Did the HB Monthly price increase for you?
CIS countries, still have to pay "dollarized" price, so that makes it even worse.
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Indiegala does something similar. Under the payment options it says "As a result of application of EU directives VAT will be added to purchases from EU"; the final price doesn't show how it's calculated.
On Indiegala: "You choose to pay: $ 10.00" --> On payment site: "Your order total: Euro 10.19".
Expensive dollars!
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Yeah, but IndieGala and Fanatical are EU based enterprises and are thus obliged to collect VAT when selling to other EU states.
Unless something changed Humble as an US enterprise is not entitled to collect VAT.
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"Something changed" on 1st Jan 2015, welcome back from under the rock. ;-)
"From 1 January 2015, EU VAT will be charged in the country where products are bought as opposed to the country where they are sold. The legislation applies to digital products only, such as e-books, online courses or downloads."
https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/nov/25/new-eu-vat-regulations-threaten-micro-businesses (random link)
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That sucks :(
Now that you mention it Valve has been collecting VAT for a while now but I always assumed they have a subsidiary in the EU and are therefore required to do so.
Now I'm glad I renewed my 12 month subscription a while ago but I'll most likely drop it after that. Not enough quality indies, too much AAA to justify paying 25% extra for me.
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My computer is a toaster-potatoe (not as sophisticated as your average oven-potatoe :D) so I usually play graphically demanding games on console and almost exclusively Indies on PC.
I think the last ones I kept to myself (and played excessively) were The Escapists & Sheltered. I was tempted to keep Owlboy as well but decided to give that one away in the end. The more recent Bundles were kind of disappointing on the Indie side for me (beside Owlboy).
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They do, like most tax-dodgers they have a subsidiary in Luxembourg. They do state the VAT portion of your payment in each receipt.
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Since 1 Jan 2015 EU VAT rules apply for digital good under which in a nutshell:
- "The new rules apply to “automated digital services” – that’s anything downloadable or used online, unless it’s custom-made.
- From 1 Jan 2015, as a seller, you have to pay VAT in any EU buyer’s country, at that country’s VAT rate, even if you aren’t in the EU."
http://euvataction.org/key-facts/
E.g. Valve has been charging VAT for quite some time now. If Humble Bundle didn't so far and now are, then only now they are doing what they ought to under those rules. But yeah, apparently completely proper would be for them to have the shown price already including VAT.
And even more is planned. See e.g. summary of what was proposed less than a week ago:
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/company-tax/fair-taxation-digital-economy_en
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I'm too lazy to read through that now but does it say anything about requiring (or entitling) non-EU enterprises to collect VAT ?
On 21 March 2018, the European Commission proposed new rules to ensure that digital business activities are taxed in a fair and growth-friendly way in the EU.
Nevermind. It was just pointed out to me that they are entitled to collect VAT :(
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yep that is correct and not the issue for me - the issue is indeed the complete lack of notice/transparency (which breaks consumer laws with regards to alterations to subsription based models without prior notice), and the fact that under EU law the tax means that this is not actually a $12 monthly subscription, and this is inorrectly advertised; as like steam VAT should be shown in the listed price and not as an afterthought at checkout, is what sucks a lamas ass here :P - pretty crappy move so close to billing time !!
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I paid for the early unlock a few days ago so I think I lucked out but I'll think about renewing the subscription, it was already a bit expensive for me, the price increase is not welcome
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OMG. Apparently, I bought the annual package on time (one or two weeks ago and without any taxes). Thank you for letting us know about it pal.
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As a test, I just unpaused my monthly subscription and there is no indication that the price has changed, just that Humble are thrilled! Presumably the first I would know is when they take an extra 20% (UK VAT) from the bank. That's pretty darn shady, and possibly illegal in the EU.
Instead, I cancelled my subscription and left them feedback.
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puh, thanks for information. i had three month plan until march, and should re-new on march 30....
actually i really want deus ex, mankind divided, but i'm not at all interested in mafia (sorry!), and god eater was just a bonus for me. don't know what the indies gonna be, but well, for now i would pay 41.65$ instead of 33.80 what i paid back in december. makes a difference of 6,32 € or 7.87$, thats a bit much :( damn, i was really happy about deus ex. but this, without any notice, 3 days in advance before they automaticaly charge the subscription is really bad. alone for the non-communication i have to cancel my subscription now :(
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This is some European Union bullshit for virtual goods called VAT MOSS (Mini one-stop-shop). It's different for each EU country going from 19 to 27%. Humble will collect that VAT and pay it to each country from one VAT office (tho I think it should have been included in the price and not added at checkout). I think it's not IGN's fault this time (as much as I hate to admit it)
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Well I'm glad I paid this month early but... I might cancel my subscription after this. I'm on the fence.
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I have a month to month plan. I can only see the prices without vat. where I could change my subscription. No price is shown anywhere in my settings page so I will not know what they will charge. This is totally unacceptable.
https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/pricing-payments/index_en.htm
"When you buy goods or services in the EU, you have to be clearly informed about the total price, including all taxes and additional charges.
For online purchases, you should explicitly acknowledge - for example by pressing a button - that you are aware that placing your order implies an obligation to pay."
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So it doesn't even inform you in any way about the change like not even pausing your sub until you confirm? If so then it totally goes against everything on the page you linked, most importantly the thing you mentioned.
Edit: oh it looks like they've removed that and it's back to how it was...
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Don't cry it's "charity" lol.
Glad I cancelled my subscription this month for the first time. I already have 2 of the early unlocks and the other is that weeaboo game.
Ir seems that IGN killed HB, I hope I'm wrong
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I don't mind those 20% for the EU VAT, but why didn't you inform us? Anyway, just because of that I unsubscribed.
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I always unsubscribed after getting a Monthly bundle after being burned by other companies with "surprise" charges. And by "unsubscribed" I also mean cancelling the payment agreement from PayPal's side each time I bought a Monthly bundle. I preferred paying the Month-To-Month price whenever I truly wanted one of the bundles instead of getting the discount but with a higher implied risk. And, apparently and also contrary to popular belief, Humble is no exception to such practices.
I'm not trusting anyone anymore with having a direct debit line to my bank account.
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double check you're not being overcharged
You aren't being overcharged. You were previously being undercharged.
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You aren't being overcharged. You were previously being undercharged.
In this instance I don't agree. The contract between the seller and the buyer was for $12. By charging more than agreed upon, this is an overcharge and an abuse at the same time. Also their current pricing structure does not comply with VAT regulation and is nothing more than an attempt to milk some cash from unsuspecting users.
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For those of you in the EU/UK that are being charged a tax when purchasing the Humble Monthly, this is the result of a bug and our wizards are working hard to fix it! Sorry about that!
(C) humble budnle suuport on twitter.
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I think the latter is more plausible. When they saw how many cancelled their subscription as a result of the "bug" they realized their A/B testing failed.
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What a convenient bug. At least they won't get any bright ideas in the future.
I have to say though, it has left me with a rather bitter aftertaste.
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+20% In France. Yep, it makes the whole process pretty moot. It might be worth it for the unlocks this months since they're still over that with historical low prices but that's my last one. And I hate the sneaky way they did that. IGN really sucks the fun out of HB
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Reporting that the "bug" has been fixed, the sales tax has been abolished.
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Test failed. ;-)
I guess they got encouraged by the fact that nobody opposed the change from a while ago where they decreased the cashback added to your wallet ("The amount €3,65 is calcuated after VAT is deducted from the total purchase price."). One step at a time until someone notices, then we quickly go one step back and stand still for a while - old corpo tricks. ;-)
Still, one can wonder how many unsubs and chargebacks it took to convince them...
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They're only doing a disservice to themselves really, if that's what happened. Maybe a different head of staff wanted to try something funny with us, eh?
I also wonder how many people wrote/complained to them directly.
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Update 2: Price reverted to the original value.
No official post yet, but the pricing got reverted to the original value of $12 without any additional tax. Credits to MakiSan for reporting it. I checked it as well and no other taxes are being displayed during checkout. I don't know if that applies to everyone just yet but I think it will after a while. I'll let the thread open for discussion.
I wish to congratulate everyone that took a stand against this A/B testing scenario. Oops, I meant "bug" (albeit fine tuned and elaborate, yet still a "bug" :)). I consider this thread a success in showing the power of consumer over the provider and not the other way around. Good job, everyone!
Update 1: Humble Bundle's Support reacts and says it's a "bug" and they're working on it
Link to their tweet. (Credits to LuckyME for pointing out Humble's response).
Confirmed by users - Sales Tax was added by Humble Bundle for many countries, leading to a price increase of the Humble Monthly bundle with various amounts.
I was interested in "GOD EATER 2 Rage Burst" and was planning on getting the bundle but, guess what, Humble Bundle wants me to pay $14.28 for the monthly bundle. They introduced a Sales Tax that I never had to pay before.
So, for those interested in the Monthly, be careful and have a look over the subscription price and double check you're not being overcharged because it can very easily pass unnoticed.
I moved the thread to the "Deals" section because it affects the Humble Monthly bundle.
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