SuperMeppen Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 I think I'm getting a better understanding of the issue here. I think I missed the point - but I'm still unclear. Here's a situation I'm constantly faced with. I buy Adobe software regularly. But in the US it's much cheaper. When I questioned Adobe on their pricing policy in Europe their response was it was due to taxes and other legislation which prohibited them selling at the same price in the US and Europe, these are trading laws across continents. It could be something similar is happening here, that SI have to have the price this high due to trading laws and taxation legislation between continents etc. That would only make any sense if all previous versions had been priced similarly, or if legislation had been introduced since FM12 was released (and only then if it didn't apply retrospectively, otherwise the price for FM12 would have had to increase too). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryknow Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 It's not the same price.It's $90 USD in Australia. In America it's $40 USD. Steam games in Australia are priced in USD. So when the USA has their price at $40 USD, and Australia has their price at $90 USD, we are getting ripped off. This. I feel it's simply an error, on whoever is responsible's part. The game was only announced on Steam in the last 48hrs? Surely they will ratify this, if not then there is absolutely no excuse for the difference in price. My money's on it changing to $40USD soon, if not there are some serious problems. As alluded to by others I remember seeing something about how they are trying to reduce the pricing differences, mainly because the stores have been found out. People buy from overseas or online now, as they don't want to pay $120 for a console game. I still can't believe new release console games were $100+ in certain major gaming stores in Australia a few years ago. At least JB and other major electronic outlets made it more competitive and had $80-90 average for new releases. That's hard copies mind, there is no reason for Steam to charge these rates. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sikker Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Can't you aussies not buy it from here for £29.99? Here you can even get a 43% discount (£22.79) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurf Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 That would only make any sense if all previous versions had been priced similarly, or if legislation had been introduced since FM12 was released (and only then if it didn't apply retrospectively, otherwise the price for FM12 would have had to increase too). Not if they were selling it at a discounted price and taking the hit themselves in hoping that future sales at a later date etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Khan Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Woah, that like 50 quid more than in the UK..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMeppen Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Not if they were selling it at a discounted price and taking the hit themselves in hoping that future sales at a later date etc. No company in any field would take a 125% hit on the likelihood of future sales. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryknow Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Can't you aussies not buy it from here for £29.99?Here you can even get a 43% discount (£22.79) Probably, but if it was the same as last year, $39.99USD on Steam for us, it would convert to £24-25 anyways. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sikker Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Probably, but if it was the same as last year, $39.99USD on Steam for us, it would convert to £24-25 anyways. Well, I've just pre ordered it from Sega (before I saw the other offer) and I paid the £29.99 even though I live in Denmark. I know there might be some trade restrictions between Australia, EU and USA - that should be the only reason why you can't buy from these sites at those prices. Edit: Last year you got the game even cheaper than the rest of us. So are you really moaning that you can't get the game cheaper than the rest of us this year as well? Try buying the game at these sites first before raising your fist at SI/Sega... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryknow Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Well, I've just pre ordered it from Sega (before I saw the other offer) and I paid the £29.99 even though I live in Denmark. I know there might be some trade restrictions between Australia, EU and USA - that should be the only reason why you can't buy from these sites at those prices. Yeah, agreed. I would, but I see no reasoning in pre-ordering as I can't play the game till release. By then Steam's price will be down to $39.99USD as they rectify their problem due to low sales. After all FM is always in the top 10 Played games on Steam, they will realise their error. If after release date it is still $89.99USD, then I will get it off one of those sites, or elsewhere. I normally wait till after the last patch anyway, so I'm in no rush. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryknow Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Edit: Last year you got the game even cheaper than the rest of us. So are you really moaning that you can't get the game cheaper than the rest of us this year as well? Try buying the game at these sites first before raising your fist at SI/Sega... Erm...I'm not raising any fists. I beleive it's simply a Steam error, as I've stated around 4 times now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrazT Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 From memory, FM12 was available last year on release day for AUD 39.99 from ozgameshop.com Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidbowie Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 davidbowie - I don't know how you know how Steam operates in Australia - but I'll take your word for it. Very strange they can operate such high volumes of data for free? I don't think that information is correct.Here's the Steam USA Store Here's the Steam Australia Store Here's the exchange rate I don't know what else to say. I don't really know what your argument is. It's definitely cheaper in Europe though. Whatever you are using to access those prices is wrong. It's $39.99 in the US Store. I guarantee that if the price was $89 for the USA there would be a much longer thread than this already considering that games don't ever cost more than $60 USD there and games that cost $60 USD are AAA titles like Black Ops 2. The datacentres for steam in Australia are hosted by ISP's who control the internet. Inter-Australian web traffic is practically free, and the ISP's are already huge companies with massive data centres that can easily host the steam content. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krald Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Well, like some have said, the price will go down before it releases, I'm fairly sure an indentical or similar situation happened last year, but afaik, without being australian, it sounds like it went down over the initially announced price slightly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurf Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Whatever you are using to access those prices is wrong. It's $39.99 in the US Store. I guarantee that if the price was $99 for the USA there would be a much longer thread than this already considering that games don't ever cost more than $60 USD there and games that cost $60 USD are AAA titles like Black Ops 2.The datacentres for steam in Australia are hosted by ISP's who control the internet. Inter-Australian web traffic is practically free, and the ISP's are already huge companies with massive data centres that can easily host the steam content. I went to the US online store - but not the pre-order site. I take your point so. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harlequin Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 It's not a mistake $90 will be the price it's marketed for on steam at release, and in stores as a hard copy. More hilariously recently the PC version of Dark Souls was originally selling for $40 pre-purchase for Australians before being hiked up to $80 a bit over one month before release. No other country was affected by this. Australia gets royally screwed over in the video game department. Thank god for green man gaming is all I can say. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Hall Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 From memory, FM12 was available last year on release day for AUD 39.99 from ozgameshop.com Yeah, that's where I got it from. It's always like this, I walked into EB Games and the other day and they are selling FM12 for $89 still. Ridiculous. They always used the exchange rate as an excuse and that was kinda believable when the Aus$ was at 70 US cents, it kinda loses credibility when it's at $1.05. The postage excuse is always a good one, yeah that's right I can get it shipped out of the UK from ozgameshop to my house with free postage yet it costs them a **** load to deliver them to the store, yeah right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boony Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 I've just pre-ordered the game from Sega (download) for $39.95 US (around $38.00 in AUD), Not paying $89.00 from Steam. Gamelane is around $47.00 for a 'hardcopy' I beleive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da_Funk Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 http://www.novede.com/2012/04/30/1335753382/just-how-bad-video-game-price-gouging-australia http://www.steamprices.com/au/topripoffs It's because of parallel import restrictions. http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/11/why-do-videogames-cost-so-much/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIBURROWS Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Can you not just send the money to someone in England and then they gift it to you? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick1408 Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Can you not just send the money to someone in England and then they gift it to you? Not everyone knows someone in England or overseas. The parallel trade restrictions are interesting but when there isn't a physical product would this only be an excuse to price gouge? Probably one for the Australians here but can the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission put weight onto Steam/Valve to legislate fair pricing? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lower Leagues Rule Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 This is Bollocks, last year I paid US$40 in NZ for the game, same as the rest of the world, this year it is US$90 to buy in NZ, this seems to be completely ridiculous to me, and I WILL STOP if it is costing me over $100NZ to buy the game, Why should I pay it!?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dantasnet Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 This is Bollocks, last year I paid US$40 in NZ for the game, same as the rest of the world, this year it is US$90 to buy in NZ, this seems to be completely ridiculous to me, and I WILL STOP if it is costing me over $100NZ to buy the game, Why should I pay it!?! I'm with you!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidbowie Posted September 8, 2012 Author Share Posted September 8, 2012 Not everyone knows someone in England or overseas.The parallel trade restrictions are interesting but when there isn't a physical product would this only be an excuse to price gouge? Probably one for the Australians here but can the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission put weight onto Steam/Valve to legislate fair pricing? Valve have no operations in Australia and are outside Australian Government jurisdiction. In any case, this behaviour by Sega/SI, while completely unethical, ripping off their legitimate consumers and driving people to piracy, despite how stupid it is, it remains legal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckz Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 I would say it should more drive people to other retailers than to piracy - after all, if my local supermarket is too expensive for my tastes, I go to the discount supermarket instead of stealing food. (Obvious "piracy is not theft" things notwithstanding) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabso22 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 It may drive some people to go to other sites like Greenman gaming but this does nothing to discourage price gouging by Sega. They are getting the best of both worlds: 1. The people who know they are being ripped off will mostly still buy the game from different retailers that don't set different reasons. Sega still make money, albeit at a lesser profit margin. 2. The people who for whatever reason are unaware that they can get it cheaper they are still praying on, counting their cash and laughing all the way to the bank. Hopefully the price changes, I commended them for lowering the price last year, hopefully they continue at the $40-$50 mark. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ada069 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Should start an online pettition to steam to stop them ripping us Aussies off. Perhaps one of the many Fair trading organisations can be approached about this. Modern Warfare 2 is still 89.99AUD (About the same price in American Dollars after Currency Xchange) http://www.scribd.com/embeds/100466079/content This is a direct quote from choice.com.au who constantly go after unfair price comparisons Yet, via Steam, Call of Duty 4 costs $88.50 for Australians but $US49.95 (approx $53) for Americans, even though there are no extra costs involved such as shipping, local channel, market dynamics or duties at play — if anything the consumer pays for distribution with their ISP fees, yet it costs over 50% more. Activision's reply The local arm of Activision, which represents Call of Duty 4, said it is a wholesale pricing company and declined to provide further pricing information. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB68 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 I'm in Australia atm and was able to purchase the pre-order via the Sega site with no problems at all at the $39.95USD price. I was half expecting to be locked out, but to my surprise, not an issue. Fingers crossed that all will be ok on launch day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lower Leagues Rule Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 I'm in Australia atm and was able to purchase the pre-order via the Sega site with no problems at all at the $39.95USD price. I was half expecting to be locked out, but to my surprise, not an issue. Fingers crossed that all will be ok on launch day. Have tried this and it appears to work in NZ as well, might have to go about this method as well...still disgusts me that they think they can blatantly rip off NZ & AUS consumers...Guess we are used to it with everything else as well... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelutionist Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 I also took the plunge and pre-ordered from Sega. I assume that the steam code they will provide me with will work with an Australian steam account. Or else I will raise hell. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinny7 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 wow thats just ridiculous $3GA should really look at this. no wonder piracy happens Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlahka Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Hi there,Long time Australian customer here and religious FM gamer (although my post count leaves something to be desired). I have a few questions. Firstly, I simply refuse to pay the $90 steam advertises. so I'm looking at other retail avenues. I noticed the link to Green Man Gaming, I'm wondering if anyone can vouch as to whether purchasing the game form there will work for us aussies with steam accounts? I also see that the official footballmanager.com website has the pre-order priced at $40 and if I purchase the game from that outlet, would the steam code be valid for aussie steam accounts? Thanks in advance. Greenman is an excellent place and yes, codes work just fine for us. I've been buying from there for years. For those who think this is an error, its clearly not. Some publishers purposely slap prices up for us for zero reason. Activision does it with all their games. 2K Games do it. Ubisoft charge more for their games and from memory I think Sega has done this with previous games, like Total War. The original excuse used to be the exchange rate for why we paid more than any other country. Now that excuse cant be used. Its still happening. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostpoolie2 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 I agree that it seems to be a total rip off for anyone living in Australia Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougyMarshall Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Its the same thing with Xcom that is being released next month. I looked into the prices for that game and converted them all into $$$ to illustrate exactly what region pays what amount: US pays: $49.99 UK pays: $47.76 EU pays: $64.18 AU pays: $69.99 Steam has no responsibility for the prices of the games, its the publishers who set their prices and have a tendency to add anywhere from 20-40% onto a games price depending on the buyers region. Look at Valves own titles to see their policy on pricing Portal 2 US pays: $19.99 UK pays: $23.91 EU pays: $25.40 AUS pays: $19.99 Half Life 2 US pays: $9.99 UK pays: $11.15 EU pays: $11.42 AUS pays: $9.99 CS:GO US pays: $14.99 UK pays: $19.12 EU pays: $17.78 AUS pays: $14.99 All in all you will find that Valve prices their US and AUS titles pretty much the same while the UK and EU end up paying slightly more (though this is in part with the game prices being set before the Dollar lost a lot of value against the £ and € Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckz Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 If anything the euro lost a lot of value; Valve just priced their games like $1 = 1€. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jibby123 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 That's stupid for the Aus/NZ. In fact, this whole digital download fluff is mugging us off. They've binned the cost of manufacture of box/disc and manual as well as shipping by going digital yet charge can $90 Aus?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Neil Brock Posted September 9, 2012 Administrators Share Posted September 9, 2012 I'd suggest contacting the Australian distributors if you're unhappy with the pricing. I'm afraid from what I've been told part of it is related to the strong Australian economic status - if there's a tumble in Australia I'm sure the game price would do so too (no, don't ruin the Aus economy to get cheaper FM!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil ole me Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 That's stupid for the Aus/NZ.They've binned the cost of manufacture of box/disc and manual as well as shipping by going digital yet charge can $90 Aus?? I would LOVE to see the % of $$$ saved by this. Money saved by process work, packaging costs etc would be making them more money than the games being sold in some cases. You would think that prices would come DOWN as games went digital......G-R-E-E-D. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil ole me Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I'm afraid from what I've been told part of it is related to the strong Australian economic status In other words....we are going to lose some money in Australia so lets jack up the prices down there.We have been getting ripped off for many many years and this is no excuse to me. Ikea, the furniture company tried using excuses like shipping etc for the excessive prices down here compared to the US when many of the products were made in Indonesia which is just across the road so to speak....BUSTED!! (was on a 60 minutes TV programme) Just an excuse for them in my book. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jibby123 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I need to move to Oz if their economy has bounced 125% in such short time to have the marketing suits using that one as their excuse for mugging people in daylight. Classic excuse. Their economy is strong. You couldn't make it up....oh wait. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Hall Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I'd suggest contacting the Australian distributors if you're unhappy with the pricing. I'm afraid from what I've been told part of it is related to the strong Australian economic status - if there's a tumble in Australia I'm sure the game price would do so too (no, don't ruin the Aus economy to get cheaper FM!) Now I've heard every excuse in the book. Australian dollar is weak = Expensive games Australian dollar is strong = Expensive games Shipping = Expensive games It's the same with every single consumer product in Australia and every single food product. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jpr Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I had a friend who mentioned a while ago that he tricked steam into thinking his geographic location was in another country entirely, I think this was through the use of proxies. Anyway, this allowed him to access something that wasn't available in his country. Not sure if this is a viable option now but thought I'd mention it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick1408 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I'd suggest contacting the Australian distributors if you're unhappy with the pricing. I'm afraid from what I've been told part of it is related to the strong Australian economic status - if there's a tumble in Australia I'm sure the game price would do so too (no, don't ruin the Aus economy to get cheaper FM!) Miles told me the same thing on Twitter - @VictoryResearch As you know, exchange rates in Oz have changed dramatically. Must make everything more expensive, right? Actually, no. It has made everything cheaper as it is cheaper to import products. If our dollar was weak it would make things more expensive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
navyseals Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Now I've heard every excuse in the book.Australian dollar is weak = Expensive games Australian dollar is strong = Expensive games Shipping = Expensive games It's the same with every single consumer product in Australia and every single food product. The cost of living is higher in Australia but wages are higher as well. isnt minumum wage in America like $5 an hour? also lol at people who think this price is a mistake. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckz Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I had a friend who mentioned a while ago that he tricked steam into thinking his geographic location was in another country entirely, I think this was through the use of proxies.Anyway, this allowed him to access something that wasn't available in his country. Not sure if this is a viable option now but thought I'd mention it. As of the most recent Steam ToS/EULA/SSA changes, this is grounds for having your account eaten up, destroyed, vanquished, disabled, deleted, quartered, hung, [..]. You agree that you will not use IP proxying or other methods to disguise the place of your residence, whether to circumvent geographical restrictions on game content, to purchase at pricing not applicable to your geography, or for any other purpose. If you do this, we may terminate your access to your Account. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jibby123 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Nobody at SI/Sega or Steam will care. Cher-ching. $$££. It's like MoD Civil Servants....blame somebody else. Never be accountable. But that "Aussie economy is so strong, hence...." reason is a classic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckz Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 But that "Aussie economy is so strong, hence...." reason is a classic. Well, the reason Russia and Turkey are getting FM at cut-rate prices is to combat piracy (if people can actually afford games, they might even buy them!), while the reason AU and continental Europe get it at such a high price is that clearly people in those places have way too much money for their own good (or so game publishers feel). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamsDefined Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Can someone please explain the logic behind the argument that our strong economy is the cause of the $90 price? On some fundamental level is doesn't seem to make sense, especially given that Steam/Gamersgate are wholly digital... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckz Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Can someone please explain the logic behind the argument that our strong economy is the cause of the $90 price? Well, in theory you have too much money for your own good, which is why prices on everything are super high for you, and thus the average Australian has less purchasing power than the average US citizen. So even if you pay $90 for FM, you still have it better (from a spending power POV) than the citizens of the vast majority of countries in that list. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamsDefined Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 So based on purchasing power, countries like UK, Japan, Canada, are all going to be paying more for FM13 than someone in the US? I guess I just can't see how the price can be justified when there is zero additional cost - compared to any other country - to SI to sell in Australia via digital distribution (retail is another story: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/11/why-do-videogames-cost-so-much/). Admittedly that's a rather simplistic reason, so forgive me if my lack of economics info is letting me down Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 The cost of living is higher in Australia but wages are higher as well. isnt minumum wage in America like $5 an hour? $7.25, but many states have higher minimum wages set. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._minimum_wages Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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