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New EA Game Prices Rip-Off Canadians

Hawkeye411

Hawkeye411

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 6, 2007
1,833
12
Canada EH!!!
Why are EA and Apple charging Canadians $10.00 more per game for each of the new EA releases when compared to US prices?? This amounts to as much as 33.3% more for these games if you purchase them in Canada.

Title--------------US Price---Canadian Price----~%Difference
Madden-----------$39.95--------$49.95--------------25%
Tiger Woods------$39.95--------$49.95--------------25%
C & C--------------$49.95--------$59.95-------------20%
Harry Potter------$29.95--------$39.95--------------33%
NFS Carbon-------$39.95--------$49.95--------------25%
BF 2142-----------$39.95--------$49.95--------------25%

Canadians have traditionally paid more for video games than Americans. However, I thought that this was due to the difference in the value of the dollar. Well, the Canadian Dollar is on par with the American dollar so this can't be the reason for the huge price difference. It appears to me that EA and Apple have decided to take advantage of Canadian consumers.:mad:
 
gloss

gloss

macrumors 601
May 9, 2006
4,811
0
around/about
The exchange rate is typically favorable toward American dollars. The same thing happens with books (Stephen King novel I have on hand, $7.99 US, $10.99 Canadian).

It just so happens that the Canadian dollar is at parity with the US dollar right now. Don't expect US companies to drop the prices of all their goods accordingly - they're likely going to hold out and see if currency levels 'get back to normal'.
 
notjustjay

notjustjay

macrumors 603
Sep 19, 2003
6,056
167
Canada, eh?
The dollar parity only happened last week. The 98- and 99-cent dollar only happened in the past month or two. Likely these prices were set long before that, published, sent to distributors, etc. If the prices are still not adjusted after a few more months, then you might see fit to complain.

One could make this complaint about just about anything. It's time for a road trip to the States...
 
MacinDoc

MacinDoc

macrumors 68020
Mar 22, 2004
2,268
11
The Great White North
gloss said:
The exchange rate is typically favorable toward American dollars. The same thing happens with books (Stephen King novel I have on hand, $7.99 US, $10.99 Canadian).

It just so happens that the Canadian dollar is at parity with the US dollar right now. Don't expect US companies to drop the prices of all their goods accordingly - they're likely going to hold out and see if currency levels 'get back to normal'.
Click to expand...
This has nothing to do with American companies waiting to see if things will get back to normal. Anyone examining the current market fundamentals will see that the Canadian dollar is set to surpass the American buck. The difference in book prices reflects the exchange rate from 7 years ago. This is simply a matter of greed. Only by refusing to buy products that are unfairly priced will Canadians get equitable prices.

At least the price of Apple's new software is equitably priced. Too bad the older stuff like .Mac isn't (if you thought it was a rip-off in the U.S. that's nothing compared to Canada).
 
Rodimus Prime

Rodimus Prime

macrumors G4
Oct 9, 2006
10,136
4
You are not going to like this but it is not a rip-off.

What happen is Canadians are eating the fact that they been dealing with inflations and yes it sucks but do you really expect prices to drop 25% over night? You have to be joking.

People need to remember the value of there currency world wide has little effect on their lives. Even if thoug the Canadian currency is strong compared to the dollar it is not going to effect your day to day lives.

Welcome to the true side effects of inflation this is a case and point of what it is like.
 
E

ericsthename

macrumors regular
Apr 13, 2005
246
0
Vancouver BC
Rodimus Prime said:
You are not going to like this but it is not a rip-off.

What happen is Canadians are eating the fact that they been dealing with inflations and yes it sucks but do you really expect prices to drop 25% over night? You have to be joking.

People need to remember the value of there currency world wide has little effect on their lives. Even if thoug the Canadian currency is strong compared to the dollar it is not going to effect your day to day lives.

Welcome to the true side effects of inflation this is a case and point of what it is like.
Click to expand...

No, actually you've completely mixed up inflation and floating currencies. You're talking about inflationary forces within a nation, whereas the forum is about the floating value of the Canadian dollar versus the value of the American dollar. Since the value of the CAD has risen by some 40 cents since 2001, the exchange rate of goods should reflect this change as well. Obviously as some others have noted, retailers don't update their prices with the daily closing values, but it has NOT been an overnight change as you stated earlier, in fact it has been a gradual increase over a period of years.

The best way to explain this would be with an example:

Inflation is when, say a chocolate bar costs 50 cents to produce, and is therefore sold at $1 in the year 2000. Due to INFLATION the costs of producing that same chocolate bar rise to 55 cents by 2005, so the chocolate bar is then sold at retail for $1.10

Exchange rates would be as such:

An American made chocolate bar costs 50 (american) cents to produce, but cannot be sold in Canada for $1.00 because the Canadian dollar is worth only 70 cents. This means that in order for the American company to sell their product in Canada, they have to adjust the price of the good to the same VALUE so that they can recuperate their costs and turn a profit.


As you can see, both have an impact on the price of goods in an international market, but they are not to be confused.

...By the way, it's time to do a spellcheck:

worldwide
overnight
their
though
affect
case in point
 
T

TJIrwin

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2006
41
0
London, UK
Just be thankful you're not from the UK. Up until not long ago it seemed all that happened when something went on sale was a change from the $ sign to a £ one. Numbers generally stayed the same.
 
L

lag1090

macrumors 6502
Jan 28, 2007
280
0
NJ
What the OP needs to understand is that the market is not always the fastest to respond to changes in currency exchange rates. EA probably determined the CDN prices a few months ago, factoring some predictions in exchange rate fluctuation into account. As a result, they keep the price static, as not to confuse consumers, while ensuring that if the exchange rate changes so it is not in their favor, they do not start losing money. This is typically how things work when you're selling goods overseas.

In addition, there may be some kind of fees involved with selling the games in Canada that we don't know about. You never know what crazy things stores or the government will do to scrape up a few bucks.
 
C

Clipse79

macrumors regular
Sep 14, 2007
117
0
It will take sometime if the buck stays the way it is for products to catch up with prices being close to or the same. Its not a overnight thing. Find a place in the US with free shipping and buy it from them
 
redsteven

redsteven

macrumors 6502a
Aug 22, 2006
561
7
Clipse79 said:
It will take sometime if the buck stays the way it is for products to catch up with prices being close to or the same. Its not a overnight thing. Find a place in the US with free shipping and buy it from them
Click to expand...

I'd think most free shipping is going to be limited to continental US only : \
 
dejo

dejo

Moderator emeritus
Sep 2, 2004
15,982
452
The Centennial State
Hawkeye411 said:
Canadians have traditionally paid more for video games than Americans. However, I thought that this was due to the difference in the value of the dollar.
Click to expand...
There is plenty more to international trade than just the exchange rates of the currencies. I suggest you might want to do some research into that topic.
 
F

FreedomFighter

macrumors member
Jul 5, 2007
61
0
Can you purchase the game from the apple online store? that way you only pay on the conversion rate from canadian to U.S dollars, however you may have to pay more in shipping.

At current conversion:

$49.95 (U.S) = $50.05 (Can)
$39.95 (U.S) = $40.05 (Can)
$29.95 (U.S) = $30.05 (Can)

so as you can see if the shipping is less than $10 than it would be cheaper to purchase through the apple online store:)
 
MRU

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,368
8,948
a better place
GET OVER IT! :p

Apple store here charges €59.95 or $84 per game.

Even with our vat rate a direct currecy translation should be

$39.95 (€28.36) + 21% vat = $49 (€35)

So we are paying nearly double the cost and that's taking into account VAT added.

Makes you $49.95 CAD seem much less of a big deal eh!
 
Hawkeye411

Hawkeye411

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 6, 2007
1,833
12
Canada EH!!!
You can only order from the US Apple store if you are an American.
:apple::D


FreedomFighter said:
Can you purchase the game from the apple online store? that way you only pay on the conversion rate from canadian to U.S dollars, however you may have to pay more in shipping.

At current conversion:

$49.95 (U.S) = $50.05 (Can)
$39.95 (U.S) = $40.05 (Can)
$29.95 (U.S) = $30.05 (Can)

so as you can see if the shipping is less than $10 than it would be cheaper to purchase through the apple online store:)
Click to expand...
 
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