what are MS points worth? revisit

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johnzimmerman

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Edited By johnzimmerman

i was watching this weeks gameroom quick look and jeff needed more points so i jotted down the numbers to compare them to the canadian prices .
 
here are the US prices(rounded to nearest dollar) :
  400 - $5
  800 - $10
1600 - $20
4000 - $50
6000 - $75 
 
now Canada:
  500 - $7.25
1000 - $14.50
2000 - $29.50
5000 - $72
6000 - $87
 
as you can see all us Canucks  pays more per point then the Yanks.   now i can understand if i was buying points  in a store..... but online in virtual store for ?
 
any way lets ask microsoft.
 
me:  why do points cost more in canada?
ms:  you're gonna bend over and like it.
me:  but....
ms:  you could always pay more......
me: FINE! but be gentle.
 
i get the feeling that ms has a disdain for us up here or at the very least they don't care.  

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johnzimmerman

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#1  Edited By johnzimmerman

i was watching this weeks gameroom quick look and jeff needed more points so i jotted down the numbers to compare them to the canadian prices .
 
here are the US prices(rounded to nearest dollar) :
  400 - $5
  800 - $10
1600 - $20
4000 - $50
6000 - $75 
 
now Canada:
  500 - $7.25
1000 - $14.50
2000 - $29.50
5000 - $72
6000 - $87
 
as you can see all us Canucks  pays more per point then the Yanks.   now i can understand if i was buying points  in a store..... but online in virtual store for ?
 
any way lets ask microsoft.
 
me:  why do points cost more in canada?
ms:  you're gonna bend over and like it.
me:  but....
ms:  you could always pay more......
me: FINE! but be gentle.
 
i get the feeling that ms has a disdain for us up here or at the very least they don't care.  

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ShockD

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#2  Edited By ShockD

If you think they're expensive in Canada... you haven't seen their prices in Europe.

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johnzimmerman

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#3  Edited By johnzimmerman

or how 'bout australia?

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iam3green

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#4  Edited By iam3green

also price values are different. a lot of places charge different prices. in america games cost ~$63. with tax but other countries it cost $70-100 for a new game.

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FourWude

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#5  Edited By FourWude
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OutOfBounds9000

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#6  Edited By OutOfBounds9000
@antikorper said:
" If you think they're expensive in Canada... you haven't seen their prices in Europe. "
Holy shit,yeah.I've seen them.My friend is Swedish,so i know.
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Robiin

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#7  Edited By Robiin

There are always people who have it worse. 
 
This is what monopoly does. Like FourWude said, they can do this and noone can do anything about it...

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haggis

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#8  Edited By haggis

Well, are those Canada prices in Canadian dollars? Because historically the exchange rate has been a difference of 5-10% (though right now it's near parity). The US price per MS point is 1.25 cents American, and the Canadian price is 1.45 cents Canadian. That's an increase of about %16, which leave 6% unaccounted for by historical exchange rates. The remaining bit can probably be chalked up to rounding to make the numbers work out. Of course, MS could have made it closer to parity to reflect recent exchange rate differences, but over time the exchange rates will probably return to what they once were.

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Xeiphyer

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#9  Edited By Xeiphyer
@iam3green said:
" also price values are different. a lot of places charge different prices. in america games cost ~$63. with tax but other countries it cost $70-100 for a new game. "
Yeah but the Canadian and American dollar are almost the exact same right now, and have been for a long time. 1 USD is worth about 98cents in Canada right now. 
 
Canada just gets ripped off for no reason. As much as it sucks for Europe and Australia at least you can somewhat justify it in the fact that you are far away (Shipping virtual points all the way out there is expensive you know.), but for Canada it really makes no sense considering the vast majority of our population is near the border. 
 
Although really, prices on things make no fucking sense because they all come from China.
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TheGreatGuero

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#10  Edited By TheGreatGuero

That's so lame. Let's demand equality. Seriously. I'm in.

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skadbob

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#11  Edited By skadbob
@JohnZimmerman said: 

" now i can understand if i was buying points  in a store..... but online in virtual store for ? "

They do this because of currency exchange rate fluctuations (the excuse Nintendo gave for their half-year net loss). Microsoft is an American company that reports its earnings in USD, 1 USD will always be 1 USD. 1 CAD does not always equal 1 USD. This is also why XBLM, PSN Store, Steam all have region specific stores, releases, and pricing. Also, I believe Canada and the EU include a tax in their MS Points prices. 
 
One last interesting note, big retailers can sell you anything in their inventory below actual cost and still be able to post profits. So... it's actually more likely that you'll be able to find better deals in stores than in virtual stores.
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Alexander

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#12  Edited By Alexander
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Jadeskye

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#13  Edited By Jadeskye
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YoThatLimp

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#14  Edited By YoThatLimp
@Robiin said:
" There are always people who have it worse.   This is what monopoly does. Like FourWude said, they can do this and noone can do anything about it... "
God damn micro$oft monopolizing MS points.....er what?
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vager

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#15  Edited By vager

I'll be satisfied if they made the point amounts the same as the US. 
I always get discourage to get anything on XBLA when I have to buy more points then what the game is worth. 
 
Funny thing is that there is no price differences on PSN. If a game cost $10 in the US, it costs $10 in Canada 
It's also a plus that you don't have to worry about some stupid points value to figure out what a game costs. 
 
It's probably why I've been buying more stuff on PSN then XBL lately. Everything fucking costs less on PSN. 

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IkariNoTekken

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#16  Edited By IkariNoTekken
@Vager said:
" I'll be satisfied if they made the point amounts the same as the US. I always get discourage to get anything on XBLA when I have to buy more points then what the game is worth.  Funny thing is that there is no price differences on PSN. If a game cost $10 in the US, it costs $10 in Canada It's also a plus that you don't have to worry about some stupid points value to figure out what a game costs.  It's probably why I've been buying more stuff on PSN then XBL lately. Everything fucking costs less on PSN.  "
Heh, that's odd because in the UK PSN is usually overpriced. I did some price comparisons and found that a large majority of 800 point games (£6.25 - $10.00) cost £7.99 (over $12) on PSN. Not a huge difference but when I have the choice of buying on either platform I will usually opt for the cheaper option. 
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asurastrike

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#17  Edited By asurastrike

Points cost more outside the US because they have to travel farther through the internet tubes.

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johnzimmerman

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#18  Edited By johnzimmerman

i was basing prices off the "add points" option on the dashboard not in store prices.

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Muttinus_Rump

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#19  Edited By Muttinus_Rump

Don't buy them then. That's the only way anything will ever change.

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#20  Edited By MattyFTM  Moderator

I'm pretty sure Canadians pay tax on things like Microsoft points. When you take into account currency differences and tax, you probably pay MS about the same for MS points as they do in the US.