Topic: Wii Gets Price Cut in Australia, New Zealand

[NWR_DrewMG]

Gamers Down Under can get their Wii on for a lower price.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=22990

 Effective April 29, Nintendo of Australia dropped the price of the Wii from $399.95 to $299.95, a decrease of 25%.   In New Zealand, the cut is slightly less drastic, dropping from $499.95 to $399.95.  This is the first time since the console launched in December 2006 that the system has received a price reduction in either region.    

Nintendo has sold almost 1.8 million systems in Australia, giving it the lead over Xbox 360 which has just crossed the one million mark.

[TJ Spyke]

For those of us in the US, this is a drop from $369.84 to $277.37 (£243.51 to £182.62 for Greg and other UK posters). I am kind of surprised they just now dropped it, and that it had been so high. I am still shocked at how much games cost in Australia (don't most games in Australia cost something like the equivalent of US$80?)

[Mop it up]

Is there a reason for the higher prices in these places? Does it cost more to ship/sell games there?

[TJ Spyke]

I know in Europe the reason is that there is a Value Added Tax (VAX) added onto almost everything. Think of it like a sales tax that is added to almost everything (stuff like food is excluded). The UK rate is 17.5%, that is why a lot of British gamers import from North America, even with the import fee it is often cheaper to import from the US or Canada rather than pay the higher EU fees.

[KDR_11k]

Note that the import fee is VAT and a customs fee so VAT alone cannot explain the price difference.

[King Bowser Koopa]

There was a media survey a few years back that discussed the high price in games, DVDs and the like here.
Yes, Australian Wii games usually cost $80 AUD on release, sometimes $90 or even $100 if it's a big-name or anticipated title. Same goes for 360 or PS3 games, though they often sell for upwards of $130, especially if the game has more than one disc. They claim it's for localization procedures, import, translating to other PAL languages like German and French, however in the exposé it was stated that they only charge so much because they can get away with it. Consumers don't protest, or boycott, or kick up any kind of fuss over the price, they just continue to buy in mass quantities, so the publishers charge what they like.