At the mercy of currency fluctuations

[Gartro 18]

Today, I was looking at the prices for FSDG's Paro recently released and now published by Aerosoft.

 

 

 

It is not yet available from a retail store in Australia where I live.

 

 

 

On the developer's website, the product (without the Aerosoft brand) sells for Euros 14.50.

 

 

 

The Aerosoft branded version of the product sells for less than a Euro dearer at a European retail site, ie Euros 15.08. At a US retail site, it sells for USD $22.99.

 

 

 

Greatly varying currency fluctuations between those two currencies and the Australian Dollar have the European one selling for the equivalent of AUD$23 and the US one at the equivalent of AUD$32, a difference of 39%,

 

 

Thus, it provides a stark reminder that, in current times, it is worthwhile paying attention to the effective cost in the country of the purchaser and being selective as to which country’s retail stores to purchase downloads from.

 

 

From my (selfish) point of view, I wish for the days, like a couple of years ago, when the Australian Dollar was riding high against both the US Dollar and the Euro!

 

 

 

Gary

[Jimm 437]

Yeah, it is a pain in the butt when you want to purchase anything outside of your own country, due to the fluctuations.  I recently finished up planning a trip to England, and while I could purchase my airline tickets in my own currency, the hotel and everything that went with it are in pounds, but fortunately, it is a little easier to figure costs dealing with a countries currency that remains about the same.  I don't even want to get on the subject of currency conversion for physical money, you'll get raked over the coals if you aren't careful.

 

-Jim

[Gartro 18]

Somewhat surprisingly, Paro has been listed today on the PC Aviator Australia website for AUD $22.75.

 

That is about AUD$9 cheaper than the conversion rate for the product on the two US sites and about AUD$2 cheaper than the European site mentioned in my post #1.

 

Gary

[Gartro 18]

I have had another surprising example of prices going against the currency conversion trend.

 

Yesterday, I bought the newly released Aerosoft Rome from PC Aviator Australia, where I live.

 

Its price here is approx AUD$33 but reduced to approx AUD$30 with the 10% Tuesday discount. Both prices include within them a 10% Goods and Services Tax component for Australian residents.

 

When I checked at Aerosoft (Germany) and Simmarket, the price was the equivalent of approx AUD$34 (excl VAT).

 

However, in the US at two stores, the price was approx USD$33, the equivalent of approx AUD$45.

 

Working the currency conversion rates between Australia and the US, it seemed that if I lived in the US and bought from the Australia store, I would be paying for this airport approx 60% of what I would be paying to buy it from the US store.

 

It shows that it pays to shop around.

 

Gary