I know VATs are standard in the EU. So do any of you have to deal with import taxes, VAT, and other taxes when buying electronic goods? I don't know if this is an issue with socialism or just terrible trading practices. But that is a stupidly amount of money even with taxes to pay for a PS4. I get it's a want not a need. But it's not a luxury item like a Platinum Rolex either.
All of us get to deal with them indirectly. When you buy something at the store with a "made in {other country}" sticker, a portion of your money goes to taxes paid by the company. There are export taxes from the country of origin and import taxes from the receiving country, and possibly special excise taxes targeting the object specifically.
This is true for everything from buying fruit from the grocer to buying a vehicle to buying a video game console. If it wasn't made right there, some taxes probably were applied in the process of getting it to you.
Isn't software piracy in brazil pretty high? I wonder if they cut out some of the loss they're willing to take on the hardware in other countries, among other things.
Microsoft built a factory in Brazil to produce consoles locally, to help make the XBox 360 cheaper there by 40%.
Taxes add 63%, shocking, but it won't matter much. The common man can't afford 1800 dollars, but would likely not be able to afford 700 dollars either. The rich won't bother.
It will get "better" (better only insofar as consoles will be cheaper) if the Americas agree to the USA's colonization treaty (FTTA), which they currently don't.
I hope the EU doesn't either, though I'm afraid they're all eager to do it...
I know VATs are standard in the EU. So do any of you have to deal with import taxes, VAT, and other taxes when buying electronic goods? I don't know if this is an issue with socialism or just terrible trading practices. But that is a stupidly amount of money even with taxes to pay for a PS4. I get it's a want not a need. But it's not a luxury item like a Platinum Rolex either.
I am Brazilian and live in Brazil. This has generated quite a bit of discussion this neck of the woods.
To make a long history short: many companies in many industries charge a lot more for their products in Brazil than they do in other countries because 1)our taxes are very expensive, and 2)there are many, MANY people who will buy those products regardless of price. The mindset in Brazil is not to sell many pieces and make money on volume, but rather to sell few pieces and make money on high margins.
Companies charge Brazilians such high prices because Brazilians, even those who think they're getting ripped off, will buy their products anyway. Simple as that.
As a brazilian myself, I can only say that Sony pricing policy is a bad joke. As Shane already pointed out it would be around $1000 with taxes and that should get a price near the xbox one (pre order is available here for +- U$1000). Who knows... maybe they are expecting to keep up the PS3 sales for a few more years. Until then microsoft will certainly dominate our market with "acceptable" prices and localized services. The one thing I know is that I am not buying it even if the price is reduced later on.
Isn't software piracy in brazil pretty high?
You have no idea how high! I´ve seen retail stores already offering the console "unlocked" for pirated disks. The price for a regular disk is whopping high (U$ 100 for a new title) but most people buy the pirated version even if they can afford the original. I don´t know what goes on people mind but I keep myself "clean" with my good old PC and Steam affordable prices.
Companies charge Brazilians such high prices because Brazilians, even those who think they're getting ripped off, will buy their products anyway. Simple as that.
Similar fact happens with Apple products down here.
Been there, done that...
Let me check the price of a new AMD HD7870 here, it's 461 USD.
"I AM ZE EMPRAH OPENGL 3.3 THE CORE, I DEMAND FROM THEE ZE SHADERZ AND MATRIXEZ"
My journals: dustArtemis ECS framework and Making a Terrain Generator
You have no idea how high! I´ve seen retail stores already offering the console "unlocked" for pirated disks. The price for a regular disk is whopping high (U$ 100 for a new title) but most people buy the pirated version even if they can afford the original. I don´t know what goes on people mind but I keep myself "clean" with my good old PC and Steam affordable prices.Isn't software piracy in brazil pretty high?
Just to gather regional info for pricing my own digital releases, what is the usual retail price of a pirated AAA game disc in Brazil?
FWIW, in the USA, while piracy isn't quite as common (it's certainly not sold in mainstream stores), some people don't even realize that piracy is piracy. I remember having two burned Dreamcast games when I was young - my brother bought them from his friend at school. Until I retrospectively realized years later, I was always curious about why some of my Dreamcast discs had the titles written on them in sharpie. 
Could be because as a young kid you just have the innocent thought its only making a copy for a friend and your original stays there unchanged, same as when your teacher makes a photocopy from a page in a book to hand out. That the book copy may be illegal too or only under a special exception for teaching purposes will be above you.
Ask 200 years ago someone what piracy is and he tells you about angry man on a cannon-loaded sailing ship robbing huge treasures, I think that new abuse of the word got coined only a few years ago by the music industry and you as a kid may not have known the word in that new context, but possibly still known its illegal to copy.
