Would OzBargain support an Aussie video game CD key website that's a little more expensive than the rest?

NeggerOfDeals on 29/01/2015 - 00:46

Hey guys,

I am not going to link the store yet as I'll be making a 'grand opening' deal when it's ready. It will have a few OzBargain exclusives but I'll admit they wont be anything too special. The thing is, I have signed on with the same supplier as all the other major cd key websites. The problem? The major stores buy in 100+ bulk, effectively getting rather nice discounts. That's how they can afford to sell their keys so cheap. As a new web store, I'll be facing two problems; I wont be able to beat the other major stores prices. The second problem is that I can… once the store has done well enough to start buying in bulk. So buy making more business I can make prices cheaper. But I'd had to get the customers to pay more first. You with me so far?

So my question to OzBargain; would you support an Aussie owned and operated cd key store that will be $1-$4 more expensive than the other major stores you're used to? By supporting an Aussie business, you will avoid having to pay PayPal's exchange rates when buying in USD/Euro/etc and be giving that same Aussie business a chance to thrive. And when that business does succeed, your loyalty would be paid off with being able to buy your cd keys at cheaper (than the major stores) prices.

Regardless of your answer, I hope to have that 'grand opening' deal up in the next few days :)

Thanks,

~Will

Gaming

Comments

  • honeybadger7 on 29/01/2015 - 00:58
    +17

    I would definitely support an Aussie store, and if they are safe, legit, trustworthy and able to help me out when there is an issue then I would use it more often.

    You say $1 - 4 difference, now I'll be happy to pay that difference if its supporting Aussie owned and operated business. I would properly pay maximum of $10 if its Australian, anymore then I'll look around.

    Just out of curiosity, what range of games are you planning to sell, just the popular games or variety of games?

    • NeggerOfDeals on 29/01/2015 - 01:23

      Just out of curiosity, what range of games are you planning to sell, just the popular games or variety of games?

      Both. Just as an example, I have keys ranging from Assassin's Creed to the Alien games. The Sims to Crusader Kings II. Stuff like that. I have a "Suggest a Game" option where people can, obviously, suggest games they want to see. My supplier has certain games that you can just go ahead and make an offer, which would make it good sport to put together a group deal and buy in bulk.

      I would definitely support an Aussie store

      Thanks for the kind words :)

      • Charity on 30/01/2015 - 18:54
        +15

        Hell no!

        This is because the key-seller (middle-man) adds ZERO to the transaction. In fact adds to the COST. The games are made overseas anyways. The internet doesn't need an aussie gatekeeper. Hell no!

        Make a local tangible product and maybe we can do business.

    • ShiKu on 29/01/2015 - 17:56
      +5

      I agree wit you, especially on the safe/trustworthy note. The whole reason why I don't buy keys online is wholly because I don't know the site, if I have an issue chances are (knowing my luck with online buys) they won't help.

      And for a few dollars more, I don't mind as long as the service is good. Better to have my money go to an Aussie business than one overseas.

    • SirFlibbled on 10/02/2015 - 12:13

      It's worth the extra $1-4 for coverage under the Australian Consumer Law. No bullshit about no refunds for digital goods if it's faulty or the game isn't fit for purpose.

  • smpantsonfire on 29/01/2015 - 01:03
    +67

    No, people want the cheapest possible.

    • c0balt on 29/01/2015 - 21:56
      +18

      When it comes to digital delivery a lot of us are even willing to use VPNs and other methods to get it as cheap as possible.

      I want to support the devs, not the middle man.

    • Hikey on 30/01/2015 - 15:42

      This is Ozbargain

  • Almost Banned on 29/01/2015 - 01:10
    +21

    I wish you well - but if I were in the market for game keys I would be buying based on price.
    If you are not the cheapest you will have to find some other way to distinguish yourself. It might be the 'Australian' thing, it might be service, it might be something else - but it needs to be something.

    • NeggerOfDeals on 29/01/2015 - 01:24

      but it needs to be something.

      You have inadvertently given me an idea for that 'something'. Will mention you in the Deal if something comes of it :)

      • Almost Banned on 29/01/2015 - 12:23
        -1

        Yay for me.
        Do I get anything other than the 'mention'?

        • NeggerOfDeals on 29/01/2015 - 13:49
          +2

          How about a discount? :D

  • Davo1111 on 29/01/2015 - 02:19
    +10

    I go for lowest price and reasonable safety.

    • edgar28 on 30/01/2015 - 18:55

      yeah 4 dollars for safety and service if the cost is 40 and above.
      I would and I did before (sorry for failing as ozbargainer —> to some)

      but if the cost is 2 dollars and you are 4 dollars more…… i would say sorry…..

  • ozhunter on 29/01/2015 - 02:34
    +13

    you will avoid having to pay PayPal's exchange rates when buying in USD/Euro/etc

    It doesn't really matter if you you pay Paypal's exchange rate if they are still cheaper overall.

    • lolmao on 30/01/2015 - 13:30

      or if you are using 28 degrees or similar

  • the-mal on 29/01/2015 - 07:08
    +24

    For any non-tangible / electronic item I'll purchase on cost alone. I will and do pay more for Aussie made and owned, but you're asking us to pay more because you don't have the buying power of other stores, it's got nothing to do with higher Aus manufacturing or anything like that.

    You'll have to compete with the big companies like everyone else and either operate in a niche or offer some points of difference.

    I'm sure you can think of a unique angle that'll set you apart. Use that to justify the marginal cost difference.

    • [Deactivated] on 29/01/2015 - 13:59
      +4

      Exactly this, it's not Aussie made so you will still be paying the wholesale cost overseas so it doesn't really make much difference whether I pay the $5 overseas or you pay the $5 overseas for me. Really it would be more like lining your pockets. It would stay Australian in my pockets.

      Having said that, the most important thing brought to light is to make sure the keys are AUTHORISED and NOT STOLEN or PURCHASED WITH STOLEN CREDIT CARDS. You need to do your due diligence also.

      If you need more volume to get better prices than we can get ourselves overseas, consider putting on some group buys.

      • NeggerOfDeals on 29/01/2015 - 14:11

        Let me link you this: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/180900#comment-2536393

        And quote this:

        I would love to work with OzBargain to get cheaper prices for everything, so I'll message the mods about group deals and see if we can lower the price on some these games :)

        I'll definitely be looking into group buys.

  • blitz on 29/01/2015 - 09:51
    +11

    Look I'm sorry to say that even if I was into buying game keys, I wouldn't buy from you for the reasons you state.

    But I'd had to get the customers to pay more first. You with me so far?

    This is the case with every business: "I could make a fortune if only I could get a lot of people to pay me more than market rate!". You're asking us to support an inefficient model, for no real benefit. I do believe in supporting Australian stores and happily pay extra to do so but (a) you yourself are not supporting Australian stores and (b) my money would leave the country immediately anyway - it's just that it would go through your hands first.

    • altomic on 29/01/2015 - 10:22
      +1

      maybe if the OP only sold keys for Australian made gaming software?

      • shadowarrior on 29/01/2015 - 12:59

        Sure I can help him with that.

    • NeggerOfDeals on 29/01/2015 - 13:37

      (a) you yourself are not supporting Australian stores

      You are correct at this point in time. It has always been my dream to have an actual physical video game store, but with how everything is at the moment (economy, loan rates, etc), I thought it would be best to start small. The point I'm making is that when it comes the time to open a physical store, it will be here in Australia and will be going head to head against JB, EB, Target and all the other stores. A few months back, I came to this forum asking what sort of games people wanted to see at low prices, because back then I was preparing to open that physical store. I decided against a physical store back then because I wanted to get my company out there (on the internets) before opening a physical store no one has heard of. So you will indeed be supporting Aussie store(s) in the future :)

      • p1 ama on 29/01/2015 - 20:13
        +3

        It has always been my dream to have an actual physical video game store, but with how everything is at the moment (economy, loan rates, etc), I thought it would be best to start small.

        I'm really sorry to be a downer, I know nobody likes it, but this is more a pipe dream than anything realistic. I honestly can never imagine you being able to make a decent living by owning a video games store.

        Given that everything is going online these days, you'd be hard pressed to even get customers. PC games are completely out of the equation, everyone uses Steam or Origin. The only games you're looking at selling, then, are console games and you'd have to compete against the big guys there.

      • TheBird on 30/01/2015 - 12:02

        There is a market for a physical store that has great customer service. The problem you'll have is for most of what you'll sell (essentially a commodity), people care most about price and convenience. For physical stores that has more to do with geography.

        For computer gaming, you're in for a world of hurt. You can earn a decent living, but you'll always be chasing your own tail working out how to do it (differentiate or add value).

        As for CD keys, I have no idea. I haven't ever bought a CD key. My wife console games a bit, so I also assume she wouldn't be interested.

        Edit: If you do choose to open a store, I wish you the best of luck.

        • p1 ama on 30/01/2015 - 14:49
          +1

          There is a market for a physical store that has great customer service.

          Great customer service comes into play when you're selling things that are of high worth and things which break often.

          Video games certainly do not require great customer service. You walk into a store knowing what game you want to buy and what the price is, you buy it, pay for it and leave. To be honest, I'd prefer a store such as BigW where staff just stay out of my way so I can find what I need and get out ASAP.

          It's not like buying a car or buying funiture. Video games are cheap, they are commodity items, almost in the same way as you don't need great service when purchasing groceries or chocolates.

  • Gunther on 29/01/2015 - 10:17
    +4

    I am the same, if its a game key I will buy on cost alone.

    28 Degrees mitigates the risk of exchange rates etc

    • NeggerOfDeals on 29/01/2015 - 13:39

      This is indeed true! However, not everyone has a 28 Degrees card or even a credit card at that.

      • ShiKu on 29/01/2015 - 17:58

        I agree, I don't own a 28 degrees card and often don't want to buy from overseas. However, the exchange rate fees don't really concern me too much if I know it's going to be a good product.

  • wonderboy on 29/01/2015 - 11:23

    Can you give estimates on your prices? You say $1-$4 more but CD Key sites have a vast range of prices. I've bought CD keys ranging from $30-$50 on release.

    • NeggerOfDeals on 29/01/2015 - 13:49

      I'll be happy to list a few.

      Shadow of Mordor is currently at AUD$23.70 while you can get it at cdkeys.com for AU$28.55 (after currency conversion).

      Assassin's Creed: Black Flag (Xbox One) is at $13.90 which is at cdkeys.com currently at AU$5.74 (after currency conversion). I don't know why they're doing it, but they're selling it at a rather big loss; AU$3.87 to be exact.

      The Sims 3 (+2 DLC) is $2. These are left over keys from my previous ventures into the cd key business. This is the cheapest price world wide unless someone is giving it away for basically free.

      I believe I'll be able to have Dying Light for just under $55. I would love to work with OzBargain to get cheaper prices for everything, so I'll message the mods about group deals and see if we can lower the price on some these games :)

  • Innately Incognito on 29/01/2015 - 11:26
    +7

    Hmm. Personally I don't particularly care whether it's Aussie owned/operated. However, I do care about things like customer service, timeliness of delivery, and safety of my purchase - in which case being Australian may offer an advantage.

    Usually feel safer buying from businesses/companies with an ABN/ACN although in certain situations that has proven to be entirely incorrect (cough CPL cough).

  • pernunz on 29/01/2015 - 12:30
    +1

    Being able to provide support during Australian business hours is a positive.

    Perhaps you can point out the benefits of buying Australian on your site (including tax revenue)

    You could also run a charity drive ($5 from each purchase will be donated to x charity) and donate it through the business as a tax deduction to increase initial exposure (I'm thinking, if you buy a GTA game you could donate money to womens shelters, for example, or any war game has some funds donated to RSL/Veterans Affairs)

    I'm sure some people would be happy to contribute to an Australian business, but you have to make some more incentives.

    • NeggerOfDeals on 29/01/2015 - 13:28

      You could also run a charity drive

      This is the idea that I came up with after reading Blaircam's post. It would be percentage as not all games bring in the same profit. But I really do like the idea of donating to certain charities for certain game purchases. Thanks.

    • NeggerOfDeals on 29/01/2015 - 13:32

      Am sorry, but I will be reporting your posts till you can show proof that you are an authorized game reseller via the Publishers

      Not sure if you're trolling or not, but I will respond; the keys I will be selling are from an authorised distributor who will only sell to your company after they have approved your identity, ABN, tax forms, etc. Don't think I'm just jumping in without doing my research :)

      :EDIT: You have been downvoted, but would like to say it wasn't me. I was and am happy to respond to you or anybody else with similar concerns.

      • shadowarrior on 29/01/2015 - 14:50

        All my posts about buying keys from re-sellers get downvoted, nothing new to me about that :)

        However, am not trolling, pretty serious questions and opinion.

        So your source is not Kinguin or G2A or Kinguin or similar? We, as well as plenty of other developers and publishers in the industry ban/revoke product keys obtained/re-sold from these two key re-sell distributors. For an end user, there's no way to find out till after X months their game is simply revoked from their Steam/Origin/Ubisoft account.

        • NeggerOfDeals on 29/01/2015 - 15:03

          So your source is not Kinguin or G2A or Kinguin or similar?

          Correct. I wont buy keys off another store just to resell. Mine come from an authorised and legitment company based out of the UAE.

        • blitz on 29/01/2015 - 22:04
          -1

          @Dagmar:

          based out of the UAE

          Huh.

        • Tyrx on 30/01/2015 - 12:09

          @Dagmar:

          Who is this supposedly authorized distributor? If they're an actual legitimate vendor they wouldn't be able to supply many AAA titles. The large publishers such as Ubisoft and EA enforce clauses in their distribution contracts which forbid the wholesale of games beyond their intended market.

        • NeggerOfDeals on 30/01/2015 - 12:09

          Huh.

          I'll rephrase; they're a company that originated in the UAE and they have offices all around Asia/Australia.

        • NeggerOfDeals on 31/01/2015 - 01:03

          Who is this supposedly authorized distributor?

          I hope you don't expect me to tell you who my supplier is…

        • Tyrx on 31/01/2015 - 11:19
          -4

          @Dagmar:

          So it's an unauthorized supplier. Right, expect the down-votes to come in droves once you start posting "deals".

        • NeggerOfDeals on 31/01/2015 - 12:20
          +2

          Walk into JB HIFI, ask them who their supplier is. They'll give you the same answer as anyone else; no. Just because I refuse to tell you who my supplier is, effectively stopping you from going around me and buying it at wholesale price, you're going to downvote my deals? It's not like there is a system to stop inappropriate use of neg votes.

        • NeggerOfDeals on 31/01/2015 - 12:28
          +4

          Tyrx, could you please let me know who GameFly/Direct2Drive's supplier is? You did post a deal a year ago which got nothing but positive votes. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/132034

        • Tyrx on 01/02/2015 - 11:00

          @Dagmar:

          Oh please. Both D2D and GameFly are owned by legitimate companies that have been marked as the official retailer of numerous titles. Furthermore, they used to be owned by IGN. Both of them deal directly with publishers. They have no need to go through regional distributors who are tasked with physical retail copies.

          I also hate to break it to you, but digital game distribution works very differently to physical retail products. Companies typically use other companies to distribute physical goods in countries because it isn't usually efficient for them to do it themselves for various reasons (logistics, taxes, etc). In contrast, digital distribution is very easy for game publishers and developers to deal with directly as they just need to send or input the list of their keys and the game files to the online vendor. There's no need for another middle man so the developers/publishers cut it out and deal directly with the store such as Steam or D2D/GameFly.

          I know you're going to say "b-but I'm using a RETAILER as my suppler!!!", so I need to make this clear once again. The regional retail distributors sign contracts with retailers that forbid them from wholesaling the products to businesses in other regions. Your supplier is a shopfront that deals with that regional retail distributor (or god-forbid, a retailer that buys off another retailer). They are not allowed to sell products to another business. This isn't the case for all distributors, but the ones for the major publishers/developers do enforce such contracts.

          There's a reason why operating a CD key reselling business is illegal in the EU. If you wanted a citation on that, check out ECJ case no. 16 O 73/13. The only people that are willing to break contracts (if they even had one in the first place) and sell you your keys are fraudsters, money launders and scam artists.

          In refernce to the whole downvote thing, the current OzBargain voting guidelines allow for users to downvote deals based on the vendor being deceitful. This site tends to have consumers that are more aware of business practices than your average joe, so there's some people that will automatically downvote stores like the one you're hoping to setup. This isn't the best site to peddle your illegitimate/stolen/fraudulent goods. Good luck finding other places to advertise, because key resellers are are banned from the majority of gaming forums / deal sites.

        • NeggerOfDeals on 01/02/2015 - 13:04
          -1

          This site tends to have consumers that are more aware of business practices than your average joe, so there's some people that will automatically downvote stores like the one you're hoping to setup. This isn't the best site to peddle your illegitimate/stolen/fraudulent goods.

          I honest to God hope you can back up your claims about my keys being stolen and or fraudulent. Otherwise you're just slandering a business that hasn't even been opened yet. Thank you for citing laws from the EU, they were most helpful. I'm done debating this with you, I have reported your comment because all you're doing is slandering a business that you don't even know anything about. I refused and still refuse to reveal who my supplier is. If I do sell stolen keys and they're removed from customers accounts, I'll be out of business real quick. Stop being a keyboard warrior and show some solid proof.

  • Doggiie on 29/01/2015 - 15:03
    +4

    I buy Australian goods if they are Australian made. However, you are basically an onseller of cd keys, which are cannot really be differentiated as an Australian product instead of an international product. To make matters worse, there isn't a sticker on the virtual item which makes you proud you feed an Australian for a day, it's just… a sequence of numbers and letters to unlock a game on Steam or whatever other platform (looking at you Origin).

    I do wish you the best and hope you prove me wrong, because we really do need some extra Australian businesses.

  • stringbean402 on 29/01/2015 - 17:32
    +3

    Your going about this wrong.

    You need to basically sell at 0% margin so you can remain competitive until your business builds enough scale to get supplier discounts for bulk qty purchases. Once you have scale you make money the same money the bigger players do.

    Until then suck it up princess, welcome to the world of business. Nobody could care less that your an Aussie store, there is no real added value in the transaction for being so.

    • johndowy on 30/01/2015 - 11:03
      +1

      I don't get the down votes.

      • stringbean402 on 30/01/2015 - 17:03

        Reality bites

        • hayne on 30/01/2015 - 17:47
          +2

          Your comment is spot on. In fact - you may need to be willing to lose money to gain share.

          P.S. It might be the last comment that earned you the down-votes

        • Ughhh on 31/01/2015 - 12:26
          +1

          Lots of people neg because its something they dont like to hear, even though its true.

    • currentfad on 30/01/2015 - 17:30
      +2

      Unfortunately if a small competitor like this were to come out and sell at 0% margin, those major competitors will be willing to sell at a negative margin to kick them out of the market.

      Still, you are right and I have no idea why you're getting negged.

      • hayne on 30/01/2015 - 17:51
        +1

        Well, it depends. If you're EB or Target and an individual started up a virtual store selling at 0% margin, the major competitors probably wouldn't care. Especially as some in this case would be US retailers. They're not going to change their entire pricing policy because someone in Australia has started selling at low prices to build a small business.

        If another major retailer or a disruptor backed by serious capital started coming in and did the same thing, then yes.

  • NeggerOfDeals on 29/01/2015 - 18:48
    +1

    If you get this far done, I would like to thank you for reading through this post and considering the question. Feel free to jump in, but I've taken everything into account at this point in time. It's been great to hear peoples thoughts and opinions. I hope to see you all at my digital grand opening in a few days time :)

  • chipstss on 29/01/2015 - 19:25
    +2
    1. Accept PayPal
    2. Deliver it instantly
    • jackary on 31/01/2015 - 17:30

      Oh great, so the OzB community can whinge about getting scammed, yet ignore the OBVIOUS risk this would pose to the seller. If he did this he would be out of business in days. Digital vouchers are fraught with fraud.

      • NeggerOfDeals on 31/01/2015 - 17:48

        I'm not too sure I follow you, Jackary. What do you mean by "if he did this, he would be out of business"?

      • chipstss on 01/02/2015 - 01:22

        Are implying PayPal refunds or something would screw him over?

        • jackary on 01/02/2015 - 10:08

          I'm saying there is a thriving market of stolen PayPal accounts available rather easily via TOR etc, which are then in turn used for things like vouchers, as they are a low value item unlikely to trip PayPals fraud systems etc, and then resell them. Much like stolen credit cards.

        • NeggerOfDeals on 01/02/2015 - 12:59

          True, but I have put (and putting more) systems in place to stop keys from being bought with stolen accounts. Will elaborate on this at launch.

        • johnno07 on 02/02/2015 - 11:33
          +1

          @Dagmar: Can I suggest the "email a picture of your photo ID" form of account verification is a really annoying hurdle. I have been ready to buy a game from a CD key website (as they were the cheapest) and I got hit with this ID verification thing. I promptly cancelled the order and bought it from the next cheapest place (which was about 10% more). It wasn't worth the hassle or risk of sending a copy of my licence to someone I didn't necessarily trust.

  • Azn310 on 29/01/2015 - 22:05

    Maybe if you get your marketings right, you can succeed. Say for instance, super user-friendly web design, security, bonus for returning customer, price matching to lure new customers or even as simple as a good site name (store name). No ones gonna remember 'hey i got my cd keys from dagmaaussieonlinecdkey.com.au'

    You have to play it so right that it seems you are the one and only in australia.

  • rgr on 29/01/2015 - 22:22

    Hey Dagmar,

    This is a great idea, and we definitely need something local and reliable. I would love to help you out when it finally opens up with customer service stuff. Send me a PM if you would like a free hand.

    • NeggerOfDeals on 30/01/2015 - 12:12

      Thank you! I'll message you later :)

      • rgr on 30/01/2015 - 14:58

        No probs mate.

  • smpantsonfire on 29/01/2015 - 22:23

    You don't even have to market yourself as Australian. You are really only limiting your market.

  • [Deactivated] on 29/01/2015 - 22:40

    I would,
    actually Will could you leave a poll at the end of this post please? hard to read all the comments.
    and congratulations

  • maybeamacy on 30/01/2015 - 16:23
    +1

    No, not for intangible goods.

  • devilishm on 30/01/2015 - 17:16
    -2

    Maybe just a naïve way of thinking, but I don't see any point in supporting Australian retailers. All they're basically doing is getting their goods from producers/manufacturers at a price (imported or not) and ripping consumers off by jacking up the price.

    Thus when it comes to retailers I would support the ones who rips off consumers the least.

  • Aceboy884 on 30/01/2015 - 22:21

    it is not ripping people off, a business is there to make money

    if they don't make money they are not in business.

    as for point of difference, there is not much for digital goods.

    Unlike physical goods, at least you can expect faster delivery time buying local

    but the currency will work in the aussie seller favor, considering the AUD dropped 30% from $1USD

    If you still struggle to compete with the currency advantage then it's probably not a viable business to begin with.

    • devilishm on 31/01/2015 - 00:10

      There are businesses that makes money through well deserved effort and hard work, and businesses that makes money just because there is an arbitrage i.e. money makes money. I view retailers in the latter category. They do not add value to the local economy. All they do is find this arbitrage and take advantage of this, at the expense of local/internation consumers/producers. It is for this reason I do not support this category. Retailers fall into these.

      • johnno07 on 02/02/2015 - 11:36

        I assume you've never worked in bricks and mortar retail, devilshm. 7/10 customers have NFI what they want/need/are looking for. Honestly, you're providing a service just figuring out what they are trying to tell you.

      • Aceboy884 on 03/02/2015 - 23:44

        Good luck growing your own vegetables or driving to the farm to source your food.

  • johnno07 on 31/01/2015 - 09:23
    +6

    Appreciate what you're trying to do, but you're not the person I want to support - the developers deserve my money. I wish more of my cash went to them instead of first to the retailer, then to the wholesaler, then to the publisher - not to mention all the other middle-men.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 31/01/2015 - 09:43
    +3

    Aussies didnt support the makers of Aussie cars, washing machines, fridges etc. Doubt you'll win playing the 'Aussie' card selling online cd keys.

    • edgar28 on 01/02/2015 - 13:51
      +1

      Aussie made cars are heavily subsidize by tax payer….. it's not sustainable.

  • imahapyboy on 31/01/2015 - 23:47

    No, i am a tight ass, i only care how much i spend!

  • centrelink on 01/02/2015 - 12:38
    +4

    You might as well sell to billions rather than just Australian. Why limit your audience to a country?

  • zhenjie on 01/02/2015 - 20:07
    +2

    You're price difference will almost always be > 10% for the mere fact you will be charging GST soon enough.

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