Steam's price disparity between countries
In Australia the traditional price point for new release PC/Console games is around $100. There used to be a number of justifications offered for this. Including local distribution costs and the value of the Australian Dollar.
However Steam uses the same distribution model in Australia as it uses in the US. The Australian dollar is almost at parity, which shouldn't even matter since Steam purchases are made in USD. Yet games here are consistently priced higher. For example Skyrim is priced at $89.99USD.
Am I missing something, or it this just an opportunity to extract more money from Australian consumers?
The only thing I can imagine at the moment of writing, is taxes.
If there is such a thing as taxes on virtually imported goods. Only a guess though, I wonder what the real deal here is.
I believe valve games' price are consistent. It's the publishers that think Australia's easy for upselling.
From what I recall Australia has a higher minimum wage compared to the US that is way the price is scaled.