[codiak]

I pay little attention to the cost of games on other platforms, that was until today!

An apple fanboy friend of mine recently got an iPad and bought Monopoly and Plants vs Zombies for it (amongst others).

So seeing the EA sale I thought this was a good time to give him some stick as he does to me about BlackBerry as a platform. Sadly this backfired as he didn't have to pay the sort of prices that come up in app world (even after the 50% sale). Is it the usual "Rip Off Britain" going on here or are the prices as high in the US too?

Thoughts and opinions welcome!

[musical1806]

+1000000000000

BUT i will say that if you find and use a proxy you can enter the USA app store and purchase apps from theirs. IT does work but I dont know enough about security using free proxies. I have been lucky so far but if anyone knows if using proxoes is secure i would appreciate it.

[codiak]

He almost fell off his chair laughing, like I say it didn't work out for me!

[SDM7171]

RIM impose a £1=$1 exchange rate. Not sure whether the developers get their share of the premium.

I don't download many paid apps anyway, but would be more likely to if RIM made a sensible adjustment.

[emtunc]

RIM impose a £1=$1 exchange rate. Not sure whether the developers get their share of the premium.

I don't download many paid apps anyway, but would be more likely to if RIM made a sensible adjustment.

I believe the developers do get the premium which is good for them but not really fair for consumers.

OP, see the link in my sig for ways you can temporarily get around this problem.

[BearSnout]

I'm afraid RIMis no different to anybody else on this. The entire industry is at it with few exceptions.

[tinker2000]

is a bit ty of them to charge $1 > £1. This should be taken up by someone specialising in UK consumer law

[SifJar]

It is ridiculous that $1 = £1 according to RIM (in fact, $0.99). Also, the prices are already ridiculously high compared to other platforms.

As for the proxy stuff - I know I would not trust some random proxy with any sensitive info such as BB ID which contains my debit card details.

[masqueofhastur]

WP Marketplace and the iTunes App Store both have a £0.79 = $0.99 rate. So yeah, pretty bad of RIM in this case.

[codiak]

Well RIM get enough bad press but I think raising awareness is the only way to make things change. I have not found a single application or game for under £1 (with the exception of free ones) which as has already been pointed out is more expensive than other platforms.

I don't know what the US price of Monopoly was prior to the sale but here in the UK it was £8 - that's almost $13 when you convert it.

If RIM want to sway consumers away from iOS and Android etc they need a comparable or at least competitive price those platforms.

What would be the best way to lobby RIM about this?

[NornIron Legend]

Cheers emtunc!! Your method worked an absolute treat! Saved a few pounds! Many thanks!

[SDM7171]

is a bit ty of them to charge $1 > £1. This should be taken up by someone specialising in UK consumer law

Unlikely to succeed, given the lack of jurisdiction over US/Canada. The Euro is the only possible comparative, and that really is worth about a £

[Martis94]

Proxy my man

[boldkeyboardholic]

2.49€ I see in appworld here for monopoly, in a command I saw 2.99 usd as price, is that correct?

I will bay it I think, before it was to expensive in my eyes. With 5 or even 9.99 - I am not sure at the moment.

[tunes666]

Apple can afford to have cheaper apps as they sell loads more, Playbook sell less so charge more I guess..

It does annoy me how us in the UK always get screwed.. and we also miss out on stuff like the podcast app. I have it on my torch, but it seems not permitted to have it on my playbook, when I could really do with one.

[codiak]

Apple can afford to have cheaper apps as they sell loads more, Playbook sell less so charge more I guess..

It does annoy me how us in the UK always get screwed.. and we also miss out on stuff like the podcast app. I have it on my torch, but it seems not permitted to have it on my playbook, when I could really do with one.

No its not the volume of sales - its all down to RIM equating $1 to £1

[mr_gill]

I agree, its ridiculous that users in the UK have to pay exactly the same in £ as $. All other major app stores convert correctly except RIM. Its lazy on the part of RIM, and maybe even illegal (im no law expert so may be wrong). i remember a while back, Apple had to change their ITune prices due to legal proceedings by the European Commision, maybe same needs to happen with RIM..

I actually tweeted to Alec Saunders about this 2 months ago and got the below reply:

Alec Saunders ‏ @asaunders
I do not know timelines, but I do know that the AppWorld team is working on better pricing models.

Needless to say, 2 months later and nothing has changed! If RIM truly wants to compete, they have to get minor things like this right..

[codiak]

I could understand if we were paying for physical goods being shipped around the world here, but we are not!

I actually don't consider paying more than the rest of the world "minor" it happens all too often to us Brits!

[fbloise]

We should make a protest in Twitter. I've spent a lot of money in Playbook apps. When I do the conversion, I feel ripped by RIM.

[404error]

Dont worry folks of the uk wee are paying for rims downfall help keep em afloat maybe if we order 3 apps we get a share in rim as we are buying into them so lets ask them for a return

[TheScionicMan]

He almost fell off his chair laughing, like I say it didn't work out for me!

Doing some rough math, if the apps have a $3 dollar difference in price, it will only take about 150 paid apps for you guys to be at the same price point of device + apps...

[codiak]

Yes he said something similar in that if I buy enough games and apps I could have got an iPad and same said apps on iOS - over time of course!

[arielp]

in Indonesia (asia)

all 0.99US price are 0.75US here

all is cheaper, including ABSpace, the official is 2.99, but in my PB is 2.25US

[SDM7171]

in Indonesia (asia)

all 0.99US price are 0.75US here

all is cheaper, including ABSpace, the official is 2.99, but in my PB is 2.25US

Do we have a better offer, or is it Indonesian proxies from now on?

[codiak]

Obviously I could use a proxy, but I don't want to. I would much rather RIM sort this out and make a fair deal for everyone.

Like I say it will put potential new customers off if they want to switch from iPhone or Android when BB10 hits.