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Adinnieken on 10 July 2013
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theprof00 said:
Adinnieken said:
In what should be absolutely no surprise to anyone. The whole reason why Microsoft made the move to Microsoft Points was because it was cheaper. By using a common currency and selling that currency world-wide in local denominations, Microsoft was able to avoid having to pay credit card fees.

So, yeah I could easily see price increases of 3% to cover the cost of credit card transaction fees. Not to mention, there'll likely be exchange rate fees that are figured into the costs.

Nope. Not surprised that MS is raising prices.

Also, MS doesn't pay those CC transaction fees. Remember, MS sells to distributors, and distributors sell to stores. Stores always pay transaction fees associated with purchases made through CC. There is literally no difference in moving from points to currency. Everything is still bought and paid for the same way.

Surprised? You still shouldn't be. The only thing that has changed is that you pay more.

EDIT: Oh wait, there is one change now, I guess, now you can't go on Ebay and buy 25$ worth of points from America and pay for it using a strong currency. That's gone.

Um on Xbox LIVE Microsoft pays those fees.  We're talking Xbox LIVE.

Also Microsoft Point cards had an MSRP.  1600 MP = $20, however they also had margin.  Meaning Microsoft, as well as Nintendo, sold their cards to retailers for less than the face value.  So while YOU paide $20 for 1600 MP card, the retailer only might have paid $15.00.  Subsequently, they have a 30% margin.

So yes, the retailer may have paid a CC fee if you paid with a CC, but that only cut into their margin. 

Microsoft stated back in 2000 or 2001 when it announced its plans to go with it's own virtual currency, that the two reasons it did was because of exchange fees and credit card fees.  And the stated problem with those thing things was that both drove up the cost of content.