Poll: Why are US game developers ripping off the UK
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even with vat tax and uk markups i find adding £15 to the price of any given game hard to agree with as it should still be at least £5 cheeper if not £10 and i could get the same games £10 cheeper even with shipping making it totaly unexceptable as we really are being riped off
Note that American prices are usually without vats, but the price difference is still higher then vats.
Your still getting better prices then continental europe though.
Infact i think they have the second best prices when it comes to western nations.
Your still getting better prices then continental europe though.
Infact i think they have the second best prices when it comes to western nations.
This would explain why the Uk has a higher piracy rate than the US. UK's rate is 26%, US's 24%, and Australia's is 28%!!
This actually give me an idea.... Morally correct pirating. From now on, for every 2 full price games you buy, go ahead and steal one without feeling guilty, this means that you'd be paying around £26 per game, much fairer! I kid of course, I don't recommended anyone really does this... even if it does seems like the fairest option.
This actually give me an idea.... Morally correct pirating. From now on, for every 2 full price games you buy, go ahead and steal one without feeling guilty, this means that you'd be paying around £26 per game, much fairer! I kid of course, I don't recommended anyone really does this... even if it does seems like the fairest option.
I was unaware of this. You poor souls, getting milked of your money for no good reason (that sounds a little sarcastic, but it's not).chozo_hybrid said:
Aussie, prices higher, etc. etc. Been said already.
If it makes you feel better, people like me order from the UK to get around our own problems, so we at best have your price + postage. If the UK price goes down, it benefits us too.
But yes, you're getting ripped off. We're getting more ripped off. Apparently New Zealand is getting even more ripped off. A little change in price is to be expected from import fees, but as is it's almost certainly just corporate greed and nothing more.
I actually wonder about the moral issues with 'ethical piracy'. The actual developers are on the losing end of everything since they get a minuscule amount of money per sale, the publisher gets more, but the retailers get the most. Would it be unethical to pirate a game, but send money to the developer equalling the original (greed-free) purchase price? I mean, I support the developers, but the retailers kind of piss me off.Charles_njc said:
Nope. Price difference for games between euroland and the US is about 20%, which is also the VAT rate in most european nations.GiantRedButton said:
(on second thought: I should check the exchange rates more often. We pay 35% more now, so we get slightly ripped off)
UK citizens pay more because they are chumps. I don't mean that in such a negative way, what I mean is they are TOO NICE. Seriously, studies, which I don't have links to, have shown that UK citizens will tolerate bad service, shoddy merchandise, and higher prices.
US citizens however, demand refunds if the product/service comes up even a little short of their expectations.
There are other forces at work too, regarding pricing, but really, US citizens will throw an absolute fit if they feel prices are too high. Heck, we will throw a fit just because we know we can get the prices lower, or get better service.
Naturally that will not apply to all US/UK citizens, but the study I read showed a tendency.
US citizens however, demand refunds if the product/service comes up even a little short of their expectations.
There are other forces at work too, regarding pricing, but really, US citizens will throw an absolute fit if they feel prices are too high. Heck, we will throw a fit just because we know we can get the prices lower, or get better service.
Naturally that will not apply to all US/UK citizens, but the study I read showed a tendency.
Sure, and you've never been on a thread that had tangents before, right? Too much time ironing, perhaps?More Fun To Compute said:
yeah its the same in australia. with US games being cheaper. Even on places like steam where its a digital copy so no shipping and its basically the same product i would pay like $30 more than if i paid in US$.
Like dragon age 1 was like $50 USD on steam and $80 AUD and the exchange rate at the time was near 1:1 with the USD so it made no sense except cause steam was matching its prices with retail prices in australia
Like dragon age 1 was like $50 USD on steam and $80 AUD and the exchange rate at the time was near 1:1 with the USD so it made no sense except cause steam was matching its prices with retail prices in australia
There is a Value Added Tax on most every thing sold, here in the US people might better know it as a 'sales tax'. one thing that may contribute to a price discrepency is the fact that some countries have a marginally higher VAT then others. in the US you're looking at a 10-16% VAT while in the UK you can see it in excessive of 20% (25% being the max).
another thing is that I Believe Items sold in the UK and EU should show their VAT as apart of the ultimate price. In the US, you're Sales tax is added AFTER you buy it. so a $40 game may ultimatly cost you $45 in the end.
aside from these points there is also the changes a developer must make in order to change it from the NTSC to PAL encoding, the additional paper work, and other laws and customs they must conform to in order to put the game on shelves in that country. all of these add to the over all price.
another thing is that I Believe Items sold in the UK and EU should show their VAT as apart of the ultimate price. In the US, you're Sales tax is added AFTER you buy it. so a $40 game may ultimatly cost you $45 in the end.
aside from these points there is also the changes a developer must make in order to change it from the NTSC to PAL encoding, the additional paper work, and other laws and customs they must conform to in order to put the game on shelves in that country. all of these add to the over all price.
I think what it is really about is the producers charging what the market will bear. This is why region-protection exists (and is enforced fairly strongly in some cases) in the first place, so that publishers can charge different prices in different territories. It's basically a refusal to accept globalisation and attempt to profit from keeping the global market divided not unified.
Fortunately for consumers current access to the internet and import services means this is getting increasingly hard to sustain. Doesn't seem to be stopping Nintendo thinking about putting region protection on the 3DS though...
Fortunately for consumers current access to the internet and import services means this is getting increasingly hard to sustain. Doesn't seem to be stopping Nintendo thinking about putting region protection on the 3DS though...
BLIMEY! I think it would be cheaper to do heroine every weekend than it is to keep uptodate with games in Austrailia.Bobbity said:
Why is it that people in the UK are paying too much, instead of people in the US paying too little? C'mon, people, there's more money you can get out of the Americans.
Yes, I'm sorry. It's just that Australians complaining about everything was such an unexpected development that it caught me off guard.Squilookle said: