EB Games No Longer Officially Price Matching?

Ashmattic on 29/11/2023 - 12:48

Just wondering if others have noticed a shift in EB Games' approach to price matching.

I went to price match MW3 on PS5 for ($78 from $109) and was told somewhat bluntly that they no longer price match Harvey Norman (or Joyce Mayne) in general because they "sell below cost". Now I'm sure they may well be selling close to cost, but I've never had EB turn me down for a locally stocked item before.

I don't know who in their right mind would pay full price at EB Games when it's cheaper elsewhere.

I went on the website to try to find their price match policy but couldn't find it. Further, there's no mention of price matching at all on the website anymore.

Have they stopped offering this service officially now? I understand you can still go and ask for one and they will likely do it especially on older games, but have they removed the price match policy so they don't have to if they don't want to, or was there never an official policy in the first place?

On Reddit it looks like back when God of War Ragnarok came out they were specifically banning price matches for that game.

What has been your recent experience?

Gaming

Related Stores

EB Games Australia
EB Games Australia

Comments

  • AustriaBargain on 29/11/2023 - 12:53

    Maybe you were talking to the store manager who felt you were taking money out of her mouth compared to paying full price.

  • solidussnake on 29/11/2023 - 13:02
    +11

    Or you could shop with the place that has the better price ?

    • AustriaBargain on 29/11/2023 - 13:08
      +3

      And miss out on 78 carrots!?

      • jv on 29/11/2023 - 13:31
        -2

        When will they switch to celery?

    • driew on 29/12/2023 - 00:15

      Only price match as a last resort otherwise you're rewarding the store with the poor prices and punishing those with the good ones.

  • Stoibs on 29/11/2023 - 13:02
    +5

    Last time I tried to price match the restrictions were absurd, the JB I was trying to match had to have the item in stock at the exact same shopping mall that the EB was in.. not even locally or up the road would make them budge.

    Not surprised they're phasing it out altogether considering how scummy they've become.

    • dReam10 on 29/11/2023 - 13:05
      +2

      same here, must be in-stock in the same shopping mall.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 29/11/2023 - 13:18

      +1 f jb for price match bs

      Refused pm on dual shock for ps4 when bigw upstairs ib same shopping centre had stock

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 29/11/2023 - 13:17
    +1

    Haven’t been to eb games since circa 2013 when they refused to match bigw on the 2ds and a copy of Pokémon.rather have got it from bigw just happened to have an eh games gift card.

    Jb also refuses multiple times price matching eg ps4 dual shock when bigw had a toy sale

    I just vote with wallet now and give the business where possible to whoever is giving the deal rather than stuffing around with vague and attendant discretion price match policies

  • plmko on 29/11/2023 - 13:20

    No issues for me. Price matched Resident Evil 4 with JB.

  • hasher22 on 29/11/2023 - 13:34
    +2

    I guess it's like any store that price matches, it depends on the store, rep and manager.

  • churningNburning on 29/11/2023 - 14:42

    Perhaps they think their carrots are enough to lure people in… I only tried once with EB and was rejected. I'd prefer the Woolworths Rewards points from Big W anwyay.

  • MeesusEff on 29/11/2023 - 15:26

    How recent? I last price matched Lies of P to $79 on 31st Oct with Big W, they didn't look at stock count there or anything, but we do have a Big W in the same shopping centre. I just show them the price and they go ah yup no worries. So it probably depends who you are dealing with?

  • blonky on 29/11/2023 - 15:51

    Price matched a couple months ago at the Sydney EB against BigW in Pagewood (~10kms away) with no issues. It's the only way to get reasonable pricing from EB

  • Splashtash on 29/11/2023 - 16:18

    Wth…. I have been told consistently they won’t price match past years -_/

  • xcess on 30/11/2023 - 12:11

    think just particular store / manager / employee. I had them reject me years ago too due to "below cost" too. You should have tried just price matching JBs $79

  • GloriousBargain on 30/11/2023 - 17:55

    Interesting. My local EB Games store was usually accepted price match for over 10 years until recently rejected Big W's $79 for Persona 5 Tactica then accepted JBHIFI'S $89 that is in same shopping centre. No more price match that's not in same location anymore.

    I heard it's happening to others too. I preorder & buy most of games from Amazon AU for cheapest + free shipping anyway.

  • kernelghost on 23/12/2023 - 13:31
    +4

    I just tried to price match a copy of bluey for switch for one of the kids. $10 difference at JB Hifi. no big deal I thought.

    I have been a level 5 member in the past and over the years have always relied on price matching.

    The two girls at the counter explained to me how they cannot price match anything if it’s a sales price or special catalogue price for the competitors store.

    I said to them - so basically EB does not price match any more?

    They rolled their eyes at each other (silly old man that I am) and the manager said:

    “No we can price match but only if it’s a regular shelf price for that competing store and it’s in stock right now. This is because eb can’t finance all of the special prices that other vendors put on during sales and marketing campaigns.”

    Her colleague turned to her and replied: “well said!”

    She then proceeded to present her phone to me with a picture of the special sales price on the JB Hi-Fi website, and said “see this is a special for the Christmas period”

    To be honest I must have been senile to actually ask them such a silly question.

    Ultimately I told my son to stop browsing the games that he was looking at and I drove a couple of kilometres up the road on principle.

    After having put thousands of dollars through EB games over the years it is sad to think they will slowly drive loyal customers away with policies like this and poor customer service.

  • nyxuki on 23/12/2023 - 17:34
    +1

    Wow, that never happened to me years ago when I price matched, kernelghost. When I did shop at EB (I stopped once Amazon came to Australia), they would happily match sales prices. I would have left as well.

    EB Games feels like a business on its deathbed anyway. The more they continue with things like this, the more likely people are to never return.

  • mnemonic9 on 24/12/2023 - 16:37
    +4

    Just yesterday I was told that they won’t accept a screenshot of the sales price for MK1, it has to be directly from the web browser.

    Conveniently, they “are not allowed to browse competitor sites on their systems to price match” and as there is limited 4g signal in store, I have to walk out the mall to load the page and come back. I walked out and never returned. Level 5 for years too and I will never support EBgames moving forward. I ended up spending $5 more and got a digital version that I can now enjoy on 2 consoles.

  • splicer on 27/12/2023 - 11:44

    Never had problems any price matching at EB, and there's 3 or 4 I use in my area. I usually take a photo of the cheaper item (from say Big W) before going in, and when asked I show them the date of the photo.

  • kazuyamishima on 28/12/2023 - 20:32

    They only price match JB and BigW

  • buckster on 02/02/2024 - 19:39

    I think it depends on who it is (they won't do Amazon), whether it's in stock, and how low.

    My local is always happy to price match release games for the 10-15 less I can get elsewhere if I ask them (their rule is within 15kms, in stock), never asked them to match a clearance price though

  • ipiok on 07/02/2024 - 12:56

    Just asked for a price match at my local ebgames store, was flat out told "they only will price match to stores within the same shopping centre"….. which is completely absurd, considering there is no other electronic stores in said shopping centre. Will be taking my business elsewhere.

    • itsmehuey on 12/03/2024 - 08:46

      which EB games was this may I ask?

  • JimmyB99 on 09/02/2024 - 09:50

    EBGames are the scum of the earth when it comes to price matching. Haven't shopped there in years. Forget the carrots and make real savings by shopping elsewhere

  • itsmehuey on 12/03/2024 - 08:47

    Anyone had any issues price matching games at any of the following EB Games: Victoria Gardens (Richmond), Chapel Street (South Yarra), QV (Melb CBD)?

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