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Forums - Sales - Rock Band to cost $400 in Australia - the Price of a Wii..

NJ5 on 29 July 2008

@Burgles: Congratulations, you have just proved that Rock Band is too expensive in both places.

It doesn't seem like it was your objective, but at least you did accomplish something ;)



My Mario Kart Wii friend code: 2707-1866-0957

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Godot on 29 July 2008
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.

 

In Canada, we've got higher taxes than US, higher minimum wage, free health care, smaller market, etc. Still, the Wii is 270 us + tax. Of course, it's easy to consider Canada in the American market and just allocate 9% of the software/hardware to Canada but it shows that the distance is the only problem with Australia.

Still, that price is ridiculous and I hope for you Aussies that GHWT has a better pricepoint.



How many cups of darkness have I drank over the years? Even I don't know...

 

ctk495 on 29 July 2008

That's expensive I wouldn't buy it.



steven787 on 29 July 2008
Aprisaiden said:
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? ??

 

1. Exactly my point, we add 5-8 percent after MSRP

2. My point about wages was two fold.  1. Students make more at their part time job so can pay more and 2. Clerks at the game store make more.  Median income is higher in the U.S. but first percentile is way lower.

3. Huh? Property taxes is an example of why things cost more.  Revenue - Cost = Profit.  The bigger the cost means either less profit or higher prices.

4. Shipping is almost nothing in the U.S. fuel is cheap compared to Australia.  Why is it more in Australia, government price setting and taxes.

5.The value of those assets effect the price charged.  Potential for collapse also effects the price.

6. Smaller market means less customers.  Yes, Sony and Microsoft sell other stuff, you're right.  But they still sell that other stuff in larger markets.

7.Islands are difficult to import and export to for a variety of reasons. (Environmental, Shipping Cartels, etc.)

 

You think games are expensive don't buy them and the price will go down or they'll stop selling them.  Complaining about the price of rice is one thing...



I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it.