Post by oxitran in Price discrepancy (much cheaper on Steam in UK)

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Exactly my issue. These types of games from these types of devs drive us away from steam so we can support the devs and get away from drm. But without any sort of killer feature to bind us to the platform the increase in price just seems silly. Tax on a digital product for anyone outside America is also very poor taste.

I hope either the platform realizes the position its in in the market, or the dev realizes that the game is more valuable than the shenanigans we have to deal with when buying the game here.

I honestly love achievements as a tracker for my gaming progress, but if a game doesn't have any then I will get it drm free and give as much as I can to the devs, but I would have felt even better on this one had I been able to tip the dev directly.

fazz4 years ago (5 edits) (+1)

Hi Oxitran,

I totally agree.

I just want to point out that both Itch and Steam apply the same tax rates to digital products in the UK / Europe, just that Steam include it in the upfront price. You'll see the breakdown in your email receipt. The issue here is the base price is very different on Itch versus Steam.

On Itch = ($7.99) £6.12 + 20% VAT = £7.61
On Steam = £4.82 + 20% VAT = £5.79

On Itch the advertised price is before tax, ($7.99) £6.12, so you end up paying £7.61
On Steam the advertised price is after tax, £5.79, which is the amount you pay.

All I can think is the developer has erroneously set the price much lower on Steam not realising that tax is included in the upfront price, not added at checkout, as is common in the US.

oxitran4 years ago(+1)

I think the only thing we can take from it as getting both the steam key and the drm free game file from itch. An extra £2 for the drm free version seems fine in my book. But for anyone who just wants the steam key they have no reason to buy it here.

I also live in Ireland where tax is not expected on non physical goods, though they are trying to change that, I would buy a lot less games if I have to pay Irish prices + 23% VAT. I guess not every platform is willing to cater to each market like gog is in its price parity between market and currency.

itch.io

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