Lame Game Price Question.

[leggy]

Why is it that shop.game.net has burnout 2 for 34.99, yet in stores it's 39.99 with no chance of a comprimise?

If it was an independant online store i would understand but it's not.

Please explain.

And can I walk into game and demand it for 34.99?

(I know i can get it cheaper from the lieks of play but it's the principle )

 

[north_star]

This is a daft way to do business.....

I went into Game to day in the Whiterose centre and was about to buy the GameCube/Zelda pack and Resident Evil Zero. This ran to £20 more than on the net so I just walked out, and not having a credit card I will not bother paying the extra.

What's up with the price promise.....They can't even match their own prices......

Nowhere on the GameCube bundle page does it state Web Price/Pack only or for any of the software prices for that matter. I use the net as a resource to check the games and their prices but when I enter the shop these same titles are as much as £15 more.

Game are becoming my last call for titles now. I will try elsewhere first, who are honest about their instore prices.

 

[Sir Frizz]

Amazon Lops 25% Off Games {General News}
Amazon.co.uk have announced that they have slashed the price of 100's of their PC and Console titles by 25% of the RRP.

Here's the relevant paragraph:



...Amazon.co.uk is now offering hundreds of new and future game releases at 25% off the recommended retail price (RRP), every single day. This isn't a seasonal or limited time promotion, but an indefinite, everyday low price offer and covers computer games as well as games across all major console formats, including Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube.

Customers will now be able to pre-order hotly anticipated titles such as Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness at 25% off. The table below highlights some of the savings that customers can make across new and future game releases...

Also included in the price murdering (as well as Lara) is the current console darling Enter The Matrix ...I can feel my switch card twitching as I type this.

Should interest Game Execs

 

[silverthorn]

yeah but the problem with Amazon is that they add the 25% price cut BACK ON with the postage and packing fees

 

[Ono]

I have to sadly say that I don't use GAME at all for buying games.

I did swap my spare Cube for a Green XBox with them earlier this month though - but most/all of my stuff is off the net.

Still! All my work colleagues (being thick shits) buy their games from GAME (with the £5 discount vouchers from magazines).

 

[Sar]

The reasoning is that the online store doesn't have the bricks & mortar overhead, staff fees etc that a regular shop has.

But that should equate to about 20p* per game, not £5.




























*Made up figure natch.

 

[wolfeeh]

amazon

yes but with amazon all you have to do is spend £39 and wait a couple of days more and you get your stuff delivered for free... i don't know about you, but i fight not to spend £200 a time buying stuff from amazon... last order i did i saved £67 over highstreet prices.

bricks and mortar overhead my arse. they've (the online shop) have gotta have warehousing and distribution facilities, bandwidth, staff... shipping costs..etc. just an excuse to rip off the punter. which considering how many games i've bought off them over time is SO not appreciated.

 

[whipped]

I have to admit that this has been bugging me for a while as well.

I checked on the GAME site to see how much PlanetSide was going for. £24.99 it said. I walk into the shop and it's £34.99. I can't use the vouchers I had online and I'm loathe to use an extra £10 of them just because you still can't use them online.

I hope a suit sees this thread. It'll be interesting to see what the situation is.

 

[wolfeeh]

...

the suits always ignore these types of threads, or give stock bullshit answers. we're just the punters, we just pay the money, it's not like we get to choose what sort of service we want.

 

[lynchet]

Stock answer is the bricks and mortar one but I think the truthfull answer of why they charge more is "because they can"

Game are a business, in it for the money, if they can get away with charging more they will. They know a lot of people are still wary of buying online or like to buy from a shop and so as long as their are competitively priced with other high street stores then they will do OK.
For those of us who DO buy online they just try and point to Game.net and say what good prices and services they do (even if previous threads have shown that in general they DON'T )


The one thing I would say for Game though -- a lot of companies would delete these sorts of threads of their forums - Game do leave them

 

[silverthorn]

aaahhhh Lynchet, methinks you're just a suit in disguise

 

[Embattle]

Originally posted by lynchet

The one thing I would say for Game though -- a lot of companies would delete these sorts of threads of their forums - Game do leave them

Who said they've seen it yet

Generally its the way buiness is done, how much you charge comes down to how much people are willing to pay. Online people tend to be less willing to pay as much, plus the fact there is more online competition than what GAME has on the highstreet.

 

[lynchet]

Noooooooooo

/me struggles against Suits mind control drugs


I dont think my first post came out as I meant it to -- It was meant to be more - they do it because they can - what bastards !

 

[tris-]

i found gamestation to be quite competetive with their instant discounts, even £2-£3 makes a difference about where you want to go. HMV is also good as i get 10% discount there but if i buy second hand stuff i just go to GAME as they got the best return policy.

 

[Kieron]

Online / Offline price differences

It's a difficult one to call I'm afraid. The last thing we want to do is 'rip off' customers, we want to develop a long term relationship which would be worth much more than a quick buck immediately - at the expense of further sales.

Online discounting has been primarily driven by the fact that we try to be competitive with the local environment e.g. if you are in a GAME shop in Woking then they'll match to any cheaper competitors there - same online we'll match to other online competitors.

The online prices often mean that we sell at close to cost or even at a loss - which long term is not viable for any business, however a great deal of new entrants to the market online use price as a driver to get people shopping online, therefore run them as loss-leaders.

This is a concept known as the 'discounting of future sales' where you aquire people now and then your prices rise in the future - we'd rather, as I said before, develop a good relationship with customers based upon overall quality service and value added, e.g. the reward card, return products to store and trade-in whch we hope customers appreciate.

So there is a difference online and offline but this isn't because we are ripping people off its because the channel market is very differnet and one wouldn't even be possible without the other - or a set up which avoids paying VAT or owners that expect millions in losses

Long term this will calm down and there will be pretty much the same prices on and offline.

HTH & all the best

Kieron
Head of Online Operations

 

[soul-edge]

I still shop at game this is mostly due to my staff discount ,
but otherwise i import from dvdboxoffice and play-asia.

games pricing is a tough one, where do you draw the line at profit. you want to add enough to make profit and at the same time not overprice it. Its true though being in a store and seeing the costs they are alot more overheads to take care of instore but perhaps £10 is too much of a difference on some games but its still supply and demand.

Alot of people would prefer to buysomething face to face rather then from a faceless website, but in general the whole game dvd/film & music markets need checking for overpricing. Most prices rise or fall how come these mostly stay stationary?

I hope some of this makes sense, too much Phantasy star online till 3am makes me need sooooooooo much coffee :sleeping:

 

[Embattle]

Re: Online / Offline price differences

Originally posted by Kieron


This is a concept known as the 'discounting of future sales' where you aquire people now and then your prices rise in the future - we'd rather, as I said before, develop a good relationship with customers based upon overall quality service and value added, e.g. the reward card, return products to store and trade-in whch we hope customers appreciate.

TBH I find this concept is a little old now and doesn't really apply to those who shop online. The idea that online users would show any sort of loyalty is one which online users can benefit from because shops actually believe that it exists while all the time they're actually looking for the best price, and often getting it.

I reckon if you broke down the age groups that use online vs highstreet you would most probably find that shop loyalty still exists in the highstreet because it is mainly the older generations that shop this way, and those people who still believe it is dangerous to give your credit card details online.

 

[Jonny_Darko]

Some games are being released cheaper now though - check out WWE Crush Hour - a brand new wrestling-meets-Vigilante 8 title - it's only just out and how much? £14.99

Evil Dead: Fistfull of Boomstick is £29.99 with an Evil Dead 2 DVD...

Likewise Resident Evil 2 and 3 are £24.99 each on GC.

 

[leggy]

Originally posted by Jonny_Darko
Some games are being released cheaper now though - check out WWE Crush Hour - a brand new wrestling-meets-Vigilante 8 title - it's only just out and how much? £14.99

Evil Dead: Fistfull of Boomstick is £29.99 with an Evil Dead 2 DVD...

Likewise Resident Evil 2 and 3 are £24.99 each on GC.

Those games are shit and don't address my query by any means.

It doesnt matter if game do a select few titles cheaper if they aren't big sellers. My problem is that you are up to 10 quid dearer in store than you are on your website.

Plus there is no comprimise with the stores with this price unless another highstreet retailer is cheaper.

 

[Jonny_Darko]

Originally posted by leggy
Those games are shit and don't address my query by any means.

It doesnt matter if game do a select few titles cheaper if they aren't big sellers. My problem is that you are up to 10 quid dearer in store than you are on your website.

Plus there is no comprimise with the stores with this price unless another highstreet retailer is cheaper.

You misunderstood. Plus what makes you think I was addressing you? I was responding to Soul-Edge, who wanted to know why videogame pricing has remained static! Those games are cheaper because the publishers have deemed it so. It may be the start of a re-thinking about videogame pricing, it may not. I'm not in a position to comment even if I knew how things are going to go.

Well, prices haven't remained static, look at the 90s. Games are cheaper now than ever before, and as the market continues to mature no doubt pricing structures will evolve to suit everyone's needs better. It has always happened and is continuing to do so...that's all I meant.

Your problem about games being cheaper on the website has been explained by Kieron. There is no "rip-off" superplan. Our boss isn't drinking the blood of your children while sitting upon a pile of your money, laughing maniacally as lightning streaks through the sky. It's as simple as us needing to remain competitive, like the man said, and of having differing overheads. I know it's hard to think of anyone that works for a large company as anything but evil but get over it.

Crikey if we price at the same of the stores we get complaints and if we price competitively we get the same - it's extremely frustrating. We've worked damn hard to get to this level so if the games are cheaper on the site, just order them from the site and stop bitching at us!

 

[nath]

It's a customers perogative to bitch

 

[Jonny_Darko]

Oh totally, do it often myself! It's just that, believe it or not we all work flat out to do what's right by the customer, certainly in this department. We all go out of our way to make sure we make you lot as happy as possible, and I'd imagine it's reflected through the company.

I just find it amusing that we're now being hit of "You're too cheap, it pisses me off" rather than the "you're too expensive, it pisses me off" we used to get. Incredible eh?

I know that ppl will bitch about prices until the day that all games cost £1.99 again (and then probably keep bitching). In an ideal world I'd love to do that, but this is the real world, in a capitalist country, and it's never going to happen.

 

[Embattle]

Darko either you're being stupid or evasive. Leggys point is not that you're are too cheap, or that you're more expensive than another company but it is the very fact that a game like Planetside costs him £10 more to get from a GAME high street store than it does from the online GAME store.

 

[silverthorn]

ah God Bless Mastertronic. I remember the days when games like Chiller were £1.99 on tape.

They just don't make 'em like that any more

Seriously Jonny, isn't all the stock for the Online and High Street kept in the one big uber warehouse anyway which kinda makes the price difference seem a bit redundant unless the pricing online is more of an enticement to stay away from the High Street and reduce the company's overheads and thus drive up their profits by going online only?

Am I just being Mr Cynical?

 

[Embattle]

It is a combination of reasons for why online will always be slightly cheaper than high street stores.

Shops have rent, staff, transportation and other associated bills that have to be paid for on a shop by shop basis. The online store requires less extra staff and most probably less transportation and rent costs if it was located in GAMEs main warehouse.

As stated before, competition is another big factor since GAME almost have exclusive rights on the high street but online they have a fair amount of competition, for example Play sells Planetside for £24.99 too.

It also comes down to who shops were, most people who buy from the shop will be unwilling/unable to buy online so they can be charged more technically.

All to do with pricing strategies etc.

 

[Jonny_Darko]

Originally posted by Embattle
Darko either you're being stupid or evasive. Leggys point is not that you're are too cheap, or that you're more expensive than another company but it is the very fact that a game like Planetside costs him £10 more to get from a GAME high street store than it does from the online GAME store.

Yes, and I believe this has now been explained, completely truthfully by Kieron and backed up by myself. So how is that either stupid or eveasive?

 

[Jonny_Darko]

Originally posted by silverthorn
ah God Bless Mastertronic. I remember the days when games like Chiller were £1.99 on tape.

They just don't make 'em like that any more

Seriously Jonny, isn't all the stock for the Online and High Street kept in the one big uber warehouse anyway which kinda makes the price difference seem a bit redundant unless the pricing online is more of an enticement to stay away from the High Street and reduce the company's overheads and thus drive up their profits by going online only?

Am I just being Mr Cynical?

Will never happen. High Street will always be important. This is the crap I'm talking about. Crazy X-Files-style theories when the answer is actually far more simple.

 

[Embattle]

Originally posted by Jonny_Darko

I just find it amusing that we're now being hit of "You're too cheap, it pisses me off" rather than the "you're too expensive, it pisses me off" we used to get. Incredible eh?

.

Previous posts were also evasive, even I explained it better although at nearly 30% difference for a game like Planetside is fairly hard to justify the difference using any real logical reasoning.

I vary where I buy my games from, it depends on price and location at that point in time.

 

[tris-]

well i did some snooping around in town today. prices of games in gamestation were the same price as GAMEs online shop. now this is instore meaning i can buy this game, have it in my hand right now and play it when i get home. i know which id prefer. vice city was 24.99, at GAME it was 35 quid. then most of the stuff in the charts had 4-5 quid price difference at least.

the only reason i can see for cheap online stuff is for people who live in the middle of no where and it would take them all day to get to a shop.

 

[lynchet]

Suit:

So there is a difference online and offline but this isn't because we are ripping people off its because the channel market is very differnet and one wouldn't even be possible without the other

errrrrrrrr noooooooooo

You are charging 2 sets of people 2 different prices for the same thing -- one set of them is being ripped off.

And the fact that you state you pricematch in the area ie highstreet shops with other shops etc I think just backs up my first claim of you charge more becasue you can get away with it !
ie you only pricematch where someone near can beat you, as sonn as you think the people with lower prices are "out of sight" - ie online or far away, you ramp up your prices for more profit.

Im not actually saying Game are any different from other companies in their ethics -- all companies have the same ethic - to make as much money as possible -- but Im afraid I dont buy the "we really care about our customers" line - you only care for the profit they can bring


As for the service/delivery times etc -- well after my first disappointment with Game I decided to give them another go --- oh well now Ive learnt my lesson and will just stick with going elsewhere