Buying Simpoints for non US countries?

[samoht04]

I have never bought Simpoints before and since this is my own money I want to make sure I do it right, I just don't know how to do it? I want 2000 points so will that be £20 or does the exchange rate change that?

[Pam]

I think the best thing for you to do is to start the Simpoint purchase process and it will tell you how much they cost.  I hope EA has the sense to build in different currencies based on your registration.  You can always cancel the transaction before it's completed if it doesn't go well.  Just don't click anything that commits you to buy or give any payment information unless you're comfortable with the price and type of currency.

[malteser60]

Hey samoht04
Right, second time i'm trying to post this, work browser crashed on me.... grrr...

So, go into the EA sims store (after logging in) and make sure you change the language to English (UK) - it automatically defaults to English (US). To change the language click on the small globe on the bottom left of the page - took me ages to find it the first time.

Then you can see how much each points pack costs in £. So 1000 points = £7 = 0.7p per point (hope I got my maths right). And you also get your free item. I normally pay by pay pal but you can use cards as well.

Alternatively you can buy a Sims Cash Card with preloaded points. I know Amazon were selling them. Gamestation also sells them, and they're on offer right now. For a 1000 points you pay £5.99 with free UK delivery (just checked for you). Or you could buy them in the shop. Might be easier for you to do that as you can then pay cash over the counter. Game, HMV, and PCWorld also sell them, no idea if they've got an offer on them though.

Just let me know if you have any more questions or any problems.

[Twinmum]

I found it cheaper to go through the EA store as opposed to the Sims 3 store. Even with the monthly code to get a percentage off at the sims store it was still more expensive.

You have to register, but once you do, it will probably direct you to the UK version
http://eastore.ea.com/
I saved about $8 Au when I bought 2000 points (if I remember correctly)

Norma

[Pam]

Norma,

Was it you who didn't get the SimPoints to show up immediately after purchasing from the EA store?  If so, how long did it take for them to hit your account?

[Twinmum]

Yes it was me, but it was because I had made a mistake. For some unknown reason, when I registered there, I added an au to the end of my email address. The points were there straight away, just in an account that I couldn't access lol. But I got on to customer service and as soon as we figured out the problem, the points were manually moved to the correct account.

[Pam]

Ok, great.  I'm glad you got it all worked out. 

[malteser60]

I found it cheaper to go through the EA store as opposed to the Sims 3 store. Even with the monthly code to get a percentage off at the sims store it was still more expensive.

You have to register, but once you do, it will probably direct you to the UK version
http://eastore.ea.com/
I saved about $8 Au when I bought 2000 points (if I remember correctly)

Norma

Just had a quick look at the EA store and the price is the same as the Sims store. This is in British Pounds. So samoht's best bet so far is to buy a card from Gamestation as they are knocking £1 off. Especially if he doesn't have a bank card - no idea what the laws are like today but when I was still at school i certainly couldn't have a bank card.

[Twinmum]

That's weird. When I bought points to buy Barnacle Bay, there was a difference between the AU price at the two sites (EA store and Sims 3 store) So I just went straight to the EA store today to get some points (which I'm still waiting to see them appear) Now I just checked the Sims 3 store and they are exactly the same price. Crazy!

Norma

[samoht04]

Wow, I can get 4000 points with 27 pounds! I might get that option since it will be better than buying 4 cards of 1000 points? Or is it?

[malteser60]

I guess it depends where you're getting them from Samoht. If you get the points on offer like the gamestation one then it is cheaper to get four 1000 (4 x £5.99 = £23.96). Otherwise if you're buying from the store then yeah, it is cheaper to get the 4000 points and you'll get the freebie items.

[samoht04]

I also live in the middle of nowhere so it would a while till I come across a game store. I looked online and it says none in stock.

[samoht04]

My Mum has decided that I am not allowed to spend more than £10 on Simpoints, so I am allowed a 1000 point bundle and I can buy one every 2-3 months which Isn't that bad, atleast I am allowed some!