Typically there's import duties/taxes and fees that they can't control or pay on your behalf, from the wording it sounds like this is what they are talking about which also sounds like the hardware will be shipped globally.
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That's pretty much common for any sort of situation where you're given something of significant value basically for free. I've won two major contests in the last ten years. One was a trip overseas. I had to pay taxes on it. Another was a prize pack where I won about $1000 worth of crap from a sporting goods company. I had to pay taxes on that. Neither were that big of a deal monetarily. The $1000 incurred a tax bill of around $33 from the state, and I forget what the federal rate was, but the total wasn't more than $50. The state tax obviously depends on what state you live in.
If the Steam hardware as an MSRP of say $500, you'll have to pay the taxes on it. It also sounds like Valve is going to charge shipping, which will also be worth it considering the value of what you're getting. Id be willing to bet that every beta participant will receive a final retail version for free as payment.
Its pretty much standard fare for anything like this. At the end of the day, its an absolute paltry sum compared to the actual value of what you're receiving though. Anyone whose chosen for this will likely be getting the Steam "console" basically for free. Thats your payment for participating.
And hey, if someone don't want it, there's going to be more than a few people who will.
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Except you don't win anything here, you're just a beta tester. Which means this is a beta where the tester has to pay
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The taxes are only for if you win the free GabeCube. They aren't making you pay just to enter the drawing.
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Nah GabeCube is much more fitting.
For just a 100 dollar more you get the Companion Cube DLC so that the GabeCube doesn't feel lonely.
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But that's what this thread is all about, isn't it?
After all, you are the OP
I was just proving 0x442E472E (yep, that's a username) wrong when he said that you don't win anything. The beta testers do actually "win it" except, again, they have to pay the taxes.
Aaaand, since you simply HAD to come here with your argument, here's mine. I don't really mind paying 20% of the price (that's the tax here) instead of 100%. Nope, not at all. That's like a -80% sale + the opportunity to be one of the first users of the box. Yeah, I'm totally in.
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Stop being a damn idiot. First you say $100, now $200, your next comment will say $300. As Zerbaderb explained, the taxes they're talking about are standard import and/or customs taxes that come from your government, there's nothing Valve can do about that - it's the law. It's a very normal part of any giveaway or contest, that it's mentioned somewhere in the fine print - which you've obviously never bothered reading or understanding.
"The $1000 incurred a tax bill of around $33 from the state, and I forget what the federal rate was, but the total wasn't more than $50." Zerbaderb payed $50 total in taxes for his $1000 prize. The taxes on the Steambox won't be anything even close to $100, or $200, or whatever other ridiculous number you come up with. More like $10, maybe 15 bucks, max.
Stop being over dramatic for no fucking reason and then exaggerating the value of that which you're unreasonably bitching about. Close this retarded thread already.
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Except they do not give it, they remain the property of valve.
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That's exactly what I thought, but I think they'll just make you pay for some shipping taxes or any problem your country could have with shipping electronic things, etc.
Edit: or, if you break the console and dont help them with any kind of feedback lol
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Yes but customs can sometimes charge a lot for deliveries. It's mostly based on the "assesed worth of the package" which the sender has to state. One time my friend sent me some albums (music) from the USA and he wrote the worth of the package on it. It was like 400$ or something. I had to pay 65$ for the customs. Other time another friend send me some albums and he just wrote 30$ or something. Customs didn't want anything. I remember reading that customs take some cut if the value of the package is around 100$ or something around that. It's an expensive hardware and I doubt Valve would just put very small amount of $ there. And I'm pretty sure when you send something you have to put the worth of the object you send there.
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In my country, customs do not look at the price listed, but they decide how much you should pay. Because they THINK they know better than the seller/gifter.
Hint: They're not.
I've read a blog about a guy ordering a DVD from overseas priced less than 100$ but need to pay tax around 500$. The custom using tax for Master Disc that usually used by Cinema company to create copy for their cinemas to this fella DVD. And they insist they are right.
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You know you can refuse to pay in customs and they will simply return the item (or keep it for themselves, which ever suits them best), right? I mean, at least give it a try, and if the price is to high, then you simply bail out and leave the package. They can't force you to pay if you don't want the package.
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You, sir, are a gigantic idiot, just like OP. See Zerbaderb's comment chain and my reply in it, also.
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In many places you're required to pay taxes on items you receive for free.
This is why some contests that give out cars as a prize include some cash bonus with the car as well, to cover the significant amount of taxes you'd have to pay on a 100k+ car.
For a $500-$1000 computer, the taxes would probably be quite low, and in some places you may not have to claim it at all.
But please, use this as an excuse to not agree. I'd like any improvement to my odds I can get! :D
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You could easily argue with customs.. first off you didn't pay anything for it which means it should considered a gift. If not then you have to consider that it isn't your property, it's not a product you own, it's still Steam's property that they lend to you so you shouldn't pay any customs for that.
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I hope I get selected so I can do with it what I do with most betas: sell it.
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Same I replied below, just because I shouldn't doesn't mean I can't.
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It says you can't sell it. Did you read what you had to read when filling in with your info?
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Same thing as with cs:go and dota2 betas. Just because you shouldn't sell it doesn't mean you can't sell it.
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Just because you think your opinion matters to me doesn't mean it does :c
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Except we're talking about hardware that you probably have to give back at the end of the beta program. Refusal to return the box to the could be considered theft. I hope you'd sell it high enough to afford a good lawyer.
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"The Beta Products will remain the property of Valve, and we may require you to return the Beta Products to us upon request.."
As they state in their info, the machine stays the property of Valve, so if you don't return it when they demand it back, or if it's used on a different Steam account, they are going to press charges against you for theft of a $400+ gaming machine, maybe it'll cost as much as $600+ even. You'll be taken to court, and judged and treated as any other criminal who stole something worth that much money from a company. Only in this case, you'll also have the wonderful charge of contract breach levelled against you. Oh, and you'll of course also lose your Steam account, forever, with all games you own on it. The amount of fines you'd have to pay, aside from possible jail time and a permanent record of your crime - are you saying selling it is worth all that?
You really are a spectacular type of idiot.
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I'm pretty sure they wont take them back unless they notice any kind of big error that affects gameplay in a big way
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Yup. You're supposed to review the things.
If I get it, I'll push it to its limits. See how long it takes before it over-heats while I'm playing a game. I do wonder what I'm going to do about the controller though. I'll just pick up a second-hand 360 controller if I win it.
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There are gamepads for 5$, you can always buy one.I used a cheap 3$ gamepad and it worked.
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How is it cheating? I don't own a gamepad, I have no money to get one, and frankly it's a little presumptuous that Steam thinks everyone has one and can therefore do this step without problems. I didn't even entirely understand the step until I did some searching about it; like, if I had a gamepad that I could use that way, why would I even be applying for a beta for... a gamepad? Or maybe I haven't seen all the info that exists on this thing, but it sure does LOOK like a gamepad to me.
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You can use iphone or android phones as gamepads ;)
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I just tried that, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. I'm not even clear on whether it needs an actual controller to work or not.
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That didn't do a damn thing. :( I tried a few different games, even, with varying levels of controller support, and while the Vjoy controller is showing up in Big Picture mode, I can't do anything with setting buttons in Steam like it looks like I should be able to. I set those eight buttons in Vjoy and checked the enable box, and it's still not working.
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I did, three different games, with Vjoy enabled, in Big Picture mode, and that task is still showing as incomplete in my badge progress. I'm sorry if I'm being dumb, but as far as I can tell I'm doing everything you say and it's not working. :(
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To recap the steps,
Tell me if there's any problems after this.
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just a game pad. my monitor is 1080p so maybe big picture mode has some resolution restrictions, but you don't need to use a tv.
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Like others said, just run big picture mode using a controller on your pc monitor. Worked perfectly for me.
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i wouldn't mind paying tax only for some new hardware to play with. i played a little rogue legacy through big picture and filled out the form to become a beta candidate. i doubt they'll pick me but i may as well be eligible!
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Yes, everyone should bail out.
... better chances for me.Comment has been collapsed.
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"You are responsible for any taxes or other dues that You may incur by participating in the Beta Program and/or receiving the Beta Products from Us."
Right.
I don't think so.
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