PS3 Even More Pricey In Europe
January 18th, 2007 by Darren Stevens in Articles, BusinessAccording to GamesIndustry.biz, citing credible sources, the price of the PS3 has been driven up by retailers by another £25, almost $50. The console will go on sale this March for £425 (only the 60 GB version will be available), equivalent to a whopping $838 USD. The higher price point wasn’t given by Sony, but by retailers seeking for larger profits.
Let’s see how many actually buy the console at that price. While the rest of Europe will pay slightly less, at €599 (+VAT), or $775 for the PS3, Americans still aren’t buying the PS3 at $500-$600. What makes the retailers think Europeans will pay over $800 for the console? We’re not that stupid.
Here in Scandinavia, where games and consoles are more expensive than anywhere else in the world, I found out that the PS3 will retail at these insane prices:
Denmark: 5500 DKK ($955 USD)
Sweden: 6500 SEK ($926 USD)
Norway: 6000 NKR ($1,009 USD)
Finland: 5000 FIM ($1,086 USD)
If you buy a games console at that price, you’re not only filthy rich, you probably have no idea how much your money is worth in the first place. But it’s not Sony’s fault, the rules and VAT rates in the EU are insane by any standard. Heck, we’re paying $350 for a Wii…
Tags: Articles, Business
January 18th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
the pricing is so annoyingly stupid in the EU. but i guess thats what happens when you have a stronger currency, the pound is almost equal to 2 dollars now. might as well get 2 ps3’s for the price of one here. like one would get 1 ps3 anyways.
January 18th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Ah, once again we Europeans get shafted by the games market.
January 18th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
I have over $350 for my Wii, and I thought it was CHEAP! We’re so used to the high prices overhere that we don’t even notice most of it…
January 18th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
shouldn’t we be getting cheaper things since the euro and pound are stronger than the dollar? the companies selling from dollar countries to european ones do not keep the price the same as they are in the dollar country, they make double profits from us than america would. its just cheating us. makes no sense to me really apart from getting the double profits.
January 18th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
I can’t speak for all Europe but at least in the souhern countries, we pay 249€ INCLUDING taxes!!! that’s 322$, further more it includes the EU law-inforced 2 years warranty!!! I prefer the EU consumer policies than the liberal NA policies were the buyer is always shafted…
January 18th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Jeez. Where the hell did you dig up FIM’s from? Finland has switched to the Euro ages ago.
January 19th, 2007 at 4:57 am
This is simple global market fixing, your response should be not to buy or get an import+games.
January 19th, 2007 at 10:55 am
That’s pretty much a joke! They’ve had over twice the pre-orders we had here at the official price, not even close to these prices. These prices will not bear out during launch. At the rate Sony is now shipping there will be some 2 million available on Launch Day!
And according to most of the trolls here, they won’t even sell those. Those merchants ignorant enough to price consoles like this would deserve to get stuck with them though.
GameGod???? What a surprise, you actually made a viable statement. But yes it’s true EU does favor the consummer, where here in U.S., it’s all about the All Mighty Corporate Gods! Good to see you coming to your senses!
My friends throughout Europe got pre-orders in! That includes Russia, Denmark, Holland, Germany and a few Brits. My Brit friends are really thrilled by the price. Yen to Euro also benefits the Europe Launch. I don’t know about Southern Europe though.
My friends there are Open Source developers on the Beryl OpenGL Linux Project. Portugal, Spain and Italy with Sabayon Linux! I ask them about Sony PS3 and they barely know it’s launching. LOL
January 19th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Lol, this is such bullshit. It’s 600 euros, I’ve known this for 1,5 years. That the dollar took a crash is not a good thing, mark my words. That is because america is getting poor at an increasing rate. America’s economy plummeted even more the last 1,5 yrs since the ps3 price anouncements. The ps3’s price is LOWER in america because america’s economy stinks at the moment. The dollar course has gone down 30%!!!!!!!!!!!! in respect to the euro in just a few years time. And the euro was just makng marginal increases cuz of the hard years.
the dumbass propaganda above is making me cry sometimes. The ignorant posts of the wiiboyz above even more. Do people still fall for these tricks anno 2007? I guess so.
@ Dear sweet monir
‘’shouldn’t we be getting cheaper things since the euro and pound are stronger than the dollar?”
No. Our prices didnt go up, america’s went down. And that is by no means a good thing for america as a whole, trust me. You see, when a country buys goods from other countries, they pay with it for money. Wich makes for the cool term: cashflow. america’s weak dollar makes for expensive goods, and it makes importing stuff relatively cheap for them. So: cheap ps3’s for them, expensive hollywood exports for them too.
So it will result in (even more) negative cashflow, more money leaves the country that comes in.
In comparisson with a yankee we pay more, HOWEVER, for them it’s the same, that’s the sad part. Simply because they worked just as hard for their money, and it devaluates at an alarming rate.
January 19th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
And now you know why they put regio locks on those things. They are sold at different values in different countries, dependings on the economy. Europe has the strongest economy at the moment, so they pay more. If it would be vice versa, eu poor, usa rich, then we would have the (relative) cut.
January 19th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Thanks for explanation, never properly understood economics. i understand now, although we do still get it more expensive due to taxes.
We just had an interest rise here again in U.K, and we will get another one soon, even though most people have not had an increase in their wages, not to mention the increase in gas, electricity, water and mortgages. So i think we still have it worse in terms of prices for ‘essentials’ and thinks people want, not need.
January 19th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
It is yes, uk and ireland is fucked. But that’s your government working:P
And I heard from some poster @ digg.com that the retailers in the UK traditionally want more profit margins. Sorry for you:P My experience with brittain was.. hm expensive. And it wasnt just central londen either.
WTF IT WAS ALL WRONG WHAT I WROTE AAARGH! SYSTEM MALFUNCTION! FORGIVE ME WORLD I WAS WEAAK AND TIRED!
No.. hmm do it again, weak dollar, mucho dollrs for ps3.. hmm would be more expensive.
I think sony just let them pay less in order to sell the system more. Or paid us more to make more profit (if you can speak about that if you sell a system at a loss:P) out of us.
January 20th, 2007 at 9:52 am
[...] read more | digg story [...]
January 28th, 2007 at 4:14 am
The actual price in Norway is 5,500 NOK = $845 USD.
And I dont think its that expensive for new technology…
February 1st, 2007 at 1:20 pm
[...] PS3 goes on sale in Europe this March, at €599 in the Euro-zone (almost twice as much in Scandinavia) and £425 Pounds in the [...]