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International GAF: How to buy from US/UK Xbox One Game Store

L

Lima

Member
Tak3n said:
I was under the impression that when you pay with PP the vendor does not see you are using a CC all they see is paypal?
Click to expand...

What he means is that PayPal is not a supported payment method on the Indian marketplace. You can't add PayPal to your Indian live billing account.
 
M

miserable

Member
Hi guys, i just bought an XBone recently, and i wanted to buy something from the US store.
I got a 20$ gift card from Amazon, redeemed the code, then i added the billing address i used on Amazon on the Xbox too (a Texas address).
Now when i tried to buy a game from the store, it showed me the price plus tax, and asked me to add a CC to pay for the remainder sum.
Should i try to change the billing address? I used this Texas one on Amazon many times buying PSN cards and i was never hit with sales tax.
 
E

ElTorro

I wanted to dominate the living room. Then I took an ESRAM in the knee.
snk2 said:
Should i try to change the billing address? I used this Texas one on Amazon many times buying PSN cards and i was never hit with sales tax.
Click to expand...

The strategy described in the OP works fine.
 
BeforeU

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
Its really hard to follow this thread and figure out what works and what doesn't. So I am in Canada. Game here costs 70$ + tax. Which is fucking 80$ CAD.

What's the cheapest option for me, does india or HK work anymore?
 
Sanpei

Sanpei

Member
BeforeU said:
Its really hard to follow this thread and figure out what works and what doesn't. So I am in Canada. Game here costs 70$ + tax. Which is fucking 80$ CAD.

What's the cheapest option for me, does india or HK work anymore?
Click to expand...


- India....Forget it

- HK....You can order with a Paypal HK account..But you have to give Hzk address, so this may be a problem, not sure but possible...Or, you can buy gift cards from play-asia.com....This is safe way

- US....Buy gift card, digital code from amazon or microsoftstore...That's it
 
O

ohlawd

Member
BeforeU said:
Its really hard to follow this thread and figure out what works and what doesn't. So I am in Canada. Game here costs 70$ + tax. Which is fucking 80$ CAD.

What's the cheapest option for me, does india or HK work anymore?
Click to expand...

dream is dead

ordering from the US is pointless even with our 10 dollar price increase. You guys scared me with the Paypal HK stuff so forget that route. India is no good either.
 
T

Tak3n

Banned
ohlawd said:
dream is dead

ordering from the US is pointless even with our 10 dollar price increase. You guys scared me with the Paypal HK stuff so forget that route. India is no good either.
Click to expand...

don't be scared of paypal, what they will do is ask you to prove you live in HK, if you can not they restrict your account (no real loss)

the issue comes if they inform MS as one poster said they did and he got his account locked for months..

best way if the gift card way it is 100% safe and works, either use Play asia or amazon et al for the USA gift cards
 
O

ohlawd

Member
Tak3n said:
don't be scared of paypal, what they will do is ask you to prove you live in HK, if you can not they restrict your account (no real loss)

the issue comes if they inform MS as one poster said they did and he got his account locked for months..

best way if the gift card way it is 100% safe and works, either use Play asia or amazon et al for the USA gift cards
Click to expand...

oh yeah forgot the gift card option for HK

man, unfortunate HK price for DAI is at 62 while it's 49 in India.
 
M

miserable

Member
So if i decide to go the gift card route for HK, how do i access the HK store on the console so i can redeem the code and buy stuff?Do i just change the region? and do i need to use VPN ?
 
J

Jakoozie89

Neo Member
This is so fucking stupid of MS. I won't buy a single multiplatform game from them now, for the entire generation. Why do this now? It's only a small subset of people who use this method, why not let us continue? They don't really lose anything.

How are they even blocking this? Is the xbox not region free anymore? It can't be based on IP, as VPNs don't work either. (I've tried personally)

I'm european, and have an american paypal that works while buying from my US PSN account. Do you think this paypal would work on xbox one as well, with my machine set to US adress from the US store?
 
M

mike4001_

Member
Jakoozie89 said:
How are they even blocking this? Is the xbox not region free anymore? It can't be based on IP, as VPNs don't work either. (I've tried personally)

I'm european, and have an american paypal that works while buying from my US PSN account. Do you think this paypal would work on xbox one as well, with my machine set to US adress from the US store?
Click to expand...

They are just blocking non valid payment options.

Buy a US Gift card from anywhere (ebay, amazon, ..) and continue to buy from the US marketplace.
 
L

lostcauz

Member
Kssio_Aug said:
One friend of mine, posted a request in Xbox feedback page, asking to unblock international digital purchases. For those of you who dont mind to help with a vote, please do it! :)

http://xbox.uservoice.com/forums/25...blocking-digital-games-purchases-in-other-xbo
Click to expand...

It's getting pathetic. If you want a game bad enough, stop being cheap and just stump up the cash. Being in the UK using gift cards on the US store gets reasonable prices, why can't people be happy with this instead of thinking there entitled to something that shouldn't have been open to them in the first place.

The amount of votes shows how hard it was getting abused.
 
Kssio_Aug

Kssio_Aug

Member
lostcauz said:
It's getting pathetic. If you want a game bad enough, stop being cheap and just stump up the cash. Being in the UK using gift cards on the US store gets reasonable prices, why can't people be happy with this instead of thinking there entitled to something that shouldn't have been open to them in the first place.

The amount of votes shows how hard it was getting abused.
Click to expand...

Like I said. If you dont mind! ;)
If this is possible or not, if it deserves a second thought, or not; that is up to Microsoft.
 
Mr Reasonable

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
Kssio_Aug said:
One friend of mine posted a request in Xbox feedback page, asking to unblock international digital purchases. For those of you who dont mind to help with a vote, please do it! :)

http://xbox.uservoice.com/forums/25...blocking-digital-games-purchases-in-other-xbo
Click to expand...


Nice work, the more people that know about this and abuse the system, the more chance of it being closed down.

This thread is part of the reason the loopholes are being closed. If we had all kept quiet and kept it off sites like Hotukdeals, we would have more chance of being able to continue purchasing internationally.

The more people go on about this the more Microsoft will be forced to acknowledge it, the more likely people violating the terms of service by entering a fake address will get banned and the more likely that even gift card purchasing will be locked out.

How about we all just shut up about it and use the loopholes still in place instead? At this stage, we've still got it better than it's been in any other generation, don't rock the boat.
 
G

Guerrilla

Member
Wahwah* said:
Nice work, the more people that know about this and abuse the system, the more chance of it being closed down.

This thread is part of the reason the loopholes are being closed. If we had all kept quiet and kept it off sites like Hotukdeals, we would have more chance of being able to continue purchasing internationally.

The more people go on about this the more Microsoft will be forced to acknowledge it, the more likely people violating the terms of service by entering a fake address will get banned and the more likely that even gift card purchasing will be locked out.

How about we all just shut up about it and use the loopholes still in place instead? At this stage, we've still got it better than it's been in any other generation, don't rock the boat.
Click to expand...

giphy.gif


However, I think it's way too late for this. Too many dicks on the dancefloor :/

We'll just have to ride this as long as we can
 
M

Metalmarc

Member
Wahwah* said:
Nice work, the more people that know about this and abuse the system, the more chance of it being closed down.

This thread is part of the reason the loopholes are being closed. If we had all kept quiet and kept it off sites like Hotukdeals, we would have more chance of being able to continue purchasing internationally.

The more people go on about this the more Microsoft will be forced to acknowledge it, the more likely people violating the terms of service by entering a fake address will get banned and the more likely that even gift card purchasing will be locked out.

How about we all just shut up about it and use the loopholes still in place instead? At this stage, we've still got it better than it's been in any other generation, don't rock the boat.
Click to expand...


This is a good point.
 
E

ElTorro

I wanted to dominate the living room. Then I took an ESRAM in the knee.
Wahwah* said:
The more people go on about this the more Microsoft will be forced to acknowledge it, the more likely people violating the terms of service by entering a fake address will get banned and the more likely that even gift card purchasing will be locked out.
Click to expand...

Is that the case, though? I've not seen anything in the ToS that explicitly prohibits this practice. (I might overlooked it.) Technically, these addresses are valid ones, and AFAIK the billing address does not have to match the address on the credit card to be considered valid.
 
J

Jonesy7707

Member
ElTorro said:
Is that the case, though? I've not seen anything in the ToS that explicitly prohibits this practice. (I might overlooked it.) Technically, these addresses are valid ones, and AFAIK the billing address does not have to match the address on the credit card to be considered valid.
Click to expand...

Taking the US store for e.g, you cannot use an address from another country to make a purchase so using an address that isn't yours is surely classed as some type of fraudulent behaviour. That is covered in the Code of Conduct:

Do not attempt to use or share fraudulent methods to obtain content or Microsoft Points.
Click to expand...

Taken from point H here...

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/legal/codeofconduct
 
E

ElTorro

I wanted to dominate the living room. Then I took an ESRAM in the knee.
Jonesy7707 said:
Taking the US store for e.g, you cannot use an address from another country to make a purchase so using an address that isn't yours is surely classed as some type of fraudulent behaviour.
Click to expand...

Addresses from borderlinx and the like are valid US addresses, and technically they should be the customer's, right? Borderlinx provides them to their customers as a service, and customers are registered as their "owners". Is that any different from renting an apartment abroad and using that address? The store is officially not region locked after all.
 
J

JoJo UK

Unconfirmed Member
J

Jonesy7707

Member
ElTorro said:
Addresses from borderlinx and the like are valid US addresses, and technically they should be the customer's, right? Borderlinx provides them to their customers as a service, and customers are registered as their "owners". Is that any different from renting an apartment abroad and using that address? The store is officially not region locked after all.
Click to expand...

I don't see any comparisons at all.

Using a mail-forwarder (for actual forwarding) is legitimate as you are having a physical item shipped to a real address which is then shipped onto you, you are using an address assigned to you for which you generally pay a fee for.

I see using some random address as your actual address to obtain digital content as being a step above that and if it weren't the case why does MS all of a sudden have a problem with it?
 
D

danowat

Banned
zou said:
no
Click to expand...

Probably open to interpretation, but I'd say putting in an address, that isn't yours, for the express purposes of purchasing content from another region and thus circumventing your home countries taxes would be a difficult position to defend.
 
Mr Reasonable

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
ElTorro said:
Is that the case, though? I've not seen anything in the ToS that explicitly prohibits this practice. (I might overlooked it.) Technically, these addresses are valid ones, and AFAIK the billing address does not have to match the address on the credit card to be considered valid.
Click to expand...

ElTorro said:
Addresses from borderlinx and the like are valid US addresses, and technically they should be the customer's, right? Borderlinx provides them to their customers as a service, and customers are registered as their "owners". Is that any different from renting an apartment abroad and using that address? The store is officially not region locked after all.
Click to expand...

This isn't about technicalities or the precise wording of clauses. They're not going to reduce the price of their games to cheapest price you can find worldwide. This is basically what you want to happen, and who wouldn't?

It's not about fair, or anything else. Get over it. What do you think is going to happen? Microsoft are going to see that a lot of people want to pay less for games and charge less? It's not going to happen.

Best you can hope for is that this puts enough people off and that communities of people don't go on about work arounds so they don't have to take further action to protect revenues.
 
D

Dabanton

Member
Wahwah* said:
Nice work, the more people that know about this and abuse the system, the more chance of it being closed down.

This thread is part of the reason the loopholes are being closed. If we had all kept quiet and kept it off sites like Hotukdeals, we would have more chance of being able to continue purchasing internationally.

The more people go on about this the more Microsoft will be forced to acknowledge it, the more likely people violating the terms of service by entering a fake address will get banned and the more likely that even gift card purchasing will be locked out.

How about we all just shut up about it and use the loopholes still in place instead? At this stage, we've still got it better than it's been in any other generation, don't rock the boat.
Click to expand...

Pretty much. Oh well, it was good whilst it lasted :(

But you can't really expect when you post on sites like here that this stuff will remain quiet for very long. The massive elephant in the room and the reason people do this are the quite frankly silly prices of digital games.

I will happily pay £39.99 and below for a digital game.

Checking out the prices of the physical version of GTAV and I don't see anywhere as high as the £54.99 MS were asking for it on the digital store.

If the shops MS and Sony are so scared of can sell games under rrp why can't their digital stores? Is it a tax issue?
 
Mr Reasonable

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
Dabanton said:
Pretty much. Oh well, it was good whilst it lasted :(

But you can't really expect when you post on sites like here that this stuff will remain quiet for very long. The massive elephant in the room and the reason people do this are the quite frankly silly prices of digital games.

I will happily pay £39.99 and below for a digital game.

Checking out the prices of the physical version of GTAV and I don't see anywhere as high as the £54.99 MS were asking for it on the digital store.

If the shops MS and Sony are so scared of can sell games under rrp why can't their digital stores? Is it a tax issue?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the publisher sets the price, not Microsoft. All Microsoft's recent games have been £45 on the store, I think (certainly MCC, FH2 and SSOD). I think that's pretty decent really, you can get discounted credit online (CD Keys had £50 of credit for £40 this week) which would get you your £39.99 or less price point in the case of Microsoft's games.
 
B

barneystuta83

Member
I have posted this a few times and is well worth a read.

A guy went through the ToS about how 'legal' buying from a 'foreign' store is.

http://digiex.net/guides-reviews/co...one-store-any-region-post70674.html#post70674

The summary is from MS point of view is:

Based on all the information available on their terms of use on the Xbox site, Microsoft Billing's website, and the Xbox enforcement page there is no specific mention that this specifically is against their terms and conditions. Combining that with the quote from Albert Penello and the Xbox Wire site as well as the fact that they are the ones that took down the regional lock outs which DID exist with Xbox 360, I would say it's safe from Microsoft's viewpoint providing you have a valid billing address. For those of you making addresses up though, it's risky but then I guess it would depend on how likely they are to look up your address and try to validate it (there are millions of members of Xbox Live after all).

My ultimate advice to play it 100% safe though is via the use of Pre-paid codes which you get a friend/family in the US to purchase for you either in retail stores or online via say Newegg, and use that US friend's address for your US Billing address to be safe if you can. Then in a sense it is no different to you visiting your friend/family and purchasing the game while you are out there.
Click to expand...

From an MS point of view, you can not be banned for this, if you are using a genuine address and/or pre-paid cards.
 
L

Lettuce

Member
Dabanton said:
Pretty much. Oh well, it was good whilst it lasted :(

But you can't really expect when you post on sites like here that this stuff will remain quiet for very long. The massive elephant in the room and the reason people do this are the quite frankly silly prices of digital games.

I will happily pay £39.99 and below for a digital game.

Checking out the prices of the physical version of GTAV and I don't see anywhere as high as the £54.99 MS were asking for it on the digital store.

If the shops MS and Sony are so scared of can sell games under rrp why can't their digital stores? Is it a tax issue?
Click to expand...

Even still the prices of digital games even from foreign marketplaces is STILL TOO MUCH!!. Take Far Cry 4 for instance, the cheapest place was the Indian Store at approx £35, i just got the retail version for £36!!!!.

In this case the DD version should be at least £8-10 cheaper, theres no packaging, shipping, storing, production of any sort need for DD based games, yet there usually more than the retail version can be picked up for.

At the moment i only see one advantage of DD based games and thats not needing to swap disc's, whilst the retail route has far more advantages. MS need to wake up and start pricing their games at around the £25-30 price range....£55 for a UK DD game FUCK OFF MS!!!. Surely no one buys DD games at that price???...and if they do they need there head read!
 
Kssio_Aug

Kssio_Aug

Member
JoJo UK said:
This really doesn't seem like a good idea, as others have said why rock the boat? We can still buy from the US store, why point this out to MS just for them to close that loophole as well?
Click to expand...

MS already know about it, the intrernational purchases are already blocked. Why that would be a bigger problem now?

I have never been in these forums talking about how to buy internationally. I dont even abuse the system (just bought 1 game in Indian store, while some people bought there or in HK all the time).

Im just sharing this feedback request that a friend created, and thats it. But I dont think that nowadays it could do any bad... MS clearly already know very well whats happening.

Actually, what I want more then free region purchases are more fair prices in my region, where a game of 60 dollars costs at about 80 dollars nowadays.
 
R

RulkezX

Member
Lettuce said:
In this case the DD version should be at least £8-10 cheaper, theres no packaging, shipping, storing, production of any sort need for DD based games, yet there usually more than the retail version can be picked up for.
Click to expand...

My work involves me with another item that sells well digitally and takes up a lot more room than a game box. The shipping, packaging and storage make up a miniscule % of the cost. The value is on the content, and the work that went into creating that content.

Expecting digital games on console to sell for £26 new just shows your ignorance on the subject.
 
C

Crackity Jones

Member
RulkezX said:
My work involves me with another item that sells well digitally and takes up a lot more room than a game box. The shipping, packaging and storage make up a miniscule % of the cost. The value is on the content, and the work that went into creating that content.

Expecting digital games on console to sell for £26 new just shows your ignorance on the subject.
Click to expand...

What is the reason for the disparity between new console and new PC games? Why do you frequently get new PC digital downloads £15-20 cheaper than their console counterpart? Exactly the same content but on a different platform.
 
L

Lettuce

Member
Crackity Jones said:
What is the reason for the disparity between new console and new PC games? Why do you frequently get new PC digital downloads £15-20 cheaper than their console counterpart? Exactly the same content but on a different platform.
Click to expand...

Exactly!!!.....and 99.9% of the time these PC version are vastly superior.

I also forgot to mention the....

process of pressing the disc
disc cost itself
print that goes on the disc.

Now im not saying these will add up to anywhere near £10 worth but then how can they justify charging on average £20 more than the physical version when your not getting anything physically and cant do anything with the game after you've finished (ie selling the game on).

If the generation of systems after the XB1 and PS4 do indeed go down the digital only route then MS and $ony are seriously going to have to look at Steam and reduce prices
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
I w ant to buy the Jackbox which is only on the US store. Haven't bought since the changes so it sounds like my UK debit card won't work. So all I need to do is buy a $25 XBL card from Amazon or similar?
 
L

lostcauz

Member
Lettuce said:
£55 for a UK DD game FUCK OFF MS!!!. Surely no one buys DD games at that price???...and if they do they need there head read!
Click to expand...


If you had read the post 2 above yours, you would know that publishers set the price and no MS published title goes above £45.
 
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