Exchange rate $AUD to $US unfavourable

valbridge

Rail Tragic
Have cancelled my gold membership in view of current and projected exchange rates and associated fees. Why should Australians pay an Australian company in $US?
 
Q. Why should Australians pay an Australian company in $US?

Answer: You're not.

You're paying AUD$ to an AUD company through a USD payment gateway.

If the pricing was in AUD, it would be much higher than the USD amount.

Prior to changing over to this model (almost 3 years ago), international users would see the higher AUD amount and many would mentally calculate that as a USD amount (not understanding, like Aussies do, the current exchange rate which appears on our TV news every night).

I also wouldn't worry about projected rates - if they were predictable, no-one would need to work for a living, just hit the Forex trade market based upon those projections :)
 
So how come the amount for Trainz Railroad Simulator 2019 is now $100.77 AUD

A few weeks back now it was just under $100.
 
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Sorry Tony I cant agree. Monthly payments for gold membership keep creeping up. Your plan for gold states $US14.99 pm yet from my bank account details I am paying $21.60 =/- a few cents either way per month. If what you say, " You're paying AUD$ to an AUD company through a USD payment gateway". then this monthly deduction should be just that $AUS 14.99. I am paying over the odds, as perhaps most other Australians are. Why cant I pay monthly in Australian currency like I do for my ISP?

Cheers,
Val

ps. I'll most likely purchase the TRS19 UK edition and quit with the monthly payment.

 
Sorry Tony I cant agree. Monthly payments for gold membership keep creeping up. Your plan for gold states $US14.99 pm yet from my bank account details I am paying $21.60 =/- a few cents either way per month. If what you say, " You're paying AUD$ to an AUD company through a USD payment gateway". then this monthly deduction should be just that $AUS 14.99. I am paying over the odds, as perhaps most other Australians are. Why cant I pay monthly in Australian currency like I do for my ISP?

Cheers,
Val

ps. I'll most likely purchase the TRS19 UK edition and quit with the monthly payment.


That's really not fair, I don't think either. Sure I see the price as USD and I'm in the US so I get the face value, but you being an Australian and buying from an Australian company, you should see whatever it takes to keep the price at $14.99 as well and not the prevailing rate based on the nightly exchange rate.

When I worked in order administration for a small company, we dealt with some European customers. They were given a fixed rate based on whatever price was set at the beginning of the year rather than having a fluctuating rate each time they purchased supplies and equipment. The excuse can't be made that the company was bigger than N3V because it wasn't. The organization was all of 12 people at that time and got smaller as the industry its self declined.
 
I am currently in the UK having to deal with the fluctuating exchange rate between the GBP and the AUD. When I booked all my accommodation in January, well before I left, my bookings were in GBP. In some cases I paid the full amount in GBP at the time of booking and the transaction was recorded, in AUD, in my bank statement at the exchange rate that existed on the day of the booking (plus the banks international exchange transaction fee:(). In other cases I pay on checkout and again those prices (in GBP) have not changed one single penny from the time I booked. However, when I look at my online transaction record from my bank and compare it with my exchange rate calculation I made at the time of booking, I often see a difference. When the AUD goes down against the GBP the accommodation cost in AUD goes up, and vice versa.

That, as John points out in the post above, is the effect of keeping the price, in one currency, at a set value when expressed in a different currency.

When you pay your monthly subscription in USD the price is always $14.99 but that price, when expressed in AUD, will go up when the AUD falls compared with the USD, and fall when the AUD rises compared to the USD.

The fact that you are paying to an Australian company is irrelevant as all the transactions are expressed in USD.

That is "Globalisation" in action.

The problem would of course be solved if all nations used the same currency for all transactions.
 
I think a more appropriate way to look at this is; my boss must pay my SGD salary of, say, 3000 every month. Just because the SGD has strengthened against the USD this month doesn't mean he gets to pay me $2940 instead on the 28th.

Exchange rates should not have any bearing on products produced locally and sold locally in the local currency. N3V's response implies there is not a single company or bank in Australia that can process payments in AUD.
 
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IN3V's response implies there is not a single company or bank in Australia that can process payments in AUD.

Not correct (obviously) as my bank does it for me every-time I make a purchase in GBP using my Travel Money Card or my Credit Card here in the UK.

I do not know where the currency conversion company N3V is using is based but does it make any difference? If the price is stated for everyone in USD then the local cost to a purchaser in, say, Albania can be quickly calculated. I am not sure if the conversion between the AUD and the ALL (Albanian Lek) would be a quick one step process and it would probably be converted to USD first then to ALL, so why have the extra step? Plus I suspect that there would be far more Trainz users in the USA than in AUS so quoting everything in USD makes far better sense.
 
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It is silly that Australians can’t pay a fixed price, I just looked then, the main game is $100.88.
Could get worse as the the dollar is now worth just 69.4 US Cents.
 
The AUD$ could also go back to parity in which case Aussies would be rejoicing. The Regional Editions are obviously a lot cheaper than the full version, and all versions will go sale at some point down the line.
 
Well Gold cost me $185 for 12 mths ( $15.40/mth ) I got it as a Xmas gift but I will be cancelling my membership and getting DVD
So far besides a few loco's and rolling stock which are now doubling up each month I cant see the value in it for me
I'm not interested in downloading routes which make up half the free content and the only thing I buy from the store usually is the game
 
Soon my monthly Gold membership will expire [May 20 or thereabouts]. Following the expiry I will look to install/purchase TRS19 UK Region.
I have a q.
Should I delete the TRS19 folder located on the E drive which holds all files related to it prior to installing UK Region? I have Uninstall Pro but it only wants to look at C drive.
Thanks in anticipation
Val.
 
Unless disk space is an issue I would advise not deleting your current Gold TRS19 folder(s) but install the TRS19 Region in a different folder and/or drive. This way if you decide to resume your Gold membership then you will not lose anything and Trainz versions/releases seem to be quite happy being installed along other versions/releases but in different locations.

But then I don't have the Gold or Silver subs so please take my advice with caution.
 
Need to be in the UK, only costs me £11+ a month.

14.99 USD = 21.84 AUD
14.99 USD = 11.79 GBP

11.79 GBP = 21.83 AUD

He would save 1c per month (at todays conversion rate but who knows tomorrow or next month?)

Which illustrates the problem with using chained currency conversions (USD to GBP to AUS), they introduce rounding errors.
 
The AUD$ could also go back to parity.

Pigs might learn to fly by then. If you think the Aus/US exchange rate is bad, spare a thought for the poor old Kiwi's Trainzers that have to fork out around $107.40 NZ dollars (approx) to get TS2019.

If TS2019 was $70 Aussie dollarrs, we'rd only be paying around $73.32 NZ dollars...

Go figure...

Cheers, Mac.
 
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