/distrubigters and I cant wait till the aussie $ goes down and everyone starts to cry that their margins are shrinking.

If buying online is not an option Id suggest JB hifi its the only place i buy from now. If you buy the game on release week you will pay 70-90 and sometimes get the special editions for normal price, I did with vanquish and enslaved

EB have and always will be a ripoff.

 

[SinisterGehe]

Yes, Australians are stupid and will eat whatever shit is served up to them.

No we're not stupid and wont eat shit, its a matter of theres no store that sells games for a better price. And no online isn't an option for everyone as not everyone has credit cards/debit cards, the net or are willing to wait to get the game they paid for. Fact is the stores should be forced to sell at a decent price, but theres no regulations in reguards to IT and gaming.

I generally just wait for the price to drop or a sale to come on.

Welcome to capitalism...
I just hope you are kidding with the "but theres no regulations in reguards to IT and gaming.
", You honestly want government to regulate the prices of game? You honestly want to kill capitalism just because you aren't happy? Next you say the price of milk is too high, let regulate that and what you know Soviet union is born again but in much warmer climate.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

The American dollar has gotten weaker, ours hasnt improved any.

There wont be any changes in prices until it does. But in the meantime, importing from America could turn out to be cheaper.

 

[Aphex Demon]

Yes.

 

[ShasoRmyr]

Wow, definitely. Most special packages for games (Collectors editions and such) go for less than $100 USD. You should look into importing if possible.

 

[Fire Daemon]

Shops devoted to games are complete rip-offs in Australia. I imagine that the reason is largely a lack of competition, for a long time the only source of games within walking distance for myself was an EB Games or a Myer/David Jones. Myer and David Jones don't give a shit about their games and so they keep the prices low, EB had no competition so it wasn't unusual to see 6 month old games going for $110 (rage!!!).

Recently though, JB Hi Fi and other game retailers like Game (real original) are making more of a push and the market has become less of a monopoly, but video game focused stores still can't compete with JB Hi Fi due to a much smaller client base. JB can have better sales and lower prices because they aren't limiting themselves to a single market.

I think it's important for Australian Gamers to look around for the cheaper prices, and thankfully it seems like more people are starting to do that, although we still have a far way to go. Even the cheaper places are laughing straight to the bank, bulk shipping isn't that expensive and I believe that every retailer can lower the cost of it's games dramatically while still maintaining a good profit.

 

[Super Toast]

Yes, Australians are stupid and will eat whatever shit is served up to them.

Burn in hell.

OT: Yes we are. That's why Steam is the best place to go 99% of the time.

 

[MrAkuma201]

Yes ...... yes we are .............that is all.

 

[Nocta-Aeterna]

Wow, that's rather severe.
And I thought European prices ?60≈$80 USD was rather skewed.

 

[Angerwing]

Or go to JB HiFi, I'm not sure if you have it where you live, but in Canberra it's where everyone buys their games from. They have games for like $80/$90 on release day. They are much cheaper, often having new games cheaper than EB/GAME will be selling their preowned versions for.

Yeah, but all the JB Hifi employees in Canberra are dicks, apart from like, 2 or 3. And I know most of them.

OT: We are getting gouged, and it's not the retailers fault. We get our games in for usually about $10 below retail price.

 

[u4527646]

Or go to JB HiFi, I'm not sure if you have it where you live, but in Canberra it's where everyone buys their games from. They have games for like $80/$90 on release day. They are much cheaper, often having new games cheaper than EB/GAME will be selling their preowned versions for.

Yeah, but all the JB Hifi employees in Canberra are dicks, apart from like, 2 or 3. And I know most of them.

OT: We are getting gouged, and it's not the retailers fault. We get our games in for usually about $10 below retail price.

I have noticed that most JB employees appear stoned the entire time... Seriously... One girl who was serving me took my product and gave it back to me 3 times before scanning it, and another told me it would be 6 months to get in a DVD I ordered, it only took 2 weeks, you know, a logical amount of time