Wargaming Price Gouging

[Camperdown]

2 minutes ago, MannequinSkywalker said:

Apparently EU and NA servers.

BTW, you still didn't answer my questions.

A T shirt from the same Asian factory may be priced $ 1, 5, 10 or 20 depending on where it is sold and with which label. You may find that a rip off, but that's how marketing works.

[MannequinSkywalker]

I don't understand how you don't get this seriously. It's like, let's say you are @Karasu_Hidesuke German and i am Russian and we are in Moscov. We go to a store and like a nice Zippo. We both want to buy one, the seller asks where we are from. We reply and seller says okay Karasu, 20 Euro for you, and tells me 10 Euro for you. Ofc you ask why? He says, well, you are from  Germany, it is a richer country, you have more money to milk. So i ask more from you...

[MannequinSkywalker]

Just now, Camperdown said:

A T shirt from the same Asian factory may be priced $ 1, 5, 10 or 20 depending on where it is sold and with which label. You may find that a rip off, but that's how marketing works.

Tshirt is a physical product, irrelevant in this case.

[Camperdown]

Just now, MannequinSkywalker said:

Tshirt is a physical product, irrelevant in this case.

I am sorry, but it seems you have a limited understanding of economics. 

[Pandafaust]

1 minute ago, MannequinSkywalker said:

I don't understand how you don't get this seriously. It's like, let's say you are @Karasu_Hidesuke German and i am Russian and we are in Moscov. We go to a store and like a nice Zippo. We both want to buy one, the seller asks where we are from. We reply and seller says okay Karasu, 20 Euro for you, and tells me 10 Euro for you. Ofc you ask why? He says, well, you are from  Germany, it is a richer country, you have more money to milk. So i ask more from you...

And that would be a wonderful analogy, if WG were to charge a European who is living in Russia and playing on the CIS server a different price to a Russian national on the same server.  But they don't.  Similarly, Russians living in the EU and playing on the EU server magically have to pay the EU price.

[The_Chiv]

15 minutes ago, Karasu_Hidesuke said:

 

Why, exactly is it a rip off?

I mean really it is only a rip off if you pay the price they are asking. Like many have said they are trying to maximize their profit. So they are charging a price they think they can get. Well funny thing about greedy people they tend to keep trying to get more and more till people stop giving it to them. So if you do not like the prices do not pay it. Companies like WG thrive off the ignorance of its player base. By informing the player base that they will have to pay a non russian tax on any purchase it tends to make people go "F THAT!" Thus WG loses revenue and will have to redress their pricing schemes accordingly. Funny thing is this is not the first time we have seen this, or second, or third. Hell I think this now like the 8th time. Yet they just keep increasing the cost. So either their are way too many silent whales out there keep WG a float, or those Silent whales are really off the book revenue streams from money laundering. 

 

Now what is funny is I went and looked up a ton of cost of living stats for St. Pete and well frankly the arguments about cost of living while yes a noticeable difference still did not equate to 86%. On average it was about 33% difference for goods and services.

 

[MannequinSkywalker]

Just now, Camperdown said:

I am sorry, but it seems you have a limited understanding of economics. 

Ignore me then. I'm not gonna start with you and talk about what economics classes i had in the college, where i worked, how much i know etc.

I can just treat you the same way you treat me and say "I'm sorry but it seems like you are slow".

[Pururut]

1 minute ago, MannequinSkywalker said:

Tshirt is a physical product, irrelevant in this case.

You have just gave an example based on a physical good in the post above with Karasu and now you say that physical goods are irrelevant. Jesus Christ. 

[MannequinSkywalker]

1 minute ago, Pandafaust said:

And that would be a wonderful analogy, if WG were to charge a European who is living in Russia and playing on the CIS server a different price to a Russian national on the same server.  But they don't.  Similarly, Russians living in the EU and playing on the EU server magically have to pay the EU price.

No, they don't but also we are talking about a digital product.

[Camperdown]

6 minutes ago, MannequinSkywalker said:

I don't understand how you don't get this seriously. It's like, let's say you are @Karasu_Hidesuke German and i am Russian and we are in Moscov. We go to a store and like a nice Zippo. We both want to buy one, the seller asks where we are from. We reply and seller says okay Karasu, 20 Euro for you, and tells me 10 Euro for you. Ofc you ask why? He says, well, you are from  Germany, it is a richer country, you have more money to milk. So i ask more from you...

And yet this happens when you are on holiday in any lesser developed economy. You walk into any shop as a western tourist and you are charged 2-10 times the regular price.

[MannequinSkywalker]

Just now, Pururut said:

You have just gave an example based on a physical good in the post above with Karasu and now you say that physical goods are irrelevant. Jesus Christ. 

Yes, and the example i gave is different than the tshirt example. If you can't make the difference that's fine it wouldn't surprise me.

[Karasu_Browarszky]

2 minutes ago, MannequinSkywalker said:

I don't understand how you don't get this seriously. It's like, let's say you are @Karasu_Hidesuke German and i am Russian and we are in Moscov. We go to a store and like a nice Zippo. We both want to buy one, the seller asks where we are from. We reply and seller says okay Karasu, 20 Euro for you, and tells me 10 Euro for you. Ofc you ask why? He says, well, you are from  Germany, it is a richer country, you have more money to milk. So i ask more from you...

 

That's not applicable. You know perfectly well we and the Zippo would all be in the same 'market'. It's a physical good so the pricing will reflect manufacturing, transport, marketing etc costs plus taxes and profit margins, and everyone who enters the shop will be paying the same price no matter where they live, where they come from, how much money they've got etc.

 

In fact, it's more likely if it's a tax free shop, the rich tourist will be getting that Zippo cheaper in the end.

 

Mind you, there are services which are priced differently in Russia for Russians and tourists, typically this would be stuff like admission fees, etc. Russia is not the only country doing this, mind you.

[MannequinSkywalker]

1 minute ago, Camperdown said:

And yet this happens when you are on holiday in any lesser developed economy. You walk into any shop as a eastern tourist and you are charged 2-10 times the regular price.

Yes they do. Is it the right thing to do, or is it ethical to do? That is another discussion, isn't it?

[Karasu_Browarszky]

3 minutes ago, The_Chiv said:

I mean really it is only a rip off if you pay the price they are asking. Like many have said they are trying to maximize their profit. So they are charging a price they think they can get. Well funny thing about greedy people they tend to keep trying to get more and more till people stop giving it to them. So if you do not like the prices do not pay it. Companies like WG thrive off the ignorance of its player base. By informing the player base that they will have to pay a non russian tax on any purchase it tends to make people go "F THAT!" Thus WG loses revenue and will have to redress their pricing schemes accordingly. Funny thing is this is not the first time we have seen this, or second, or third. Hell I think this now like the 8th time. Yet they just keep increasing the cost. So either their are way too many silent whales out there keep WG a float, or those Silent whales are really off the book revenue streams from money laundering. 

 

Now what is funny is I went and looked up a ton of cost of living stats for St. Pete and well frankly the arguments about cost of living while yes a noticeable difference still did not equate to 86%. On average it was about 33% difference for goods and services.

 

 

Yeah, I get that part. It makes you realize how much 'air' there is in those prices. WG is not selling their digital goods at a loss, not even in Russia.

 

It's not really a rip off, even if you pay the price, because you are not under any compusion to pay it. It's your free choice, to buy or not to buy.

[MannequinSkywalker]

1 minute ago, Karasu_Hidesuke said:

 

That's not applicable. You know perfectly well we and the Zippo would all be in the same 'market'. It's a physical good so the pricing will reflect manufacturing, transport, marketing etc costs plus taxes and profit margins, and everyone who enters the shop will be paying the same price no matter where they live, where they come from, how much money they've got etc.

 

In fact, it's more likely if it's a tax free shop, the rich tourist will be getting that Zippo cheaper in the end.

 

Mind you, there are services which are priced differently in Russia for Russians and tourists, typically this would be stuff like admission fees, etc. Russia is not the only country doing this, mind you.

So when it comes to adigital product it is applicable, but to zippo it is not. I see....

 

[Karasu_Browarszky]

1 minute ago, MannequinSkywalker said:

Yes they do. Is it the right thing to do, or is it ethical to do? That is another discussion, isn't it?

 

That's one of those grey areas. Even as a tourist, you wan't be forced to make the purchase. The price might even be lower than what you'd have to pay for the same product at home. Also, in many parts of the world, they expect the customers to start haggling, only an idiot would pay the price they are asking in those countries, whether a tourist or a local.

[MannequinSkywalker]

1 minute ago, Karasu_Hidesuke said:

 

Yeah, I get that part. It makes you realize how much 'air' there is in those prices. WG is not selling their digital goods at a loss, not even in Russia.

 

It's not really a rip off, even if you pay the price, because you are not under any compusion to pay it. It's your free choice, to buy or not to buy.

They can very well sell the ship here in EU with Russian price. This way in Russia, players would still be paying the same and in EU they would be paying the same as they pay in RU.

If you are selling the same digital sht to another customer for double the price, that means you are milking the customer. You are ripping him off. This is how it is in real life.

[Camperdown]

6 minutes ago, MannequinSkywalker said:

Ignore me then. I'm not gonna start with you and talk about what economics classes i had in the college, where i worked, how much i know etc.

I can just treat you the same way you treat me and say "I'm sorry but it seems like you are slow".

OK deal. 

You seem quite argumentative anyways 

[MannequinSkywalker]

Just now, Camperdown said:

OK deal. 

You seem quite argumentative anyways 

Only me?

[MrWastee]

2 minutes ago, MannequinSkywalker said:

They can very well sell the ship here in EU with Russian price. This way in Russia, players would still be paying the same and in EU they would be paying the same as they pay in RU.

If you are selling the same digital sht to another customer for double the price, that means you are milking the customer. You are ripping him off. This is how it is in real life.

...

 

kinda everything beyond a certain industry related margin, or norm, is a rip off in that regard?!... and it_'s allover the industry, so woat?!

[Karasu_Browarszky]

1 minute ago, MannequinSkywalker said:

They can very well sell the ship here in EU with Russian price. This way in Russia, players would still be paying the same and in EU they would be paying the same as they pay in RU.

If you are selling the same digital sht to another customer for double the price, that means you are milking the customer. You are ripping him off. This is how it is in real life.

 

They could sell it here with the Russian price, I wish they did! It's not going to happen, though, because when companies think about pricing and profit margins, they would think about net profits. Would they make a bigger profit if they brought the prices down or not? Since the prices stay consistenly high, it seems the market is at an equilibrium as it is.

 

I don't recommend anyone going on a spending spree, though.

[Realazio]

I think the fair way would be, if you have 3 servers, you price your product according to the lowest margin, meaning in this case RU. Why EU and NA need to pay more for the same thing just becouse our demograpic is better and we have higher salaries? My logic would be, if you have a same price ditacted by the lowest demographic, the EU and NA will spend even more since it will be "cheaper" for them...

 

Its better for an EU to spend 180 euros on one item?, when he can spend 200 on two items, you still earned 20 more and probably he will spend even more since he can afford more

[Karasu_Browarszky]

1 minute ago, Realazio said:

...Why EU and NA need to pay more for the same thing just becouse our demograpic is better and we have higher salaries? ...

 

 

Because we do.

[The_Chiv]

1 minute ago, Karasu_Hidesuke said:

 

Yeah, I get that part. It makes you realize how much 'air' there is in those prices. WG is not selling their digital goods at a loss, not even in Russia.

 

It's not really a rip off, even if you pay the price, because you are not under any compusion to pay it. It's your free choice, to buy or not to buy.

I really hate this Digital goods at a loss concept. Realistically it took them less then 30 days to make the ship stat it and then test it. As a majority of the testing is done by FREE LABOR, there is no cost in this. The problem I have is that if WG really cared about "Profit" they would want to recoup the initial cost of the project as quickly as they could so that every sale after that point generates revenue. Problem is when your price point is Lambo pricing in NA for a something you charge Fiat prices for in RU it is a bit of a put off and you end up losing market viability in those regions you are charging more. Again their is 0 profit in 0 sales. Now please understand I have no problem paying more for something that comes from another region, but 86% and 57% respectively is just outrageous.

 

 

[Pandafaust]

Well, that's me convinced.  Can someone send me a notification when the manifesto is written up demanding unified pricing of all software and non-physical services worldwide, set at the rate which would have been charged in Zimbabwe in the late 2000s?