EUROPE Price - GW2

[Varah]

Couple of reasons:

1. In the US, there's no VAT (only sales tax, which many states don't have too). UK and most of EU have around 20% of VAT so the price must be at least 20% higher.

2. Shipment cost, advertisement cost, server maintenance cost (for digital edition) are higher in the UK than in the US so the price of game goes even higher. For digital edition, one might argue that there's no shipment cost. However, publishers cannot sell games with lower price because it would put them at odd with the local retailers. Basically if they price the game lower, most people will stop buying the game from stores and that does not good for a retail-publisher's relationship. Also, it's not a good business model too to make different prices for the same products, regardless they are digitally or physically bought.

3. It's not only happen to game industry though. The same product that are made locally are sold at higher price in the EU/UK than in the US. The example would be the price of McDonald. If a hamburger cost 2$ then it would cost around 3-4$ in the EU/UK.

Oh and this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_index

Only 5 states in the US have 0% sales tax. That really isn't that many.

Are they even going to have regional servers? Are the servers going to be maintained in europe? I haven't seen any information from anet stating that. Are servers in europe really more expensive? I'd think it'd depend highly on the country some may even be cheaper. Why would shipping matter in this for a digital item? Shipping is only applied to US orders when you buy a physical copy from online otherwise you don't pay for shipping. The UK isn't asking for digital downloads to be sold cheaper than boxes in their country, but that the boxes and digital goods are equal and on par with US prices. If I go to the store or get a digital download the price is the same, zero difference. I'm unsure why you believe that shipment would matter at all in that circumstance. The only thing that'd matter would be tax. I'm unsure of how europe taxes digital goods. At least 2 US states don't tax digital goods, but many do.


What is it with people and hamburger comparisons? Hamburgers are often subjected to higher tax rates in many european countries because it's fast food. So.stop.trying.to.compare.apples.and.oranges. The only thing that matters here is the taxing on video games.

[Exerionx]

Pfft. New standard xbox games cost $109.99 here and around $90 for a standard pc game. If the US price for the Guild Wars 2 CE is $149 in the US I can't fathom how high it will be here.

Yeah and all we get is a fucking disc, a case which we look at once, and a manual that consists of 8 pages.

[Fencers]

Neglesh, what would the CE for GW2 cost you in Australia?

[PonyCannon]

If I lived in Australia I honestly don't think I would play video games. Almost twice the price of the US, damn.

[Khanjin]

If I lived in Australia I honestly don't think I would play video games. Almost twice the price of the US, damn.

Good thing GW2 will be extremely cheap however you look at it either way :P I think no sub fees makes up for it a hundred times over. Here in Sweden the price will be comparable to the UK price.

[Terranullis]

Neglesh, what would the CE for GW2 cost you in Australia?

I'll chime in here as a fellow Aussie...I honestly have no idea.. I think WoW:Cataclysm CE was somewhere between $120-140.. So if it's 149.99 in the US it could be close to $200 here.

[Deleted]

Is the game going to be region locked or can we buy a US game and use it in Europe?

[Insaint]

Only 5 states in the US have 0% sales tax. That really isn't that many.

Are they even going to have regional servers? Are the servers going to be maintained in europe? I haven't seen any information from anet stating that. Are servers in europe really more expensive? I'd think it'd depend highly on the country some may even be cheaper. Why would shipping matter in this for a digital item? Shipping is only applied to US orders when you buy a physical copy from online otherwise you don't pay for shipping. The UK isn't asking for digital downloads to be sold cheaper than boxes in their country, but that the boxes and digital goods are equal and on par with US prices. If I go to the store or get a digital download the price is the same, zero difference. I'm unsure why you believe that shipment would matter at all in that circumstance. The only thing that'd matter would be tax. I'm unsure of how europe taxes digital goods. At least 2 US states don't tax digital goods, but many do.


What is it with people and hamburger comparisons? Hamburgers are often subjected to higher tax rates in many european countries because it's fast food. So.stop.trying.to.compare.apples.and.oranges. The only thing that matters here is the taxing on video games.

On July 1, 2003, the European Union (EU) began requiring U.S. and other firms located outside the EU to pay value added tax (VAT) on the sale of goods and services digitally delivered to individual consumers in EU Member States. The VAT on E-Commerce Directive amended earlier EU tax legislation, changing the rules for VAT collection on digitally delivered products. EU firms are no longer required to pay tax on exports from the EU. Non-EU firms are now required to pay a tax on their sales to individual consumers within the EU (imports into the EU).

http://itlaw.wikia.com/wiki/VAT_on_E-Commerce_Directive


This should hopefully clear things up. On the other side, Im not sure why NCSoft Europe couldnt distribute this to eliminate the VAT though, but that has probably something to with with the relationship between publisher and retail shops

[Deleted]

Here in Sweden the price will be comparable to the UK price.

Just out of curiosity, any particular place you're looking at the Swedish pricing?

[Ogretron]

This type of conversion is very common, I don't understand why people get so pissed every time it happens. I even expect it when I see prices and I live in America, so there's no excuse why this is a surprise to anyone outside of the states.

Only 5 states in the US have 0% sales tax. That really isn't that many.

What he meant is that if you live in Florida and buy something for a store in California, you don't pay sales tax. That's why I buy practically everything off the internet, not only because it's cheaper but I also don't pay taxes. So cheaper product + no shipping cost + no tax = huge savings and I just have to wait a few days to get it.

There are people trying to stop this and make internet sales add tax, but so far nothing has passed (that I know of).

[Rodpad]

As I mentioned in the other thread, Game.co.uk are still advertising pre-orders for £34.99.

I had this same problem when ordering SWTOR. It was £44.99 through Origin (with a £5 pre-order fee) but only £34.99 through Game. I ordered with Game, received my copy in time for the early access and had the full benefit of early access and the pre-order bonuses.

I think I'm just going to do the same and hope I get the full deal. But to be honest I'm not so bothered about 3 days early access on this one.

Game aren't going to exist when GW2 launches, let alone next month.

[Deleted]

Just out of curiosity, any particular place you're looking at the Swedish pricing?

He's probably just thinking about our taxes here... :P

Links:
http://www.webhallen.com/spel/pc/86278-guild_wars_2
http://cdon.se/spel/guild_wars_2-764222
OR check this out: http://www.prisjakt.nu/produkt.php?p=250558 - Compares prices
But all theese prices hasn't been changed since ArenaNets announce about CE and so on.

[Deleted]

He's probably just thinking about our taxes here... :P

Links:
http://www.webhallen.com/spel/pc/86278-guild_wars_2
http://cdon.se/spel/guild_wars_2-764222
OR check this out: http://www.prisjakt.nu/produkt.php?p=250558 - Compares prices
But all theese prices hasn't been changed since ArenaNets announce about CE and so on.

I always thought our taxes (25% moms) were among the highest in the EU.

Thanks for the links.

[Deleted]

I always thought our taxes (25% moms) were among the highest in the EU.

Thanks for the links.

And they're indeed. But I think UK has pretty high taxes also and they use £ (pounds) which company often don't transform from let's say $ in the sum it's supposed to (150$ --> 125£ instead of 150$--> 110£ as example, this is just a example not true prices/transforms).
ArenaNet actually made the same thing with € this time, almost made a 1:1 ratio on the transform of money.

[Spl4sh3r]

As mentioned it's taxes. All US prices are posted without taxes because each state has a different tax (or none at all).

[guser]

Is the game going to be region locked or can we buy a US game and use it in Europe?

haha hopefully its not! i got my US VPN ready if needed =D

[Blackmist]

Convert the currency.

$59.99 = €45

Add the VAT (20% for me).

€45 * 1.2 = €54

So yeah, about the same. American prices are always quoted excluding taxes, which vary wildly depending on where you are and how many Austrian body-builders are in charge.

[Deleted]

Only 5 states in the US have 0% sales tax. That really isn't that many.

In the US advertised prices are excluding sales tax.
In Europe advertised prices are including VAT.

WTF! Europe is basically paying ~$72 for normal

Assuming you lived in a US state with 20% sales tax (EU average VAT is close to 20%), you would also pay $72 for normal.

[Khaidu]

so the general price for GW2 in australia will automatically be $100.00 in every store $90.00 if we are lucky and most likely for the collectors edition $210.. This is why we change our location on steam to USand buy via the US price as its then $50 cheaper. Still does not make sense since the USD is less than the AUD (xe.com says atm its 1.00 AUD = 1.04851 USD) Stores here exploit prices so much. We pay GST but this is automatically adjusted when buying online.

[Ishu]

2. Shipment cost, advertisement cost, server maintenance cost (for digital edition) are higher in the UK than in the US so the price of game goes even higher. For digital edition, one might argue that there's no shipment cost. However, publishers cannot sell games with lower price because it would put them at odd with the local retailers. Basically if they price the game lower, most people will stop buying the game from stores and that does not good for a retail-publisher's relationship. Also, it's not a good business model too to make different prices for the same products, regardless they are digitally or physically bought.

Perhaps, but most retail stores sell it cheaper than on the NCSoft store so lowering their price shouldn't be an issue for them really. I know I can get a boxed version for 47 euros here, with free shipping as well.