EB Games has gathered much scorn over the past few years as being the gaming retail outlet that charges RRP for everything. Why buy at EB when you can go to JB to get it much cheaper? Despite this, I actually do most of my games shopping at EB nowadays. Here’s why.
Price Matching – EB will price match any store’s lower price ie everyone else. What’s cool is that you can actually price match up to 7 days later after you bought it, they may only give you store credit back for it though.
Webmail voucher – it’s like having a permanent 15% off software, which despite their crazy prices is actually sometimes cheaper than buying elsewhere. Best used on really expensive items like Collector’s Editions.
Return Policy – 7 days to play and return anything. If only I had bought Alone in the Dark Collectors Edition from them last year…
Preorder bonuses – EB usually offer some kind of exclusive preorder bonus with popular games, and you could always just return the game afterwards.
Crazy Trade deals – EB games usually have some kind of crazy trade scheme for AAA release titles. Usually they will give more than the cheapest price you can pay with it elsewhere you can actually make/save some money. They don’t give you cash of course, but think of it as a saving on your next game. Or in combination with JBs trade deals you can pull off some really crazy shit (see Red Elite for $60 ).
There are some things to watch out for of course. The main one being that usually they will only give store credit for refunds or whatever. I bought a Pro console once, which I then found JB were offering Kung Fu Panda/Lego Indy with their pack for cheaper. I tried to return my unopened Pro, but was told I could only get store credit. After much hassling, I managed to price match and get store credit + the 2 games. I usually plan my purchases well, so store credit is never useless to me.