Matrix store not Canadian friendly

[MrFreeze]

Hi,
As Matrix's price are a simple exchange rate between USD to CAD and since the Canadian dollar lost around 25% of it's value against USD since 2014, all prices for Canadians are just sky-rocking.

I am not against your price policy but it's hard for me to understand why I should pay 25% more on a product in 2015 just because you don't adjust your price in my local currency.
My 2 cents (well actually 1.5 according to Matrix webstore [:D] )

[IainMcNeil]

All our revenue comes in $. It doesn't matter what you pay in, we receive dollars. The only way we can manage our cash flow is to price in $.

I understand nobody likes prices to change but it would be more unfair for Canadians to be subsidized because of a change in exchange rates. Other countries would be paying more to generate the same revenue for the development team so that you didn't have to. If we went down this route customers in Africa should be paying much less and that would force us to raise the base price to ensure we received the same amount of overall revenue. We also don't region limit games so you'd encourage people to buy at low prices in subsidized countries and resell in others. It has a pile of issues related to it and we just don't want to go there.

There is no perfect solution here as everyone will find something they don't like but we feel the fairest is if everyone pays the same price and uses a real currency conversion to calculate that price. So that's what we do!

[MrFreeze]

Thank you for your response, however I do not agree. I understand your advantage (and right of course) as a seller to have only USD price but I am failing to see the how it's fair for me as a customer who don't live in the US. I am not an economist but when you said 'every one paid the same' this is simply not true, 100 USD does not worth the same in Africa, in Canada or in the US.

Since some of your catalog is on steam, let me demonstrate concretely the price difference between a price adjusted for my local currency and one that is not:
Northern Inferno Steam 22CAD, Matrix 29CAD (+30%)
Distant Worlds Steam 65CAD, Matrix 85CAD (+30%)
WITE steam 89$, Matrix 113$ and so on

As a customer I think it's fair to say that I prefer to pay your games on Steam while I feel that the Matrix webstore is just over pricing me.

[radic202]

I totally agree with you MrFreeze. As much as I would prefer to buy my games directly from this site, I am also more inclined to purchase them at the Steam Store because of the price difference. I understand that Matrix/Slitherine looses a small % of the total sale due to the commission it pays for the Steam service but I am also not an idiot when it comes to my money. Like I am very interested in purchasing the new "Barbarossa: Decisive Campaigns" but alas it is not available on Steam. So I will either wait and hope it makes it there, or simply pass until the price is more reasonable in Canadian $$$.

Point here for the expansion: Flashpoint Campaigns: Germany Reforged is $28.99 CND here and on Steam is $21.99 and it is not even on sale on the Steam site.

Anyhow, I remain loyal to Matrix/Slitherine but more loyal to my Bottom Dollar!

[bairdlander2]

If I recall,a few years ago when the CDN$ was worth more than the US$,prices were not discounted for Canadian$ purchases,it was straight dollar for dollar.I looked here hoping for some deals,none found.But now when CDN$ is worth less than US$,suddenly the exchange rate kicks in.What a joke.

[Missouri_Rebel]

edit: over the top

[Waffenamt]

The CDN dollar is currently weak. It's wise to shop around, there are still some fairly good deals out there. When the CDN dollar was strong the same applied. Business sets its own rules as necessary for survival. Not saying I support the way things are, just that I am more careful spending my hard-earned than before.

It's OK folks - just made tinderwood out of that soapbox!

[bairdlander2]

How does bringing up that when Cdn$ was higher than us$ and Canadian customers were not given the proper exchange rate make me an American hater?When cdn $ was more..the exchange rate didn't apply..but now the exchange rate does.

[radic202]

I can still recall when the CND $ was worth $1.12 US and we purchased greeting cards and on the back of the card the prices were printed: it said Canada $3.99, USA $2.79 even though our dollar was worth more we still paid more for the same card. The same with books, video games, DVDs etc.....and we were all told that it can take a few months to have the prices adjusted in Canada to reflect the higher dollar value. Never happens....low and behold the Loonie (Canadian name for the dollar) goes down to $0.75 US and all the prices go up almost the next day. Think it is the same for our Aussie and Kiwi Friends. It just sucks royally but the problem is as a whole, not enough Canadians complain, they simply become sheep and pay away.

[IainMcNeil]

Nothing has changed - Canadian customers have always paid a $ price converted to Canadian dollars. We simply don't have any way of doing anything else, but its human nature to notice when you lose out, not when you benefit

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: MrFreeze
Since some of your catalog is on steam, let me demonstrate concretely the price difference between a price adjusted for my local currency and one that is not:
Northern Inferno Steam 22CAD, Matrix 29CAD (+30%)
Distant Worlds Steam 65CAD, Matrix 85CAD (+30%)
WITE steam 89$, Matrix 113$ and so on

Hm, we don't have control over the currency conversion at Steam, but I didn't think it would be off by this much. I wonder if this is something that happened as a result of the holiday sale price changes and something being out of sync? I'll check on this with Iain on Monday.

FWIW, it definitely supports us much more by purchasing here (plus you get a free Steam key anyway) but I can understand the reluctance if the price is that different.

Regards,

- Erik

[JamesM]

ORIGINAL: MrFreeze

Hi,
As Matrix's price are a simple exchange rate between USD to CAD and since the Canadian dollar lost around 25% of it's value against USD since 2014, all prices for Canadians are just sky-rocking.

I am not against your price policy but it's hard for me to understand why I should pay 25% more on a product in 2015 just because you don't adjust your price in my local currency.
My 2 cents (well actually 1.5 according to Matrix webstore [:D] )

The same thing has happened with the Aussie Dollar (including the roughly the same percentage)

[bairdlander2]

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil

Nothing has changed - Canadian customers have always paid a $ price converted to Canadian dollars. We simply don't have any way of doing anything else, but its human nature to notice when you lose out, not when you benefit

I dont agree,when the CDN$ was higher in 2007,the price in the online Matrix store matched the US dollar,there was no lower price if purchasing with CDN funds,the higher exchange rate did not apply.I think the reason is the CDN$ being higher only lasted about 5-6 weeks?

[Erik Rutins]

Hi guys,

Our store always does as direct a currency conversion as possible - keep in mind that we can't get the same rate as a bank doing a conversion and you'll get to the right ballpark.

As far as Steam goes, I double-checked today and it seems that we simply have no control over how they convert the prices for other countries and they make some very bizarre choices. Our own conversion is set to be as fair as possible, unfortunately theirs is not.

Unfortunately, in addition to this incorrect conversion, Steam also takes a significant cut. If you are fortunate enough to have money not be an object, purchasing directly through our store is a much bigger help for our devs and ourselves.

Regards,

- Erik