Price differentiation for non-UK citizens

[keber]

Looking at that addon from Just Trains, http://www.justtrains.net/product.asp?pid=357, it costs for me 25 pounds, which is 29.5 € in current exchange or 36.8 US$, but because I'm not from UK, it costs me 38 € or 50 US$. That for download version. Or vice-versa, I need to pay approximately more than 7 pounds more for the same download than someone from London. Similar is on RS official site for various addons, just not so drastically. Knowing how paying with credit cards work, I can buy product in another money and my bank automatically converts that price into domestical with middle exchange, so having different price for non-UK citizens looks like rip-off to me.

Why are non-UK citizens being discriminated in that way?

[paulz6]

Was the price differential so great before sterling nose-dived? (Which has been very rapid and very recent)
Looks like someone needs to review their pricing levels. £1 used to buy approx $2. You only get approx $1.5 now.
Since most pricing ends in a marketing .99 or .95 and FX rates fluctuate, it is probably worth calculating which currency to pay in anyway!

[keber]

Never no more than 20 % difference between high and low. Just Trains offer is almost 30 % more expensive if not paying in pounds.

To be fair, only one value should be given and for others converted in real time (like google does)

[Basherz]

With the current state of the world today, sterling has taken a nosedive against other currencies in the last week or so, and these were priced back when we were nearly 2 x $ to the £ and the € was around 1.45!! So, no, you are not deliberately being made the fall guys, I think it is more accidental.

I do think, however, that the companies concerned could perhaps do a little more for thier customers though. Even PayPal uses the current exchange rate.

[Schmalspur]

If it's a UK company they may be charged if they are dealing in a currency other than the pound, e.g. If I made a bank transfer to a german bank from Britain I would get charged an extra £20 to do it! So guess it works both ways you buy KRS from Germany there will be an extra charge whcih they add on to the total cost? Just a guess!

Regards, Jack

[paulz6]

You can get US dollar and Euro denominated business accounts in the UK. Most business transactions come with a charge though, typically around 50p.
Three months ago the USD price would have looked fair. I'd agree the EUR price looks a bit of a rip off though.

[nikos1]

This has always been a problem for me as a US user, with the price differences i have been unable to afford any of the RSDL assets other than the foliage pack because the price was nearly double for me. The IOW in the UK is a reasonable 20 pounds but $40 is not even close to reasonable. If i payed with a credit card, would it matter which currency i choose? It would make things a good bit more affordable for me.

[msdejesus]

You're absolutely right about that, Nikos, can you pay say... in Euros? I do buy my SACDs in the States, paying in US dollars, for example, because it is more convenient for me.

Cheers

Manuel

[petermakosch]

So get someone in the UK to purchase it for you, then ship it over?
I do this with a lot of US stuff where a friend of mine will send me a parcel marked as a "gift". Customs have never stopped anything.

[class43HS125]

hi,
Welcome to the real world. Having lived with this whole currency thing for all our lifes, those of us from the far side of the earth tend to pick and choose when to buy what from where. typicaly 6 moths ago we would get 70 us cents per nz dollar now its around 53 cents. One got a good deal back then and doesnt buy right now. Its swings and round abouts but I do think that one price in the products home town currency would be fair. Any body from elsewhere simply pays the going exchange rate.
If only the world was that simple

Ross
NZ

[Locoro]

At this moment you pay around 10 euro (€10,-) for KRS in the Netherlands ! Thats sooo cheap!
Only problem is that the payware add-ons now are very expensive since that price not yet have changed

Here (dutch) you can see what you pay at different stores in the Netherlands:
http://www.beslist.nl/cddvdrom/d0000055 ... _-_PC.html
(prices are including transportation costs)

[nwallace]

I once bought a DVD from a company in Switzerland.

I could pay in GBP however even with the surcharge on my card for foreign currency payments it was cheaper to purchase in Swiss Francs.


Edit: It also works the other way
Mum just saved 5 quid on something from Germany because their £ pricing is a bit old and would have been 50 quid using the current exchange rate on XE.com (was only 45 quid in their checkout)

The pound is nosediving against the dollar once again. Wish I had bought some dollars now, heading for £1 = $1 soon?

[simuk]

Never no more than 20 % difference between high and low. Just Trains offer is almost 30 % more expensive if not paying in pounds.

To be fair, only one value should be given and for others converted in real time (like google does)

Prices are set per product and aren't changing based on currency fluctuations (which can be very rapid and completely wild - imagine going to the site one minute, and an hour later seeing the prices had shot up because the currency values between two places had changed!)

We HAVE been having a lot of discussion internally about € and $ (and £) pricing in light of the changes in the currency - not so long ago it was that prices for one or the other non-£ currencies were too low and should have gone up (but we didn't increase the price, so were effectively losing out a little bit and customers saving a little bit), and now it's swung round the other way and we're (possibly) making a bit more money if you're buying in euros or dollars. Unfortunately that's all down to the rapid change in the global economy and what the Pound is worth against the Dollar and Euro, but I'm sure that if it's decided the prices need to change then they will, but don't expect it to happen immediately as it could be completely different situation in a month (or week/day!) depending on the next twist and turn in the "global econonomic crisis!"

Unlike some sites, we don't bill in one fixed currency and give converted rates of what you would (give or take a small error margin) pay as an equivelant in your local currency. If people want to pay in euros then the price they pay is the price we've said, and not an estimated one based on currency conversion figures that were from the day before (and yes, I have seen some sites doing that before), yet alone any extra charges that may be levied by the customers card issuer for paying in a foreign currency - would you believe some of the leading US banks are now charging people a small fee for purchases made on cards outside of the USA, and claiming it as a "currency conversion fee" even though it was in dollars. Aren't the banks wonderful?

[simuk]

This has always been a problem for me as a US user, with the price differences i have been unable to afford any of the RSDL assets other than the foliage pack because the price was nearly double for me. The IOW in the UK is a reasonable 20 pounds but $40 is not even close to reasonable. If i payed with a credit card, would it matter which currency i choose? It would make things a good bit more affordable for me.

When £1 was worth $2 it was spot on reasonable and accurate - What a lot of people in America (for this example - not singling out Americans though...) don't understand is that £20 is (was) $40. They want to see it being $30 or $20 (or less) as the true value of stuff in America has been lost as the dollar became so weak and prices didn't go up - in fact they often came down due to consumer pressures to keep them low. Now the dollar has gained on the pound Americans want to see the prices drop even further because of the exchange rates. Just imagine what it's like for years and years for British people wanting to buy something like a Playstation or Xbox and having the $499 price simply have the $ changed for a £ and paying "massively over the odds". Unfortunately it's just swung round a bit the other way now due to the way the economy has gone. One to have a word with your government about!

Recent times (and it is very recent really) have seen the value change. Other than updating prices on every single product every single day to reflect the prices (and updating adverts and catalogues and other promotional materials) there's not much we can do. I shall however pass on the comments from this topic though and add them to the pile we've already had internally (not specific to train stuff) about the rapidly changing currencies around the world.

[simuk]

Looking at that addon from Just Trains, http://www.justtrains.net/product.asp?pid=357, it costs for me 25 pounds, which is 29.5 € in current exchange or 36.8 US$, but because I'm not from UK, it costs me 38 € or 50 US$.

You'll be glad to know that we had a major overhaul of pricing today, partly due to the change in the VAT rate, partly due to the ongoing discussions about the changing currency rates that we've been having at JF/JT, and partly due to our Christmas sale - prices are all now much more in line with the exchange rates, and in fact in the case of your example are less than the $36.80 you mentioned!