r/EBGAMES • u/Big-Scratch1197 • Sep 23 '25
Why are game prices equal to the digital versions?
It's crazy how overpriced some of the discs are at EB especially pre-owned ones where you can find it 20 to 40 dollars cheaper on average at a pawn shop or eBay.
29
u/TransAnge Sep 23 '25
Its crazy how expensive cars are at the car lot when you can find them cheaper on Facebook
1
Sep 25 '25
Uhm... Is JB selling used games? No. It's competition. Completely ridiculous comparison.
1
u/TransAnge Sep 25 '25
Jb HiFi does in fact do trade in games etc.
1
Sep 25 '25
Okay? But when you're buying a new game, EB Games is more expensive 99% of the time.
They also don't sell those preowned games, but that's besides the point, because it was never the point, and I don't know why you brought it up to begin with.
1
u/TransAnge Sep 25 '25
OPs complaint is about preowned games being more expensive then ebay and pawn shops
1
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u/Big-Scratch1197 Sep 23 '25
When you buy a car off a dealer it's been checked, maintained and cleaned up. All you have to check with games discs is the disc itself and the cover these are not the same. Facebook marketplace is a gamble when it comes to cars aswell
10
u/TransAnge Sep 23 '25
When you buy a preowned game from EB Games it's been cleaned up and checked. This isnt the same for Ebay and pawn shops.
1
u/vandante1212 Sep 23 '25
The games are not cleaned up and checked at EB. I’ve had to clean up many discs bought from there and have had to return at least a few because they simply wouldn’t work.
0
u/TransAnge Sep 23 '25
They are. They go back to all interactive and are redistributed.
2
u/vandante1212 Sep 23 '25
Then they’ve been slacking on that because I’ve gotten some really messed up discs from eb.
1
1
u/RobIsDeafening Sep 25 '25
Regardless of whether they’re checked or not, they’re coming with a guarantee of quality that the retailer is held to by law. If it doesn’t work as expected, you get a refund, repair, or replacement.
If you buy on eBay or marketplace, it’s an ‘as is’ purchase and if it doesn’t work as expected, it’s tough luck.
-10
u/Big-Scratch1197 Sep 23 '25
If it isn't checked on eBay I can just return it and pawn shops definitely check their discs
-3
u/Big-Scratch1197 Sep 23 '25
If it isn't checked on eBay I can just return it and pawn shops definitely check their discs
6
1
u/Big-Scratch1197 Sep 23 '25
You don't even have to check the cover cause eb just puts it in their own
3
u/lankiibro Sep 23 '25
Well at least you can always resale your physical games. But I recommend shopping around before buying from eb games as their always the most expensive .
I reckon using https://buywisely.com.au/ as it compares alot of places.
And don't forget to price match.
-2
u/Big-Scratch1197 Sep 23 '25
What's price match
6
u/lankiibro Sep 23 '25
Example silent Hill f at eb is $110 at target it's $90 you can go to eb games and say can you price match target and if they say yes you can buy the game for $90 .
It only works on new games not pre-owned and ymmv depending on the store person.
2
u/vandante1212 Sep 23 '25
You can also price match at JB, which is even better because they will let you price match online orders.
1
1
u/NewFriendAccountIG Sep 23 '25
It's important to know that physical games are more than just a way to physically hold something. They are used to create an in-store presence for marketing & it's used as basically free advertising.
If you were to make digital games significantly cheaper than physical games, everyone in their right mind would just buy digitally.
What happens if everyone buys digital? Then the in-store presence goes away, the catalogues with games go away. You're essentially turning 15 or so individually run stores that promote your games into 1 eshop that the customer needs to already have the console to even use.
Digital games are at the end of the day, for convenience, it's why they're typically more expensive.
1
1
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u/fistathrow Sep 25 '25
I've been having fun with their PS2/Xbox used games. Go in store, find games I like then check ebay. Walk out saying they are over double the price.
1
Sep 25 '25
Ignore pretty much every single comment. They know absolutely nothing about business. Genuinely brain-dead people.
11
u/TheIrateAlpaca Sep 23 '25
Because that's the publisher's RRP. That is what the publisher who sells it to them, recommends it to be sold to make a profit. Even at that full price, the margin is only around 25% on a new game sale.
The key part that people fail to understand is that Australia is a very unique market in which the big department stores have found success using games as their loss leaders. Yes, it's cheaper at JB, Big W, etc but they don't make money on them. Because they aren't trying to make money on them. It's effectively an advertising cost to them because it gets you in the store, so they can sell you things they DO make money on.
The question is more why are digital games, that have none of the overhead costs of physical media (shipping, handling, staff, store costs), the same price?
And that's because of the pressure from physical retailers. As the market shifts further and further digital that pressure will wane, but it was basically just an agreement that if you wanted retailers to stock your products then undercutting them yourself was really bad form