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A lot of discussion has been going on around the net and on our forums, about the recent changes for people in the UK and Europe regarding the new currencies Euro and pound and the costs of each game involved with that.
Ofcourse we wanted to know what was going on and after having a chat with Mike D. from Valve Software we now have some explanation about the difference of pricing for the European Union.
As part of the switch to Euro currencies the prices now include VAT and any other fees. When you go to “checkout” the price post is the price you pay. Before when we you are in Europe, you saw the dollar price and after that you also had to pay the VAT and extra fees.
Next to that Mike also tells us about the prices being a bit higher sometimes then they could be in local shops:
Mike: "Yes, we agree that some of the prices for third party products are higher then what you can find locally but we are working to fix that."
As you can see, Valve is aware of a number of things and is doing their best to make everything as clear and good as possible. It's only a matter of time now and we will hopefully see some changes.
Comments
"As part of the switch to Euro currencies the prices now include VAT and any other fees. When you go to “checkout†the price post is the price you pay. Before when we you are in Europe, you saw the dollar price and after that you also had to pay the VAT and extra fees."
Call of Duty 4
USD+ VAT Tax
$49.99 + 19% ($9.49) = $59,4
EUROS with TAX
€49.99 = $70.59
Nice try Valve.
Actually stranded, you're a bit wrong there. Call of Duty 4 on the US Steam store is $69.99, not $49.99. And adding the tax onto it, you'll find that you are indeed making a saving buying it in Euros.
But nice try with the maths ;p
Then pick any other game from the Steam Store and do what I did up there. By the way: http://store.steampowered.com/app/7940/?CC=us
Yeah, when I click that link, I find COD4 for £29.99, which by UK standards is normal pricing. But yes I agree with you, many games are badly priced in Euros - but then, as Viper has pointed out, Valve know of the problems and are dealing with it. It is a new system, after all.
Valve = EPIC FAIL.
"As part of the switch to Euro currencies the prices now include VAT and any other fees. When you go to “checkout†the price post is the price you pay. Before when we you are in Europe, you saw the dollar price and after that you also had to pay the VAT and extra fees."
Okay...Let's put this plain simple.
I want to buy a Super Pack that costs like 100$. Nice. That's 72€ already.
Let's see what it gives when adding tax : 119.6$
That's ~86€.
Now Valve, please explain where did you see that 100$ + 19.6% VAT = 100€?! (or 99.99€).
Ps: For this example, I used the THQ Complete Pack. Or something. But it's a THQ Pack that costs 99.99$ AND 99.99€.
First of all, the VAT is not 30% in any EU-country.
Second, why does non-EU contries have to suffer for this?
Norway has 0% VAT on software bought and downloaded on internet.
There is impossible to put one VAT on whole of Europe, especally one that is too high. That is the same as going to a store and they will say: "We charge 50% salsetax here."
This is with out a doubt valve trying to skim some extra money off the top.
This will hurt us, the costumers, valve for not selling games and the game producers. This, like DRM, will get people to download pirated instead of buying it.
I think that's why he says they are working on fixing this
"Yes, we agree that some of the prices for third party products are higher then what you can find locally but we are working to fix that."
Not just third party products, Valve products are also more expensive than retail.
Let's take germany for example:
Steam prices:
TF2: 19,99€
Left 4 Dead: 44,99€
HL: 9,99€
Retail prices:
TF2: 14,76€
Left 4 Dead: 40,40€
HL Anthology (Team Fortress Classic, Half-Life: Opposing Force, Half-Life, Half-Life: Blue Shift): 7,45€
Oh, and you can stop working on that fix. I wrote an easy fix for you (took me less than a minute):
for(all games on steam)
{
$EUROPRICE = $DOLLARPRICE / 1.3918;
}
Isnt there ALWAYS a shop thats a bit cheaper then another? you are talking about 5-7 euro difference on TF2 now which is even happening with different hardware and software shops.
And your 'fix' isnt really a fix since each country has it's own differences in Europe concerning VAT percentages and the $ to Euro difference also changes a lot.
"Isnt there ALWAYS a shop thats a bit cheaper then another? you are talking about 5-7 euro difference on TF2 now which is even happening with different hardware and software shops.
Shouldn't a digital download be at least equally priced (if not cheaper) than a game on a physical media, with a box, a manual, which has to be shipped?
Let's make a deal, I will sell you games from steam for 5-7 euro more than they cost. After all, it's not a big deal if you pay a few measly euro more, right?
"And your 'fix' isnt really a fix since each country has it's own differences in Europe concerning VAT percentages and the $ to Euro difference also changes a lot."
Sure, you're right - but if VAT and exchange rate is different for every country - then why there is one price for all of them? Surely that's unfair. Also, why countries that do not have euro are forced to pay in euro and why countries that do not have VAT on digital downloads are forced to pay higher price where VAT is supposedly included?
Also, why the price is the same for a country with 15% VAT and country with 22% VAT?
EDIT:
Also - why only UK customers can pay in their own currency while customers all other European countries must pay in Euro even if they are not in the European Union, or as a member of EU they retained their own currency?