EB Catalogue Reveals Few Bargains

16 responses to “EB Catalogue Reveals Few Bargains”

1. 

   Traz

   January 15, 2009 at 11:51 am

   I’ve always found EB to be a bit of a rip-off compared to everywhere else. JB FTW!

   Reply
2. 

   chaz123

   January 15, 2009 at 11:55 am

   No change there.

   Reply
3. 

   Peter

   January 15, 2009 at 12:29 pm

   I seriously have no idea why EB are still in business. I wish they would die already and stop ripping people off.

   Reply
4. 

   Ryan

   January 15, 2009 at 1:20 pm

   You forgot the deal where if you trade in 17 old PS3/360 games you get a new game for Free!

   Reply
5. 

   pedantics

   January 15, 2009 at 1:35 pm

   Yes, EB’s shelf prices are terrible – but that doesn’t mean they’re not the best place to shop. Principally because they price match and have a good refund/exchange policy (ie you can actually refund or exchange).

   Not only that, 99% of the time EB gets a new, SEALED copy from out the back – there’s none of that gutted tatty cover on the shelf, drawer full of crumpled manuals and scratched disc BULLSHIT you get at almost every other store.

   If it’s been opened, IT’S NOT NEW!

   Anyway, moral of the story – find the best advertised price, go to your local EB, play (and finish) the game within a week, then go swap it for another one (may I suggest Left 4 Dead).

   (These same arguments apply for GAME too, but in my experience they can be kinda douchey about price matching sometimes).

   Reply
6. 

   Ryan

   January 15, 2009 at 2:50 pm

   @pedantics

   Why not buy from the place that your price matching with? Why award EB for not having the best price?

   I do agree though that they a good returns policy, but you can’t say that once you return that game that they sell it as second hand, of course not, they put the game and the manual out the back and sell it as new.

   Reply
7. 

   crotchdot

   January 15, 2009 at 3:45 pm

   @Ryan
   Agree with you completely, except I don’t think they’re actually reselling second-hand games as new, they don’t need to, their second hand games are only usually $5-$10 cheaper than their shelf price (which is still on average about $10-$20 more expensive than buying the product anywhere else brand new).

   Reply
8. 

   Cat Tactics

   January 15, 2009 at 4:12 pm

   @pedantics

   i bought farcry 2 from EB and they pulled it all out from under the counter. fuckers.

   i remember years ago when all this trade n’ save bullshit rocked up, my friend went to trade in MTV music generator 2 (great game) for ps2. They offered him 4.50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He took it cause he wanted McDonalds, but they were trying to sell it at $45!!!!!

   In general in try to stay away from cum stained used copies of games. Not my cup of bobine and cum, not at all.

   Reply
9. 

   pedantics

   January 15, 2009 at 4:15 pm

   @Ryan

   I try not to philosophise and politicise my puchases to be honest – I make purely selfish decisions. I tend to not buy games from JB/Kmart/BigW/Target (who usually have the deals I’m getting matched) due to the after sale service and aforementioned “gutted game” issue.

   I have a fundamental problem with buying anything unsealed, especially since most of the retailers that gut games also practice a bullshit no refund/no exchange policy. I’d rather buy it NEW, sealed, and with an “if I hate it I can take it back” piece of mind guarantee (which – desipite my previous joke – I’m yet to actually take advantage of).

   Reply
10. 

    paulus

    January 15, 2009 at 5:55 pm

    EB Games make the majority of their profit from the preowned biz – I know, cause I used to work there. Even back in 2005, they wouldn’t give anything for an official PS2 memmory card, but would happily sell it for about $30. That’s an infinite percentage of profit. However, saying that, there have been times where you can buy a ton of games and then trade them in for more than you just payed for them, if there was a specific console deal on – I know, I did that for my 60gb PS3. There’s also some legal, accounting wizardry as they can dodge GST on preowned titles (I think).

    In regards to EB price matching, they’ll only do it if a competing store is in the same suburb or vicinity. For example, EB at North Sydney won’t price match, point blank, as there isn’t a GAME, JB et al for at least 7km.

    To stick the boot in more, and because I’m now on the consuming side of the counter – thank Christ – their pre-owned prices when not in the middle of June/July or December sales are f’kin outrageous. In general, I expect more than just $5 or $10 off the price of a full priced game for a preowned title. AND they have the gall to charge the same price for a copy of a game that DOESN’T have the proper cover or missing instruction box. It really does disgust me.

    Reply
11. 

    peter pumpkin eater

    January 15, 2009 at 6:48 pm

    i work at eb. i’ll admit it. i have to agree with some of the comments above. sure eb prices are usually above everywhere else, but 99% of the time they will price match if asked. they allow you to return the game if you don’t like it. they will always offer preowned cheaper than new. if you see a new one cheaper elsewhere, they will drop the price lower on a preowned one. also i am sick of people whinging about trade in prices. for christs sake if you don’t want to trade it in at the price offered, then don’t. fuck off. take your game elsewhere. take it to jb… but if its scratched… oops sorry cant trade it. missing the book? oops sorry… jb can’t trade those in. eb can and will. if a game is scratched when traded it gets cleaned by people from our head office when it gets sent back defective. and finally, the funny thing is that all of you people who sit here and bitch and moan about eb still shop there. regardless of what you think of them, they have the best policies around. the prices may be higher than everywhere else, but price match. they trade in games to make your stuff cheaper… if you don’t like the trade then go elsewhere. stop complaining. 7 day returns policy….. jb? big w? game (not if the game includes a cd key… cant return that)., kmart? harveys? no way. fuck off with your complaining.

    Reply
12. 

    Aaron

    January 15, 2009 at 9:28 pm

    @Author

    Too bad you’re a bit late
    These Christmas Promotions have already ended.

    Bit slow there

    Reply
13. 

    N

    January 16, 2009 at 1:28 pm

    People! GTA4 on PS3 brand new, sealed for $69 from Kmart. I picked up a copy yesterday (they went out the back and got one for me). Part of their big disc sale which started yesterday.

    Someone posted that Far Cry 2 was $63 on PS3 from HN. Bogus deal–I asked and the dude gave me an ‘are you shittin me?’ kind on look.

    Reply
14. 

    BGA

    January 16, 2009 at 9:43 pm

    I do agree that EB has higher prices, I work there, and it’s cheaper to price match JB on new releases than to take staff discount. And yes the second hand stuff is where a majority of money is made, but not many people actually stop and think, how much money are these other places with lower prices making on these games? Generally, they are selling them at almost cost pricing, as they can easily make up the difference by people buying other items on their way through.

    With EB as a specialty retailer, they aren’t going to make any money at all if they sell at cost pricing, it’s a terrible business idea.

    And for reference, a fuckload of price drops came through just today, a tonne of games from each platform had pretty big price drops, a fair bit of back catalogue stuff, but still…..

    Reply
15. 

    paulus

    January 17, 2009 at 9:18 am

    @ peter pumpkin eater

    I’m going off topic with this as my point isn’t about ker-azy bargains, but, mate, you’ve just highlighted another problem with EB: “but if its [the disc] scratched… oops sorry cant trade it. missing the book? oops sorry… jb can’t trade those in. eb can and will. if a game is scratched when traded it gets cleaned by people from our head office when it gets sent back defective.”

    WHEN it gets sent back defective. I know you poor sods who work in the stores don’t get the time (during paid work hours, anyway) to test the stock to ensure it’s in working order before the customer is sold a shitty disc, so EB are placing the onus on the consumer to point out their sub-par stock. I’ve dealt with irate parents who bought a preowned game for their kid, rightly expecting a decent product that will actually freakin’ work, and come back in pissed and stressed because it freezes halfway through level 1. Ditto on the preowned consoles. Shit, the original Xboxes must’ve been implanted with a homing beacon that just fuckin’ locked on to the nearest EB and screamed to be traded in when they died. Did we ever get a chance to test ’em? Nah. And, again, who wants to pay THE SAME PRICE for a copy of game WITHOUT an instruction book? No one, but that’s the EB way. Mind you, I do stick my head in there when the sales are on. Maybe I should just ‘fuck off with my complaining’.

    Reply
16. 

    paulus

    January 17, 2009 at 5:40 pm

    And another thing, pedantics, you said “If [the case has] been opened, IT’S NOT NEW!” and “I have a fundamental problem with buying anything unsealed,” but you have no problem of taking a game back after seven days and exchanging it for another one. Smacks of hypocrisy, doesn’t it, if you don’t want an opened, new copy of a game but are happy for someone else to have your played and returned copy?

    Reply