Price Matching so I can remain loyal to Steam?

[j4w4]

There is 'another' place selling a game I have been wanting for awhile now and the price is ridiculously cheap. I did my time, I exercised my patience and my discipline, and now the game is dirt cheap. The problem is it's not on sale through Steam. I have approximately 30 games in my Steam Library that I have purchased over the years. I like the idea of purchasing every new game through one company. But I have to admit, like a cheating husband, I have strayed from my first love, and purchased games through other websites. I don't like doing this regularly but when the game is so cheap and its still selling for the same(ridiculously) high price on Steam how can I "not" stray and purchase it elsewhere? Price Matching you say? Exactly. That is what I say. I know that Valve has made more money than they can possibly ever spend in this lifetime but it seems it would still be a good business decision to implement price matching in the Steam marketplace. What do you guys think?

[DaMaGe007]

Hell NO....

They should beat the price by 10%...

DMG

That is to say...Match the price and take a furter 10% off, for having the higher price in the first place

[flashn00b]

This would actually be a good idea, seeing that there are games that still cost retail price despite their age. (Last Remnant and [PROTOTYPE] to name a few specifics)

[kevinski]

I don't see a need for Steam to price match. I've purchased over 200 games through Steam. I appreciate the convenience of having the vast majority of my PC game library accessible from Steam. If I own a non-Steam version of any given game, and that game is later released on Steam, then I buy it again on Steam for the convenience factor, even if I wait until the price drops low enough for me to warrant it.

A loyal customer doesn't necessarily care about paying the lowest price for something. The way I see it, Steam has saved me so much money on games that I'll splurge occasionally by spending more than I normally would for a specific game. Why? Because I appreciate Steam.

Anyone who wants price matching should consider what price comparisons and such have done to other online stores. I don't know about you, but I like being able to see the price of a game without having to add it to my cart. Sites do this because their products won't sell as well as higher prices when consumers can easily use price comparison engines to find better prices. The solution to this issue is hiding the price.

If Steam and other digital distribution services start to offer price matching, then I can guarantee you that the usability of the service will decrease in accordance.

[kevinski]

Originally Posted by flashn00b

This would actually be a good idea, seeing that there are games that still cost retail price despite their age. (Last Remnant and [PROTOTYPE] to name a few specifics)

The Last Remnant has gone on sale several times in the last year. Just keep your eyes peeled for sales. I'm pretty sure that it was around $10 or less during that Square Enix sale that Steam had a while back.

[j4w4]

Originally Posted by kevinski

I don't see a need for Steam to price match. I've purchased over 200 games through Steam. I appreciate the convenience of having the vast majority of my PC game library accessible from Steam. If I own a non-Steam version of any given game, and that game is later released on Steam, then I buy it again on Steam for the convenience factor, even if I wait until the price drops low enough for me to warrant it.

You obviously have more money than you need.

Originally Posted by kevinski

A loyal customer doesn't necessarily care about paying the lowest price for something. The way I see it, Steam has saved me so much money on games that I'll splurge occasionally by spending more than I normally would for a specific game. Why? Because I appreciate Steam.

Gabe Newell is a billionaire. He doesn't need your money. I don't think he cares whether you feel an obligation to give back or not. I am sorry I used the word loyalty in my original post. I have no loyalty to Steam or Gabe Newell. I, like you, simply find it more convenient to purchase all my games in one place so I don't have to create multiple accounts and remember multiple passwords.

Originally Posted by kevinski

Anyone who wants price matching should consider what price comparisons and such have done to other online stores. I don't know about you, but I like being able to see the price of a game without having to add it to my cart. Sites do this because their products won't sell as well as higher prices when consumers can easily use price comparison engines to find better prices. The solution to this issue is hiding the price.

The sale I am talking about is at Amazon.com. The price is known on the game I am wanting before adding it to the cart.

Originally Posted by kevinski

If Steam and other digital distribution services start to offer price matching, then I can guarantee you that the usability of the service will decrease in accordance.

I have no idea what you mean by this statement. When Steam does "not" price match software they, potentially, lose sales. BFBC2:Vietnam is $14.99 on Steam right now. Its $4.99 on Amazon.com sale right now. There is no way in hell I am going to pay a 200% premium on a game because it's 'convenient'. Most average people probably won't either. Unless the majority of people are like you and have extra money to pay for multiple copies of multiple games. Im guessing most people arent like you. I apologize once again for using the word 'loyalty'. That was wrong of me.

[icedragon770]

yes they should match cause if i was looking on amazon always cheap i brought books textbook on amazon cause it way cheaper then other place yea because i take cheap stuff over loyalty. i go with sale because in this economy u save some could help u in the future when unknow stuff happens.

[Larry1212]

The only game i've ever seen STEAM try and match or compete in price was Alan Wake with GMG and even at that i'm not entirely sure they were trying to one up GMG.

From what I recall GMG sold it about €5 cheaper and that was the Collector's Edition. STEAM launched the game at €32 with the CE thrown in for free for the first week but after 30minutes they added a 10% or 20% discount. Half an hour later Green Man Gaming threw down a 20% off for any horror game(Including Alan Wake) which brought the game's price down considerably.

Haven't seen any more of this practice since then but it was nice seeing some sort of competitive practice.

[Mr SmokesAlot]

I remain loyal to my wallet and I choose to buy where it's cheaper. I'm baffled why you choose steam over your wallet.

[DeductiveReason]

I concur completely. Right now I can think of at least two games that I would purchase immediately if Steam offered price matching, even if they just matched Amazon's digital download prices they would get way more sales.

I don't buy games unless they are on sale. If Steam wants to consistently receive my business they need to offer competitive prices.

[ChrisW]

Valve does not set the price of games on Steam as they are not the people selling the games. The very people responsible for the low price on other sites are the same people that set the price high on Steam. They do this on purpose because they do not want to sell games on Steam! They want you to purchase a retail copy of the game. If the retail publisher had their way, none of these games would be available on any digital store ever.

[j4w4]

Originally Posted by ChrisW

Valve does not set the price of games on Steam as they are not the people selling the games. The very people responsible for the low price on other sites are the same people that set the price high on Steam. They do this on purpose because they do not want to sell games on Steam! They want you to purchase a retail copy of the game. If the retail publisher had their way, none of these games would be available on any digital store ever.

You lost me on this one. Maybe if you provided an example I could understand better. Electronic Arts is the publisher of BFBC2:Vietnam. The "digital download" for the "core" game is $5 on sale. To purchase just the "keycode" for the expansion on Amazon.com is $5, again, on sale. Why would EA try to stop sales on Steam by setting their prices high and try to foster sales on Amazon.com by setting them low? The only way your statement would make sense is if Amazon.com takes a much smaller cut of the sale than Steam does. In the case of BFBC2 and its expansion being sold for $5 a piece, Steam(Valve Software) would have to be snatching a premium in excess of 200% on all sales of the BF games through Steam for EA to want to foster sales through Amazon.com versus Steam. And then they would simply be pricematching and not necessarily making a profit.
Doesn't Electronic Arts have a say so when it comes to which digital download services they will allow to distribute their software? If they don't want to use Steam, why would they?

[ChrisW]

EA is a retail publisher. Their entire reason for being is to sell retail copies of games. They make all their money selling retail copies of games. This is why they force high prices on Steam. If they allowed prices to be cheap digitally, everyone would purchase digital copies instead of retail. Since nobody would be purchasing retail copies of the game, developers would have no need to sign a contract with retail publishers.

The only way places like Amazon can sell those games so cheap is if the retail publisher sells those games to them for even less. If you calculate the price they must be charging, you will notice this means the game developers are getting almost nothing. Believe me, if game developers absolutely did not need retail publishers, they would just sell their games themselves directly through Steam and keep most of the money for themselves.

The retail publisher will have in their contract a certain period of time where they are essentially given a monopoly on price. This allows them to stamp lots of retail disks and gain large orders from places like Amazon. Since they ensure the price is high on Steam, they can sell lots of games via retail and pocket most of the money. After a few weeks, the contract will expire and the developers are free to sell their games for a reasonable price digitally. This is why EA was allowed to sell millions of copies of Portal 2 on Amazon while Steam was forced to charge full price. The result was that EA probably made more money than Valve for their own game.

[masterchef341]

Originally Posted by j4w4

I, like you, simply find it more convenient to purchase all my games in one place so I don't have to create multiple accounts and remember multiple passwords.

In that case, steam is providing a service to you by managing all your games in one place. If that service has a value to you, then you should be willing to pay for it relative to how much you value that service against the dollar.

If you're using steam to manage all your games, you would probably be willing to spend $10.01 to buy the game on steam if it were offered elsewhere for $10.00. You might even be willing to pay $11, or even more. The reality of the situation is that the notion of buying games on steam does hold extra value for a lot of consumers, and if Valve price matches then they give away their ability to collect that value.

[j4w4]

Originally Posted by masterchef341

In that case, steam is providing a service to you by managing all your games in one place. If that service has a value to you, then you should be willing to pay for it relative to how much you value that service against the dollar.

If you're using steam to manage all your games, you would probably be willing to spend $10.01 to buy the game on steam if it were offered elsewhere for $10.00. You might even be willing to pay $11, or even more. The reality of the situation is that the notion of buying games on steam does hold extra value for a lot of consumers, and if Valve price matches then they give away their ability to collect that value.

I completely agree with you. I am willing to pay a small price to have all my games available through one service. But I think we can all agree that as the 'premium' we pay rises for purchasing a game through Steam versus another service, our inclination to purchase through Steam diminishes. It's all what anybody wants in the end. Im not willing to pay a 200% premium. Thank God for competition. Amazon, here I come.