Xbox Live SA: pricing and launch specials

"We have very high import duties and taxes in SA and then over and above that the channel margins are in most cases higher than countries in Europe.”

oohhh so thats why xbox live will cost more here.. sorry, i didn't realize they will be shipping my subscription to my console.
 
What the hell sort of bull**** excuses are those? I love the articles comment, nicely sarcastic without being rude.
 
Obviously she doesn't understand that Live is not a physical product and is instead an online service (yikes, these are the people who are managing this stuff here?). This instead tends to be the standard response when people ask why their products are more expensive here than in the US/UK (I've seen a couple of very similar responses when they've been asked that question). Now I can imagine there are perhaps additional costs involved when it comes to hosting, which they might be factoring into their pricing since it's far more expensive to host here than in the UK and US, but, the current response makes it sound more like they're just trying to get away with charging more.
 
Are they mad!! What the hell does import duties have to do with a digital code that gets emailed to me?

"The pricing is higher than UK or US pricing because it is not as easy as a direct conversion from ZAR to $ or pounds" Well in this case I should go shake the guy's hand who I'm currently getting my US Subscription from because he must be using some very strong vudu if he can get it right but mighty Micro$oft can't.

I'm so sick and tired of Micro$oft's bull***t excuses for everything. I would still like to know, is there any specific reason why the price of our Budget Xbox 360 has increased by R400 even though the dollar has dropped by almost R4!!

Micro$oft USA is quick to make decisions about IP's not coming out on PC but they have to realized not everyone lives in wonderful USA where an Xbox costs next to nothing, Jeez I've got tons of friends that would go buy an Xbox tomorrow if they could get it for $199 (less than R1400) but unfortunately it is just not the case here.

So Micro$oft next time you wanna make a decision about gaming that effects the whole world just remember, you're not powerful enough to enforce the same conditions everywhere in the world.

Sorry guy's for the slight outrage, I'm just so sick and tiered of these big corporate companies that have this whopped illusion that we South Africans are swimming in the money, it's really bizarre.
 
LOL! Import duties! Wow, this woman must think we are super gullible and/or stupid to fall for this trash she's spewing.

I know how these product managers think. When it comes to issues like exchange rates, the policy is usually "the customer gets screwed".
 
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Shes probably just the niece of some senior dude at Microsoft, nepotism ftl.
 
Im pretty sure the more money people like her can charge us the better her chances of that R70k per month salary. Ooooooh goodie goodie goodie I love this country!
 
I think you might be missing a point. I think the retail cards will be imported, which will have a perceived value, hence import duties.

Now, sticking to global trends, they will match the online and offline prices, hence the higher price.
 
Import duties probably because they print the card in China, ship it to Ireland, hand deliver it in London then send it via Dubai with a truck which then gets picked up by one of those cargo airplanes, flown through Africa (stopping in Nigeria) and then gets airdropped somewhere over the kalahari where they then need to hunt for food and water and kill a few people for diesel before they can make their way to Johannesburg, whereby the cards will then be shipped to Durban so it can go through customs. Go to Cape Town for quality checks, shipped back to Johannesburg so they can ready it for distribution and at long last shipped to all the different branches that will stock these subscriptions...

I can definitely see how that would cause the cost of a Gold subscription to be R600.
 
South African import regulations are strange. If you import software only (no media, no documentation, etc), just the electronic software licenses, it's completely duty-free. You just need to charge VAT on your end before you sell it to the customer. If you import ANYTHING else that is physical (even a single sheet of paper) with the licenses, you have to pay import duties on it, get customs clearance, have it stored in an approved warehouse, etc. A LOT of paperwork and several middle-men are usually involved.
 
This is rubbish...

There is no reason the subscription should cost a cent more than what it does in the UK.
Doing a direct conversion puts the price at R436 per year.
 
Valerion said:
South African import regulations are strange. If you import software only (no media, no documentation, etc), just the electronic software licenses, it's completely duty-free. You just need to charge VAT on your end before you sell it to the customer. If you import ANYTHING else that is physical (even a single sheet of paper) with the licenses, you have to pay import duties on it, get customs clearance, have it stored in an approved warehouse, etc. A LOT of paperwork and several middle-men are usually involved.
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Its called tangible and intangible goods. Nothing strange about it.

Also VAT is only charged if your turnover exceeds R2 million a year yet you do pay VAT on imported tangible goods.
 
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