From Name and address supplied
I do not agree that high pricing is a justification for copyright theft
(Letters, 23 January, p 49).
However, as a retailer of computer software, I can confirm that there is
price collusion between distributors, especially in the games sector.
We are forced to buy our computer games through authorised, exclusive
distributors. This means that there is no price competition between
distributors.
As a small, independent retailer, we do not benefit from this system. We make
around 10 per cent gross margin on PC games after matching the prices of the
large multiple stores, which receive far higher discounts when they buy the
games. We are also in the strange situation of paying more for some console
games than other stores sell them for.
If the software publishers were fair, we would get bigger discounts and be
able to sell software more cheaply. This would upset the happy cartel of large
stores, which are hugely inefficient and therefore need larger
margins—despite providing a poorer service.
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