Question on Italy Wind sim card

[Johnmango]

I am really confused about the different Voice Tariffs like Wind5, Wind9, Wind12 etc. because it does not say how much I need to pay for the sim card.

Do I just walk into a Wind store in Italy and tell them that I want a sim card for Wind9, for example, and they will activate it at the store for me and I can start using it? If that's true then it is like "pay as you go". Do I not have to buy the sim card first?

If what I thought is true, then why would anyone do to Cellular Abroad and pay 59 plus shipping to buy a similar type of sim card (with similar rates)??

I am fairly ignorant in this - any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

[Effendi]

If you take a look here:
PrePaidGSM: Italy
you see this:
Activation Fee/Credit included: € 10.00/5.00
That's the price of the sim-card (10€), which already includes some credit (5€).

You just have to go to a Wind shop, ask for a prepaid card (carta prepagata), tell them the tariff plan you want (Wind9, SuperSenzaScatto, etc...) and that's all.

The card is not active at the moment. It takes some time. Usually 1/2 hours, sometimes also 48. You just need to be lucky.

People who spend 59$ plus shipping for having the card in the US/Canada just want to know their phone number in advance or are afraid of dealing with an Italian clerk who doesn't speak English, or whatever... In my opinion that doesn't make sense, I always bought sim-cards directly on the place I went and never had any problem. And it's much cheaper.