Steam's currently offering a load of THQ and Relic titles in big money saving bundles.
The THQ Collector's Pack, which features a dozen games including Company of Heroes and expansion Opposing Fronts, Frontlines: Fuel of War, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and Dawn of War Gold Edition plus expansions, is available for just $99.99 (£64). That a £95.50 saving on the usual price.
There are plenty of savings on other titles too, including a Relic Super Pack, which you can view over on the site, but perhaps none better than the Valve Complete Pack, offering players the chance to buy the studio's back-catalogue of 22 games, which includes its newest release Left 4 Dead, for $99 dollars (£63.50), saving you over £90 quid.
Steam really needs to stop charging in dollars and operate business properly in the UK, Europe and other places.
Prices shouldn't fluctuate the amount they do for us and all other foreign companies operating in the UK have to put up this. They also need to include VAT in prices rather than doing it the American way of adding tax at the point of sale.
Sort of unrelated but do you think they're going to catch on to the reduction in VAT on Monday?
Sounds like a deal compared to the regular prices, although that said I would like to know if the savings are based on the original premium release prices or on the current prices? Since many of the gamers are older games that is definitely a factor to take into consideration price wise. Presuming that the prices are based upon the current prices of the older games it's nice to see that the online retail versions are being sold cheaper as should be the case considering the lower logistical costs involved (or so I wager; I don't have any hard figures on hand, however, given the fact that you are cutting out at least one, if not several "middle men", the potential for cutting costs should be there).
Using the US dollar as the purchasing denomination may work in your favour, trgmr, since the US dollar is still weak even when pitted against the weakened pound. Often what happens is that a company will simply change the currency symbol in front of the price when switching between countries. Ex. 100 USD becomes 100 GBP and that's before VAT which blows.
It's a bit like getting a cracking offer on 50 fresh fish. You know it's a cracking offer and they're all good fish - but in reality you are only going to get the opportunity to consume one or two of them before the rest start to smell funny.
Using the US dollar as the purchasing denomination may work in your favour, trgmr, since the US dollar is still weak even when pitted against the weakened pound. Often what happens is that a company will simply change the currency symbol in front of the price when switching between countries. Ex. 100 USD becomes 100 GBP and that's before VAT which blows.
The weakened pound is being thrashed by the dollar- going into the credit crunch it was £1:$2, now its £1:$1.50 (approximate values). I also find with games they don't simply do the dollar pound sign switch, and once most things have been accounted for tax (VAT and import duty) then the prices become much higher than in the US. I feel the very least they could do is convert the currency themselves and charge the amount in pounds including fluctuations, so we know exactly what we're paying without any calculating.
wow, shows how quick the exchange rates are moving that $99 can be worth 50p less by the time you get to the end of the article
No. The first price is $99.99 and the second is $99 so $0.99 or 50p difference. But it is true that we get ripped off in the UK particularly on consumer electronics (even before VAT ). Still, a really great deal from Valve.
You are right about the fluctuating currencies yet that is a common place reality in modern day economics. The pound was worth around 1.70 GBP back in 2003-2005 on average. You are however mistaken in the belief that companies don't just switch the currency sign in front of the price tag. This happens quite often and from what I read and see online it seems that generally speaking the US has cheaper electronic prices than the UK and much of western Europe with or without VAT. Now if you also had to pay for shipping that might make it far more tight but in this case since it's an electronic download that's a moot point.
I agree with maphisto_2000's analogy of buying 50 fresh fish.
Yes, but to follow the last few years it went from £1:$2, then to £1:$1.7 relatively recently and very recently it went right down to £1:$1.5, I know £1:$1.7 is the norm, but as this is considered weak on the pounds side there is an argument that it isn't the norm at all, however this is trivial. At £1:$1.5 it is still being thrashed.
And yes, electronics are cheaper in the US as it is a larger market place with 3 languages considered at most, with one operating centre for each company throughout the whole US, unlike Europe with many languages and countries for advertising in etc making it more expensive. this is before even considering the high import duties in the UK (separate to VAT- in fact you can be charged VAT on the duty) Companies take this into account when calculating their prices, and just switching the sign is irresponsible. It is very easy to see they don't do this a) by comparing Euro to pound prices, they can't do it with both, and b) RRP on products in both countries, $60 for a next gen game opposed to £50, it can also be seen on the back of books pretty easily.
I know fluctuating currencies are common place in modern economics, especially in today's conditions of changing interest rates with little consideration to other currencies, but as a consumer ordering from the internet or in a shop I expect the company selling the product (or one of there suppliers) to bare these fluctuations, especially as Steam has locally set pricing except in dollars, for example $70 for COD4 when it came out, so I'm paying the more expensive UK price without even the convenience of paying in my native currency. I don't expect to not be affected by global currency fluctuations, but I expect to see a more general rise in inflation over a long period of time, and not be hit by investors anticipating some sort of interest change or something similar in the global market place. Every other company operating in the UK does this, and it isn't like I'm buying it in the states as I'm still paying the VAT rate that is going to the British government.
I think you are introducing and mixing up some separate issues that are not directly related to the initial parameters of this discussion. The fluctuations of the pound at present time would be far worse if the US dollar was strong which it isn't. Thus your claim that the pound is being "thrased", while not wholly inaccurate, does, in my opinion, overstate dramatically the negative aspect of the price being posted in US dollars. Why? Because the US dollar is having a hell of a time and may in fact be performing worse than the pound at present time. In short, pricing in US dollars is still to your advantage because whether the pound is worth 2.00 US dollars, 1.70 US dollars or 1.50 US dollars the fact remains that the pound is still stronger meaning you pay less for the same product (unless other online retail stores or physical retail stores sell it for lower prices which doesn't seem to be the case).
Again, you are mistaken in presuming that companies do not in certain instances more or less simply switch the currency sign in front of the price. How else do you explain that for example the 4850 from ATI was around 145 US dollars yet it cost more or less the same in Euros over in the Euro zone? VAT is not applicable to VAT registered companies as they can reclaim it from the government and even private citizens residing in countries outside of say, the EU, do not pay EU nations' VAT rates (which incidentally still vary from country to country meaning that sometimes you may be able to save a bit of money buying from another EU country even with the added cost of transportation). The example you give of CoD4 is only relevant if the online pricing is bumped up to reflect UK prices while still keeping the currency in US dollars, yet that doesn't seem to be the case which then brings us back to the original point that since the pound is still stronger than the US dollar the customer is getting a better deal than he/she would if they purchased the game locally.
Finally, let me point out that in business pricing really is a matter of pulling numbers out of thin air. Sure, you can calculate the costs of labour, production, transportation and distribution, infrastructure, etc. and all these costs are usually passed on to the customer along with an additional percentage for the profit margin. Pricing, whether it's for nuclear submarines or a cheeseburger, are based upon perceived value, whether the product is classified as a capital or non-capital product (e.g. a car is a capital product while corn is a non-capital product because it's considered easier to produce and thus is deemed to have less innate value...until such a time as there is a lack of food which we have seen this past year in terms of food prices rising because of food being used for bio fuel as one example). Ultimately pricing comes down to how much a seller thinks a client is willing (and able,) to pay. The "official" price tags we see on products are no different. They are only official as long as the seller/distributors deem them to be so which in turn is affected by the spending habits of the customers and the laws of governments and all three of these groups continually interact and influence each other both directly and indirectly. In other words, it's all about supply and demand (of course once you start mixing other factors which are inter-related, such as cost of living, the web grows but the fundamental principle remains unaltered).
Yes, in certain instances companies may just switch the sign, but this happens rarely as I have demonstrated, and even rarer in the case of the pound dollar as the pound is worth more. Your example is poor as well, more or less? that tells me the price is calculated as it isn't exactly the same, and as euro is only worth slightly more than the dollar it shows its just the essential European price increase.
You seem to be under the impression that as the pound buys more in the States than the UK it is stronger, this is wrong. At the minute the pound isn't doing very well at all against the dollar, and while the dollar is weak, the pound is clearly weaker.
And what do you mean the bumping up of the price of COD4 isn't reflecting UK prices? $70 as it was at the time is actually clearly in line with UK prices, they'd just forgotten to take VAT into account, at the exchange rate at the time that was £35, rrp of COD4? £35. Except the Steam price didn't include VAT, so it was more and in the wrong currency. Who is going to buy that?
And you are wrong about VAT registered companies. You register to pay VAT on the products you sell, once your business is making a minimum profit (not sure what it is). Your probably getting confused with the fact businesses can reclaim VAT on products they buy for their business, but as it is products sold in the UK the consumer pays VAT on. There is also import duty, as I've mentioned before, paid on everything imported into the country. In the UK more than 50% of everything we buy is imported, maybe that effects prices as well?
None of this in fact matters, as the case is simple, Steam should have to put with varying prices and paying for converting the currency themselves. Maybe we should pay a bit more for this, but for a bit of certainty in prices this is definitely worth it, as at the minute what I pay is sliding up and down all the time.
Yes, in certain instances companies may just switch the sign, but this happens rarely as I have demonstrated, and even rarer in the case of the pound dollar as the pound is worth more. Your example is poor as well, more or less? that tells me the price is calculated as it isn't exactly the same, and as euro is only worth slightly more than the dollar it shows its just the essential European price increase.
Right there you have demonstrated what seems to be an erroneous grasp of the situation. Not only is the euro roughly worth 25% more than the US dollar at present time (and that's after the euro lost some ground recently - 25% is quite a bit more than just "slightly more". Furthermore you haven't demonstrated anything. The only thing you have done is make claims that have already been rejected in our previous posts. Finally, by using your own words above it would most certainly be in a company like Steam's financial interest to simply switch the US dollar sign to the pound sign as long as they believe customers in the UK will still buy it. Why? Because the pound is still stronger than the US dollar despite the pound having roughly lost 20% of its value since 2007. Switching the currency denomination (which I have provided an example of and which you have not yet provided any example of against,) earns Steam more profit for the exact same product that they are selling on the US market but which would be cheaper there than by British standards. In other words: The product has already been produced and costs Steam a certain amount. That cost will be the same whether the product is sold in the US or in the UK since the medium of delivery is electronic and thus costs very little in terms of delivery in light of the well established global spanning internet connectivity in place today. Selling that same product which will cost the same to deliver wherever in the world the customer is at means that when the pricing is switched to a stronger currency Steam stands to gain an even higher profit margin as long as the actual numbers remain the same. What part of that do you fail to comprehend? It seems quite straight forward. Until you grasp this rudimentary point I see little point in addressing anything else you have typed.
What? So our definitions of slightly differ so I have an "erroneous grasp of the situation?" perhaps "5% is a lot in terms of numbers, but not in currency, want to compare the Dollar to the Yen? Put things into context next time.
And I like your example, you mentioned a product and said roughly, and chose something a elusive as a graphics card that vary hugely in price depending on make, memory etc.
and in fact I did give a perfectly good example, the book. pick up the book nearest to you and read the prices. Mine says (I assume US, but could be from somewhere else) $30.00 £19.99, huge difference in price. I can continue if you want, but its common sense, the prices aren't identical, but better deals can be found wherever you buy it, the majority of the time in the US.
I never said it wasn't in Steam's financial interest to swap the sign, I said they should convert it to my currency, so I know what I'm paying and that I'll be paying that same price tomorrow, and the week after and the week after that, minus any standard reductions/offers that may come along. As a result of this Steam will have to put up with varying rates of profit, if the value of the pound goes down, they make less, and as a result can put a margin in place to ensure they don't suffer too much if this is the case.
And the pound being worth more than the dollar doesn't make it "stronger", otherwise currencies like the yen are always incredibly weak even when that isn't the case. Think about how these things are weighted.
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). Still, a really great deal from Valve.
. Furthermore you haven't demonstrated anything. The only thing you have done is make claims that have already been rejected in our previous posts. Finally, by using your own words above it would most certainly be in a company like Steam's financial interest to simply switch the US dollar sign to the pound sign as long as they believe customers in the UK will still buy it. Why? Because the pound is still stronger than the US dollar despite the pound having roughly lost 20% of its value since 2007. Switching the currency denomination (which I have provided an example of and which you have not yet provided any example of against,) earns Steam more profit for the exact same product that they are selling on the US market but which would be cheaper there than by British standards. In other words: The product has already been produced and costs Steam a certain amount. That cost will be the same whether the product is sold in the US or in the UK since the medium of delivery is electronic and thus costs very little in terms of delivery in light of the well established global spanning internet connectivity in place today. Selling that same product which will cost the same to deliver wherever in the world the customer is at means that when the pricing is switched to a stronger currency Steam stands to gain an even higher profit margin as long as the actual numbers remain the same. What part of that do you fail to comprehend? It seems quite straight forward. Until you grasp this rudimentary point I see little point in addressing anything else you have typed.
