Don't buy games through steam aussies

[Antari]

Two words:

Import Tax

One word. Bullshit. This is Steam guys! there's nothing to import on Steam.

Alas this is how it's always been for us Aussies, getting the short end of the stick. When a game's shipped over here there's a whole bunch of extra people who want a slice of the pie, which is even more fucked considering the AUD exchange rate atm.

Then you might want to educate your government on that point. Valve doesn't have control over it.

 

[Sebenko]

I notice a lot of those "rip-offs" are still more expensive in the UK.

Not inspiring my sympathy there.

 

[captaincabbage]

Two words:

Import Tax

One word. Bullshit. This is Steam guys! there's nothing to import on Steam.

Alas this is how it's always been for us Aussies, getting the short end of the stick. When a game's shipped over here there's a whole bunch of extra people who want a slice of the pie, which is even more fucked considering the AUD exchange rate atm.

Then you might want to educate your government on that point. Valve doesn't have control over it.

I would if I could.
All I was saying was that Import Tax couldn't be the whole reason why we're getting lumped with another fifty fucking bucks on each game's price-tag. There'd be a dozen or so smaller things that all want a piece of the pie.

 

[Antari]

Two words:

Import Tax

One word. Bullshit. This is Steam guys! there's nothing to import on Steam.

Alas this is how it's always been for us Aussies, getting the short end of the stick. When a game's shipped over here there's a whole bunch of extra people who want a slice of the pie, which is even more fucked considering the AUD exchange rate atm.

Then you might want to educate your government on that point. Valve doesn't have control over it.

I would if I could.
All I was saying was that Import Tax couldn't be the whole reason why we're getting lumped with another fifty fucking bucks on each game's price-tag. There'd be a dozen or so smaller things that all want a piece of the pie.

Unfortunately its the entire reason. And writing a letter, not a nasty email to your local politician CAN do something, so don't discount it entirely. The main problem is the Austrailian government current is stocked with a bunch of people who barely understand any parts of the tech industries. They are treating them like a manufacturing industry when not all parts of it run like that. The Austrailian public has to start screaming at them if anything is going to change.

 

[Funkysandwich]

Two words:

Import Tax

One word. Bullshit. This is Steam guys! there's nothing to import on Steam.

Alas this is how it's always been for us Aussies, getting the short end of the stick. When a game's shipped over here there's a whole bunch of extra people who want a slice of the pie, which is even more fucked considering the AUD exchange rate atm.

Then you might want to educate your government on that point. Valve doesn't have control over it.

I would if I could.
All I was saying was that Import Tax couldn't be the whole reason why we're getting lumped with another fifty fucking bucks on each game's price-tag. There'd be a dozen or so smaller things that all want a piece of the pie.

Unfortunately its the entire reason. And writing a letter, not a nasty email to your local politician CAN do something, so don't discount it entirely. The main problem is the Austrailian government current is stocked with a bunch of people who barely understand any parts of the tech industries. They are treating them like a manufacturing industry when not all parts of it run like that. The Austrailian public has to start screaming at them if anything is going to change.

I buy a lot of car parts from overseas, and I don't pay import tax on any of those, most of which are significantly more expensive then video games.

Also, Steam is a lot cheaper for Australians then Retail. Fox example, I paid $44 for Brink when I preordered it. That' less then half of what you'd pay at EB or JB Hi-Fi.

 

[Red Charlie]

Unfortunately its the entire reason. And writing a letter, not a nasty email to your local politician CAN do something, so don't discount it entirely. The main problem is the Austrailian government current is stocked with a bunch of people who barely understand any parts of the tech industries. They are treating them like a manufacturing industry when not all parts of it run like that. The Austrailian public has to start screaming at them if anything is going to change.

Thank you for educating them.

 

[smeghead25]

The sad thing is, you can add and extra $20-$30 onto any Steam game and that's how much it is for a retail copy... We get ripped off incredibly here. Even indie games like Machinarium at retail cost $30.

 

[JoshGod]

Even when they have a 75% sale?

A fellow panda!? I love you...

I would give you a hug, but i like my limbs. *waves*
P.S.
you may consider steam prices a rip off, however they are charging them so enough people must buy them, and if something will sell and you have periodic sales, why lower prices?

 

[Antari]

Two words:

Import Tax

One word. Bullshit. This is Steam guys! there's nothing to import on Steam.

Alas this is how it's always been for us Aussies, getting the short end of the stick. When a game's shipped over here there's a whole bunch of extra people who want a slice of the pie, which is even more fucked considering the AUD exchange rate atm.

Then you might want to educate your government on that point. Valve doesn't have control over it.

I would if I could.
All I was saying was that Import Tax couldn't be the whole reason why we're getting lumped with another fifty fucking bucks on each game's price-tag. There'd be a dozen or so smaller things that all want a piece of the pie.

Unfortunately its the entire reason. And writing a letter, not a nasty email to your local politician CAN do something, so don't discount it entirely. The main problem is the Austrailian government current is stocked with a bunch of people who barely understand any parts of the tech industries. They are treating them like a manufacturing industry when not all parts of it run like that. The Austrailian public has to start screaming at them if anything is going to change.

I buy a lot of car parts from overseas, and I don't pay import tax on any of those, most of which are significantly more expensive then video games.

Also, Steam is a lot cheaper for Australians then Retail. Fox example, I paid $44 for Brink when I preordered it. That' less then half of what you'd pay at EB or JB Hi-Fi.

There are alot of weird tax treatments down there, I definately don't understand them all. But Austrailia has some serious import taxes on digital distribution because of a severe lack of understanding as to what exactly it is. The government is to blame, or atleast a few people in it. Why? ... well we could be here a long long while trying to figure that part out.

 

[Danceofmasks]

I buy from Dungeon Crawl.
Compare their prices, yo.

 

[captaincabbage]

Two words:

Import Tax

One word. Bullshit. This is Steam guys! there's nothing to import on Steam.

Alas this is how it's always been for us Aussies, getting the short end of the stick. When a game's shipped over here there's a whole bunch of extra people who want a slice of the pie, which is even more fucked considering the AUD exchange rate atm.

Then you might want to educate your government on that point. Valve doesn't have control over it.

I would if I could.
All I was saying was that Import Tax couldn't be the whole reason why we're getting lumped with another fifty fucking bucks on each game's price-tag. There'd be a dozen or so smaller things that all want a piece of the pie.

Unfortunately its the entire reason. And writing a letter, not a nasty email to your local politician CAN do something, so don't discount it entirely. The main problem is the Austrailian government current is stocked with a bunch of people who barely understand any parts of the tech industries. They are treating them like a manufacturing industry when not all parts of it run like that. The Austrailian public has to start screaming at them if anything is going to change.

Trust me mate, I'm very out-spoken with my local MPs on these subjects.

And the collective response from about 75% of Aussie gamers is "*sigh* But it's haaaaaaaarrrdd."

And yes we do have, as Yahtzee put it, a crotchity old man government who thinks anyone under the age of 30 is a serial rapist waiting to happen.

 

[Funkysandwich]

Two words:

Import Tax

One word. Bullshit. This is Steam guys! there's nothing to import on Steam.

Alas this is how it's always been for us Aussies, getting the short end of the stick. When a game's shipped over here there's a whole bunch of extra people who want a slice of the pie, which is even more fucked considering the AUD exchange rate atm.

Then you might want to educate your government on that point. Valve doesn't have control over it.

I would if I could.
All I was saying was that Import Tax couldn't be the whole reason why we're getting lumped with another fifty fucking bucks on each game's price-tag. There'd be a dozen or so smaller things that all want a piece of the pie.

Unfortunately its the entire reason. And writing a letter, not a nasty email to your local politician CAN do something, so don't discount it entirely. The main problem is the Austrailian government current is stocked with a bunch of people who barely understand any parts of the tech industries. They are treating them like a manufacturing industry when not all parts of it run like that. The Austrailian public has to start screaming at them if anything is going to change.

I buy a lot of car parts from overseas, and I don't pay import tax on any of those, most of which are significantly more expensive then video games.

Also, Steam is a lot cheaper for Australians then Retail. Fox example, I paid $44 for Brink when I preordered it. That' less then half of what you'd pay at EB or JB Hi-Fi.

There are alot of weird tax treatments down there, I definately don't understand them all. But Austrailia has some serious import taxes on digital distribution because of a severe lack of understanding as to what exactly it is. The government is to blame, or atleast a few people in it. Why? ... well we could be here a long long while trying to figure that part out.

Can buying games off Steam be considered importing? Since Steam does have content servers located in Australia, technically the bytes are coming from within the country and can be considered of local manufacture. Perhaps we've being unjustly taxed all these years?

 

[curintedery]

The thing is, we really can't do anything about it, and the average australian wage is about a million billion times higher than the US's (Seriously, I'm a low level supermarket employee on $45k).

We'll get over it .

 

[Antari]

Two words:

Import Tax

One word. Bullshit. This is Steam guys! there's nothing to import on Steam.

Alas this is how it's always been for us Aussies, getting the short end of the stick. When a game's shipped over here there's a whole bunch of extra people who want a slice of the pie, which is even more fucked considering the AUD exchange rate atm.

Then you might want to educate your government on that point. Valve doesn't have control over it.

I would if I could.
All I was saying was that Import Tax couldn't be the whole reason why we're getting lumped with another fifty fucking bucks on each game's price-tag. There'd be a dozen or so smaller things that all want a piece of the pie.

Unfortunately its the entire reason. And writing a letter, not a nasty email to your local politician CAN do something, so don't discount it entirely. The main problem is the Austrailian government current is stocked with a bunch of people who barely understand any parts of the tech industries. They are treating them like a manufacturing industry when not all parts of it run like that. The Austrailian public has to start screaming at them if anything is going to change.

I buy a lot of car parts from overseas, and I don't pay import tax on any of those, most of which are significantly more expensive then video games.

Also, Steam is a lot cheaper for Australians then Retail. Fox example, I paid $44 for Brink when I preordered it. That' less then half of what you'd pay at EB or JB Hi-Fi.

There are alot of weird tax treatments down there, I definately don't understand them all. But Austrailia has some serious import taxes on digital distribution because of a severe lack of understanding as to what exactly it is. The government is to blame, or atleast a few people in it. Why? ... well we could be here a long long while trying to figure that part out.

Can buying games off Steam be considered importing? Since Steam does have content servers located in Australia, technically the bytes are coming from within the country and can be considered of local manufacture. Perhaps we've being unjustly taxed all these years?

They go by product origin. Since Valve's initial purchase of it is in the United States before they resell it ... it gets slapped with the tax. There are apparently a couple of services that are using various loopholes to get around this but Valve isn't looking to be seen as dodging anything. In general the outlines for the taxes of digital merchandise in austrailia need MAJOR overhaul. As to what should be taxed and why needs to be alot clearer than a blanket response from the government.

 

[Nikolaz72]

The danes pay 3X price for BC2 compared to US.

 

[Roxor]

There's a bigger rip-off for us Aussies than simply having our prices here more expensive than elsewhere: not having a game available at all. I would gladly shell out $50 for the GTA Complete Pack on Steam, if only it was actually available in Australia.