This is a great article and I found it a real eye opener to what is going on in the industry.
As someone who owns a gaming store, it is hard to compete with "Grey Imports" and buy locally. A lot of you keep saying that we should import but there is a difference between your average joe purchasing a game from overseas and a business. For one, we have to pay an import tax on products from overseas which adds more to the cost and sometimes can make it almost on par with what we would have paid in Australia. The second thing is delivery time. If I buy locally I can get the stock the next day, quick turn around on product whereas from say UK can be up to 14 days. That's 14 days of dead stock and money. Some of the pricing in the article is a little inaccurate for a game that retails for $109.95 we generally pay $85-$90 from distributors in Australia but the lower you go on a retail price the tighter the margin gets eg a game that retails at $29.95 generally costs $23-$25 to come into stock.
People should check out independent stores more, you will find that sometimes you get more personalised service and we can try to offer you the best deal we can get. I know personally that we offer decent trade value and for second hand games we only charge 1/2 of what they are worth brand new so $80 brand new $40 pre owned. I think that it is a rort if you are paying close to brand new price for a second hand game, (especially if it it something like Battlefield, C.O.D where you may need to purchase an online pass on top).
Great story. I so don't think that playing these games is a bad thing. Parents should take responsiblitly for what games they are buying for their kids and letting them play. I find it a great stress relief to get on these games and take out frustrations shooting people on there. Surely I am not the only one who does that? lol.
MadGamerNanango's comments