OMG an Xbox 360 costs how much in Brazil?!?!?!?

[AppliCotton]

Did you know about this?

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=679155

In short, you live in Brazil, you want an Xbox, you're shelling out the equivalent of $1,400; factoring in purchasing parity, it's more like $6,000.

I don't want to sign up for said forum just to ask the guy a question, so maybe somebody can weigh in here... Why? What is the point of such a ridiculous markup in a world where you can go on ebay, playasia, amazon, etc. etc. and just order that shit. I ordered an NTSC-J Xbox 360 250gb from playasia, it came out to €430 all told, shipping was $100 dollars and duty was €70 (assessed on the total value, shipping included).

If you're in Brazil, can you not just order a 360 off the internet? (Leaving aside for the moment the option of having someone bring one with them from the US or Europe) If so, why wouldn't people just do that, and in turn drive prices down? Even if shipping is say $200, it'd still be well under half the price! Is it a customs thing? I can't imagine how, the tariff would have to be in the area of 500% to make it not pay off. Or can you just not do it unless it's a wholesale purchase?

I'm really curious, if anyone who knows what's up can shed some light on this... And if I ever go to Brazil, I'll bring a PAL Xbox 360 and sell it without profit, because damn, that's harsh!

[isiolia]

Brazil has very heavy import taxes, so that'd be the big reason. Ordering one online, provided it was properly declared, would still mean it gets taxed.

As I understand from one of the Brazillians I used to play FFXI with, there's a grey market to get around some of it. He still had to get people to send him expansions though.

[AppleQueso]

And now you know why the Master System is still so popular there

[jfrost]

Heh, it's expensive, man. The games themselves cost about R$250 new, which is around US$120. A Wii goes for 350 dollars. A PS3 is 690 dollars, about the same price as a Xbox 360.

Brazil is crazy protectionist. We have super high taxes for electronics. We pay 121% taxes on games.

Not only taxes add to the prices but they are a huge barrier of entry to market players. Thus, not only we get to pay the taxes, we have to pay a ridiculous markup because competition is stifled.

It's a sad state of things, because most Brazilians are used to asking people to bring stuff from other countries that they can't afford in the country. It's just "normal" to ask for a friend visiting North America or Europe to bring a brand shoe or an iPad because prices here are prohibitive.

And when people come back to Brazil from a travel, they can't go above US$500 in purchases abroad. Obviously no one has ever respected this rule. So what most people do is they buy what they can, come back and pray they won't get chosen to do the Federal Police screening. If they are picked, they'll have to pay 50% in taxes over however much their stuff goes above 500 dollars.

But since we already pay so much in everything, people figure is worth the risk.

A campaign was launched recently called Jogo Justo (Fair Game) which calls for a tax cut for games.

But it's a chronic problem of Brazil. I won't even tell you how much we pay for cars. It's inhuman.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I am just curious...Do you have an income taz in Brazil as well? Or, does the government finance itself primarily through tariffs?

[AppliCotton]

Ok, so the link I posted is old I guess, so yeah, it really wouldn't be any cheaper to order it.

But wow. That's nuts. I actually learned this watching the Brazilian Street Fighter 25th Anniversary tournament, and one of the commentators is like "everybody uses pads here because arcade sticks costs like $500 and Xboxs cost like a thou" and I was like WHAAAAT!?!?! That makes it even more awesome that some unknown Brazilian player using a pad beat one of Japan's best in the finals!

Like I said, if I find myself in those parts I'll bring a couple of 360s and sell them cheap, because I feel your pain!

[jfrost]

I am just curious...Do you have an income taz in Brazil as well? Or, does the government finance itself primarily through tariffs?

There are income taxes, yes.

We have 85 taxes in Brazil. We have taxes on income, consumption, production, property, financial operations, and pretty much everything you can think of.

The overall tax rate isn't exactly Scandinavia level, but it's so confusing that most businesses spend half a year to quit their tax obligations.

Tariffs are really, really high, though. But since they disincentivize imports so much, they are not a large chunk of government revenue.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Interesting. Thanks!

[Majors]

And now you know why the Master System is still so popular there

It's the import tax that kills consoles. I have heard that TekToy manufacturers SMS in Brazil to avoid the tax. So if Sony or Microsoft built a plant within the country, it could sell PS3's and 360 with prices closer to the rest of the world.

[jfrost]

The 360 is manufactured in Brazil. It's still very expensive.