Game & Gamestation: GAME credit woes

[kryss]

I think I laughed loud enough for everyone in the building to hear me. GJ that man.

[gambit6613]

I was in town today looking to buy Resident Evil Revelations so i went into game, and quickly walked out again. It was priced at 42.99, im sorry but that is just completley over-priced, a quick look on amazon and its 29.99. I know they have overheads and staff to pay but jesus its ?13 difference, if it was ?35 and i could not wait fair enough but bloody hell 42.99 when all other 3DS games are ?30-35. I feel reallt sorry for the staff if they do close a lot of stores or at worst go bust. With the worrying press durig the week i would have thought they would act very quickly regarding the prices of new games, but alas no. Game really need to get a grip and do it fast. While im on a my soapbox, this may not matter to many people but Game please stop putting new purchases in those CRAPPY PAPERBAGS. Its not great for carrying around, looks so cheap and is not a good image for an adult to walk round with, i feel really emabarrased carrying it.

[mugetsu]

same with ff13-2 , it was priced at 42.99 in game and after being point blank refused a copy because i hadnt "preordered" it i toodled into morrisons and got it for 29.99.
I do enjoy buying from my local game mainly because they tend to stock the slightly lesser known releases that come along and the staff in general are prety nice but if this is how they're gonna conduct their business going forward they'll be gone in a matter of months.

[Colin]

All I care about is that they don't go down the chute before I can use the ?100 Game gift card I have at the UK Vita release date................

[PaTaito]

Game/Gamestation are a strange one...

When you think about their strategy its clearly based mostly around second hand sales.

The prices of new stuff suggest as much and also when you consider that the vast majority of branches are within busy towns/cities, and then you look at a place like tesco or morrisons, both undercut them drastically and offer far more stores that are not only in towns, but spead out everywhere.

How do game etc expect to get away with such a ridiculous approach in this day and age, with much cheaper and, a lot of the time more convenient options available....thats forgetting online too.

Resident evil 3ds 42.99 or 29.97 at morrisons?
Metal gear hd collection 34.99 or 28.97 at tesco?

Just two recent examples, this clear overcharge must be taking into account a large portion of people trading in to get their new stuff.

Also in my local branch, they hardly stock any new games apart from a few of the very top sellers.

On a final note they also drastically understocked metal gear hd on release at my local gamestation, it sold out on 360 by 10am......hoping this stock shortage isnt a bad sign, and rather just a bad prediction of sales.

They are done already imo. Better bet down town and spend my ?80 credit note.

[teddymeow]

It's not "overcharging". The supermarkets are selling at a loss.

If GAME & HMV go the first thing that Tesco et al would do is put the prices up. You'd have no other bricks n mortar retail choice.

[Stoppy2000]

But the supermarkets will compete against each other. GAME are doomed. I only buy from them as a last resort. On a sidenote can anyone tell me why Jonah Lomu Rugby is 49.99?? Seems a bit odd. Not that I want it, it just always stands out when I see the price.

[Family Fry]

Trust me when I say the supermarkets do not give a toss about gamers or the choices gaming has to offer, as for them competing with each other can't really see that happening when they are already selling at a loss, they may as well say buy 60quid of shopping get a game free if they go lower.
People seem to forget the rrp of most games is 39.99-44.99 that ain't changing anytime soon.

[cavalcade]

It's not "overcharging". The supermarkets are selling at a loss.

If GAME & HMV go the first thing that Tesco et al would do is put the prices up. You'd have no other bricks n mortar retail choice.

That's not really the case though. In certain situations the supermarkets might use a game as a loss leader, but it would have to be a commercial heavyweight, a FIFA or COD, to bring people through the doors. The generally lower prices I doubt are all loss leaders. I can't see Tesco bothering to stock the Metal Gear collection unless they can sell it at a profit. I imagine they probably have far more ruthless buyers than GAME, can promise volume sales/promotions that GAME can only dream of and also stock a smaller range of games which allow them to be far more flexible on pricing and stock returns. If GAME vanished the supermarkets would still have one another to fight against, so I don't think it would be a disaster.

Here in France there is almost a complete lack of competition on game pricing. Supermarkets simply sell at RRP, as do independent and chain games stores (including GAME). There isn't the ruthless sense of competition that there is in the UK, and the Internet is far less prevalent as a brick and mortar whacking stick. This is good in one sense, as I can get decent trade in prices for games (I got 20 euros for Brink the other day, I'd be laughed out of a UK game shop if I expected more than a fiver), but it makes gaming murderously expensive. I think the problem with GAME is it fits quite nicely into an ecosystem like this (which is probably how the UK was 5 to 10 years ago), but the increasingly competitive UK and the informed nature of the UK consumer means they don't stand much of a chance longer term in their home territory.

['Press Start']

Also, Supermarkets sell games for less to attract buyers into their store, hoping you will end up buying something else whilst your there.

[PaTaito]

Supermarkets make their profit on groceries above all else...so if anything they dont need to make a profit on the entertainment section, however ?42.99 compared to ?29.97? GTFO all day long.

Also i dont believe for a second that they are making a loss on all their games, maybe when morrisons do deals where you get new releases for ?25 when you spend X amount in store yes, but look at a large tesco for example, they tend to price match online stores like amazon. I have noticed this for a good long time now, and i dont believe for a second that the fate of game/gamestation will change their pricing. The best online retailers make next to nothing but shift large quantities, if anything i suspect this is the way it is for large supermarket chains.

As for "yes but the rrp is x amount".....maybe, but seriously who pays rrp? In real terms the value of an item is judged by looking among its lowest available prices afterall.

Anyhow 3ds games retail at ?39.99. ?42.99?

At the end of the day, forgetting ifs and buts, game need a different approach if they want to stay alive....especially when i can go all the way to town to spend ?43 on a 3ds game there, or i can travel half the distance to tesco and spend ?30 instead.

They are ****ed lets face it. Its just the way the high street is going.

[tokyochojin]

I thought selling a product a low price (at cost or below cost) to stimulate other sales was illegal?

[PaTaito]

I thought selling a product a low price (at cost or below cost) to stimulate other sales was illegal?

I would be interested to know what the bottom rung trade price was for 3ds games, also the trade price when you step up the amount you order?

[kryss]

Canada gets MRP wherever you shop, even Amazon. After a good few months the prices start coming down a little.

[Corranga]

That's not really the case though. In certain situations the supermarkets might use a game as a loss leader, but it would have to be a commercial heavyweight, a FIFA or COD, to bring people through the doors. The generally lower prices I doubt are all loss leaders. I can't see Tesco bothering to stock the Metal Gear collection unless they can sell it at a profit. I imagine they probably have far more ruthless buyers than GAME, can promise volume sales/promotions that GAME can only dream of and also stock a smaller range of games which allow them to be far more flexible on pricing and stock returns. If GAME vanished the supermarkets would still have one another to fight against, so I don't think it would be a disaster.

I'm not even convinced on the loss leader situation with the heavyweights. The year that Sainsbury sold COD for 26 quid at launch, there was a massive queue outside my local store.
They used the customer service desk tills (2 of) and stopped anyone buying anything else to speed the process up.
I actually wanted to buy some things for my lunch, but didn't as it would have meant queueing for ages to buy COD, then going to get the stuff and queueing again for that, so I bought COD and left! Either Sainsbury screwed up big time, or were making profit at 26 quid.

I genuinely don't believe that supermarkets price to compete with GAME/station. If they did, their games would be a couple of quid under, so 42.99 in GAME = 39.97 in Tesco, but that's not the way it is.
They are competing with the big online guys, Amazon, Play.com etc, priced similarly, but in a better location.

I think GAME price high so they can sell used games high too. They will make more money on these used titles, and as we've seen over the years, less and less space in store is dedicated to new games.
I think before we see them disappear off the high street all together, we'll surely see them merge the 2 chains (or close the less successful one in a town). Having a GAME/station often in the same street can't do them many favours, yet they obviously feel it is still financially viable to maintain 2 premises, 2 sets of staff etc, otherwise they'd have closed 1 of them by now surely?

Chris