Members cost

[Oxitron]

Sorry if this question doesn't belong here.

 

Why does Australian membership cost 9.50 when American is like 6?

Exchange rate is ~1 AUD to 0.978 USD which means if the price was 9.50 AUD then it should be like 9 USD, or if it is 6 USD, 6.50 AUD?

 

I know it's like 3 dollars, but that is a bottle of coca-cola lol.

Also if it was a tad cheaper I could actually play this and my other MMO (WoW of course) without having to choose one or the other p/month.

[Riptide Mage]

Sorry if this question doesn't belong here.

 

Why does Australian membership cost 9.50 when American is like 6?

Exchange rate is ~1 AUD to 0.978 USD which means if the price was 9.50 AUD then it should be like 9 USD, or if it is 6 USD, 6.50 AUD?

 

I know it's like 3 dollars, but that is a bottle of coca-cola lol.

Also if it was a tad cheaper I could actually play this and my other MMO (WoW of course) without having to choose one or the other p/month.

 

Exchange rate doesn't account for exchanging and processing fees.

[Oxitron]

Exchange rate doesn't account for exchanging and processing fees.

 

Fair enough.

If we factor that in I still don't think that equates to 1/3 of the cost.

[Bxpprod]

The answer is more than just this, but a main one is economies of scale. It also may have to do with costs of providing a membership service to us at all (costs money, albeit not $3 worth) in changing from AUD to USD or BPNDS. You cannot simply say the because the US value is [x] and the US membership price is [y] that we should be charged [x]/[y], because costs encountered aren't the same, and it'd be unwise from a business perspective to do so.

[Oxitron]

The answer is more than just this, but a main one is economies of scale. It also may have to do with costs of providing a membership service to us at all (costs money, albeit not $3 worth) in changing from AUD to USD or BPNDS. You cannot simply say the because the US value is [x] and the US membership price is [y] that we should be charged [x]/[y], because costs encountered aren't the same, and it'd be unwise from a business perspective to do so

 

Hm, that seems like the only actual reason.

 

I don't get how the American costs are basically a direct conversion of USD -> Pounds (GBP?) if not a minimal bit more, considering that these USD have to be turned to GBP because Jagex is located in the UK (right?) Shouldn't it be roughly the same for Australians?

[Riptide Mage]

There is a large number of American servers, so a chunk of the American membership fees don't need to be converted.

[Bxpprod]

The answer is more than just this, but a main one is economies of scale. It also may have to do with costs of providing a membership service to us at all (costs money, albeit not $3 worth) in changing from AUD to USD or BPNDS. You cannot simply say the because the US value is [x] and the US membership price is [y] that we should be charged [x]/[y], because costs encountered aren't the same, and it'd be unwise from a business perspective to do so

 

Hm, that seems like the only actual reason.

 

I don't get how the American costs are basically a direct conversion of USD -> Pounds (GBP?) if not a minimal bit more, considering that these USD have to be turned to GBP because Jagex is located in the UK (right?) Shouldn't it be roughly the same for Australians?

 

You have to factor in the EOS factor. The added costs of conversion can easily be nullified by the fact that the US has a much, much larger gamer base than the UK and Australia. So the fixed costs faced to provide the service are reduced, meaning that the price at customer end can be reduced.

 

Eg 1. $1000 bill fixed cost for some boat, 50 people.

$20/head

 

Eg 2. $1000 bill fixed cost for the same boat but with 200 people.

$5/head

 

So realistically, the cost is going to be much cheaper on boat 2. Now, I'm not sure what costs are faced by Jagex in the entirity, but I'm going to move out on a limb and say that it's much more complex than this and the margins are much smaller. So you can't simply take one factor by itself, you need to take in a number of them.

[Oxitron]

You have to factor in the EOS factor. The added costs of conversion can easily be nullified by the fact that the US has a much, much larger gamer base than the UK and Australia. So the fixed costs faced to provide the service are reduced, meaning that the price at customer end can be reduced.

 

Eg 1. $1000 bill fixed cost for some boat, 50 people.

$20/head

 

Eg 2. $1000 bill fixed cost for the same boat but with 200 people.

$5/head

 

So realistically, the cost is going to be much cheaper on boat 2. Now, I'm not sure what costs are faced by Jagex in the entirity, but I'm going to move out on a limb and say that it's much more complex than this and the margins are much smaller. So you can't simply take one factor by itself, you need to take in a number of them.

 

Alright, so point one that means that the American exchanging costs is nullified right?

Doesn't that mean that the Australian cost should be minimal? Not 1/3 of the Membership costs itself?

 

Let me ask you though.

All the reasons you can think of, do you actually think that warrants that $3 more per person?

[Corvus]

Well, In terms of reducing the price you can always get the Loyalty discount after a year of subscribing , not sure what it would be on Australian Credit card payments (I assume that is what you mean otherwise you are comparing apples to oranges) as on Us credit cards its something like 17% off

[Oxitron]

Well, In terms of reducing the price you can always get the Loyalty discount after a year of subscribing , not sure what it would be on Australian Credit card payments (I assume that is what you mean otherwise you are comparing apples to oranges) as on Us credit cards its something like 17% off

 

Is that from Jagex because of new membership stuff?

 

'cause I was previously subbed for 2 years straight and I feel kinda ripped off.

[Bxpprod]

You have to factor in the EOS factor. The added costs of conversion can easily be nullified by the fact that the US has a much, much larger gamer base than the UK and Australia. So the fixed costs faced to provide the service are reduced, meaning that the price at customer end can be reduced.

 

Eg 1. $1000 bill fixed cost for some boat, 50 people.

$20/head

 

Eg 2. $1000 bill fixed cost for the same boat but with 200 people.

$5/head

 

So realistically, the cost is going to be much cheaper on boat 2. Now, I'm not sure what costs are faced by Jagex in the entirity, but I'm going to move out on a limb and say that it's much more complex than this and the margins are much smaller. So you can't simply take one factor by itself, you need to take in a number of them.

 

Alright, so point one that means that the American exchanging costs is nullified right?

Doesn't that mean that the Australian cost should be minimal? Not 1/3 of the Membership costs itself?

 

You need to take into account the vast difference in populations of the United States and Australia, which does then trickle down to vast size difference between American "Gaming" Population and the Australian equivilient. They have no need to charge the US the same amount as they do us - in fact it'd be seen as simply a money grab because the profit margins would be much higher. You see $3 difference, the pricing people see it in terms of a profit margin. Charging us $9.95 whatever it is, might only give them a 3% profit margin, but then taking a look at US prices, only be pulling 3% there as well.

 

Simply looking at the raw prices, which is what the majority of customers do, is rarely going to provide an accurate picture of what is going on for the company.

 

Let me ask you though.

All the reasons you can think of, do you actually think that warrants that $3 more per person?

 

Find me a consumer that honestly doesn't want to pay less for their goods. Heck, if I had been able to pay in US dollars when AUD was buying ~$1.05 you bet I would have done it.

But from a non-consumer perspective, I can't say. I'm not in possession of all the information that helps determine pricing structures. I would imagine though that given all this data, the team of people that sets these prices, yeah, it does warrant $3 more.

 

Well, In terms of reducing the price you can always get the Loyalty discount after a year of subscribing , not sure what it would be on Australian Credit card payments (I assume that is what you mean otherwise you are comparing apples to oranges) as on Us credit cards its something like 17% off

 

 

The price of CC payment for Aus is cheaper when compared to other methods of pay, but still more expensive than the US. This seems to be the "gripe"

[Winarr]

Id be happy paying $15 AUD if our few locally hosted servers didnt lag worse then "200ms" US worlds.

 

Sony tried charging more for Australians for DC:UO when that launched, they ended up back-flipping when everyone complained about getting charged different prices for the same digital service. No idea why Jagex hasn't done the same

[Corvus]

Well, In terms of reducing the price you can always get the Loyalty discount after a year of subscribing , not sure what it would be on Australian Credit card payments (I assume that is what you mean otherwise you are comparing apples to oranges) as on Us credit cards its something like 17% off

 

Is that from Jagex because of new membership stuff?

 

'cause I was previously subbed for 2 years straight and I feel kinda ripped off.

 

Its been going on for several years, specifically ever since they raised the membership prices. The way it works is that the price for membership drops if you have subscribed for atleast a year and do not allow your membership to lapse for more than 14 days. Though from what I have heard you have to cancel your membership and start a new one in order for the price changes to actually take effect. (I haven't had to deal with it as I was grandfathered into the loyalty discount and haven't had more than a 2 week lapse in membership)

[Oxitron]

Find me a consumer that honestly doesn't want to pay less for their goods. Heck, if I had been able to pay in US dollars when AUD was buying ~$1.05 you bet I would have done it.

But from a non-consumer perspective, I can't say. I'm not in possession of all the information that helps determine pricing structures. I would imagine though that given all this data, the team of people that sets these prices, yeah, it does warrant $3 more.

 

I guess you're right.

 

I just hate how Australia seems to get ripped off so much by other, larger countries lol.

 

When I tried to buy a Razer mouse from the AU shop it costed 30 dollars more (plus more P&H) than it did in America, even though these were being made in the Asian region.

 

Though I guess that story is just blatant money-grabbing.

 

Anyway, I completely understand you, ll0rt, but however much evidence and reasoning there is, I still don't feel like that 1/3 the price is anything but a tactic to steal money from Australians. (don't ask me why). I'd be fine with 7. I really would.

 

I mean, if I didn't play WoW I would still pay for RuneScape as I would play it primarily but I would like to play both as they both get pretty boring after a while, and you don't want to take a month off of either one because they're both pretty competitive.

[Bxpprod]

Buying power controls prices. If you want to see it as a money grab, that's up to you, but you seem stuck on this idea that costs are universally uniform.

 

Just remember:-

~22m potential consumers in Australia

~307m potential consumers in the US

[Oxitron]

Buying power controls prices. If you want to see it as a money grab, that's up to you, but you seem stuck on this idea that costs are universally uniform.

 

Naw, lol, I said I completely understand, I just don't see how all these reasons combined = $3 dollars p/head

[Agen]

Id be happy paying $15 AUD if our few locally hosted servers didnt lag worse then "200ms" US worlds.

 

Sony tried charging more for Australians for DC:UO when that launched, they ended up back-flipping when everyone complained about getting charged different prices for the same digital service. No idea why Jagex hasn't done the same

Because it's been happening for so long it's practically been grandfathered in. And the Australian servers do suck, I can't believe they might actually be hosted in Australia.

[Low C]

Because of basic economy principles, one being supply and demand.

[curtis95112]

Another factor might be that Australians are simply willing to pay more than Americans are.

 

A smaller userbase can mean a higher proportion of dedicated players.

[Mazhar]

kangaroo tax m8

[Zaaps1]

$3 for a bottle of coca cola dats whack

 

also im sure the servers cost just as much if not more to maintain and operate in austraila as in the UK/US. also there are far fewer players from austrailia than UK/US. thus you have less players required to pay for servers of same or greater cost, and thus the only reasonable solution is to increase membership subscription fees.

[CharlieBrown]

That theory is all well and good ^

Except for the fact that Australian servers [bleep]ing suck.

99% Of australians will agree with me.

We all play on us/uk servers as they're wayy more stable.

I may get better ping on aussie servers, but i get less lag on american.

[Zaaps1]

That theory is all well and good ^

Except for the fact that Australian servers [bleep]ing suck.

99% Of australians will agree with me.

We all play on us/uk servers as they're wayy more stable.

I may get better ping on aussie servers, but i get less lag on american.

 

the fact that they suck doesnt necessarily mean theyre cheap servers. it might just mean jagex cant find any better in austrailia, which means even crappy companys can charge high amounts if theres no competition there.

 

idk just speculation

[highlanders]

Australia's minimum wage is a whooping $15.51 per hour. You could work literally 1 hour every month at a shit job and be able to pay membership and have $6 leftover. I don't see any problem. Australia has high prices, but very high salaries to go with it.

[CharlieBrown]

That theory is all well and good ^

Except for the fact that Australian servers [bleep]ing suck.

99% Of australians will agree with me.

We all play on us/uk servers as they're wayy more stable.

I may get better ping on aussie servers, but i get less lag on american.

 

the fact that they suck doesnt necessarily mean theyre cheap servers. it might just mean jagex cant find any better in austrailia, which means even crappy companys can charge high amounts if theres no competition there.

 

idk just speculation

 

The point i was trying to make is australians don't use the servers, so why have them.

Get rid of them.

There are rants all over high level forums about aussie servers being shitty.

We pay more for something we don't use because the people who pay less have better servers

Wat.