Poll: The "Australian" Tax

[neverarine]

i had to import a book that was printed in the States from the UK last week becuase it was $30 cheaper...

Sure... and what would you say if, hypothetically, it was $45 cheaper for everyone else but because you're in the US (or whereever) you can just pay more 'because fuck you, that's why'?

And not just that book, but all their books?

And not just that retailer but many large online retailers?

Would you just shrug it off as 'well, that's the way the world works' or would you be somewhat browned off and wanting to bring this bullshit to light for public scrutiny?

the minimum wage there is practically twice what it is here, heck my job pays alot higher than any of my friends jobs and its still a good ways below the minum wage so it seems to me that you have no problems making the extra money to pay for the things there thus maybe why they cost more

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

It is a little useful, in that we can complain about pricing and not come across as hypocrites, but as far as I can tell, it used to cost a lot more to get stuff out here, and they've been riding the status quo ever since.

 

[Vaishnav Reddy]

You know why software/games come at near 2x the price?
Because not too long ago Australia actually had a 100% import tax on those before it was considered standard goods, but after that shops just didn't change the prices... you are willing to pay 2x anyway so why not cash in.

I may not ever like Apple and their fanatic followship but that is one thing they do right, they don't allow region hustling.

What do you mean Apple doesn't allow region hustling? I have to pay the equivalent of US$300 for an 8gb Ipod touch.

OT : Because they can!

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

i had to import a book that was printed in the States from the UK last week becuase it was $30 cheaper...

Sure... and what would you say if, hypothetically, it was $45 cheaper for everyone else but because you're in the US (or whereever) you can just pay more 'because fuck you, that's why'?

And not just that book, but all their books?

And not just that retailer but many large online retailers?

Would you just shrug it off as 'well, that's the way the world works' or would you be somewhat browned off and wanting to bring this bullshit to light for public scrutiny?

the minimum wage there is practically twice what it is here, heck my job pays alot higher than any of my friends jobs and its still a good ways below the minum wage so it seems to me that you have no problems making the extra money to pay for the things there thus maybe why they cost more

So what you're saying is you've got nothing. Goodo.

The problem with the whole 'sliding scale pricing' theory is that it conveniently forgets other countries that have vastly lower wages than the US and still get fucked with the rough end of the pineapple.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Get's a bit ridiculous when the brand-new game is 100 bucks (110 on consoles for NO REASON)

If you're questioning the $10 difference between PC and console games, thats the price publishers add on to pay for the development licences and certification they need to put games on consoles.

 

[neverarine]

i had to import a book that was printed in the States from the UK last week becuase it was $30 cheaper...

Sure... and what would you say if, hypothetically, it was $45 cheaper for everyone else but because you're in the US (or whereever) you can just pay more 'because fuck you, that's why'?

And not just that book, but all their books?

And not just that retailer but many large online retailers?

Would you just shrug it off as 'well, that's the way the world works' or would you be somewhat browned off and wanting to bring this bullshit to light for public scrutiny?

the minimum wage there is practically twice what it is here, heck my job pays alot higher than any of my friends jobs and its still a good ways below the minum wage so it seems to me that you have no problems making the extra money to pay for the things there thus maybe why they cost more

So what you're saying is you've got nothing. Goodo.

The problem with the whole 'sliding scale pricing' theory is that it conveniently forgets other countries that have vastly lower wages than the US and still get fucked with the rough end of the pineapple.

didn't we just finish establishing that the wages in the US are lower?

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

i had to import a book that was printed in the States from the UK last week becuase it was $30 cheaper...

Sure... and what would you say if, hypothetically, it was $45 cheaper for everyone else but because you're in the US (or whereever) you can just pay more 'because fuck you, that's why'?

And not just that book, but all their books?

And not just that retailer but many large online retailers?

Would you just shrug it off as 'well, that's the way the world works' or would you be somewhat browned off and wanting to bring this bullshit to light for public scrutiny?

the minimum wage there is practically twice what it is here, heck my job pays alot higher than any of my friends jobs and its still a good ways below the minum wage so it seems to me that you have no problems making the extra money to pay for the things there thus maybe why they cost more

So what you're saying is you've got nothing. Goodo.

The problem with the whole 'sliding scale pricing' theory is that it conveniently forgets other countries that have vastly lower wages than the US and still get fucked with the rough end of the pineapple.

didn't we just finish establishing that the wages in the US are lower?

No, we established that the minimum wage in the US was lower. The average US wage is higher than the Australian average.

Besides, my point was that following the "logic" of the sliding scale pricing theory, then there are a whole shitpot of nations out there with MUCH lower minimum and average wages than the US then those countries should have even cheaper prices... only they don't, they get slapped with the same kind of price discrimination as Australia does.

 

[Zenode]

To those saying that "Oh but your minimum wage is higher!"

So?? We are paying at minimum $40-$50(even in US dollars) more than you, even digital releases are more expensive. And that takes a hell of a lot less effort.

I could deal with maybe 10-20 dollars difference, but the fact that the US can buy two new releases for every one we can, is pretty blatant price gouging on the publishers behalf.

 

[Rednog]

Sigh I roll my eyes every time this comes up, it has been answered over and over. Pricing around the world is based on percentages of income. Saying that you should pay the same amount as another country for X item doesn't work. Answer me this why aren't Americans complaining they aren't paying the same prices as games in Russia or India, games there can run $25-30. Why aren't we up in arms about that, hell why aren't you up in arms about it? Seriously why are you complaining about prices in the US when there are countries out there who buy the same games for even cheaper?

The answer is because it is just basic economics. A world economy only functions if people have the same relative buying power. Unbalanced buying power can wreck both economies.

Hell why are you complaining about games only? Everything over there has a higher price tag then in the US. Your water, food, housing, etc why aren't you complaining about that too?

 

[Dularn]

Hell why are you complaining about games only? Everything over there has a higher price tag then in the US. Your water, food, housing, etc why aren't you complaining about that too?

Comparing these to a digital game is not applicable.

If my food, housing, water, etc was digital, tax free, without physical distribution costs, without local staffing costs and all purchased from a US based store in US Dollars (yep, they don't even bother to change the currency when ripping us off) I would indeed be complaining about it.

I'm okay with a physical game in a store here costing more. It costs the publisher more to ship the game to Australia and distribute it across the country and they need to recoup this cost. The retailer needs to sell it for more to cover our higher minimum wage and local taxes. Recouping these costs is understandable but the price difference we see is far greater than these should account for.

For digital games there is no excuse, the above doesn't apply.

 

[madster11]

I usually just buy from play-asia if i'm buying something that's not on PC, new releases run about $50-60.

If retailers don't want to grey import and pass the savings on, that's fine, i'll do it myself. Sometimes spending extra is worth convenience, but i got my last play-asia game in 4 days and saved $30.

Also, protip: The PS3 and a bunch of Xbox 360 games are region free, guys. If the US/Asia version is cheaper than the UK one just buy that. Just have a couple extra PSN accounts for US/Jap.
Fuck Nintendo, though.


Actually, who the hell uses iTunes anyway? People actually pay to download music these days? Music that you don't legally 'own' anyway?
Whoever does that deserves it. If you want to support the artists, buy the actual CD with infinitely higher sound quality that you own. It's the same (bullshit) price anyway.

 

[Rednog]

Hell why are you complaining about games only? Everything over there has a higher price tag then in the US. Your water, food, housing, etc why aren't you complaining about that too?

Comparing these to a digital game is not applicable.

If my food, housing, water, etc was digital, tax free, without physical distribution costs, without local staffing costs and all purchased from a US based store in US Dollars (yep, they don't even bother to change the currency when ripping us off) I would indeed be complaining about it.

A good is a good regardless of whether it is digital or not who cares if it doesn't need local staffing costs or whether it is a physical item? It still represents time, effort, and money. There are still people who are putting work behind it and thus it has value. You can't suddenly devalue an item and say it should play by different rules in the economy just because you like playing video games. If you're going to complain about prices differences of goods the only way your argument is going to stand up is if you complain about everything. And the simple answer is that the argument against higher costs of games just doesn't stand up. Granted there might be an argument that with the changes in economy might call for a different price adjustments once and a while instead of a solid never changing price, but no matter how you look at it as long as one's "dollar" is stronger you will never have equal pricing.

And once again I ask why are you only ragging on the US. Why not on other countries who have it cheaper than the US? Why are you not saying hey Russians are paying less for games than us. In case you didn't know, not all games come from the US or are produced in the US. Hell, two of the major gaming companies, Sony and Nintendo, are Japanese companies.

 

[Dularn]

the minimum wage there is practically twice what it is here, heck my job pays alot higher than any of my friends jobs and its still a good ways below the minum wage so it seems to me that you have no problems making the extra money to pay for the things there thus maybe why they cost more

The minimum wage in Washington is 25% higher than the federal minimum wage.

Are you saying that residents of this state should have to pay 25% more for their games?

Edit: Wait, how do you get paid BELOW minimum wage? Is there some kind of alternate understanding of the word minimum in the US? Is it not a legal requirement?

 

[I.Muir]

Get's a bit ridiculous when the brand-new game is 100 bucks (110 on consoles for NO REASON), while over-seas blokes are getting them for 40-60 bucks a pop.
Used games are awesome though - Dead Space 2 for 10 dollars? I'll take that!

C: If you see a spider actually moving towards you, that's a funnel web and it wants to kill you so run the bloody hell away

Thankfully those little death-spiders don't live in Adelaide - sure, nothing happens here, but at least the only spiders we have to deal with are cowardly Huntsmans and angry Redbacks.
Though it can get a bit awkward when you do actually encounter one (fuck Canberra, that's all I'm saying) and expect it to act like a Huntsman... thank god for the Yellow Pages, that's for sure.

Thong/ Sandle fu
Everybody knows that people in Canberra are too busy being stoned to fight spiders

I posted the same thing twice somehow and made it talk about different subjects yay

 

[I.Muir]

i had to import a book that was printed in the States from the UK last week becuase it was $30 cheaper...

Sure... and what would you say if, hypothetically, it was $45 cheaper for everyone else but because you're in the US (or whereever) you can just pay more 'because fuck you, that's why'?

And not just that book, but all their books?

And not just that retailer but many large online retailers?

Would you just shrug it off as 'well, that's the way the world works' or would you be somewhat browned off and wanting to bring this bullshit to light for public scrutiny?

the minimum wage there is practically twice what it is here, heck my job pays alot higher than any of my friends jobs and its still a good ways below the minum wage so it seems to me that you have no problems making the extra money to pay for the things there thus maybe why they cost more

So what you're saying is you've got nothing. Goodo.

The problem with the whole 'sliding scale pricing' theory is that it conveniently forgets other countries that have vastly lower wages than the US and still get fucked with the rough end of the pineapple.

I think Ive seen stories about how piracy for digital products like windows is so very much higher in countries like that because there is just absolutely no chance in hell they can afford them. They are like 300% higher or something and if that is the case then the whole value of goods is based on the peoples income is bullshit, though we already knew that.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/may/03/why-poor-countries-lead-world-piracy

This does not say that the prices are increased
It certainly does not say the price is decreased to match their wages

 

[Vausch]

the minimum wage there is practically twice what it is here, heck my job pays alot higher than any of my friends jobs and its still a good ways below the minum wage so it seems to me that you have no problems making the extra money to pay for the things there thus maybe why they cost more

The minimum wage in Washington is 25% higher than the federal minimum wage.

Are you saying that residents of this state should have to pay 25% more for their games?

Edit: Wait, how do you get paid BELOW minimum wage? Is there some kind of alternate understanding of the word minimum in the US? Is it not a legal requirement?

There are minimum wage loopholes. If it's a job that offers tips, people younger than a certain age (I think it's 14), someone going for work experience like an internship, people living in a religious community, members of the armed forces, working for friends and neighbours, family is exempt, if you're living in the employer's household, or there's the good old excuse of "minimum wage is the government overstepping it's power" and just blatantly doing something illegal.

 

[Voulan]

In New Zealand we get the same deal, except we get paid less with minimum wage, so it's slightly more unfair. I'm not trying to complain the loudest or anything by saying that, but I'd like to point out that this is a problem that should really be looked at in other regions as well.

 

[I.Muir]

In New Zealand we get the same deal, except we get paid less with minimum wage, so it's slightly more unfair. I'm not trying to complain the loudest or anything by saying that, but I'd like to point out that this is a problem that should really be looked at in other regions as well.

Meh Australia and New Zealand are practically the same place
We should merge and you can be not Tasmania and you will be all like welp we're not Tasmania
Then we shall have the most sheep in the world MUHAHAHAHA
I will have to go back to NZ one day, my first and previous trip four years ago was good. Food was great but there was venison everywhere that you can't buy anywhere and everything was so scenic it was maddening bar that top bit of the south island.

 

[Basement Cat]

oops.