Australia & EU Region Subscription Costs

[ToraFomalhaut]

That's what's standard for 60 Days game time in NZ, WoW is like that too... There are people prefer to get game time card, than paying using credit card. Fact.

Errr sure, I don't think there is a company alive that would complain about people willingly paying more for a product even though they, themselves offer it at a cheaper rate if purchased on-line.

It doesn't mean that we should be being charged more than the rest of the world, or forced to buy game cards from obscure retailers and import them from other countries just to try and get the same monthly cost being offered to people who pay in USD, JPY and GBP.

At the end of the day I would be happy settling for being given the ability to choose which currency I pay in so that I could avoid the $45-50 extra a year that is being lost in conversion, SE doesn't even see that money. But I guess since it's been raised an answer as to why the EUR subscription cost seems to convert to a higher monthly cost than everyone else would be nice too. Because it hardly seems right without knowing there is good cause for it.

[ToraFomalhaut]

I know this is a shameless bump, but I was wanting to wait until the Devs had the server crisis under control before continuing to bother them for some insight into why the region subscription currencies are set as they are (see original post) for countries that don't have the ability to pay in a native currency.

Honestly, to me, it only seems polite to allow players who live in a country you're not offering a native currency subscription for, the ability to pick from those available so they may select the currency that gives them the best conversion rate.

Locking us into paying in EUR is needlessly costing us more per month than if we were able to convert to and pay in the set GBP or USD prices. Even converting AUD to JPY ends up being a cheaper cost per month than paying to convert to the EUR.

Please consider allowing us the ability to select from the available subscription currencies so we are not needlessly losing more money than is needed in conversion costs.

[Sax]

This has always bugged me. I used to pay in USD for 11, and then they changed all the billing stuff and suddenly I am paying about 60% more for the same product. I always wondered why people who have to pay in Euro and GBPs never kicked up a stink over how much more per month they have to pay for the same product as everyone else.

I honestly don't think anyone at SE even realizes that Australia and NZ are not part of the EU. I mean we all use PAL.........

[Ashen82]

I was trying to subscribe today and got confused so I came here.
I did not realize that we were getting Australia taxed yet again.
The price disparity between regions is discriminatory, and I won't subscribe to a game which price gouges based on region.
Such a shame, I was going to subscribe, and now I wont.

[Pavise]

Well, that's a shame. Gotta love the Australia tax.

[Ashen82]

Indeed,
I can deal with not having Oceanic servers.
The thing I cannot deal with is being charged more for my subscription when I am getting worse service than other countries.

[zeke181]

If they can't offer everyone the ability to pay in their own currency they should just have all payments made in Japanese Yen.

[Vektrat]

I'm EU and I accept this, different countries, different currencies and fluctuations, different taxes, different quality of life given money, etc.

However, they should at least give the possibility to everybody to pay in whatever currency they want (said that, I would be paying in Yen or $ ).

[KisaiTenshi]

I don't really understand why can't all be flat USD... Need 3 different currencies

Because of exchange rates. I'll give you an example from another game I played (in which I played as CADUSD crossed parity twice) At one point it was cheaper for me to buy the game cards at the 7-11, up until CAD got to 90 cents USD, then it became cheaper to pay with paypal and take the hit there as the cost for the game time in USD was cheaper. When CADUSD got above 1.10, yes it was a lot cheaper and then they repriced the cards.

Aussies are SOL, because of VAT (and I think the higher EU price is also a EU VAT as well) US and JP prices do not have VAT. Australian prices must include VAT as the advertised price, which is something they can't do if it's a foreign currency subject to fluctuations.

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs...how_vat_works/

VAT on services is paid at the place where the service has been supplied. This will most often, but not always, be where the service supplier is established. The trader will in those cases account for VAT on his services in the Member State where he is established, applying the VAT rate of that country.

Great example here:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs...m/index_en.htm

3. Business or consumer outside the EU
No EU VAT charged.
But if the service is effectively used & enjoyed in an EU country, that country
can decide to levy VAT.

[Philotreu]

Greetings ToraFomalhaut,

It seems that there have not been any further posts about this concern being an ongoing issue. Because of this, we are considering it to be resolved. If this does continue to be a concern, please create another thread to further try to discuss resolutions or contact the Support Center at support.na.square-enix.com for assistance.

Good Luck!