Sony’s Andrew House has been talking to GI.Biz and was asked about the pricing of PlayStation Vita in Europe and he specifically mentions the UK.
“IÂ think we need to do a better job of explaining issues around sales tax as well. The fact of the matter is the UK price will have 20 per cent VAT included in that, the US price by contrast in LA is without the sales tax included.
If you’re buying it in California you can add another 9 per cent thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
The 3G version of Vita has an estimated UK price of £279 of which a whopping £46.50 is tax.
Andrew also revealed that the PlayStation branded 3D monitor shown at E3 will be making its way to Europe.
He also commented on the news that the footage used to promote the Wii U was taken from PlayStation games, “The only thing I’ve got to say is mimicry is the highest form of flattery.”
When questioned about the global launch of PlayStation Vita the Sony Europe boss gave a good explanation as to why Sony have yet to reveal the launch schedule.
“There’s a very good and sensible reason why we haven’t clarified exact timing in regions and geographies, and that’s as you know, we were significantly impacted by the events of March 11 in Japan.
We’ve undertaken, across Sony but also SCEE, a significant assessment of impact on our supply chain and what we think the long or medium term impact is going to be.
Once we’ve completed that assessment and have a full understanding of what our supply chain looks like then we’ll be in a position to be more specific about launch in specific regions.”
Source: GI.Biz
bacon_nuts
reeeeally want the 3D monitor…
Death_In_Flamez
Lets look at the facts though….If the Vita is badly priced on release here in the UK, Sony will not get sales. No sales will inevitably mean a price drop, they’ll be forced to do so. I believe though the retailer sales will definitley come into play here. Just look at the 3DS, I believe the RRP was £229.99 and at Morrisons less than a month after it was £179.99. If your not willing, like myself, to not pay the price its currently at then just wait it out :)
hazelam
but the us price converted to euros and puns is 207 and 183 respectively.
that just about a hundred quid more expensive, the 55 quid tax doesn’t account for all of that.
wilboss
Hi guys, not wanting to sound anal here but as someone who works with VAT I can tell you your figures are a bit out.
£55.80 is 20% of £279, but that isn’t the VAT amount.
If £279 is the final price including VAT, then the base price is £232.50 and adding on 20% of that base price (£46.50) for VAT gives the £279 total.
£46.50 is still a lot of tax, but it isn’t £55.80 :)
#foreveralone
JesseDeya
Thank god someone else can do basic math. Kudos.
InternationalGamer
I find it fairly ironic how everyone in the UK is complaining, not saying it is a bad thing, but you people in the UK have it easy compared to people living in Denmark like I used to. $105 for a new game in Denmark. $480 for a 160gb(or 120gb) PS3 system.
You think thats bad, don’t get me started on the prices in Turkey, the place I’m living now. $120 for a new PS3 game and 600$ for a new PS3 system, that was the price for the original PS3!
But yeah, the US is the best place for cheap games and consoles, capatilism.
feLenius
What about Eastern Europe / Post-Soviet countries?
People here makes less in a month, than UK in a week. And everything, literally everything is more expensive.
Console games and game systems costs something similar to your mentioned prices in Turkey.
And it’s like “we are in European Union”.
iucidium
Translation: you idiots buy Apple products, this is a drop in the ocean.
Foxhound_Solid
Cool..
Origami Killer
thats a lot of Tax :/ bloody government
teddym
Who else loves the “mimicry is the best form of flattery” line.
Brilliant, that’s what Nintendo’s head said when Kinect and Move were rolled out.
JesseDeya
Of course, in the US if you order on the net (ie: via Amazon) in most states it counts as an out of state purchase and you don’t pay any tax, so $249 is $249 (plus shipping, which if you’re smart you can get for free).
For example, last time I was in the US, I bought the Thrustmaster R500TS for $540 USD delivered no sales tax (as it was through Amazon and delivered to CA). At the time that was about $520 AUD (Australian Dollars), whereas the going price here in Australia is at best $729. By way of reference, what I paid in USD was £330, whereas the going rate in the UK for that wheel is £460.
TLDR; if the Vita is region free, buy from the US.
JesseDeya
*T500RS – my bad
Juelz345
Don’t think this is the approptiate site to talk about purchasing thrustmasters, kids are on here…