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Online PLEX Code prices

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Jonah Gravenstein
Machiavellian Space Bastards
#41 - 2014-06-16 11:27:49 UTC  |  Edited by: Jonah Gravenstein
Entilarza wrote:
Well on the other hand one can just look up GTC 60 Days on ebay for a bit less then 24€ (at least german ebay), buy those and convert them to Plex. Sure, not as comfortable as buying plex directly from CCP but if you have those extra 10 Minutes it's quite a good deal ;)
I couldn't say for sure, but I think you may find that buying GTCs from eBay sellers, who in all likelihood are not CCP authorised partners, falls under the heading of RMT and may result in a ban.

Of course I could be talking out of my backside, a Dev needs to weigh in on this particular practice.

In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded.

New Player FAQ

Feyd's Survival Pack
Goti fase
Faulcon de Lazy
#42 - 2014-06-16 12:13:04 UTC
Arkumord Churhee wrote:
Your
Karen Avioras wrote:
taxes and stuff

are also applied in the US.
I don't see any reason why european customers should pay 9,15 EUR (or 12,39 USD) more on a 2 PLEX code. So I'm kindly asking CCP to explain this to me or just lower the price.

US codes have always been a bit cheaper (a dollar or two on a 2 PLEX code thanks to good conversion rates), but this is just not acceptable any more.


Items being sold in the US are not advertised with tax and stuff due to different taxation in different states. In Europe items are advertised with tax as generally the tax rate is the same for everyone.
Spectral Tiger
#43 - 2014-06-16 12:15:31 UTC
Arkumord Churhee wrote:
Dear CCP,

what have european customers of yours done to you? If, say, you were to buy a 2 PLEX Code online, customers paying in EUR are charged 34,99 EUR. US customers are charged 34,99 USD.

Quick googling of the conversion tells me that 34,99 USD converts to 25,84 EUR at the time of writing. That's almost 10 EUR less! My question here is: Why? Why do european customers pay that much more for the same service that US customers get?

Doesn't sound quite fair to me... please explain!

(Crosspost from german subforum)



The fact that it's 34.99 USD and 34.99 EUR, suggests to me that although it maybe loosely based on tax the actual figures are just made up.
Ramona McCandless
Silent Vale
LinkNet
#44 - 2014-06-16 12:20:47 UTC
I don't believe the OP is in europe, so Id like to know why he cares about how much we pay?

"Yea, some dude came in and was normal for first couple months, so I gave him director." - Sean Dunaway

"A singular character could be hired to penetrate another corps space... using gorilla like tactics..." - Chane Morgann
Frostys Virpio
State War Academy
Caldari State
#45 - 2014-06-16 12:29:10 UTC
Ramona McCandless wrote:
I don't believe the OP is in europe, so Id like to know why he cares about how much we pay?


He found an axe and decided to grind it.
Ramona McCandless
Silent Vale
LinkNet
#46 - 2014-06-16 12:31:35 UTC
Frostys Virpio wrote:
Ramona McCandless wrote:
I don't believe the OP is in europe, so Id like to know why he cares about how much we pay?


He found an axe and decided to grind it.


COMBINATION!

http://37.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpksi1CifJ1qjkee4o1_400.png

"Yea, some dude came in and was normal for first couple months, so I gave him director." - Sean Dunaway

"A singular character could be hired to penetrate another corps space... using gorilla like tactics..." - Chane Morgann
Sable Moran
Moran Light Industries
#47 - 2014-06-16 12:35:14 UTC  |  Edited by: Sable Moran
Goti fase wrote:
In Europe items are advertised with tax as generally the tax rate is the same for everyone.


This simply is not the case. The VAT varies by country and also by type of product or service.

So for example one and the same product can have a 21% VAT in country EUR1 and a 12% VAT in country EUR2. In my country the VAT is generally 24% (GRRR taxes), but for many areas it can be 14% (mainly foodstuffs) or 10% (medicine, books, etc.) or even 0%

Found a couple of nice tables:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umsatzsteuer#Umsatzsteuer_in_EU-L.C3.A4ndern
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umsatzsteuer#Umsatzsteuer_in_Nicht-EU-L.C3.A4ndern

Sable's Ammo Shop at Alentene V - Moon 4 - Duvolle Labs Factory. Hybrid charges, Projectile ammo, Missiles, Drones, Ships, Need'em? We have'em, at affordable prices. Pop in at our Ammo Shop in sunny Alentene.
Frostys Virpio
State War Academy
Caldari State
#48 - 2014-06-16 13:09:28 UTC
Arkumord Churhee wrote:
Dear CCP,

what have european customers of yours done to you? If, say, you were to buy a 2 PLEX Code online, customers paying in EUR are charged 34,99 EUR. US customers are charged 34,99 USD.

Quick googling of the conversion tells me that 34,99 USD converts to 25,84 EUR at the time of writing. That's almost 10 EUR less! My question here is: Why? Why do european customers pay that much more for the same service that US customers get?

Doesn't sound quite fair to me... please explain!

(Crosspost from german subforum)


Since when is EVE or anything attached to it supposed to be fair? They offer a service at the price they want. You either purchase that service or not. If you really want your outrage about PLEX price difference to be heard, stop buying any PLEX. Your message will be heard more if more people do it.
Celise Katelo
State War Academy
Caldari State
#49 - 2014-06-16 13:17:44 UTC
The price for Plex is rather good value i think Big smile

This kinda topic comes up nearly all the time. With nearly all the online games i play. "why do we pay more, us players from Europe" ...etc ..blah blah (Yes, i live in UK/England).

All i can say is "Welcome to the World of EuroTax" ...Ninja looting your Wonga/Money/Cash, since governments could learn to read / write & kinda do maths" Shocked

EVEBoard ...Just over 60million skill points, each skill was chosen for a reason. I closed my eyes & clicked another skill to train... "BINGO...!!!" ... "This time i got something usefull"
SpoonRECKLESS
Beach Boys
The Minions.
#50 - 2014-06-16 13:51:29 UTC  |  Edited by: SpoonRECKLESS
Arkumord Churhee wrote:
Your
Karen Avioras wrote:
taxes and stuff

are also applied in the US.
I don't see any reason why european customers should pay 9,15 EUR (or 12,39 USD) more on a 2 PLEX code. So I'm kindly asking CCP to explain this to me or just lower the price.

US codes have always been a bit cheaper (a dollar or two on a 2 PLEX code thanks to good conversion rates), but this is just not acceptable any more.



Because your money has more value? I don't know maybe you guys made Iceland mad making fun of thier gods or rotten fish.

Blue
Papa Sotken
Nothing Comes To Mind
Snuffed Out
#51 - 2014-06-16 13:57:26 UTC
£10 for a month membership and free plex.

Buddy program only reason i dont moan about how bad us europeans get nailed by CCP's prices.

Zebra Corp
Ramona McCandless
Silent Vale
LinkNet
#52 - 2014-06-16 14:00:00 UTC
Papa Sotken wrote:
£10 for a month membership and free plex.

Buddy program only reason i dont moan about how bad us europeans get nailed by CCP's prices.


You forgot to include the activation fee, but I get your point

"Yea, some dude came in and was normal for first couple months, so I gave him director." - Sean Dunaway

"A singular character could be hired to penetrate another corps space... using gorilla like tactics..." - Chane Morgann
Papa Sotken
Nothing Comes To Mind
Snuffed Out
#53 - 2014-06-16 14:24:05 UTC
Ramona McCandless wrote:
Papa Sotken wrote:
£10 for a month membership and free plex.

Buddy program only reason i dont moan about how bad us europeans get nailed by CCP's prices.


You forgot to include the activation fee, but I get your point


Indeed forgot the activation fee paha.

Zebra Corp
Galison
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#54 - 2014-06-16 14:41:20 UTC
Also something to think about is while some states in the US are working on changing it currentlaws only require taxes be collected in online purchases IF the company has a physical presence in the state. That means a state could have a sales tax of 50% but it isn't charged if the store you are buying from doesn't have a physical building/office in the state. Technicality you as the consumer are suppose to file it your self but I've never heard of a state going after someone.
Ramona McCandless
Silent Vale
LinkNet
#55 - 2014-06-16 14:55:29 UTC
Galison wrote:
Also something to think about is while some states in the US are working on changing it currentlaws only require taxes be collected in online purchases IF the company has a physical presence in the state. That means a state could have a sales tax of 50% but it isn't charged if the store you are buying from doesn't have a physical building/office in the state. Technicality you as the consumer are suppose to file it your self but I've never heard of a state going after someone.


Well THAT'S not going to be abused lol

Why go to the Cayman Islands when you can be a "US" company and evade taxes?

"Yea, some dude came in and was normal for first couple months, so I gave him director." - Sean Dunaway

"A singular character could be hired to penetrate another corps space... using gorilla like tactics..." - Chane Morgann
CompleteFailure
DAWGS Corp.
#56 - 2014-06-16 17:34:16 UTC  |  Edited by: ISD Ezwal
*Snip* Please refrain from personal attacks. ISD Ezwal.

1) The price is lower in the US because of the previously mentioned difference in needing to advertise prices inclusive/exclusive of tax amounts, but also because US customers don't pay sales tax for the vast majority of online transactions. These are laws in place by our respective countries, CCP has absolutely NOTHING to do with this. If you want to complain to someone, complain to your government for taxing you (grrrr government?). Ain't socialism grand? ;)

2) As has also been mentioned, there are ways to get around this and pay the US prices. Whether or not doing so violates any of your local laws, I have no idea, so I'm not advocating it. But, you know....options exist. Why not just use the method which you've already stated you are aware of and pay the lower price? Taking it a step further, why not then tell everyone you know to do the same (it doesn't just apply to PLEX, you know)? Why is your only course of action to complain that "it isn't fair" and pout like a five year old? Life isn't fair, get a helmet and HTFU.
CompleteFailure
DAWGS Corp.
#57 - 2014-06-16 17:36:13 UTC
Ramona McCandless wrote:
Why go to the Cayman Islands when you can be a "US" company and evade taxes?


You can't evade taxes when there are no laws requiring that those taxes be paid. But yeah, they've been talking about changing this for a long time now, I'd be shocked if it weren't implemented in the next couple of years at some point.
Othran
Route One
#58 - 2014-06-16 17:47:20 UTC  |  Edited by: Othran
Kueyen wrote:
The reason these threads keep popping up over and over again is because we're tired of hearing the VAT excuse.

The highest VAT rates in the EU vary between 18% and 27% (ref: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/rates/vat_rates_en.pdf ), whereas the current EUR/USD rate is 1.354 (and has varied between 1.349 and 1.393 over the past six months). So, depending on location and time, EU customers have been overcharged between 6.2% and 18% (over the past six months).

So no, not (merely) VAT, but laziness, convenience, and greed. Par for the course, you say; Industry standard, you say; Nothing you can do about it, you say. All true, perhaps, but that doesn't mean we have to put up with it in silence.



+1

Someone gets it. Also CCP don't charge/pay VAT in the EU countries they "sell to" anymore than they charge/pay "sales tax" in the USA.
Arkumord Churhee
Nice Try.
#59 - 2014-06-16 18:28:34 UTC  |  Edited by: ISD Ezwal
CompleteFailure wrote:
*Snip* Please refrain from personal attacks. ISD Ezwal.

1) The price is lower in the US because of the previously mentioned difference in needing to advertise prices inclusive/exclusive of tax amounts, but also because US customers don't pay sales tax for the vast majority of online transactions. These are laws in place by our respective countries, CCP has absolutely NOTHING to do with this. If you want to complain to someone, complain to your government for taxing you (grrrr government?). Ain't socialism grand? ;)

2) As has also been mentioned, there are ways to get around this and pay the US prices. Whether or not doing so violates any of your local laws, I have no idea, so I'm not advocating it. But, you know....options exist. Why not just use the method which you've already stated you are aware of and pay the lower price? Taking it a step further, why not then tell everyone you know to do the same (it doesn't just apply to PLEX, you know)? Why is your only course of action to complain that "it isn't fair" and pout like a five year old? Life isn't fair, get a helmet and HTFU.


Please, check your data. I have explained this before, but i will gladly explain it to you again.

Price for a 6 PLEX package about 3 weeks ago was 89.99€ (incl. VAT) (Source), converting to 122,18$ according to Google.
If i now pretend that we had $ over here too, we'd take the untaxed price of 104,99$, add a VAT of 19% (Germany), and get a result of 124,94 $. All in all, that would be a price that is understandable and acceptable, because of said taxes.

But it isn't 89,99€ now.
A 6 PLEX package now is 104,99€ (incl. VAT) (Source), which is a whopping 15€ difference (almost another full PLEX) for no reason whatsoever. Only reason i can imagine is some beancounter saying "make it 104,99 in every currency so it looks better" and not caring about a ~14% markup for customers paying their things in €, let alone customers paying in £.

Also, i know about the "CCP Euro tax evasion methods", but i feel i shouldn't have to.
But on the other hand, i want to help the company that makes the game i spend way too much time on to keep me (and others) as a customer, as they are currently driving non-US players away with higher prices in their domestic currencies.

I feel that CCP shouldn't bill players more for the same product than others, just because you live in a different part of the world that uses a different currency. Ugly words like "discrimination" come to mind...
Those prices don't need to be exactly the same, no one will say anything if there's a difference of 2 or 3$. But over 20 dollars is just greedy, and it needs to stop.
Othran
Route One
#60 - 2014-06-16 18:41:48 UTC
Also for the UK people we generally get double-shafted as CCP switches us from £UK to EUR back to £UK depending on which basketcase of a currency is less ****** up from their revenue perspective.

From memory CCP seems to pay around 7% of its revenues in VAT which suggests (if we assume the only people in the world who pay VAT/sales tax are in the EU) that CCP pays around 16% VAT in the Euro area.

tl;dr its bugger all to do with VAT/sales tax