Price Matching Exposed: Part Two

NZGamer Investigates...

We take a look at the rumors about price matching refusals among Wellington's gaming stores.

Find out below if EB Games, the Gamesman, Dick Smith Electronics and the Warehouse walked the talk.

Read part one, which saw our operatives go undercover at gaming stores in the Lower Hutt region here.

Shinigami and Ryback had learnt all they could in the Lower Hutt region, so they made their way to central Wellington to see if different results could be found. The central Wellington region is heavily populated, and we expected to find stores that were much more competitive. Again we stuck with the Gamesman, EB Games, Dick Smith Electronics and the Warehouse.

EB Games Cuba Street

At two o’clock in the afternoon EB Games on Cuba Street was full. The queue for the counter nearly stretched out the door. They were obviously short staffed. While Ryback waited in the line to find out if they would honour their price matching policy, shinigami had to give other customers advice about whether or not to buy DJ Hero. (Not good EB Games, not good at all. Lucky for you NZGamer.com staff know their stuff). However, once our operatives finally got to the sales clerk they were quick to price match with JB Hi Fi from $119.99 to $97, purely on word of mouth and without ringing any other stores. So EB Cuba can’t be faulted on sales service.

Dick Smith Electronics Manners Mall

After searching for the console games for some time (DSE Manners Mall have their PC games and console games in two separate areas for some inconceivable reason) Ryback and shinigami managed to secure Assassins Creed II and make a price matching demand. Of all the stores investigated DSE Manners were the most accommodating of an instant word of mouth price match – the sales clerk even saying that he’d seen JB HI Fi’s lower price in their store that morning! They agreed to price match from $99 to $97 without calling, and also asked to see photographic id. DSE Manners was the only store to do this, and while our operatives were clearly over 16 years of age, it still good policy to check if the customer looks under 25 years old. We all remember how the 2004/2005 crackdown on under-age gamers basically killed Counter-Strike and the internet café scene in New Zealand; it was good to see one store sticking to the rules.

The Gamesman Cuba Street

EB Games and DSE were obviously sucking up customers, as the Gamesman Cuba was sparsely patronised. Assassins Creed II was on display for $119.99. The clerk agreed to price match straight away and like his regional competitors, didn’t ring any other stores to confirm prices or availability. He did try and sell our operatives a Gamesman scratch guarantee though. Probably quite a good investment for inexperienced gaming noobs – but obviously the clerk was not attuned to the veteran gaming experience aura that gushed from our operatives' bodies. Still, can’t fault them for trying, and at $5 more it’s not that much of a steal.

The Warehouse Lyall Bay

Traveling out of the main city centre, we were interested to know if prices would change closer to the airport and Wellington’s eastern suburbs. However, as was the case with the Warehouse Petone, the Warehouse Lyall Bay had moved quickly to drop its price in store to the same as JB Hi Fi.

So what have we learned?

We decided to retrospectively ask the stores we surveyed for comment about their price matching policy. It was interesting to see how the policies they told us differed from what we experienced during the sting. Here is the definitive word straight from the retailer's mouths:

EB Games and the Gamesman

“We price match any store, but it must in stock and it won’t be price matched from any online stores. It is policy to ring to check both price and availability.”

The Warehouse

"Whether we price match depends if it is on sale or not. If it's not on sale we wont price match.”
When pressed for why this was, the clerk informed NZGamer.com that they “just won’t, head office won’t let us.” The Warehouse also requires you to “bring a mailer in and if the price is lower we will reduce our price by 10%”.

DSE

“We price match straight off the bat. But it has to be a Wellington retail store and have a lower price and be in stock.” They were very relaxed about price match by word of mouth. “We are usually happy with a lower price, and will just ring around to check what others are offering. We won’t price match with online stores.”

JB Hi Fi

“We price match basically everything, no conditions as long as we can call them and check the price is lower." Do you include online price matching? “Generally no but it depends where they are based. It’s a case by case situation and depends on what the game is and who the online retailer is."

The bit at the end

There are several important facts that NZGamer.com learnt from our secret sting. Firstly, to our surprise and probably yours, the rumours about stores refusing to price match appear to be largely unfounded. Every store that had priced higher than JB Hi Fi agreed to price match or had already dropped their prices in order to compete. However, the conditions for price matching changed dramatically between the stores. The price matching policy of EB and the Gamesman is not being applied consistently – we were informed that they would only price match if other stores had titles in stock and were cheaper, however only the Lower Hutt retail stores bothered to check.

So what does this all mean for Kiwi gamers? Firstly if all you are concerned about is price, then JB Hi Fi and the Warehouse are good bets. They were the lowest of the five we surveyed. However, if there are no stores in your area, or if you are a bit shy and are afraid of a good haggle, then Dick Smith Electronics is your next best bet. A $2 price increase on a hyped game’s second day of release is not all that bad. But we can safely say that there’s no need to venture out to a Gamesman or an EB Games. For starters they are both owned by the same company, so price variances between the two probably aren’t going to happen. Secondly, throughout all the stores we surveyed they consistently had the highest prices – by a double digit margin. Finally they will only price match when a competitor has the game in stock, which places pressure on gamers when a hot new title (for example Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2) is flying off shelves.

Armed with the information in this article, NZGamer.com hopes that Kiwi consumers are better prepared for the Christmas and post-Christmas gaming rush. We hope you spend wisely and get the most gaming for your buck in the coming weeks ahead. Get out there and try your luck, for most stores, lower prices are just a phone call away.