It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
Community
General discussionCanadian Pricing not at all competative with Steam.(65 posts)(65 posts)
(65 posts)
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
This is my favourite topic
Posted May 08, 2016
So I am curious why no man's sky is priced at $66.49 CND (Canadian Dollars) on steam but $75.49 CND on GoG? That is a 13.54% difference in price and no where near a reasonable margin of error due to exchange rate fluctuations.

Stardew valley priced at 18.99 CND on GOG and $16.99 CND on steam.

Banner saga 2 $25.19CND gog and $21.99 CND on steam

Yet when you look up the price of no man's sky in US funds both steam and GoG have the game listed as $59.99 and Stardew Valley is listed as $14.99 on both. Banner saga is listed as on both at $19.99 usd.

I am not expecting that Canadian pricing be equal to US pricing but I do expect price matching by GOG. Why am I spending between 10 to 15% more for a game title on GoG than on steam in Canadian funds but the game is priced the exact same in US funds?

You talk about fair regional pricing but doesn't seem fair if your region happens to be Canada.

What gives?

If you want Canadian customers to continue to support GoG shouldn't you at least match steam's pricing in Canadian funds? Why pay more money for the same product especially when you price match in US currency?
Post edited May 08, 2016 by Gothfather
Posted May 08, 2016
It is probably fair pricing in the sense that canadians pay the same USD price as people in the US. People never stop complaining. A couple of months ago people revolted against regional pricing, now they want more regional pricing but only if it's advantageous for them...
Posted May 08, 2016
avatar
blotunga: It is probably fair pricing in the sense that canadians pay the same USD price as people in the US. People never stop complaining. A couple of months ago people revolted against regional pricing, now they want more regional pricing but only if it's advantageous for them...
Did you READ my post?

I am not asking for advantageous pricing.

Lets try again....

No man's sky in US Funds

Game on steam priced at $59.99 USD same game on GOG $59.99 USD on GOG. Same currency same price. This to makes perfect sense if you are trying to be competitive.

No man's sky in Canadians funds.

Game in steam priced at $66.49 CND same game on GOG $75.49 CND. Same currency DIFFERENT price. This doesn't make sense if you are trying to be competitive.

Why should I pay $9 more for the same product? TO BE CLEAR this ISN'T an exchange difference this is a pricing comparison in the SAME currency.
Post edited May 08, 2016 by Gothfather
Posted May 08, 2016
Gothfather brings up a good point, however.

GOG needs to stay competitive with Steam and to do so, it can't charge more for the same product. In addition, if GOG does price matching for USD, then it needs to do so for all other currencies, including CAD.

This really isn't a case of wanting "regional pricing that's cheaper," it's a simple matter of matching a competitor's prices and giving customers a good incentive to purchase on GOG instead of Steam.
Posted May 08, 2016
From what my Canadian friend on GOG said, 1 USD was 1.1 CAD when regional pricing was introduced in Canada on Steam and shortly after CAD dropped leading to 1.29 CAD = 1USD (now) and that's what GOG follows now according to him.

Not sure why Steam hasn't updated its prices in accordance with exchange rates though.
Posted May 08, 2016
because everything is a fucking experiment that's why.

le sigh

how much is gog worth to me? don't we all want to find out.

or who knows. maybe it's simpler this time. maybe it's just a case of wish to role out the currency without the oblig regional agreements knowing that it would be a disadvantage. or maybe not who cares

le sigh
Posted May 08, 2016
avatar
Hunter65536: From what my Canadian friend on GOG said, 1 USD was 1.1 CAD when regional pricing was introduced in Canada on Steam and shortly after CAD dropped leading to 1.29 CAD = 1USD (now) and that's what GOG follows now according to him.

Not sure why Steam hasn't updated its prices in accordance with exchange rates though.
Steam does not update their prices when currency exchange rate changes. They have fixed prices bound by contract.

Gog on the other hand makes their prices depending on currency exchange rates.
Post edited May 08, 2016 by Matruchus
Posted May 08, 2016
avatar
Gothfather: Why should I pay $9 more for the same product?
avatar
DeadPoolX: ...can't charge more for the same product.
Almost the same product, the big difference being in how it's delivered to end-customers: while ssteam is more a rental with its DRM-implementation, GOG.com chooses a true free approach with its DRM-free policy which means you morally own the product and can do almost whatever you want with it.
I know this doesn't justify a (big) price difference but still ...
Posted May 08, 2016
avatar
Gothfather: Game in steam priced at $66.49 CND same game on GOG $75.49 CND. Same currency DIFFERENT price. This doesn't make sense if you are trying to be competitive.
The price you list above is more consistent with the USD-CAD exchange rates from around the time that Steam announced CAD pricing...two years ago. USD $59.99 = CAD $66.99 if you use the rate given in that Reddit thread as USD $1 = CAD $1.11669.
avatar
Gothfather: Why should I pay $9 more for the same product? TO BE CLEAR this ISN'T an exchange difference this is a pricing comparison in the SAME currency.
As of June 8th, 2016, XE.com gives $59.99 USD as $77.42 CAD on the current exchange rate as USD $1 = CAD $1.29, as noted above. So it actually is an exchange difference; the difference here being in the USD-CAD rate that they use.

I'm not using this to defend GOG's CAD pricing practices, but to show that from an objective standpoint, they decided to standardize on one rate from the time of announcement just as Steam appears to have done itself, which makes some sense given how wildly currency rates can fluctuate. The only difference is that Steam appears to be using a very outdated exchange rate.

So should GOG change all of their exchange rates to all of their foreign currencies to rates from two years ago (or whatever arbitrary rate from whatever time range you pick)? Or should Steam update their own currency rates to fall in step with current exchange rates?
Posted May 08, 2016
high rated
avatar
Gothfather: You talk about fair regional pricing but doesn't seem fair if your region happens to be Canada.
Do you understand what regional pricing means?

Regional pricing (Steam style):
Each region pays fixed prices, regardless of the exchang rate. e.g. a game costs 12 CAD and 10 USD, and these prices stay fixed. Note that unless the exchange rate is exactly 1.2 one side is always "unfairly" paying more that the other (At the moment on Steam, those paying in CAD are favoured).
Advantages: fixed prices. Disadvantages: one region always pays more than the other.

Non-regional pricing (GOG style):
Prices are not fixed, but are adjusted according to the exchange rate. So if the exchange rate is 1.3 then the prices are 13 CAD and 10 USD. If next week it changes to 1.1, prices become 11 CAD and 10 USD.
Disadvantages: prices change. Advantages: all regions pay same amount (excluding tiny fluctuations and rounding.. etc).

Back when the dollar was weak, the regional pricing meant that non-US paid much more for a given game, so GOG made it one of their selling points NOT to include regional pricing. And except for Russia, they mostly kept this model. Because at the moment CAD is weaker, you have to pay more extra for a given good.

So Canadians are not treated unfairly by GOG. What's happening is that all regions (except Russia) are treated fairly by GOG, while Steam at the moment is giving them regional pricing discount.
Should the Canadian dollar get stronger, the GOG games' prices on in CAD will drop, while on steam they'll remain same.
Post edited May 08, 2016 by ZFR
Posted May 08, 2016
avatar
DeadPoolX: GOG needs to stay competitive with Steam.
GOG needs to stay competitive with steam by sticking to their principles.

So, no, they should NOT introduce regional pricing just because Steam does it. Look at it this way: GOG miss out on many games with DRM that Steam has, but it doesn't mean they should introduce DRM to "stay competitive with Steam".

Of course, all this would have come out much better if they hadn't already broken their principles by introducing Russian regional prices. *sigh*
Posted May 08, 2016
avatar
ZFR: Of course, all this would have come out much better if they hadn't already broken their principles by introducing Russian regional prices. *sigh*
Or the other 26 gog regional pricing zones :) http://www.an-ovel.com/pages/ma_mtrc.php#TableVIII
Post edited May 08, 2016 by Matruchus
Posted May 08, 2016
avatar
Matruchus: Or the other 26 gog regional pricing zones :) http://www.an-ovel.com/pages/ma_mtrc.php#TableVIII
Yes, but correct me if I'm mistaken, this matrix includes "fair package" differences, right? Where you get reimbursed for the difference to USD? I'd still consider that acceptable so long as everyone gets reimbursed the difference between their price and the lowest price.
If we include only "real" non-reimbursed differences, it would amount mostly to Russia with their 1400+ games, plus only a handful of games for other countries/regions?

Not that it really matters of course. Once they've broken their principle it's no use arguing whether they broke it in a 100 cases or 105 cases.
avatar
rampancy: I'm not using this to defend GOG's CAD pricing practices, but to show that from an objective standpoint, they decided to standardize on one rate from the time of announcement just as Steam appears to have done itself, which makes some sense given how wildly currency rates can fluctuate. The only difference is that Steam appears to be using a very outdated exchange rate.

So should GOG change all of their exchange rates to all of their foreign currencies to rates from two years ago (or whatever arbitrary rate from whatever time range you pick)? Or should Steam update their own currency rates to fall in step with current exchange rates?
Actually GOG does not "standardize on one rate from the time of announcement just as Steam". GOG keeps updating their rates. I believe it's mothly or so? (I suppose it's dependent on how the rates fluctuate), but either way, the GOG rates are fairly close to real rates at all times. I'm saying "farily" because it's not updated in real time, and there is also the case of rounding prices to x.x9 which accounts for a bit of difference.
The euro prices kept changing as the exchange rate changed, and the same thing will happen to new currencies.
Post edited May 08, 2016 by ZFR
Posted May 08, 2016
I've just resigned myself to the fact that, as a Canadian, we will get ripped off, throughout our lives, on certain things that Americans can take for granted.
Even on some necessities, we are getting ripped. Heat, Hydro, even housing now is incredibly screwed. Our internet prices are incredibly insane compared to other countries and our mobile service providers are even WORSE, if it can be believed.

It is certainly making me look at moving to the states. At the very least, you can LIVE cheaply in certain places there.
Posted May 08, 2016
I shall impart the wisdom to you that was imparted to me...

avatar
ZFR: ...snip...
nvm
ZFR's already here.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionCanadian Pricing not at all competative with Steam.(65 posts)(65 posts)
(65 posts)