logo

Mon

07

Jul

2008

Dick Smith Sale - Great Bargains Or Great Disaster? Print
Feature Articles - Feature Articles
Written by segax   

By now you should have noticed all the great games on sale at the moment at Dick Smith. Lots of gamers took advantage of their first sale in June and I personally thought that would be the last we saw of such great prices. Yet Dick Smith has continued offering great bargains once again, putting up another sale in July with prices even better (in some instances) then their previous sale.

2008-07-08-dsearticle.jpg

At the same time as pleasing many bargain hunters I believe Dick Smith has also angered a lot of gamers by not keeping their prices consistent during the sale period. I believe it's the first time a store has changed prices on their games on a daily basis in several instances. Take Conan for example, it was just $25 at one point but then suddenly jumped to $50 shortly after, and now rests at $70. Whoever is in charge of sales is definitely trying to cover his mistakes by the looks of it, When they find a game has been too greatly reduced they seem to then retract their deal, as can be seen with the $250 Halo Xbox 360 incident of several days back.

I can't speak for the other states, but from what I've seen at various stores in Queensland is that  these stores have not bothered to update the prices on their games to reflect those located on the Dick Smith website. Could it be they do not want to warrant a change that may not be legitimate the next day? Many of the games have two stickers on them, one yellow and one white both carrying the same price. No wonder people are oblivious to any sale at all. The upside to this whole fiasco is that some savvy gamers have been able to snag some great bargains due to their regular checking of the Dick Smith website, taking advantage of the great deals before stock runs out.

Lets look at some of the positive points of the Dick Smith Sale. Their website is great, it allows you to view which store has what game and roughly the amount of remaining stock. The prices on some games are just incredible. I never thought we would be buying Phoenix Wright games for $5 in such a short period of time. The last time prices were this low was just before the PS3 was introduced to Australia, retailers where trying to get rid of the old to make way for the new generation of games. It sparked Big W to have a crazy sale with their PS2 games. Could it be that Dick Smith has some sort of information we dont? Possibly another DS on the way and they are trying to get rid of old stock?

Many gamers have been able to pick some excellent bargains because they were following internet revelations (cough ecogamer cough) and forum discussions on game prices. Some of the games are true gems: Mario 3 On 3 and Mario VS Donkey Kong to name two, while others will wind up as trade bait for bigger and brighter games.

So what do you think? Has the Dick Smith sale been the best thing since pizza or a nightmare in the making due to its inconsistency and lack of stock in many stores?

Many thanks to blink and Anthony for help on the article.

Comments

 Belgavion
0
 
 
It was great for most of us but I feel sorry for those who just went to get 1-2 games and found that they were either cleaned out already or the store/stock level on the DSE site was wrong and they didn't even have the titles they were meant to. It will be interesting to see if there's another clearance like this next June/July or whether the person(s) behind the pricing has learned from his/her mistakes

 Vangalorr
0
 
 
Personally I have been annoyed by the whole thing.

Last Friday I diligently hunted the website for a few games I wanted and compiled a list. On Saturday I headed to DSE North Sydney to collect the 3 games the site said they had in stock that I was chasing. Once I got to the store I found the 3 games but only one of them was still at the lower price, the two others had both gone back up. The kicker was one of the two still had the discount price sticker on it but the staff refused to honour it.

The whole thing has left a rather sour taste in my mouth...

 D3lusion88
0
 
 
The sales that DSE has is fantastic imho, even though stock level are pretty damn low, it allows us gamers to pick up some neat bargain to add to our current collection.

 zeldamario
0
 
 
I was overall fairly happy with it, considering I live in a small town (Ballina) in Northern NSW.

DSE here had a few good titles. Firstly I got Need for Speed Most Wanted on 360 for $10, Kirby Sqeauk Squad on DS for $20 and Wario Master of Diguise on DS for $10.

I did trade bait twice to get Top Spin 3 for $60 at GAME and Kingdom Hearts for $20 at EB.

Then also got Burnout 3: Takedown on Xbox for $10.

I missed out on a few titles due to lack of stock, but overall was very satisfied with what I did score.

 dark moogle
0
 
 
Apart from a couple cheap trade in games for Crisis Core I was pretty slummed with the Dick Smith sales. The ONE GAME that I was after (Phoenix Wright Justice For All) was out of stock in every store I checked. And everyday the website claimed the Preston store had the game in stock, yet it wasn't there the 3 times I went down myself to check.

Now I know I'll be forced to spend $30+ for a copy of Phoenix Wright down the line, which makes me a sad moogle

 Crispix
0
 
 
For me i got a few good games, mostly trade bait for games in the future. i hope this sale happens annually, and better stock distrubution throughout DSE stores. but even with my persistence to find bargain games, i missed out on a few i would of like to pick up, overall im happy, and hopes this sale happens again next year

 lameboyadvance
0
 
 
I was happy trading in Godzilla for $12.50 and Ice Age 2 for $15 for JB Smash Bros for a total of $27.50! :grin

Unfortunately every game I actually wanted (eg Trauma Centre and Mario Hoops) were long gone from not only the store, but every other store in the region. :sigh

The problem with these kinds of sales is any game you actually want is long gone by the time you get there.

 B00G3r
0
 
 
yeh big props eco gamer

bizzare work dse with the up and down and up prices..but was good, 6 xbox games for $10 buks each..about a 50% hit rate for games listed on site at being in stores and to what was actually there. Lucky there are a few dse's in canberra!

 Jb
0
 
 
I had a great time throughout the sales. When they first started on that Sunday in June I picked up 10 games for roughly $100 and then more recently picked up another 3 for $10 each. All xbox 360 games. With the duds that weren't on Games exclusion list I've traded in 6 and will be picking up both Gears 2 and Fable 2 "free" when they come out (eventually). I'm lucky that I have 2 stores withing 10min of my house :)

 Cobla
0
 
 
Yeah the inconsistencies between prices on their website and those stickered in-store were sometimes verging on absurd, with many "Clearance" titles still listed at full RRP in-store. I would have been disappointed, but DSE are one of the worst Aust. games retailers (along with Harvey N) so expectations were suitably low.

Their games are almost always poorly organised, stupidly priced and missing key titles and new releases. Gamers who found the true bargains (eg Phoenix Wright) at this sale must have gone at the exact time for their stars to align!! :p

 original iron man
0
 
 
Its amazing that noone saw fit to mention the current DSE catalague featured on this site! It advertises sale games reduced by 50%. It started on the same day alll the prices of the majority of 50% reduced sale games were increased by over 100%. Under most States fairtrading laws that's a big nono. When you toss in the DSE managers and staff buying consoles and games, in preference to even putting the stock out for sale, its easy to understand why so many gamers like Cobla refer to DSE as being one of the worst Aust. games retailers. Its a chain run without any regard for its customers, and even apparently State trading laws, largely for the benefit of its employees. Wonder what its shareholders would say if they looked at this site?

 Anthony
0
 
 
Thanks for pointing that out.. I hadnt noticed.

Please login to post comments or replies.
 
Play-Asia Please support us by clicking these ads when buying online

Bargain Chat

Latest Message: 2 minutes ago
  • CHWong : Fallout 3 is 50% on Steam this weekend going at around $45 AUD.
  • mmmmmmm : Victoria , Highpoint Harvey Norman have facebreaker on PS3 for $19
  • zhou : harvey norman gaming bargians- «link»
  • Anthony : USE THE FORUM PLEASE: «link»
  • alex : how do you refund it? i thought jb hifi doesnt allow refunds
  • Andy Le : I Return'd ONE of them back to JB, it was scratched a little :D The other one = Game.
  • Anthony : Everyone discussing Harry Potter use the forum please: «link»
  • Pete : A better way for the stores to operate would be to mark DOWN the price of the game being purchased rather than marking UP the trade in values. There's probably some accouning reason they don't do this.
  • Neo : gratz if you guys succeed but i\'m usually against things like this, i mean the returns are usually goodwill that stores allow for customers that genuinely dislike their brought product and not for people to take advantage of, if you guys get banned i do believe you brought it on yourself
  • bambam : It's funny seeing everyone doing this trade deal now at JB. Expect JB to ban you returning it soon. I got around $800 credit from them doing it over the last year. Turned EB credit into JB credit :)
  • alex : Crispix i tried today it doesnt work i rekon the stores have been updated with new info. 2 EB stores wrote all over my receipts that it was a trade in not a purchase. cheers anyway
  • EvilTom : Sorry should be "My EB". EB refued.
  • EvilTom : WARNING my JB refused to match the JB Harry Potter trade deal, even though JB was across the road, and they rang up and confirmed it. They still refused. Beware!
  • Adam : and you're able to return it at jb for that price?
  • Andy Le : Nah i'm gonna return some other time?
  • Adam : yeah EB said they'd only give me $15.. How did you trade to JB? Did you say "Can I now return this game?" straight away or did you actually trade in?
  • CHWong : Andy did you return the HP at the same store? Did they allow that!??? Or you went to another store?
  • Jb : my eb quoted $15 trade in for HP so i just went to game
  • Andy Le : EB is offering like 35 i think, and JB = $48 just for returns
  • Andy Le : Meh ,who cares about EB.
  • Dan : how much is store credit for HP6 at JB?
  • CHWong : Andy did you go to EB at all? Or just did the deal at JB?
  • Andy Le : and 360, but why bother? Just return it a JB for store credit, JB has the variety. I'M GETTING ME SOME CD's :D
  • Dan : $50 per PS3 copy at game? nice!
  • Andy Le : Thanks mate, but i've decided i'm gonna try fix my old ds. How did everyone go? I traded in 3 copies, got $50 at game, and also $96 store credit at JB.
  • CHWong : @Andy Le: hey mate if you haven't seen, pre-owned DS Lites are selling for $147 at EB. :)
  • ianinozzie : gizmomelb: I agree completely. I have no idea what's being discussed right at the bottom of the chatbox. Doesn't help that there are a few multiple one-line messages either! Anyone knows where I can get the cheapest price for the House of the Dead: Big Bang Box other than the EB one? Only interested in getting from a store.
  • Neo : from what i can gather alot of ppl are trying to get hp6 for store credit
  • Robert : Just read the HP6 Review from IGN, Don't bother witht he JB deal, looks like you are better off without it...
  • Neo : i think that's y anthony wants ppl to post stuff up on forums rather than chat box

Only registered users are allowed to post

Poll

Which platform do you own the most games for?
 

Currency Converter

Amount $ 

Convert into

  

Free Official Soundtracks

RSS Feeds

Primary RSS

Bargains RSS Forum RSS Free games RSS Trading Post RSS

Website Links

Forum Activity

Trading Post


Copyright © 2007-2009 Economical Gamer | Established May 19th 2007
Powered by Joomla! | Designed by ThemZa | Hosted by Hunter Website Services