Steam Deck Now Available For Immediate Ordering, Steam Deck Dock Also In-Stock

[r1348]

Yup, same in Switzerland. We, non-EU European are left in the mud.

Not surprising, they would have to set up an expensive fiscal presence in your countries, for a relatively low customer base.

[joshx1]

Also probably won't be in Australia anytime soon, reasons:

1. GST (10% tax)
2. Warranty here is for the consumer, which Valve already hates for Steam (they fought HARD against the ACCC [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission], and lost their $3 million settlement).
3. Shipping

IMHO, they really need to have regional partners who can resell these, provide support/refunds/warranty etc. I don't have to go through MSI to buy an MSI motherboard, I can go down to the computer shop or order online. Even with Google Pixel and other phones you can buy them through stores instead of directly through Google.

[Old Grouch]

It is correct that Norway is not a member of the EU, but it is a member of EFTA, along with Switzerland, Iceland and Lichtenstein, and also a participant in the EEA .

The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the Agreement on the European Economic Area, an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Association.^[5] The EEA links the EU member states and three EFTA states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) into an internal market governed by the same basic rules. These rules aim to enable free movement of persons, goods, services, and capital within the European single market

There are plenty of distributors that work across the major Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway - combined population of the four is roughly 25 million). While there is not zero friction in providing goods and services to Norway in addition to the EU, it is not as difficult as setting up in a state outside the EEA.

[Flaburgan]

Valve still refuses to sell to norway :/

Yup, same in Switzerland. We, non-EU European are left in the mud.

You know what to vote for next time the topic of joining EU is on the table

[mdedetrich]

2. Warranty here is for the consumer, which Valve already hates for Steam (they fought HARD against the ACCC [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission], and lost their $3 million settlement).

Germany also has similar laws (I am an Australian that is now living in Germany). There may be other countries as well, EU countries individually have some control over this. The biggest issue is likely market size and cost.

[Vistaus]

Japan says Hi.

Japan isn't in Europe. He specifically said "non-EU European".

[Vistaus]

Also probably won't be in Australia anytime soon, reasons:
2. Warranty here is for the consumer, which Valve already hates for Steam (they fought HARD against the ACCC [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission], and lost their $3 million settlement).

The Netherlands and Germany have nearly the same warranty law, yet do they sell the Deck over here, so I fail to see how this would be an issue in Australia.

[DrYak]

Not surprising, they would have to set up an expensive fiscal presence in your countries, for a relatively low customer base.

Or they could instead

• Ship cross-border to CH and NO and let the shipping company handle custom declarations and taxes (like most European-based company do) - Though this does come at a significant cost, Swiss Post's Custom services (which subcontract custom declaration and taxing for nearly all logistics company delivering to Switzerland) having become experts in the dark art of adding bogus fees to jack up the prices (and also push the taxation above the threshold, because of course VAT is computed on the total of {merchandise} + {delivery fee} + {all the fucking bogus fee that Swiss Post adds}).
• Allow different delivery address from the billing address (e.g.: various networks of delivery boxes in France and Germany: Grenzpackete, Mondial Relay, etc.). You're responsible for picking your package, and declaring and paying import while walking back through the customs -- or nowadays online with an app. (Has the benefits of being orders of magnitude cheaper than when done by Swiss Post. Just pay VAT on the item and that's it).

That's zero effort from Valve (well, okay, maybe a bit of customer support to deal with the angry purchasers that were surprised by some unexpected import tax bills).

You know what to vote for next time the topic of joining EU is on the table

...but I wasn't allowed to vote back during the EEA votes in '94 (and those were a required first step toward EU). On the grounds of still being an ugly dirty foreigner back then (and incidentally also underage).
So don't blame me

Japan isn't in Europe. He specifically said "non-EU European".

But Japan is still also affected by Valve's evil decision to not do business (they even had giant Deck stall at TGS at a time when they still weren't selling. Tell me about taunting your poor users).
So Japan still qualifies for complaining about Deck-lessness.

[DrYak]

Japan says Hi.

I would have suggested that we start a support group for Deck-less people, but it looks like Valve has finally deemed you "acceptable to get on queue".

[Flaburgan]

...but I wasn't allowed to vote back during the EEA votes in '94 (and those were a required first step toward EU). On the grounds of still being an ugly dirty foreigner back then (and incidentally also underage).
So don't blame me

Yeah not blaming. If really, really you want one, we could arrange something.