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[Shito]

Plus it is worth nothing that these sales aren't from "shady" 3rd party key-resellers that acquired keys through dubious means, but from Nintendo Directly.

I won't lie, If I was the developer I'd be a little annoyed (Depending on the volumes of people buying from outside their region), but you can't exactly blame a customer for taking a cheaper option when it has been presented to them, especially if it's through official channels.

You're conveniently avoiding the fact that you had to lie about living in Russia to do so, evading your own country's taxes in the process, though. ^^
I'm not by any means trying to judge people for going for the cheaper option, but let's not pretend like it's through an "official channel".

 

[daxy]

Plus it is worth nothing that these sales aren't from "shady" 3rd party key-resellers that acquired keys through dubious means, but from Nintendo Directly.

I won't lie, If I was the developer I'd be a little annoyed (Depending on the volumes of people buying from outside their region), but you can't exactly blame a customer for taking a cheaper option when it has been presented to them, especially if it's through official channels.

Where do you think those 'shady resellers' get their keys from and how they're able to sell games so much cheaper? Same thing as you're doing now. Do you really that they're stealing hundreds of thousands of people's credit card data to... launder money by selling you game keys? Over and over again for each new major release? What you're doing now is probably just as shady and exploitative in the grand scheme.

The problem is that publishers can catch on and shaft Russian [any country with lower purchasing power] customers by raising the price on their next game or making the store region locked--even Steam has done this now.

 

[Shiggy]

There's nothing shady involved here. Companies do the same on a daily base: purchase and produce goods where they face the lowest costs. Now, when customers suddenly decide to do it, it's shady? Do some of you also never buy games during a sale, because you need to support developers with the full price?


But yeah, after this, the next Sonic game will only be in Russian because sales on the Russian store were so high

 

[daxy]

There's nothing shady involved here. Companies do the same on a daily base: purchase and produce goods where they face the lowest costs. Now, when customers suddenly decide to do it, it's shady? Do some of you also never buy games during a sale, because you need to support developers with the full price?


But yeah, after this, the next Sonic game will only be in Russian because sales on the Russian store were so high

It's about acting in good faith now that we can access regional stores. The prices are lower in other regions to reflect relative market prices and purchasing power.

 

[Shito]

There's nothing shady involved here. Companies do the same on a daily base: purchase and produce goods where they face the lowest costs.

Your analogy is broken: do you plan on relocating to Russia like companies have to do in order to legally produce goods in cheaper countries? Are you planning on declaring your imports like they have to do when purchasing goods in another country?

 

[Shiggy]

It's about acting in good faith. The prices are lower in other regions to reflect relative market prices and purchasing power.

Yet companies move to those countries to reduce wages and increase profits. Customers can now do the same and save money.

Companies aren't your friends.

Your analogy is broken: do you plan on relocating to Russia like companies have to do in order to legally produce goods in cheaper countries? Are you planning on declaring your imports like they have to do when purchasing goods in another country?

Thanks to the digital era, there's no need to do that anymore.

 

[oti]

Spaciba.

 

[King_Moc]

It's about acting in good faith now that we can access regional stores. The prices are lower in other regions to reflect relative market prices and purchasing power.

Developers take advantage of globalisation all the time. I don't see why the customer shouldn't.

 

[Steve McQueen]

Plus it is worth nothing that these sales aren't from "shady" 3rd party key-resellers that acquired keys through dubious means, but from Nintendo Directly.

I won't lie, If I was the developer I'd be a little annoyed (Depending on the volumes of people buying from outside their region), but you can't exactly blame a customer for taking a cheaper option when it has been presented to them, especially if it's through official channels.

You're right. It's bought from Nintendo directly. I suppose they set the price for Sonic on their Russian E-Shop.

 

[daxy]

Yet companies move to those countries to reduce wages and increase profits. Customers can now do the same and save money.

Companies aren't your friends.

That's not what I'm saying at all? If we equate this to the prisoner's game, acting in this way is equivalent to choosing to cheat the other player all the time instead of playing nice and letting both parties reap the benefits of an open system.

 

[Shito]

Yet companies move to those countries to reduce wages and increase profits. Customers can now do the same and save money.

They do so legally.

Thanks to the digital era, there's no need to do that anymore.

The digital era doesn't make taxes and laws magically disappear.

 

[Shiggy]

They do so legally.

Luckily, so does everyone buying from the Russian eShop. Or do you now want to tell me that it's illegal to use shops in countries in which you aren't physically based?

The digital era doesn't make taxes and laws magically disappear.

If I contract a freelancer to produce art in Russia, then I personally don't have to pay taxes in Russia and also don't need to be based there.

Also, for importing a service/digital good at the price of this game, there are no taxes to be paid in Germany (it's below 22 EUR).

 

[//DEVIL//]

i tried using this. it didnt allow me to change country because it said i have funds. ... oh well lol

 

[HandsomeCharles]

You're conveniently avoiding the fact that you had to lie about living in Russia to do so, evading your own country's taxes in the process, though. ^^
I'm not by any means trying to judge people for going for the cheaper option, but let's not pretend like it's through an "official channel".

I created a separate account to buy it. At no point did it ask me for any address details. It simply asked me to set a region and did not ask me if I lived in that region. It is not illegal for me to buy things from other countries. From a tax standpoint, all the required tax was paid on this item via Russian sales tax. No goods were physically imported so it was not subject to customs + revenue as it is a digital good and not subject to import VAT (Source), which is irrelevant anyway, as even if it were a physical item the cost of does not meet the customs threshold for the UK (£120) or the import VAT threshold (£18). So you can take those claims of "tax evasion" and shove them up your arse, thank you very much.

Where do you think those 'shady resellers' get their keys from and how they're able to sell games so much cheaper? Same thing as you're doing now. Do you really that they're stealing hundreds of thousands of people's credit card data to... launder money by selling you game keys? Over and over again for each new major release? What you're doing now is probably just as shady and exploitative in the grand scheme.

They get their keys from regional distributors at a lower than RRP price. I am buying the key directly from the retailer (Who is also the distributor) at RRP.

 

[King_Moc]

You're conveniently avoiding the fact that you had to lie about living in Russia to do so, evading your own country's taxes in the process, though. ^^
I'm not by any means trying to judge people for going for the cheaper option, but let's not pretend like it's through an "official channel".

So exactly like a whole bunch of corporations that operate in my country then? If the loophole exists for them, then you can be damn sure I'm using it too.

 

[boswell22]

Is it possible to do this without owning a Switch?

I'll be getting one in the coming months but would be happy to jump on this now.

 

[Rune Corp]

Is it possible to do this without owning a Switch?

I'll be getting one in the coming months but would be happy to jump on this now.

It tells you to log onto your Switch if you try to go to the checkout on PC (or at least it does for me).

Also, the page shows RUB 699 by default but when I Google Translate the page it changes to EUR 18. Is that normal?

 

[la_briola]

You're conveniently avoiding the fact that you had to lie about living in Russia to do so, evading your own country's taxes in the process, though. ^^
I'm not by any means trying to judge people for going for the cheaper option, but let's not pretend like it's through an "official channel".

Should I also delete the MHXX demo since I lied (?!) about living in Japan?

edit: good post by HandsomeCharles

 

[GamePlay Johnny]

This is like Switch tax returns.

 

[Charles Brandon]

I agree with Shiggy. The game industry will stiff you and rob you whichever way it can, there are examples beyond count of unfair pricing between countries, dubious DLC, rip-off special editions, misleading claims, bad customer service etc etc. These companies won't think twice about screwing you and it's all legal and we accept that because that's how commerce works, it's all about the bottom line and sometimes that means being nice to customers and sometimes it means screwing them over. That isn't entitlement, that's just life, if you don't like it, don't buy - fine. But by the same token, if there is a legal way for you to take advantage of a discount that is not meant for you, then personally, I would not hesitate.

The distributors are not stupid btw, they know they are open to this stuff. Just the cost of doing business. If they wanted to close the loophole, it wouldn't be very hard to do.

 

[HandsomeCharles]

Should I also delete the MHXX demo since I lied (?!) about living in Japan?

edit: good post by HandsomeCharles

Thanks. Should note that its only relevant to the UK however. I have no idea what other countries' laws are in regards to this kind of thing.

 

[Retro Edge]

Shows up as £15.99 for me?

Why are you doing it so complicated? Same for several others here with cache problems and more.
Just change the region on the website to Russia, press save, go to your Switch and open the store, you're automatically in the Russia store now and can buy it without problems.

This website way makes way more problems as necessary.

 

[Magypsy]

yay thanks vlad

Looking forward to playing this tonight

 

[FinalAres]

...and now I feel guilty.

Although I am digital only, so I'm paying way over the odds for my games generally, even compared to other digital stores.

Although I feel bad that Taxman and Sega got less from me for this...eesh

 

[Steve McQueen]

...and now I feel guilty.

Although I am digital only, so I'm paying way over the odds for my games generally, even compared to other digital stores.

Although I feel bad that Taxman and Sega got less from me for this...eesh

 

[KiDdYoNe]

Offtopic, but same goes for XBL version of the game and I'm pretty sure upcoming Dishonored is cheaper than US/EU. And for lots of different games.

As for Switch, we have some regional prices here and there. You can check them at psprices website, just pick Switch and choose russian flag at the top.

 

[Council Pop]

Wow, some of the moralising on this thread is bizarre.

This isn't piracy, it's just legally buying a game where it's cheaper.

I mean, when the pound was strong I bought loads of stuff from America- Nintendo DS and PSP for example, because it was much cheaper than here in the UK. It's not some sort of morally grey area, it's perfectly fine.

As far as I'm concerned, capitalism completely fucks our entire society and lives. Basically the only good thing about capitalism IMO is that I can buy some consumer goods for a bit cheaper if I shop around. I'm exploited by this economic system every single day of my life, so I have absolutely no qualms about exploiting it myself when I get the chance.

It's different if it's a tiny developer selling on Steam or whatever, but I think that SEGA is going to survive this, somehow.

 

[the_milkybar_kid]

So I've done it following the OP (thank you very much!), but my Switch is in for repair at the moment. When I get it back, do I just need to change the settings to Russian or will it do it automatically?

 

[pagrab]

Thanks OP. Good catch. I was thinking about getting it sometime in the future when the discounts hit, but I guess that I can have it for the same price day one

 

[chicken_pasta]

So I've done it following the OP (thank you very much!), but my Switch is in for repair at the moment. When I get it back, do I just need to change the settings to Russian or will it do it automatically?

Mine said I needed to log into my account before accessing the eShop. It was a straightforward process tbh.

 

[TheInternetNomad]

Just to be clear, after I purchase said game I can just change back to my native region (north America) will a purchase from a different region still be tied to my account from my real region, in other words, will I be able to re download the game without having to change regions again?

 

[The ๖ۜBronx]

Great stuff, thanks OP. Have only used the account method so far (US and Japan) as I check the stores quite often, but didn't want to set up one for RU.

Worked a treat and only took a couple of minutes. Now I have Mania on the Switch, store back to English and saved some cash.

 

[The ๖ۜBronx]

Just to be clear, after I purchase said game I can just change back to my native region (north America) will a purchase from a different region still be tied to my account from my real region, in other words, will I be able to re download the game without having to change regions again?

My Sonic download took no time at all so I just trashed it to see. Currently downloading from my normal (UK set) account now, no need to change locations again.

Edit: apologies for the double post

 

[Magypsy]

...and now I feel guilty.

Although I am digital only, so I'm paying way over the odds for my games generally, even compared to other digital stores.

Although I feel bad that Taxman and Sega got less from me for this...eesh

Buy it again on a different platform?

Also maybe Taxman doesn't get royalties so in that case he wouldn't get more or less money from you anyway

 

[LordKano]

Just to be clear, after I purchase said game I can just change back to my native region (north America) will a purchase from a different region still be tied to my account from my real region, in other words, will I be able to re download the game without having to change regions again?

Yep

 

[dallow_bg]

Is Russia's anti-LBGT government getting any revenue (tax?) from my purchase?

 

[HandsomeCharles]

Is Russia's anti-LBGT government getting any revenue (tax?) from my purchase?

Yes, but they're probably also getting it from all of mainland Europe via oil and natural gas sales.

Guess I better turn the lights out...

 

[dallow_bg]

Yes, but they're probably also getting it from all of mainland Europe via oil and natural gas sales.

Guess I better turn the lights out...

Welp, whatever I can do to contribute the least I suppose.

 

[chicken_pasta]

Is Russia's anti-LBGT government getting any revenue (tax?) from my purchase?

VAT is included in the price. This is what the email I got said

Итого
699 руб.

вкл. (вкл. НД&#1057
106 руб.

Those 106 руб go to Putin.

 

[dallow_bg]

VAT is included in the price. This is what the email I got said



Those 106 руб go to Putin.

Heh, appreciate the response.

 

[grfunkulus]

How is everyone getting this to work? Do you live in countries that issue credit cards that work on the Russian eShop? Anyone in America having success with either a Visa or an American Express?

 

[Heroman]

It's about acting in good faith now that we can access regional stores. The prices are lower in other regions to reflect relative market prices and purchasing power.

Good faith doesn't save me money

 

[HandsomeCharles]

How is everyone getting this to work? Do you live in countries that issue credit cards that work on the Russian eShop? Anyone in America having success with either a Visa or an American Express?

It doesn't work with all cards, but apparently you can use the money transfer app "Revolut" if your own cards won't work, but I have no idea how this actually works. If you're going to go that way, i would do some more research first.

 

[Retro Edge]

How is everyone getting this to work? Do you live in countries that issue credit cards that work on the Russian eShop? Anyone in America having success with either a Visa or an American Express?

My German visa worked without problems.

But didn't worked in the Mexico store when Shovel Knight was cheap.

 

[grfunkulus]

If I already changed my region to Russia, can I just redeem eShop codes and use my balance?

 

[HandsomeCharles]

If I already changed my region to Russia, can I just redeem eShop codes and use my balance?

I'm not sure, but You can't switch regions if there is balance remaining so I would advise against this

 

[duppolo]

is this working with mario kart 8?

 

[grfunkulus]

I'm not sure, but You can't switch regions if there is balance remaining so I would advise against this

Anyone know if I can redeem US eshop code through the Russian store? Probably not

 

[duckroll]

You're conveniently avoiding the fact that you had to lie about living in Russia to do so, evading your own country's taxes in the process, though. ^^
I'm not by any means trying to judge people for going for the cheaper option, but let's not pretend like it's through an "official channel".

What about people from countries where Nintendo can't even be assed to put up a proper eShop to sell anything? That includes most of Asia. While companies like Sony and MS fully dedicate themselves to being worldwide companies, Nintendo is lagging behind. I "lie" about being from Canada and pay more than I otherwise would have to just to buy digital games. So cry me a river. Companies can suck it. If they selectively choose who they want to sell games to, consumers can selectively decide where they want to buy games from. You can stan for them all you want, they're not patting you on the back or thanking you. They're just laughing their way to the bank.

 

[Fractology]

It doesn't work with all cards, but apparently you can use the money transfer app "Revolut" if your own cards won't work, but I have no idea how this actually works. If you're going to go that way, i would do some more research first.

The Revolut app is not compatible in US so this option is out as well. As far as I know, this is impossible to do in the US (unless you somehow own a card from another country). If someone knows otherwise, please let us know.