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Forums - Microsoft Discussion - Microsoft's Real-Money Xbox Live Transition A Costly Move

endimion on 10 July 2013

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/forex/i/international-currency-exchange-rates.asp

second part of the second section might help you....



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SvennoJ on 10 July 2013
Azerth said:
 

hey can you update the op   the pricing is an error

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/07/10/xbox-live-beta-experiencing-incorrect-pricing-in-select-regions/

http://support.xbox.com/en-US/billing-and-subscriptions/account-management/microsoft-points-retire-faq

Good thing that was an error, but reading through the faq it all seems rather overcomplicated with a lot of restrictions.

Will I be taxed on my purchase?

We will not apply taxes when you purchase content using currency that we add to your account at the time of the transition. However, when you use currency that you add to your account after the transition (including from Xbox Gift Cards), all appropriate taxes will be applied to those purchases.

So now you will pay tax on purchase, instead of when buying the point cards, just as with psn gift cards.

That's where the good news ends

- Currency from point cards redeemed after the transition will expire 1 year after redeeming the card. However there is no expiry date on the cards themselves yet, don't redeem them early I guess.
- Can't transfer between accounts (couldn't anyway)
- Can't do split payments in local currency plus credit card.
This has me puzzled, does that mean you still have to top up your account in fixed amounts?
- Can't use it to buy xbox live gold.

Seems all the restrictions on what you could do with points are still there, only taxation has shifted to the actual point of purchase.



Stinky on 10 July 2013

I don't know about UK, but I think they were getting a good deal. Australia is definitely ahead.



Stinky on 10 July 2013

It should also be clearly stated that this is a Beta only feature and as such should be considered WIP.



Darth Tigris on 11 July 2013
Adinnieken said:
Darth Tigris said:
Be careful what you wish for. Old cliché, still quite relevant ...

The problem is people are absolutely ignorant.  They don't actually investigate and learn.  They're unintelligent, uneducated, and emotional idiots.

People read opinion as fact, rather than trying to dig deeper and actually understand something.  So they accept the idiocy of some stupid fuck that doesn't take the time to learn and understand it, he or she just offers their opinion.  What ends up happening is people just reguritate someone else's uneducated opinion.  The human centipede.

Um, slowclap.gif?  



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Adinnieken on 20 July 2013
SvennoJ said:
Adinnieken said:
SvennoJ said:
Eurogamer also reports 800 msp games going from 6.80 to 8.99, that's a 32% price hike.
And doesn't not having to produce and distribute live cards more then offset the 3% credit card charge?

Exchange rate reason is bullshit too. The Canadian dollar has been on par with the US dollar for years, even been worth more then the US dollar, while MS points have always stayed 20% more expensive over here.
It's $7.25 here for 500 points, already more expensive then psn equivalents. That would be 7.37 pounds for an 800 points game by todays exchange rate.
Anyway I would be happy if XBLA prices in Canada get on par with PSN, 14.99 for a 1200 point game instead of 17.40

There is always an exchange rate penalty.  Do you think banks on any level just provide services for free?  NO.  There is a fee for every financial transaction that involves an exchange of foreign currency.  Microsoft is a US company.  Regardless of whether it does business in the UK or Canada, the company has to at some point perform an exchange of currency, for which it incurs a fee.

This is one of the reasons why US companies refuse to do business with consumers outside of the US.  Not to mention the shipping expense, as well as import fees.  Nevertheless, once you get over those two shockers, the retailer then finds out the bank took a cut.

Don't believe me?  Take your ATM card, go across the border, and use it in the US to withdraw US funds.  The first hit you'll take is likely a $3.00 ATM fee, which is expected, but then next up will be a currency exchange fee. 

It's actually 2% CC fees from $5 and up, currency exhange fee is 2.6% for consumers if I compare xe.com with TD canada trust CA->US exchange rates. I bet business can get a better deal. It's not taxes either, they are still aplied afterwards, I get charged 8.19 on my CC bill for 500 points. So MS at most incurs a 5% cost for points through live, still much less then selling the cards at a discount to stores. (where the exchange rate fee applies the same anyway)

Reading the rest of the thread, it seems you have been lucky in dodging taxes with cards in your state. I still enjoy that on Steam, pay in US and only get hit with the small currency exchange fee. I wonder how long that will still last.

I'm glad I don't have to spend more then I need in the future. The scam always was to make sure you had more points left over then you need. Selling games in 400 point increments, points in 500 increments, cards at 1400 and 2800 points, then pricing movies at 360 and 490 points, just a big mess.

Sure store points are a bit cheaper 1400 points is CAD 19.99, instead of CAD 20.30 via live. Doesn't help me much when I want to watch a movie at night.

Unfortunately, Canada.  When I did my analysis of the Points back a while ago, the UK and the EU got a better deal via exchange rate in points than Canada did, and this was when the Canadian dollar was higher than the US dollar.  In the UK, and I assume the EU, the price paid include tax.  I assume Canada is like the US, in that tax is added on to the sale price for a total price. 

I never used the online purchasing, there were always better deals or more desirable point amounts available at retail.  Here in the US it was 400, 800, 1600, and 4000.   Then it changed to just 1600 and 4000, but 400 was available as a part of the Bing Rewards program.  The UK also has some strange amounts, which I don't understand.  My assumption was that originally the point amounts were based on a desired price point in that market, such as £40.

What they should have done is a transitional system, like they do with Games On Demand.  Allow people to purchase items via Microsoft Points OR real currency.  Then let people transition over to a real money system on their own terms.  If more people used the real money system, then just make the switch entirely.   



Adinnieken on 20 July 2013
Azerth said:
Adinnieken said:

The prices consumers were previously paying for Xbox Live content are going up now that Microsoft is transitioning away from its Microsoft Points.

Microsoft's decision to ditch Microsoft Points in favor of real-world currency in Xbox Live might prove to be a costly proposition for consumers.

According to reports out of the U.K., where the feature is currently in beta testing, it costs more to buy content in real-world money than it did with Microsoft Points. Eurogamer, which previously reported on the issue, says that games that cost 1,600 Microsoft points used to set U.K. customers back 13.60 pounds ($20.25). Now, the titles cost 14.99 pounds. Similar price hikes were discovered on 1,200, 800, and 400 Microsoft Points.

Several Reddit posters, who are up in arms over the price increases, say that the games now cost about the same as their counterparts on Sony's PlayStation Network.

Microsoft has been quietly beta testing itstransition from Microsoft Points to real-world currency in its upcoming fall dashboard update. The move follows Microsoft's decision last year to ditch Points in Windows 8 in favor of credit cards and debit cards.

For now, only U.K.-based gamers are complaining about the change. It's not clear how the switch will affect gamers in other countries.

Source


hey can you update the op   the pricing is an error

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/07/10/xbox-live-beta-experiencing-incorrect-pricing-in-select-regions/

No, because at the time you posted I was banned. 

I could now, but a thread for that discussion was already created.