BUYING A GAME FROM EB
As soon as I finish writing this, I’m off to put Fable II in the 360. Last night I was at the shops on an errand unrelated to gaming and saw an Electronics Boutique. I rarely buy games from EB (Despite having bought my PS2 and my 360 from there over the years) mainly because the prices they charge are usually unspectacular aside form the moral reasons to avoid their preowned titles or trading games.
So Fable II was out and riddled with stickers (see picture) so rather than drive to somewhere with decent prices, I thought I’d try their price guarantee. They may have a higher price on the sticker, but if somewhere else advertises a lower price (and has it in stock), they will match the price. There was a @20 difference between JB Hifi’s price and EB’s so I asked if they might price match.
The store was utterly empty and I was alone apart from the sales clerk. It was certainly uncontaminated by customers. She said, sure but I’ll have to ring a store to see if they have it in stock. The way it works is I have to say which store I would have bought it from and they ring the exact store to see what price and if its in stock. If it was in stock, I’d get it for the cheaper price and save myself a 10 minute trip in the car.
A few years ago, a small electrical retailer got so sick of large chain stores like Big W, Target and K Mart undercutting them with loss leaders that they decided to teach the big boys a lesson. The retailer advertised Playstation 2′s for far less than the then current price. They only had one in stock and sold it quickly. After that, all customers were directed to K mart and informed about K mart’s pricing guarantee to not only match a competitor’s offer but beat by an extra 10%. K Mart was soon swamped with potential PS2 customers demanding to price match the small retailer’s offer, despite assertions they would be selling at a massive loss. Irate customers unable to access the below cost price soon bombarded the local current affairs programs with complaints. Since then, price matching offers had a rather large list of qualifications to make it more or less useless nine times out of ten.
I was in luck, Fable II was in-stock at the other store and so I would be able to walk out with the game paying 80% of the store advertised price. The only previous time I had tried this was when GTA IV came out and an even worse retailer, would not price match since the competitor had sold out in the one store he rang.
If stores near you have a “We will not be beaten on price” promotion, would you pricematch?
