4 ms·

> The law of one price says that the same item cannot sustain two different sale prices in the same market (since everyone would buy only at the lower price).

> The law of one price says that the same item cannot sustain two different sale prices in the same market (since everyone would buy only at the lower price). This is currently a problem with digital goods. How can you sell something, like an indie video game, for $1 in India and $10 is the US, and prevent Americans from buying the Indian version? There are online marketplaces that allow people to buy and sell "game keys" for cheap. People in cheap markets can sell local keys for games, at a small markup, to people in expensive markets.

hhs 7y ago
The marketplace for video games is strange, I agree. Another odd phenomenon: I recently saw online newspaper subscriptions being sold on eBay from foreign countries.
echelon 7y ago
I suppose one solution (for sellers) is to localize the games and their translations and bake those into the game keys. Once one purchases a game in Russian, you can't play it in English. This excludes pricing disparity between (en-US, en-CA, en-GB), (es, es-US, ...) and the like cohorts, but that may not matter too much.
- zeta0134 7y ago
  That would mean those of us who play games in multiple languages as a means of language study would need to buy each game multiple times.
  - okcando 7y ago
    Any means of price discrimination is likely to have some user-hostile effects along the edges. It is, in essence, DRM and if an authorized user interacts with it at all, it won't be pleasant. Or, in other words, any strategy of region-locking (even an unsophisticated one like unbundling languages) is going to stymie some legitimate use cases.
  - em-bee 7y ago
    you could let the higher price versions include the lower ones. so if you buy an english edition you get russian and chinese for free included, but you don't get finnish or german, whereas if you buy the german one you get english and all the languages that english already includes.
  - kgwgk 7y ago
    > play games in multiple languages as a means of language study I've been studying all night, mom! Seriously, those who read books in multiple languages as means of language study need to buy each book multiple times and nobody used to find that surprising...
    - OJFord 7y ago
      Or you just choose one? If you're at the level where reading a book can help you learn more or practice, I wouldn't have thought you'd much want a second copy in your native tongue.
      - kgwgk 7y ago
        Is an exercise common enough for bilingual editions to exist (intended to help learning a language, not to better understand that particular book).
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- kozak 7y ago
  This approach bites very painfully here in Ukraine, when some suppliers think (for some perverted reasons outside of this discussion) that it's OK to only sell a Russian version in Ukraine. Ukrainian-speaking population would often prefer an English version (for the lack of a Ukrainian one), but there is no sane way to buy it.
cardiffspaceman 7y ago
Correct me if I'm wrong... The dilemna for the game producer is that if they let the games sell at the say India price but in all markets, then while brick-and-mortar stores in India may remain viable with such prices stores in other countries might not, AND the game producers want those shops to sell their games. With iPad games for example there are no B&M stores but there is also the desire to take advantage of income variations by extracting some more margin from higher-earning customers. Regional differences between app markets seem to exist and to be meant to get this extra margin.
billfruit 7y ago
Steam already does this type of differential pricing, they doing it by essentially region locking a price, the Indian keys will not work in the US, so they cannot be traded to someone in the US. I wish if other stores also does these region sensitive pricing like steam does.
- the-dude 7y ago
  They have been fined for this in the EU, which they are appealing.
  - gmueckl 7y ago
    Well, they cannot differentiate on price within the EU. So they have to offer the same prices in Spain, France, Germany, Poland, etc... that's simply the law here. They can still offer different prices in markets outside the EU, though.
aaron695 7y ago
> prevent Americans from buying the Indian version This is solved, youtube, netflix, indie video game sellers all do this. Just charge based on IP? People getting around it (You can fake your IP or pirate it) is like going to Cairo for a cheap Big Mac. It takes some effort, but can pay off, like moving to Cairo for cheap goods and services. (A Big Mac in Cairo is not like one in Norway also)
denzil_correa 7y ago
> How can you sell something, like an indie video game, for $1 in India and $10 is the US, and prevent Americans from buying the Indian version? Some online stores just use the Credit Card billing address.
- mieseratte 7y ago
  That’s a fun one I deal with regularly. Some number of European bands I listen to are big enough to have a record deal and distribution in Europe, but for whatever reason their deals do not include US distribution. Used to be Amazon didn’t enforce this, but now they do. Lucky for me, I found a book seller’s website that doesn’t do credit card checks. Just order the music and put down my address as the Embassy. Pay through the nose for an album because of Swiss prices, but at least I can get the music. Gotta love when I want to give you money but can’t.
- karmakaze 7y ago
  This practice may not end well. > There have been a lot of very angry Adobe software users in Australia this week as it was discovered retail versions of Creative Suite would carry a massive premium (up to $1,800) over what Adobe charges US users. > So massive is the difference in fact, it’s been stated you could actually fly from Australia to the US, buy Creative Suite, fly back, and still save money. [0] https://www.geek.com/news/adobe-ceo-angers-everyone-by-side-stepping-creative-suite-pricing-questions-1539740/ https://www.geek.com/news/adobe-ceo-angers-everyone-by-side-...
  - denzil_correa 7y ago
    In this specific instance, the buck stops at Adobe who charge an exorbitant price to Australian customers. You can find the same for Netflix - they charge US prices in countries where the purchasing power is far lower than the US. The practice of billing address still makes sense.

hhs 7y ago

The marketplace for video games is strange, I agree. Another odd phenomenon: I recently saw online newspaper subscriptions being sold on eBay from foreign countries.

echelon 7y ago

I suppose one solution (for sellers) is to localize the games and their translations and bake those into the game keys. Once one purchases a game in Russian, you can't play it in English. This excludes pricing disparity between (en-US, en-CA, en-GB), (es, es-US, ...) and the like cohorts, but that may not matter too much.

zeta0134 7y ago
That would mean those of us who play games in multiple languages as a means of language study would need to buy each game multiple times.
- okcando 7y ago
  Any means of price discrimination is likely to have some user-hostile effects along the edges. It is, in essence, DRM and if an authorized user interacts with it at all, it won't be pleasant. Or, in other words, any strategy of region-locking (even an unsophisticated one like unbundling languages) is going to stymie some legitimate use cases.
- em-bee 7y ago
  you could let the higher price versions include the lower ones. so if you buy an english edition you get russian and chinese for free included, but you don't get finnish or german, whereas if you buy the german one you get english and all the languages that english already includes.
- kgwgk 7y ago
  > play games in multiple languages as a means of language study I've been studying all night, mom! Seriously, those who read books in multiple languages as means of language study need to buy each book multiple times and nobody used to find that surprising...
  - OJFord 7y ago
    Or you just choose one? If you're at the level where reading a book can help you learn more or practice, I wouldn't have thought you'd much want a second copy in your native tongue.
    - kgwgk 7y ago
      Is an exercise common enough for bilingual editions to exist (intended to help learning a language, not to better understand that particular book).
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
kozak 7y ago
This approach bites very painfully here in Ukraine, when some suppliers think (for some perverted reasons outside of this discussion) that it's OK to only sell a Russian version in Ukraine. Ukrainian-speaking population would often prefer an English version (for the lack of a Ukrainian one), but there is no sane way to buy it.

cardiffspaceman 7y ago

Correct me if I'm wrong... The dilemna for the game producer is that if they let the games sell at the say India price but in all markets, then while brick-and-mortar stores in India may remain viable with such prices stores in other countries might not, AND the game producers want those shops to sell their games. With iPad games for example there are no B&M stores but there is also the desire to take advantage of income variations by extracting some more margin from higher-earning customers. Regional differences between app markets seem to exist and to be meant to get this extra margin.

billfruit 7y ago

Steam already does this type of differential pricing, they doing it by essentially region locking a price, the Indian keys will not work in the US, so they cannot be traded to someone in the US. I wish if other stores also does these region sensitive pricing like steam does.

the-dude 7y ago
They have been fined for this in the EU, which they are appealing.
- gmueckl 7y ago
  Well, they cannot differentiate on price within the EU. So they have to offer the same prices in Spain, France, Germany, Poland, etc... that's simply the law here. They can still offer different prices in markets outside the EU, though.

aaron695 7y ago

> prevent Americans from buying the Indian version This is solved, youtube, netflix, indie video game sellers all do this. Just charge based on IP? People getting around it (You can fake your IP or pirate it) is like going to Cairo for a cheap Big Mac. It takes some effort, but can pay off, like moving to Cairo for cheap goods and services. (A Big Mac in Cairo is not like one in Norway also)

denzil_correa 7y ago

> How can you sell something, like an indie video game, for $1 in India and $10 is the US, and prevent Americans from buying the Indian version? Some online stores just use the Credit Card billing address.

mieseratte 7y ago
That’s a fun one I deal with regularly. Some number of European bands I listen to are big enough to have a record deal and distribution in Europe, but for whatever reason their deals do not include US distribution. Used to be Amazon didn’t enforce this, but now they do. Lucky for me, I found a book seller’s website that doesn’t do credit card checks. Just order the music and put down my address as the Embassy. Pay through the nose for an album because of Swiss prices, but at least I can get the music. Gotta love when I want to give you money but can’t.
karmakaze 7y ago
This practice may not end well. > There have been a lot of very angry Adobe software users in Australia this week as it was discovered retail versions of Creative Suite would carry a massive premium (up to $1,800) over what Adobe charges US users. > So massive is the difference in fact, it’s been stated you could actually fly from Australia to the US, buy Creative Suite, fly back, and still save money. [0] https://www.geek.com/news/adobe-ceo-angers-everyone-by-side-stepping-creative-suite-pricing-questions-1539740/ https://www.geek.com/news/adobe-ceo-angers-everyone-by-side-...
- denzil_correa 7y ago
  In this specific instance, the buck stops at Adobe who charge an exorbitant price to Australian customers. You can find the same for Netflix - they charge US prices in countries where the purchasing power is far lower than the US. The practice of billing address still makes sense.