I'm confused and also interested, so I'm asking for more info. (Note: I'm not taking any sides here - just genuinely curious and open minded.)

I thought that when you buy things on the Internet to be delivered as an electronic download, it doesn't matter where you are or what currency you use. I thought the seller receives the asking price in the asking units. And that your credit card company handles the conversion using current rates, plus some markup for the favor, allowing you to pay in your natural currency. The exchange rate fluctuation can cause a shift in effective price over time, but the true price is the asking price in the asking unit.

For example, when I was in France, I drank some wine, and they charged me 10 Euros. My credit card company paid 10 Euros, and I had to pay them 15 US dollars. I was extremely happy because when I purchase a similar quality of wine in the US, I usually pay 45 US dollars.

On the other hand, in Paris in the same restaurant, my daughter's Coke was 6 Euros or 9 US dollars which is a totally mind bending ripoff - about 4.5 times more than a Coke is "worth" according to prices in the US.

I understand physical goods like soda and wine are not comparable to digital files, and those effective prices had nothing to do with exchange rates or being American, but rather because I was in Paris buying products that come from or didn't come from Paris.

So leaving aside the exchange rate, how did it come to pass that a month of DAZ happiness is $14 when purchased from outside the US? Do they actually charge 10 Euros to those in Europe, or do they charge $7.95 US to everybody, and your credit card/country tariffs make up the difference?

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Renderosity forum reply notifications are wonky. If I read a follow-up in a thread, but I don't myself reply, then notifications no longer happen AT ALL on that thread. So if I seem to be ignoring a question, that's why. (Updated September 23, 2019)