Commentary on Euro Pricing Flamefest

[zDisturbedOnez]

Well Euro guys since you all know the price in America, buy it and import it! Oh wait then you guys will complain about the price of International shipping on a rather large box. But you seem to have no problem with EA or Harmonix eating the cost and losing money so that you can get your precious Rock Band. This has been discussed over and over and over again, but you dont want to get it through your thick skulls that it cost's so much to ship this product to you. You complain about paying 100% more yet gasoline prices in your country compared to ours is guess what? 100% more meaning shipping into your countries is what? 100% more!

[ADiiDAS]

Well Euro guys since you all know the price in America, buy it and import it! Oh wait then you guys will complain about the price of International shipping on a rather large box. But you seem to have no problem with EA or Harmonix eating the cost and losing money so that you can get your precious Rock Band. This has been discussed over and over and over again, but you dont want to get it through your thick skulls that it cost's so much to ship this product to you. You complain about paying 100% more yet gasoline prices in your country compared to ours is guess what? 100% more meaning shipping into your countries is what? 100% more!

quiet you! We are talking X360 version here. And if you knew better, you would know that the 360 version of Rock Band is NOT region free.

[DMSTEPHENS]

I was really tempted to import it for the PS3 but I prefer the 360 and am glad I waited.

[mushyman]

Well Euro guys since you all know the price in America, buy it and import it! Oh wait then you guys will complain about the price of International shipping on a rather large box. But you seem to have no problem with EA or Harmonix eating the cost and losing money so that you can get your precious Rock Band. This has been discussed over and over and over again, but you dont want to get it through your thick skulls that it cost's so much to ship this product to you. You complain about paying 100% more yet gasoline prices in your country compared to ours is guess what? 100% more meaning shipping into your countries is what? 100% more!

There is a big problem with this argument - why would HMX have to ship from the US when the product is produced in China? And if it is coming from China, why does it cost much more to ship to Europe than the US? Now I'm sure there are valid reasons, but they are not obvious to the consumer.

As for importing, yes indeed the 360 version is region locked. But also, individuals tend to get hit for customs charges a lot harder than companies. For example, in the UK the customs charge is full VAT on total price INCLUDING shipping, as well as a handling charge on top! You can bet an international company would pay far less than that.

[zDisturbedOnez]

quiet you! We are talking X360 version here. And if you knew better, you would know that the 360 version of Rock Band is NOT region free.

Keep banging your head against the wall then. It has been explained to you by members of this forum and now and "unofficial" statement by Harmonix but you still dont want to look at it from any other view point but your own. US gets it for $170.00 plus 8% sales tax in my area meaning I paid $183.60 out the door. But, I pay $400 a month for health insurance plus co-pays and deductibles to go to the doctor. Europeans pay more for Rock Band but cheaper or even free in some places health care. Fine case of Capitialism vs Socialism if I have ever seen one.

[Mosch]

Well Euro guys since you all know the price in America, buy it and import it! Oh wait then you guys will complain about the price of International shipping on a rather large box. But you seem to have no problem with EA or Harmonix eating the cost and losing money so that you can get your precious Rock Band. This has been discussed over and over and over again, but you dont want to get it through your thick skulls that it cost's so much to ship this product to you. You complain about paying 100% more yet gasoline prices in your country compared to ours is guess what? 100% more meaning shipping into your countries is what? 100% more!

In fact importing the special edition from America would cost me a maximum of 150€ ( I did not investigate if there are cheaper shipping methods). 150 is a lot less than 240; in fact I could not even get the instruments for 150€. Unfortunately the game is region locked.

Thank you, come again.

[Chaosraiden]

Come on Gordon Brown, try and get the £ to have a high exchange rate for may to like £1 = $10 and we'll be sorted importwise.

[zDisturbedOnez]

There is a big problem with this argument - why would HMX have to ship from the US when the product is produced in China? And if it is coming from China, why does it cost much more to ship to Europe than the US? Now I'm sure there are valid reasons, but they are not obvious to the consumer.

As for importing, yes indeed the 360 version is region locked. But also, individuals tend to get hit for customs charges a lot harder than companies. For example, in the UK the customs charge is full VAT on total price INCLUDING shipping, as well as a handling charge on top! You can bet an international company would pay far less than that.

Cause that would be the cheapest way to ship them! To ship anything it is a rate quote plus fuel. The fuel is applied from point of origin. So it would stand to reason the cheapest place to ship from would be the place that has lower fuel prices. And as every European knows the US has far cheaper prices than most other places. This has also been discussed and broke down numerous times but again, banging head against the wall.

[Mosch]

Cause that would be the cheapest way to ship them! To ship anything it is a rate quote plus fuel. The fuel is applied from point of origin. So it would stand to reason the cheapest place to ship from would be the place that has lower fuel prices. And as every European knows the US has far cheaper prices than most other places. This has also been discussed and broke down numerous times but again, banging head against the wall.

Wait, what? Shipping something from China to America, then to Europe is cheaper than directly shipping it from China to Europe? Where has this been explained? This is quite a new concept to me.

[SirAhenobarbus]

Thanks for posting. I'm in the US but I'm still interested in the issue and sympathetic to the Euro gamer's concerns.

Just a comment before the thread gets overrun by dumb 'n dumber (it's already begun):

Even factoring-in the tax issue, the count isn't there. Shipping maybe expensive, but I don't see how it could be that expensive if it's the only reason explaining the US/Euro price discrepancy. If it happens to be, then EA is doing something wrong. Are units shipped from Asia to the US and then Europe? Directly to Europe without stopping by the US? What's the distribution structure there? How and where are defective units going to be sent to, processed/shipped back from?

I don't expect any answer on those points, but there's got to be a way to provide a much lower Suggested Retail Price. Here's hoping that the actual price will be substantially lower, because as it is right now, every party is screwed.