Europeans pay more for SW:TOR

[Deleted]

Why do mainland Europeans have to pay $65 more (CE) than people in the US?

Ofc I know there's VAT and shipping, but $65...that sounds a little fishy to me.
Don't get me wrong, I'll buy the game as I'm excited to play it. I just wonder what the official reason is.
That's the reason I made this thread. Am I missing something here?

For those who want to know the math:
Euro closed at 1.4383 yesterday.
149.99 * 1.4383 = 215.73
Which means a $65.74 difference.
To add, the last 5 years the average price of the euro has been pretty consistent between 1.3 and 1.5.
So it's not like Bioware saw a sudden drop or rise that would justify making the dollar and euro prices the same.

ps. I've seen similar questions about the British Pound, which would add to the discussion if you ask me.

[lunaspike]

Why do mainland Europeans have to pay $65 more (CE) than people in the US?

Ofc I know there's VAT and shipping, but $65...that sounds a little fishy to me.
Don't get me wrong, I'll buy the game as I'm excited to play it. I just wonder what the official reason is.
That's the reason I made this thread. Am I missing something here?

For those who want to know the math:
Euro closed at 1.4383 yesterday.
149.99 * 1.4383 = 215.73
Which means a $65.74 difference.
To add, the last 5 years the average price of the euro has been pretty consistent between 1.3 and 1.5.
So it's not like Bioware saw a sudden drop or rise that would justify making the dollar and euro prices the same.

ps. I've seen similar questions about the British Pound, which would add to the discussion if you ask me.

you would need to ask EA and not bioware. One is a developer, one is a publisher.

[hugedude]

Its all the international taxes and levies and costs for shipping etc. Dont complain we pay even more down here in little ol' Oz...

My biggest gripe is the fact that digital copies of games etc still take these costs into consideration where they honestly should not have to... unless Im missing other important costs....


Also did you perform the calculation of conversion correctly?

I did a quick conversion, not sure if its right or not but here goes....

$149.99 US$ = 104.212 EUR



Did i do something wrong? Isnt the euro stronger than the US$?

[Deleted]

you would need to ask EA and not bioware. One is a developer, one is a publisher.

Never said Bioware or EA in my post.

Its all the international taxes and levies and costs for shipping etc. Dont complain we pay even more down here in little ol' Oz.

Actually it's not, that only partially explains the costs. Taxes aren't even close to $65 over 149.99 and when you're shipping in bulk it's far from expensive.
If you mean Australia, you are paying so much because they DON'T RELEASE IT IN YOUR COUNTRY. It is an official release in Europe. Big difference!

[hugedude]

It doesnt make a difference whther or noth they have released it here. Imt alking about any game in general. There is a rough increase in cost from the US price to when we get it here of abotu the same percentage no matter what game, whether its released here or whether it is not. There is still the massive price increase. My personal opinion is that EA is trying to sponge as much money from fans as they can because that is what they do.... anything for extra cash.



edit: btw i understand your posts from above about the cost. The actual game is 149.99 euro O_O which is completely shit. Sorry fo rhte misunderstanding. Fo rthat i have no idea why it is like that. Other than the reason that EA is jsut greedy and want money no matter how htey get it.

[lunaspike]

Never said Bioware or EA in my post.


Actually it's not, that only partially explains the costs. Taxes aren't even close to $65 over 149.99 and when you're shipping in bulk it's far from expensive.
If you mean Australia, you are paying so much because they DON'T RELEASE IT IN YOUR COUNTRY. It is an official release in Europe. Big difference!

Well

So it's not like Bioware saw a sudden drop or rise that would justify making the dollar and euro prices the same.

You actually did say Bioware. I was just telling you that it isn't something Bioware would have any control over. Mostly I think EA does it because they can, but there is a big difference in them and Bioware.

[Tore]

Find me a product sold in both the UK and US that uses direct currency conversion from USD to determine its price. Hint: it doesn't exist.

Your money is worth more, they want it. There's no such thing as fairness in economics and likely never will be. They're not going to cut the price for Europeans (and Brits using GBP) just because the dollar has dropped in recent years.

[Jira]

Sorry, but this is not exactly news.
Pretty much every game, ever, costs more in europe then in the USA. (except maybe Great Britain, dunno)
Most new games cost what? 40-60 USD in the USA? Most new games in germany cost about 40-60 €.
But honestly, it's been like this since forever

[Deleted]

You actually did say Bioware. I was just telling you that it isn't something Bioware would have any control over. Mostly I think EA does it because they can, but there is a big difference in them and Bioware.

Fair enough, I editted that part in later. Question remains though.

Your money is worth more, they want it. There's no such thing as fairness in economics and likely never will be. They're not going to cut the price for Europeans (and Brits using GBP) just because the dollar has dropped in recent years.

Our money is worth more, yep that was my idea of why, just thought there might be an actual reason I missed.
Prices might not be equal, but $65 more on $150 is kinda excessive, don't you think.
If you ask me, it's more like adding to the price and hoping none will notice :P

[Sunseeker]

If you wanna use the dollar, move to the US.

Of course, what you're really doing is abusing the monetary system to get something for cheap. I do not approve.

[Deleted]

what you're really doing is abusing the monetary system to get something for cheap. I do not approve.

Your location says: In the state of Denial. Really appropriate
It's about value, not money, they're different things.
Value is like two bottles of milk. Both bottles provide the same nutrition/energy and as such cost the same, no matter the currency.
This has nothing to do with wanting it cheaper, it's about the value difference of $150 changing into $215 without a clear reason why.

[Sofii]

Well, it's not fair that you have to pay more, but feel happy you can get the Collector's edition at least. /tear

[Tigercat]

Your location says: In the state of Denial. Really appropriate
It's about value, not money, they're different things.
Value is like two bottles of milk. Both bottles provide the same nutrition/energy and as such cost the same, no matter the currency.
This has nothing to do with wanting it cheaper, it's about the value difference of $150 changing into $215 without a clear reason why.

There is a clear reason. You're paying with a different currency on a different continent. They can do what they want with the price, if it's too much don't buy it.

[Deleted]

There is a clear reason. You're paying with a different currency on a different continent.

Ofcourse they can do it, not like anyone is going to stop them, but from a logic point of view your point doesn't make sense.
If it is about a different currency, one would expect to have that price be a reflection of international currency values (+ taxes/shipping added later on) and not have it exactly the same as other currencies.
For instance, when I buy something from Amazon UK, they take that day's currency convertor and charge me that ammount in Euro. They add shipping + taxes.
This is part of my point.

[KCguy]

And in Canada a lot of stuff is more expensive as well. (especially gas) Different country, different prices. The sad thing is the Canadian dollar has been on par with the US dollar for quite some time now yet a lot of stuff here can cost twice as much. It's damn unfair, but it is what it is. They aren't going to lower the prices to the US level of pricing no matter how high or low the Canadian dollar goes.

[Jira]

Ofcourse they can do it, not like anyone is going to stop them, but from a logic point of view your point doesn't make sense.
If it is about a different currency, one would expect to have that price be a reflection of international currency values (+ taxes/shipping added later on) and not have it exactly the same as other currencies.
For instance, when I buy something from Amazon UK, they take that day's currency convertor and charge me that ammount in Euro. They add shipping + taxes.
This is part of my point.

Not wanting to be rude, but it's been like this for years - why should a company change this?
Companies want to make money. Games have been sold like this for really long.

[Deleted]

If it's an univerasl code (works for both US and EU), use paypal or something alike to purchase it with dollars.
Paypal will auto convert the currency with no fee. Though this would only go for digital purchases.

[Deleted]

Not wanting to be rude, but it's been like this for years - why should a company change this?
Companies want to make money. Games have been sold like this for really long.

We all know that EA is all about the money, I'm not debating that. Nor is this a thread to change the world.

My question is more like: Where does the almost 44% increase in costs come from?
As it seems a litte excessive in an economical sense, even for EA

[Jira]

We all know that EA is all about the money, I'm not debating that. Nor is this a thread to change the world.

My question is more like: Where does the almost 44% increase in costs come from?
As it seems a litte excessive in an economical sense, even for EA

Honestly, the best reason I can think of:
Gaming companies are used to convert USD prices to € 1:1.
I doubt you will find a good and economical sound reason for this

[Deleted]

i couldnt care less id pay 100 pounds for game and 50 a month to subscribe if it only kills my wow addiction...