Aussie Consumers Say No To High Game Prices

[EeLeYe]

CHOICE magazine submission to the Australian Government's Productivity Commission calls for fairer game prices as Aussie dollar holds strong.

"The relatively high price of gaming software and hardware in Australia when compared to territories like the US, Europe and Asia has long been a sore point for Aussie gamers. Despite the Australian dollar reaching parity with the US dollar late last year, video game prices Down Under continue to remain high, leading more and more local consumers to import games from overseas online distributors."

I'm sure that many of you have noticed games and hardware to be much cheaper via eBay and overseas sellers (even after including postage).

CHOICE also reveals Aussie consumers were able to save 90 percent on the price of Portal 2 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 if they bought the game from online retailer Play-Asia rather than Dick Smith.

[Madaz]

Yeah the bugger's I know they have to earn a living but cmon 90% dearer is a bit rich

I haven't stepped into a eb games for over 5 years, and I think my last retail game was BF2

There is a mob from Singapore that will email you the key at a very cheap price, I can't remember the website atm

[DivHunter]

Been like this since the 90s when the AUD was at .5 USD.

I am still a sucker for a special edition

[ClutchBurndout-:(]

Been like this since the 90s when the AUD was at .5 USD.

I am still a sucker of penis

fyp for accuracy

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

[quote name=ClutchBurndout-' timestamp='1306813011' post='5842182]

fyp for accuracy

LOL

Yeah it f**ken sucks.. I've been noticing prices of online is heaps cheaper.. Portal 2 was 46$ online.. UK or Japan.. And $98 - 1$08 here..

I never shop at EB games.. Purely because I feel they are taking the aust gamers for a ride.. I used to get them to price match other stores to still buy from them but then i considered they buy nothing but games.. Them and others (game, gametraders, etc) should be the leading price of cheapest games.. But nope they are consistantly the highest and their PO Games prices are a joke..

BTW.. Always check JB hi fi's if you want the game immediately like me LOL.. I would buy overseas if it was more convenient though

Edited May 31, 2011 by .:: GimpS-R34 ::.

[(OO)SKYLINE(OO)]

I shop at the local EB Games near me cause the girl who works there is hot

Usually EB Games have pre orders ie: God Of War 3 Deluxe Special Edition.

Or they usually have some special pre-orders that no-one else can get or you order online.

JB-HI Fi is the other place I will go, as they are decent on price and usually have a large selection.

[liger]

i usually try and get things form overseas when i can, or failing that.. steam.

i mean shit, how much is L4D2 selling for these days? $30? if you get it on steam when they have it on sale, $2. not to mention the good exchange rate with the US dollar at the moment.

[Madaz]

i bought Need for Speed Shift 2 from these guys, a few days before release they scanned the key and emailed it too me and i was able to download the game ready for the release it cost me $44.81 that is win in my books

http://www.g2play.net/store/home.php

[DRD-00F]

Steam can still be a rourt though...

I think it was Bioshock 2 that was something like $40 pre-order in the US or UK, or $89 here... FOR THE EXACT SAME SOFTWARE!

What made it even more rediculous is you could just change your country of origin and get it for the $40...

Why the fark are we paying twice as much for the exact same software?

[Damit]

Steam can still be a rourt though...

I think it was Bioshock 2 that was something like $40 pre-order in the US or UK, or $89 here... FOR THE EXACT SAME SOFTWARE!

What made it even more rediculous is you could just change your country of origin and get it for the $40...

Why the fark are we paying twice as much for the exact same software?

they stopped you could just change which country by changing URL

so now to do you Just use a VPN - i get all my games from US steam store and pay the US price for it

you can compare prices for steam here - http://www.steampric...m/au/topripoffs

Edited May 31, 2011 by Damit

[Madaz]

^^ i read if you get caught the can delete all the games from your steam account that they suspect you bought through this method

[oweban]

Yep, can get account blocked for that and all games revoked. It's in their EULA. Best to have mates in the US. If the US copy is significantly cheaper, I paypal my mates some cash (and a lil extra on top), and they gift it to me. $50USD in USA, I give them 55USD (so like $53AUD), instead of $90USD.

It's the distributors that cause those prices to be f**ked for Australia. They have a massive bitch and tell Valve that if they don't put the price up (because retail is so different), they won't deal with them for other shit in the future. Note how Portal 2 is still only $50USD in the Australian store, cause they don't have dream boats to deal with.

<3 Valve

[mad082]

Yep, can get account blocked for that and all games revoked. It's in their EULA. Best to have mates in the US. If the US copy is significantly cheaper, I paypal my mates some cash (and a lil extra on top), and they gift it to me. $50USD in USA, I give them 55USD (so like $53AUD), instead of $90USD.

It's the distributors that cause those prices to be f**ked for Australia. They have a massive bitch and tell Valve that if they don't put the price up (because retail is so different), they won't deal with them for other shit in the future. Note how Portal 2 is still only $50USD in the Australian store, cause they don't have dream boats to deal with.

<3 Valve

this is spot on. the retaillers make bugger all on software and consoles. consoles are worse than games, the retailers generally make less than 20% on them at RRP. games are about 25 to 30% from memory. so a game that sells for $120 it probably cost the retailer $90 to $100. unlike what the general public think, or what cockheads like choice magazine like to make out, it isn't the retailer who is making all the money from the games. it is the electronics companies who are laughing all the way to the bank because they make all the money and the retaillers are the ones who cop all the shit about prices.

choice magazine would to see everyone buy shit online from overseas sites, and then they would whinge and bitch about how aussie companies all over the place are laying off staff due to declining sales and come out with stupid things like "if they were more competitive then they wouldn't lose sales to overseas markets". well how about this, lets drop the minimum wage to $7 an hour like it is in america and then retailers can drop their prices because their overheads are less. at the end of the day though, people will still have the same amount of money in their pockets.

[Madaz]

you raise some good points

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

EB are always $10+ more expensive than anywhere else.. They can have a game at $48 on special (just an example).. Then bump the price to $98 after the sale.. They are making a massive markup.. They are all over xbox now.. They are even having an expo down the coast.. I also know the staff get store discounts and the guys i used to talk to had massive collection because the prices they got them for..

My point is EB would be buying 10 times the games Big W , JB Hi FI, etc would and should be able to come in at the cheapest price.. Hell they price match all those stores.. Dropping up to $30 or more off the game..

Saw 2 came out at EB at $58 brand new.. EB had it preowned in store the other day for $85.. Fair enough they are out to make money but f**k me.. Feels like they are just pissing on the gaming community..

[Madaz]

more good points raised

i too have seen these so called sales

makes me feel less guilty not to support australian retailers when they rip us off so much

[bozodos]

used to be hilarious buying games at harvey norman or another retailer who sold bugger all stock so therefore discounted heavily, then trading in said games for more at EB a few weeks later

also got rid of all my scratched to shit and imported games that didnt work through EB, mind you I used to ALWAYS check the disc when buying one! it's a moot point now, cause I buy regular games on steam for fark all, and collectors editions from sites like Mighty Ape

[oweban]

If someone comes out with an AWESOME special edition (Mass Effect 3, I've got my eye on you, I want a die-cast SR2 Normandy), then I'll buy it physical, but other than that? Steam or OzGameshop/PlayAsia.

[mad082]

EB are always $10+ more expensive than anywhere else.. They can have a game at $48 on special (just an example).. Then bump the price to $98 after the sale.. They are making a massive markup.. They are all over xbox now.. They are even having an expo down the coast.. I also know the staff get store discounts and the guys i used to talk to had massive collection because the prices they got them for..

My point is EB would be buying 10 times the games Big W , JB Hi FI, etc would and should be able to come in at the cheapest price.. Hell they price match all those stores.. Dropping up to $30 or more off the game..

Saw 2 came out at EB at $58 brand new.. EB had it preowned in store the other day for $85.. Fair enough they are out to make money but f**k me.. Feels like they are just pissing on the gaming community..

they may not be making any profit when on sale at $48. the way big business play the game is that they put a few products on sale at or below cost as a draw card to get people in in the hope that they will buy other items while they are there.

i'm not defending EB, just simply pointing out that because you see something at some low price on special, it doesn't mean that they aren't making a loss on it at that price. also to put it into perspective, most EB stores in shopping centres would have rents of at least 100k a year, but some would be up around 200k a year in the bigger city stores. so that's 200k a year PROFIT that they need to make just to pay the rent, let alone pay wages, electricity, insurance, etc. very few people who haven't owned a business just how much money it takes to run a business.

[R31Nismoid]

this is spot on. the retaillers make bugger all on software and consoles. consoles are worse than games, the retailers generally make less than 20% on them at RRP. games are about 25 to 30% from memory. so a game that sells for $120 it probably cost the retailer $90 to $100.

Ah i call ted bullpit!

EG: SC2

~$100 @ EB

~$70 @ Dick Smith

So that's just wrong. EB are deliberately price gouging, and have been doing so for ages. As if Dick Smith were selling it @ a loss. They were still making money on it. So EB were making around 80%

It's also a distributor problem - and it's not a Gaming industry issue. It's an issue across the board for ALL industry really.

Have you seen prices drop for imported cars, AV goods, even food items?

Course not. Everyone business retail/wholesale is gouging everyone as hard as possible. Look @ all the companies around making HUGE profits. Not like they weren't making money before hand, now it's just become excessive.

When the dollar goes back to what it was for many years you watch big business sook/complain/blame - Yet the consumer will NEVER see/seen any relief or cost saving passed onto them.

The Gov't 'watchdog' isn't watching anything, it's too busy sniffing anus of easy prey rather than big business. End of the day, you dont upset that which brings you the most money. So Gov't will do nothing about it at all.

It's a fken disgrace.