Guild Wars 2

Okay this might be a bit random, but I’m from europe. And well I have friends who are from the USA. Where does this lead, well….

For me 1600 gems are 20 euro(in game) and guess what for someone from the USA they are 20 dollar(in game). Last time I checked the conversion from euro to dollar was:

1 Euro = 1.3647 U.S. dollars

So what are you guys doing? Because either the gems are for europeans to expensive compared to the dollar or the gems are too cheap for the US dollar users.

VAT and such are included in the Euro-prices.

One could always guest on a States bound server and buy your gems there? Not even sure if that sort of thing would work……

Even if I would deduct the VAT then still 2 euro are disappearing into thin air

besides that all the euro country prices are the same eventhough the VAT prices are different, explain that.

Just buy your gem code on an US website.

Nephelai.3610:

Even if I would deduct the VAT then still 2 euro are disappearing into thin air

Anet set the price at a static rate, with VAT included. Euro rates fluctuate daily, and it would be a pain to have to adjust Gem prices to match. But regardless, I’m sure you Europeans should be used to such pricing strategies. Most stuff sold there have static retail prices (i.e. PS4, Xbox One, etc).

Still 6 euro difference is a lot. Even if the Euro fluctuates, it doesn’t fluctuate that much. And yes I could buy my gem code on any US website, but I think Arenanet is one of the only game companies that doesn’t use the difference between euro and dollar. Also the european VAT for these things varies between 16%-28%. Or let’s look at a different currency like the pounds in the uk, 20 usd = 12,2 pound if we include vat to the pounds it’d be 14,64 eventhough 1600 gems is 17 pounds that’s almost 2 and half pound unaccounted for.

Besides let’s be real, if you had the same thing and you want to spend money but you feel like there is something not right there, wouldn’t you ask questions?

Also since technically the code I get for the gems never actually leave the country, shouldn’t I pay that countries VAT? it’s an electronic supplied service, and not a good then it would be excempt from VAT.

Actually I wouldn’t worry about who gets what cheaper and why. This is just how it goes. My main concerns with regards to any purchase are can I afford it? Is it worth it to me to spend a part of my income on this? Is it something I need, or do I just want it?

If you feel that the price is unreasonable then by all means exercise your right as a consumer to not purchase it. And when you really think about it anything purchased in the gem store leads to your money disappearing into thin air as you have no real rights to it and it isn’t real anyways.

Well I guess you and I are different, I like answers to my unanswered questions, regardless to what I do and don’t do ;o

You have gotten your answer though.
It is because of VAT. And instead of changing the price every single day (which would be impossible due to gem-cards and such) they set a specific value and stick to that. Simple as that.

The honest answer is probably “because they can”.

Every MMO I’ve ever seen has had the “why do Europeans pay more for the box/sub/cash shop currency” threads. In every single one someone brings up VAT, and in every single one someone does the math and demonstrates that VAT can’t account for all of the price discrepancy.

But every single MMO continues to do this. If it made people mad enough not to buy the game or cash shop currency, they’d stop doing it. It doesn’t, though. People are by and large used to it, and, other than the periodic forum post, unwilling to do anything about it.

It’s kinda like cash shop RNG that way.

Other markets have no problem with the technical requirements to dynamically calculate conversion rates or taxes for specifical localities, so that argument rings hollow as well.

This is why I buy my games from Amazon or other sources instead of Steam.

Valve is doing the same thing. And yes, it’s because they can. Do your part and don’t support such business practices.

Nephelai.3610:

Still 6 euro difference is a lot. Even if the Euro fluctuates, it doesn’t fluctuate that much. And yes I could buy my gem code on any US website, but I think Arenanet is one of the only game companies that doesn’t use the difference between euro and dollar. Also the european VAT for these things varies between 16%-28%. Or let’s look at a different currency like the pounds in the uk, 20 usd = 12,2 pound if we include vat to the pounds it’d be 14,64 eventhough 1600 gems is 17 pounds that’s almost 2 and half pound unaccounted for.

Besides let’s be real, if you had the same thing and you want to spend money but you feel like there is something not right there, wouldn’t you ask questions?

You could always just wait for the United States to take over Europe, then convert all currencies (again) to the US dollar. Then everyone will be on the same page, speaking American and paying with $$$.

Sony does the same with PSN purchases. Convenient, huh?

Trotting out the post again.

That’s basically the ratio that everyone uses. Just check out the prices for the next gen consoles.

XBox One – $499.99, £429.99, €499.99 – 1 to 0.86 to 1
PS4 – $399, £349, €399 – 1 to 0.875 to 1
GW2 – $50, £42.50, €50 – 1 to 0.85 to 1

It’s to cover VAT, exchange rate fees and currency fluctuation. If anything GW2 favors the UK more than Microsoft or Sony.

As for them paying VAT
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/gems-1-1-1/first#post90768

Gibson.4036:

The honest answer is probably “because they can”.

Every MMO I’ve ever seen has had the “why do Europeans pay more for the box/sub/cash shop currency” threads. In every single one someone brings up VAT, and in every single one someone does the math and demonstrates that VAT can’t account for all of the price discrepancy.

But every single MMO continues to do this. If it made people mad enough not to buy the game or cash shop currency, they’d stop doing it. It doesn’t, though. People are by and large used to it, and, other than the periodic forum post, unwilling to do anything about it.

It’s kinda like cash shop RNG that way.

Other markets have no problem with the technical requirements to dynamically calculate conversion rates or taxes for specifical localities, so that argument rings hollow as well.

Well actually this is the first MMO where I’ve seen this vast differences, I’ve played several USA based games and never saw before that the usd was equal to the euro even if the VAT would be an issue, but since I would buy it in game it would never even reach my hands(basically it’s an electronical service not an good and Vat can only be issued over goods) so it would still all stay on USA soil. I kinda wish Anet would react themselves, it’s not that hard, just press reply and type the answer, and if the answer is “because we can.” then be honest and say so ;o But then don’t be surprised if people find a way around it, because we can do that as well.

(although it would be surprising if you’d get an honest answer.)

The prices were set back when the game was launched, so the Gem cards could be priced. At that time, 2012, the exchange rate for Dollars ranged from 0.7484 to 0.8207 Euros. Tack on 20% VAT and you get a range of 0.898 to 0.985 Euros per dollar. Now taking the most advantageous rate and rounding it to a nice even number you get 1 dollar per 1 euro.

But more likely NCSoft, Sony and Microsoft used the same source information to set their ratios. It’s interesting that they all settle on the same ratios.

Nephelai.3610:

Well actually this is the first MMO where I’ve seen this vast differences, I’ve played several USA based games and never saw before that the usd was equal to the euro even if the VAT would be an issue, but since I would buy it in game it would never even reach my hands(basically it’s an electronical service not an good and Vat can only be issued over goods) so it would still all stay on USA soil. I kinda wish Anet would react themselves, it’s not that hard, just press reply and type the answer, and if the answer is “because we can.” then be honest and say so ;o But then don’t be surprised if people find a way around it, because we can do that as well.

(although it would be surprising if you’d get an honest answer.)

Well they HAVE answered several times, one of them were posted in this very thread.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/gems-1-1-1/first#post90768

Nephelai.3610:

Okay this might be a bit random, but I’m from europe. And well I have friends who are from the USA. Where does this lead, well….

For me 1600 gems are 20 euro(in game) and guess what for someone from the USA they are 20 dollar(in game). Last time I checked the conversion from euro to dollar was:

1 Euro = 1.3647 U.S. dollars

So what are you guys doing? Because either the gems are for europeans to expensive compared to the dollar or the gems are too cheap for the US dollar users.

Aside from this difference and how that all works (no clue), I’m from Europe too.

And I buy my gems for € 21,99 per 2000. I have not been able to get 1600 anywhere for about a year and that was when actual physical stores still sold cards (in a box!).

It really depends on where you get them and that has a risk, cause the online store I buy at is not an official (supported by Anet) retailer. Still I have never had any problems with the gem codes and the price is nice!

Iirc in GW1 there was a difference in prices(yeah i know gems weren’t available). Many players from the US used to complain that they had to pay $10 for a char slot, but EU players only payed €8. So why change the system so the EU players lose out more, yes economics play a part but the discrepency is still there.

Nephelai.3610:

Well actually this is the first MMO where I’ve seen this vast differences, I’ve played several USA based games and never saw before that the usd was equal to the euro even if the VAT would be an issue, but since I would buy it in game it would never even reach my hands(basically it’s an electronical service not an good and Vat can only be issued over goods) so it would still all stay on USA soil.

Huh. Rift, Allods, and several games I’ve beta tested but didn’t go on to play all had threads like this. Guess we’ve played different games.