Game and HMV, not surprised they are struggling

Irn-Bru-Kid

Second post tonight, on a roll.

Went into town today to buy a recent release PS3 game. As usual, did the rounds of the usual suspects to see who had the best price. The difference in prices was astonishing.

All four stores that I tried are on the same street. Blockbuster had it for £29.99, but they didn't have any sealed. CEX had new and sealed for £30.00. Game on the other hand were charging £39.99 (which was reduced from £42.99 and HMV were priced at £42.99.

I was saddened to read yesterday that Game are struggling, only because I like Gamestation and of course if one goes, I would imagine the other will as well. Never liked HMV, so won't be fussed if it goes.

Game and HMV have priced themselves out of the market. They are so expensive, it is no surprise they are going under. To be more than 25% more expensive than your competitor, which is only 100 metres up the street from you is just madness.

dontone

Irn-Bru-Kid wrote: »

Second post tonight, on a roll.

Went into town today to buy a recent release PS3 game. As usual, did the rounds of the usual suspects to see who had the best price. The difference in prices was astonishing.

All four stores that I tried are on the same street. Blockbuster had it for £29.99, but they didn't have any sealed. CEX had new and sealed for £30.00. Game on the other hand were charging £39.99 (which was reduced from £42.99 and HMV were priced at £42.99.

I was saddened to read yesterday that Game are struggling, only because I like Gamestation and of course if one goes, I would imagine the other will as well. Never liked HMV, so won't be fussed if it goes.

Game and HMV have priced themselves out of the market. They are so expensive, it is no surprise they are going under. To be more than 25% more expensive than your competitor, which is only 100 metres up the street from you is just madness.

HMV is the only store where you can pick up three of the same DVD, and all three will be priced differently. Their Doctor Who DVDs are extremely expensive - I refuse to pay £20 for one when I can get them off Play for approx £10.
Best example I saw there was before Christmas. They had a pre-owned Batman game for £36.99, a brand new one, sealed was priced at £32.99:eek::rotfl: No wonder people get confused.
I haven't much time for GAME tbh, the one in Barnsley always smells like someone has let a stink bomb off - and it's very pricey too.

Delivery_Driver

The supermarkets are pretty good for console games these days and some Tesco stores are 24 hour if you are desperate.Its usually cheaper online than all of the shops though but you have to wait a few days to get it(not launch day games).

balmk

I always use Games Tracker

http://www.gamestracker.com/buy-ps3-games.htm

And then go to the cheapest retailer through TopCashback.co.uk for extra cash back.

vyle

Delivery_Driver wrote: »

The supermarkets are pretty good for console games these days and some Tesco stores are 24 hour if you are desperate.Its usually cheaper online than all of the shops though but you have to wait a few days to get it(not launch day games).

The only downside is the lack of choice for the more discerning gamer. It's only really the mainstream titles that surface in the supermarkets, whereas specialists USED to have a wide range of titles. You'd never have seen Gregory Horror Show in Tesco.

Nowadays, though, Game and Gamestation seem only to stock new mainstream titles, and the preowned section is full of tripe that nobody wants to keep hold of, because it's awful. I think I only ever use a combination of shopto, playasia and ebay for my games now, with a little bit of play/amazon if they have good deals.

dontone wrote: »

Best example I saw there was before Christmas. They had a pre-owned Batman game for £36.99, a brand new one, sealed was priced at £32.99:eek::rotfl:

Best thing I ever did at HMV. During christmas clearance one year, I wandered through a few shops, buying a few xbox and ps3 games for pence at a local pawn shop, and even getting a god of war game and one of the viva pinata games for 65p each from john lewis of all places. Took them to HMV and traded in my haul of 8 games (which totalled less than £5) got £6 cash for each.

Next time I went into HMV, my games were proudly priced at between £15 and £25 each. Just goes to show how it pays to shop around. You can pay less than £1 for a game second hand (or even brand new), but if it's third hand, you'll be facing a 1000% markup.

bluenoseam

I would urge caution on slaughtering both companies - while i make no attempt to hide my dislike for both companies it's also safe to remind you that if you think it's fun now, wait until you see what happens when the options are limited. Supermarkets are "cheap" but they really aren't - 1 month after buying Call of Duty for £30 on release day you've paid for it with the extra penny on the essentials, not only that, but Agnes 73 years of age who wouldn't know what an Xbox 360 is has also paid for it, as has Mike who's blind. They also lack staff who can tell you about shovelware and an ability to talk you through what you're actually buying - cos that Playstation + 3 game bundle you just bought, yeah those 3 games were tripe.

Then that leaves you with online, now i know it's cheaper online, but it's not instant generally speaking (PC Gamers need not get on the high horse) and ultimately you'll have to wait for your game, hardly convenient.

No one knows more than me the annoyance with both companies, they have at different times paid my wages so i'm well versed in the HMV pricing lottery (incidentally, the whole thing is usually because they've paid different cost price for them) & the fact that Game can be clueless & frustrating. (i on the other hand was neither clueless or frustrating - customers were always my priority the company just facilitated the ability to serve them, i always wanted my customers to have excellent games that would entertain them) But beware their demise because i fear it will impact on the games market for the negative, i won't disagree they're expensive - prohibitively so - but atleast there's a chance you can get a good selection, the same can't be said about supermarkets.

ThumbRemote

bluenoseam wrote: »

I would urge caution on slaughtering both companies - while i make no attempt to hide my dislike for both companies it's also safe to remind you that if you think it's fun now, wait until you see what happens when the options are limited. Supermarkets are "cheap" but they really aren't - 1 month after buying Call of Duty for £30 on release day you've paid for it with the extra penny on the essentials, not only that, but Agnes 73 years of age who wouldn't know what an Xbox 360 is has also paid for it, as has Mike who's blind.

I don't understand what you're suggesting. Are you saying the supermarkets sell games at a loss and subsidise that loss from groceries? So what, if so? If that's how they want to run their business...

I can understand the logic that a lack of competition is generally a bad thing, but the rest just doesn't seem to make sense.

vyle

He's saying that in losing specialist shops like Game, the marketplace is also losing a place that has (one would hope) knowledgable staff who can help the customer pick the right games and peripherals, as well as explain things that customers may not understand.

Somewhere like a supermarket may well have knowledgable staff, but whether they're deployed to the games section, or allowed to spend time serving is another matter.

Supermarkets also lack the selection of a specialist shop.

System

Supermarkets are good for the top 40 games but useless if you want a more random game or one that was released ago they are very limited. It's the same with books. Waterstones are struggling as people buy books cheaper at the supermarkets. However the selection of books at supermarkets is limited compared to what is available in waterstones. When these places go to the wall they will be missed!

bluenoseam

No, what i was trying to get at is the point that while you get your game cheap, the cost of that game is (in my eyes unfairly) going to people who have no choice but to fund it despite the fact they'll never play a game in their life. The staff points i would think would be a given in any situation, while loss leading is well known the effect of it is often ignored - do you think it's fair that people are being charged extra on necessities all so you can get a cheaper game? As someone who's passionate about gaming i personally don't think it's right that such "tactics" can be used as it essentially taxes the non gamers to pay for our habit.

BGB

Supermarkets do not see games as loss leaders, that is simply not true. They can just afford to sell at a much smaller mark up as their main business is groceries. They probably still have bigger margins on games than they do on say milk or their basics ranges. A supermarket has lower cost per metre and turns over many times more than a small city centre games outlet. For their little aisle of games their fixed costs are minimnal, no additional staff, cheap floor space, etc.

On top of that what use is the product knowledge these days in a games shop. Your market is (almost by definition) tech savvy and engaged with other sources of impartial information such as the internet. If you want a FPS but don't know which one generally you'd have a look at any number of free internet sites that will give you a countdown of the best games in that particular genre, rather thyan some . They are simply a business model that has had it's day.