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.
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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.
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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.
