| steven787 said: I am so sick of Aussie complaining about this. Reasons why prices are higher in Australia. 1. Taxes are included. 2. Higher minimum wage, higher employment taxes. (U.S. minimum wage $6.55) This effects the store clerk, the guy who sweeps the mall, the guy who drives it to the store, the guy who works at the gas station, the people who take them off the boat and put them on trucks. 3. Property Taxes are higher, meaning rents are higher. 4. Energy is more money. 5. Currency is growing but less dependable (in investors eyes) for the long. 6. The market is smaller, but still requires corporate structure. 7. You live on an island. Don't certain toys/software/etc. have excess tax also?
You have medical coverage in Australia, this costs money. We pay for our own in the U.S. I pay $160/month as a single male for medical coverage. Where do you think all that money we save goes?
A Wii is $250+tax in the US, RB is $170+tax. |
1. -- its called GST and its 10%. No more, no less... yet we still pay + 70%-90% on games...
2. -- higher minimum wage, sure our minimum wage is double yours, but how many people in the US are living on minimum wage and can afford video-games?? Average wage in Australia is around 37-40k per year for a full time job... whats the average in the US?
3. -- Property tax isn't the big deal. Its the illusion of higer wages ... which only effect stores like eb since K-mart, Big W, Harvey Norman, etc hire staff for the entire store not just videogames...
4. -- Im going to guess transport costs for a single game = $5 in major cities (Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne) and $10 in the outback... not that much.
5. -- Well this is effecting the world and has more to do with SONY's assets then the price they charge.
6. -- Yep its a smaller market, a mere $1.52 bn + New Zealand for video games, luckly SONY and Microsoft have other corperate area's...
7. So what is Australia is an Island. Its still a Continent ... the smallest Continent in the world which is also the world largest Island... im not sure what impact this has on gaming...
PS: Wii is $386 AU here... thats cheaper than Rock Band which is a big part of why people are complaining -- what would you rather, 1 game or a new console ? or perpahs 2 DS? ??
