News UK game retailers angry at supermarket prices

GAME: "Dear go.uk, please allow us to fix prices"

 

i always buy my games online, cheaper and you dont have to stand in queues with annoying little children

 

Nice to see we have a free market where prices arn't fixed. i do all my shopping online anyway, its far cheaper. Since Zavvi closed HMV 's prices have been extortionate. There PC games went from £10 to about £25 in some cases. Even their 4 for £20 DVD deal doesn't really have anything worth getting. I absolutly hate game too. they sell Portal on its own for £20. I can get the orange box set for £15 ffs. even their 2nd hand games are almost the price of new games. Gamestop ain't much better, least it has some unusual games from time to time.

 

Just something else thats wrong with the entire monetary system - it breeds greed.

 

Dont like shopping for games at supermarkets. Went to buy Dirt 2 and NFS Shift during their respective launch dates and neither Tesco nor Asda had them on their shelves yet on the day. Asked the cheerful assistant why not - they hadn't even heard of the game, claiming their line manager hadn't told them yet therefore it didn't exist to them.

Respect = 0

Small retailers need to cater to the enthusiast market and give them some kinda perks for coming there rather than buying online. Better yet, go online themselves. Advertise a same day delivery service on the shop front or something. Open their shops at late hours on new game release days etc.

 

Who cares, games are cheaper online anyway than most shops and have a much larger selection.

Well done Asda and Tesco for selling the games at a decent price.

 

When I brought FIFA10 I checked prices Game: £40 - Blockbuster: £35 - HMV: £40. When I saw Tesco for £25 it was a little further on my way home but in petrol it was probably extra fiver so got the game for £30 good business!

 

Game do that. Atleast the Game in Leicester does, my mates have been in there at midnight collecting pre-orders.


I've never even heard of chips, shows how big a store they must be, .

I've not really found the supermarkets to be much cheaper than proper game shops. I rarely buy games from them, except for old titles that they have at ridiculously cheap prices. Any game I've bought has been more expensive at tescos than any of the online retailers.

 

you always have to check the supermarket for some cheep games while getting your milk

 

Chips is over priced anyway, and has been exploiting children and adults on the part exchange game prices for years.
I hope they die a slow death, they are just as bad as each other. All supermarkets fiddle the numbers, its how retail has always been.
I agree with the ADAPT OR DIE statement.

Stop ripping us off!!

 

Tesco is the next Walmart. BEWARE!

You all want lower prices, they get it.
However, we had this happen in the U.S. with music and it ruined our music industry. Monopolys are bad, and this is what they are after.


Years ago the marketing wizards decided to let Walmart do massive price cuts to cd's. It didn't take long before the big music stores felt the pain and started dropping. The mom and pop music stores were hit even harder. As the major music stores died, Walmart became more and more powerful. Today Walmart and Itunes rules the music industry here. Walmart now dictates pricing to the music industry, as does Itunes. The music industry denies it, ad fights it, but they really do have a price lock as without these two retailers, they will be dead overnight.

So we get music cheap right? WRONG!

When you went into a music store you could walk up to an employee and say "I like ____, what can you recommend that is similar and can I have listen?" Or when you checked out, they would make recommendations "you should try ____." At Walmart, there is no employee,and worse, they aren't into music.

Not a big deal you think, I can just look online. WRONG.

Walmart ONLY carries pop music. Looking for a copy of a band that only hit top 100, you won't find it. Want a copy of a slightly rare album, they won't have it. Forget imports. Forget anything that could be considered breakthrough or up and coming. If it's not on Billboards radar, they won't touch it. If an album has too strong of language or becomes controversial, they won't carry it.


Gaming will be worse. As they chop down to only the top titles, the shelves will reduce further and further.

Tesco isn't ripping anyone off, neither is your local game store. They are just using a loss leader to get you all to buy from them, get you hooked and run the others out. Once they have control, you and the industry is at their mercy. If the company feels a game is controversial, they won't carry it. One "Hot Coffee" incident and you may never see another game from that manufacturer.

 

i think its about right what the smaller retails mean by the fact that bigger business have the capital to buy stocks in huge lumps at knocked down prices. examples: buy 50,000 copys of fifa ( or whatever game) and we'll sell you it for £15 each copy. but you buy less than that we'll charge you £30. with companys as big as tesco they have the capital to put smaller companys out of business. in the longer term bigger businesses ie. tescos/adsa will be the place to buy special products like games. which should be reserved for companys like "game".

it is indeed good for consumers to be here right now. buying games at knocked off prices. but what will happen when companys and businesses like "game" and "that's entertainment" disappear?

will they hike their prices to what you would pay for games now. then that will be the end of consumer choice.
or will it be they keep their prices fixed low every time a new hot release is out.

in my opinion i like the way smaller businesses are taking a stand against the bigger companys. but whatever the outcome its never in the best interest of the consumers. its all about profit.

 

Couldn't agree more, as far as I am concerned supermarkets are simply selling the game at a value more in line with its actual worth.

 

I don't get the problem..

How is that the "worst part" of anything? He can buy stock from Tesco at below cost, and thus use Tesco's buying power and 'loss leading' practices against them... it'll sort itself out!

 

Well said .... you over in the UK should listen up

 

Yup, classic case, once company B is gone then company A raise price to make a nice fat profit over the losses they took before


All in all, it's bad for the consumer in the long run

 

well, to be honest, f**k all supermarkets, i never liked the way they're screwing smaller shops, the competition is unhealthy and to sell something below RRP is fine but not half price on a new release!!!!! this is scary practice which shouldn't be allowed.

 

So presumably you only shop at boutique retailers and spend most of your Saturday going round butchers, green grocers and smaller supermarkets only buy games from the local store and never buy any thing from the web...

I find it most ironic how people talk about Tesco and Asda as they would talk about the weather as though there was nothing one could do about them, there are alternatives you'll just pay more and spend more time doing it, the very large supermarkets only exist becuase people like them and use them.

 

@ steveo mcq

yes, i always buy my games in a game shop. i will not support supermarkets as they are not specialized for games and their staff sucks. if you know what you want that's fine but if you need a 'human' advice on something you're lost. i always shop in specialized shops and the only stuff i buy in a supermarket is food for freezer. all other food i buy i buy on a market or from smaller shops.

 

Thats the whole point he was making, you think they are marked up extreamly high when they are not.

Tescos will sell the product at a loss in order to get you through the doors and hope you buy other things. Its called a loss leader.

Tesco is not making any profit on the game, only profit on the other items you buy at the same time which you wouldnt have normally bought that day if you just went to game.