Exchange rates (Real world)

SNS · Nov 25, 2013

Just a question/suggestion. Will foreign currencies ever be supported? I live in Australia and the exchange rate is about 0.534 for me so everything costs nearly double

. Will the online store ever support other currencies because i would love to back more but the prices start getting a little insane unless you have a lot of money to burn. I would love to own the digital download pack which costs around $135 in Australian atm.

Greeboski · Nov 25, 2013

SNS said:
Just a question/suggestion. Will foreign currencies ever be supported? I live in Australia and the exchange rate is about 0.534 for me so everything costs nearly double . Will the online store ever support other currencies because i would love to back more but the prices start getting a little insane unless you have a lot of money to burn. I would love to own the digital download pack which costs around $135 in Australian atm.

so you want the same number but un ASD not GBP ? . . . they would make a loss doing that if the exchange rate was 1000+ to one GBP like several curencies are.

Slawkenbergius · Nov 25, 2013

The digital download pack is only available until the 6th of December, so there's basically no chance of any other currency being supported before then. Beyond that point, the offer to get free updates for life will no longer be available. Probably not what you wanted to hear, so sorry for that, but I hope that helps...

It's possible Frontier's new store will accept other currencies, but you'll only be able to get alpha/beta access, without the associated goodies and perks. Going forwards, I imagine Elite will operate much like other games.

Patrick_68000 · Nov 25, 2013

It will be more expensive to you if you take now the updates free for life. But in the end you will be still win

Sparticus · Nov 25, 2013

SNS said:
Just a question/suggestion. Will foreign currencies ever be supported? I live in Australia and the exchange rate is about 0.534 for me so everything costs nearly double . Will the online store ever support other currencies because i would love to back more but the prices start getting a little insane unless you have a lot of money to burn. I would love to own the digital download pack which costs around $135 in Australian atm.

Welcome SNS - I too am from OZ - Paypal takes care of the exchange rate.

e.g. - you spend £52.00 GBP and Paypal happily turns it into $96.05 AUD

Also - take a peek at the Australian Community Thread
http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=8307&highlight=Australian

natte hond · Nov 26, 2013

Patrick_68000 said:
It will be more expensive to you if you take now the updates free for life. But in the end you will be still win

+1 on that

SNS · Nov 26, 2013

Sorry should have been more specific, I use paypal and know that it auto converts (I use my banks rate though, bit higher). What i was asking was if the store would support the packs in Aus dollars (or USA e.c.t) e.g The digital pack at 80 pounds but if bought by someone in australia it would cost them $80-90 instead of the $160 (Which is a rather large non refundable investment). Frontier has made several other mainstream games so i do believe this could be possible. Altough this is the first they have done using crowd funding

. Looking at the deadline though i might have to stop being a tight **** for a sec and shell some out (Too many steam sales and indie games XD) Although some mid tier stuff gets rather costly quickly

Pyros · Nov 26, 2013

SNS said:
Sorry should have been more specific, I use paypal and know that it auto converts (I use my banks rate though, bit higher). What i was asking was if the store would support the packs in Aus dollars (or USA e.c.t) e.g The digital pack at 80 pounds but if bought by someone in australia it would cost them $80-90 instead of the $160 (Which is a rather large non refundable investment). Frontier has made several other mainstream games so i do believe this could be possible. Altough this is the first they have done using crowd funding . Looking at the deadline though i might have to stop being a tight **** for a sec and shell some out (Too many steam sales and indie games XD) Although some mid tier stuff gets rather costly quickly

Why on earth would FD charge less for a digital asset to an australian resident than a UK one? Or american or...

If they did that price discrimination, many people would simply select Australia as their country of origin (or wherever was cheaper).

You see, just because pound is worth twice the australian dollar it doesn't mean people in uk are twice as rich - as they on average earn quite less pounds than Australians earn australian dollars. Less than half, to be more precise.

Actually, taking into account current GDP per capita levels, ED is, on average, less expensive for an australian than it is for a UK resident

huwthomas · Nov 26, 2013

SNS said:
e.g The digital pack at 80 pounds but if bought by someone in australia it would cost them $80-90 instead of the $160

I'm not sure I follow, surely you'd expect to pay the equivalent of £80 in your local currency, which is a lot more than AU$80-90?

I know that £80 is more than the vast majority of games, but assuming there's at least one or two expansions that you'd otherwise have bought, and bearing in mind that online play is subscription free, it really seems like excellent value to me.

SNS · Nov 27, 2013

^ Yeah that's why i was a bit hesitant asking about it since it is crowd funded, on the other hand a lot of titles are similar price from other countries here (although not all as to be expected, have to account for some stores), Call of duty black opps (1 & 2), Halo anniversary and even zoo tycoon (one of frontiers titles) e.c.t have very similar prices in pounds and Au dollars. Its hard to standardize something like this though as some games in Aus cost nearly triple while some are under half price. I was just wondering about frontiers stand on it although i don't think its going to matter much now anyway after the deadline.

edit: Anyone else have the trouble of trying to post reply's and keep on having to log in?

Hellhawk666 · Nov 27, 2013

SNS said:
^ Yeah that's why i was a bit hesitant asking about it since it is crowd funded, on the other hand a lot of titles are similar price from other countries here (although not all as to be expected, have to account for some stores), Call of duty black opps (1 & 2), Halo anniversary and even zoo tycoon (one of frontiers titles) e.c.t have very similar prices in pounds and Au dollars. Its hard to standardize something like this though as some games in Aus cost nearly triple while some are under half price.

Hi mate - yeah, I see what you're getting at, but no

We used to have to pay ruinous prices in Australia for boxed games because of product protectionism. Even when our dollar was at parity with the US we would be paying AUS$130 for a title that cost US$70. In the last couple of years changes in legislation and local production has meant more sensible prices. Now a boxed game here costs only a little bit more than the US price). Steam has had a big effect too, effectively leveling out prices through competition. Yay.

Crowdfunding is a different deal, however, because you are not buying a product but pledging a gift, so it is entirely fair and appropriate that we pay the exact equivalent based on the daily exchange rate.

Commander Mick · Nov 27, 2013

SNS said:
Just a question/suggestion. Will foreign currencies ever be supported? I live in Australia and the exchange rate is about 0.534 for me so everything costs nearly double . Will the online store ever support other currencies because i would love to back more but the prices start getting a little insane unless you have a lot of money to burn. I would love to own the digital download pack which costs around $135 in Australian atm.

That's why it took me two whole months to save up to be backer for project.

Insane prices

Asp Explorer · Nov 27, 2013

It's not really the prices that are insane though.

Alpha access (and a few goodies plus shipping) so far has cost me 256GBP, that is 430USD, which equals 472ASD. Exchange fluctuations aside - FD are charging the same price, for the same product, worldwide.

The price is the same no matter which way you look at it, although you do have to factor in such things as your bank's prison-love exchange rate.

Now go have a look at something like Xbox One prices - different markets for release. Taxes are calculated differently everywhere so I won't include those. Buying the same exact thing in USA, Britain and Australia is like this.

In America 499USD = 308GPB = 548ASD
In GB 429GBP =695USD = 635ASD
In Australia 599ASD = 546USD = 337GBP