Sure, back in July we were told that games retailers would be taking the hit from the then-recently announced rise in VAT and not raising prices, but now we’ve actually got to it, it seems like that might have been a little bit of a lie. We’ve engaged the TSA Re-pricing Confirmation Force (yeah, I went outside) and checked out the three major high-street games chains to see how hard the new rules will be hitting your wallet.
As it turns out, not so hard: of the three stores we checked, two had indeed upped their prices slightly, but the other had seemingly stuck to their guns and not adjusted the RRPs of games. The main point though is that there are no massive price jumps, and those that have increased theirs have listened to the words of Activision’s UK MD back in July: “In this industry retail tends to work in large price steps rounded to the nearest £5. Is it likely £39.99 will become £40.84?” said Andrew Brown. “Perhaps the VAT change will drive retail to re-think the large price steps being used.” Most of the price increases are indeed only a pound or so.
GAME appears to be the store with the most adjustments, with a lot of the new releases and chart games now up to £40.99 from the usual £39.99, and the same also applies to all of the recently-released Kinect titles. In addition, those big releases like Call of Duty: Black Ops and Gran Turismo 5 have gone up from £44.99 to £45.99. Gamestation appears to be doing much the same, and although my local store hasn’t got round to pricing up yet, online reports say that new releases are now £40.99, with the Move Starter Pack now up from £49.99 to just over £50. Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Black Ops were both £45.99 in my branch, though. HMV is the winner out of this one, not upping any of their prices past last week’s levels. Having said that, they still like charging a good £45 for most games out in the past couple of months, so maybe they’re not your best bet for a bargain.
On the plus side, online retailers seem to be keeping to their guns, with Play*, ShopTo and The Game Collection all keeping their prices the same. GAME, Gamestation and HMV’s websites also still have prices at the £39.99 level, not matching the new, higher in-store levels.
So, if you’re looking to avoid the VAT increase, your best bet is still, as usual, to shop around online before heading into stores. Of course, it’s likely that once the current “sales” finish up, we’ll see more games heading up to the new prices.
Are the retailers where you are raising prices to match the new level of VAT, or keeping pre-rise prices and taking the hit themselves?
*Editor’s note: Play are based in Jersey where VAT gets a bit weird. As the Channel Islands are not part of the EU, companies based in Jersey can sell goods on the British mainland without charging VAT at 20% per cent.
tinman9
We brought AC Brotherhood at local Game and they charged £43.
I know their sales were down 15% in 2010, but they are just getting greedy, and if they think this latest round of steep price hikes will help their position in the games market then they are wrong.
They may be in trouble more than we know, but overcharging for games does not win them any votes in my book.
Spence1115
They’re not gonna care, its not the hardcore gamers that shop in there, they shop online anyway. Its the parents, the people who must have it now etc.
Spence1115
Gamestation prices will match GAME obviously due to being the same company.
We put the prices of Move Starter Packs up to £52.99 today, Kinect to £132.86 (which means I had to remember that ridiculous price all day). Console prices instore go up tomorrow for the final thing.
JoshHood
They certainly didn’t price match before, so I don’t see why they would now?
When I went into town today, Brotherhood was £45.99 in GS and £40 in Game, Need for Speed was £35.99 in GS and £37.99 in Game, and the rest were all over the place.
tinman9
I don’t think Game will be around in it’s current guise at the end of 2011…
They can’t compete now with the likes of Shop2 and Amazon
Charmed_Fanatic
Not sure it will bother me, i only shop online most times nowadays
minerwilly
I hate this Government , these Tories are bleeding us for every penny . Thanks young people for thinking the grass is always greener and not sticking with the devil you know (labour) .
At least you can see the error of your ways because all the young folk i have spoken to who voted Liberals are fuming and because there is only one viable option as an alternative to this sham of a coalition Labour should get back in .
Im not saying these guys are some kind of saviours but I just hate being ruled by people from privileged backgrounds its a harder pill to swallow when they put up fuel to £1.45 a litre but you know at the end of the day it wont effect them or a great deal of their voters , they can still fill up their Range Rovers.
I can almost stomach the VAT increase but this Fuel price today is outrageous it was 0.90p a year ago . When common working oik like me gets pissed off by the tories you can bet your house on the fact that there will be riots on the streets of our major cities again just like last time these cretins where in power .
JoshHood
Yeah, there were riots, it was those “young people” doing it, and everyone else was quick to condemn them. But that’s not a conversation for here.
minerwilly
guilty conscience perhaps ..
lukieboy1981
I don’t remember games stores lowering prices when we had VAT at 15% did they do that or did they enjoy the extra profit??
Hoopiness
If someone still buys their games (new) from the likes of Game/Gamestation/HMV at their crazy prices, then the 2.5% VAT rise is the least of their worries.