News Harvey Norman website to sell EU game imports

[Cohzee]

“Harvey Norman is very pleased to announce, from six pm tonight, Harvey Norman will be utilising its global network, selling games direct to the consumers at fantastic global prices GST free,” said Harvey Norman spokesperson Ben Mackintosh. “Consumers will be directly importing from Europe at the best prices available.
“The Australian gaming customer has been paying far too much for console games,” he continued. “Retailers and suppliers have been keeping the prices far too high. We’re utilising our network to bring better prices to the consumer. We strongly recommend that you do not buy a game until you’ve seen our website. We will save you money on games."

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/12/ge...somewhere-and-games-is-a-good-place-to-start/

Will be very interesting to see what is available. Good to see someone with clout doing something drastic to change things here.

 

[Quivorir]

Awesome. Take that EB.

 

[Glenno23]

Awesome. Take that EB.

Take what?

EB already do it with some games, except we sell them in store

Gears of War 3 we had for $68 as of 2 days after launch and we had Revelations for $73 recently that were like that too.

Edit: And its a great thing that HN are doing. It sends a message to the distributors that they are overcharging Australians and if they want more business (from the retailers buying their goods), they should lower their wholesale price, which in turn will create a lower price in retail in the end. Its a win for all. Gamers get their games cheaper and retailers keep the same margins that they make now

 

[sacka]

What a fail, it can take 10-21 days for postage lol.
Ok so when you place the order we will contact our UK distributors and they will send it from there.

So H/N is the middle man now and just taking a cut lol
NO THANKS GERRY

 

[Cohzee]

Take what?

EB already do it with some games, except we sell them in store

Gears of War 3 we had for $68 as of 2 days after launch and we had Revelations for $73 recently that were like that too.

Edit: And its a great thing that HN are doing. It sends a message to the distributors that they are overcharging Australians and if they want more business (from the retailers buying their goods), they should lower their wholesale price, which in turn will create a lower price in retail in the end. Its a win for all. Gamers get their games cheaper and retailers keep the same margins that they make now

I only play on PC these days so it is easier for me to buy from key sites, Steam, GMG etc. If this move by HN can bring more scrutiny on the industry and prices drop to a reasonable level then I will buy retail again. As easy as it is to buy games digitally, I still like to have something in my hands to show for it.

What a fail, it can take 10-21 days for postage lol.
Ok so when you place the order we will contact our UK distributors and they will send it from there.

So H/N is the middle man now and just taking a cut lol
NO THANKS GERRY

Yeah poorly implemented and pretty much what people expected. But it still might be the start of something positive.

 

[sacka]

Yeah poorly implemented and pretty much what people expected. But it still might be the start of something positive.

I was about to say that.

Quoted for lolz

Gerry Harvey still refuses to consider online retailing, dismissing it as a dead-end for businesses.
Despite a growing number of Australians purchasing goods over the internet, he says online retailing is “a complete waste of time”.
“I’ve got an online part of my business, but I definitely would not put more into it. That’d be a recipe for a disaster.”

 

[Wickzki]

Gerry is as crooked as they come no matter how positively Today Tonight, ACA and the like try to paint him.

He's still getting his markup if not more doing this.

 

[Glenno23]

I was about to say that.

Quoted for lolz

Gerry is a moron

Online business is very good. Gotta keep up with the times and what consumers want

 

[Glenno23]

I only play on PC these days so it is easier for me to buy from key sites, Steam, GMG etc. If this move by HN can bring more scrutiny on the industry and prices drop to a reasonable level then I will buy retail again. As easy as it is to buy games digitally, I still like to have something in my hands to show for it.



Yeah poorly implemented and pretty much what people expected. But it still might be the start of something positive.

Agreed. Even a poorly implemented plan of change can get things going in the right direction

 

[Mr Eagle]

Generally looks to be $5-$10 above ozgameshop on most things, and charges postage. Might get lucky and jag a better deal if there are any discounts offered, I suppose.

10-21 days delivery is for regional addresses, 7-14 for metro. Not bad, just not anything new, either.

 

[Mitchemx]

So there are exactly zero reasons to purchase through Harvey Norman as opposed to Ozgameshop/Zavvi etc?

What's the point if it's still gonna be more expensive?

 

[grrofunger]

no thanks silly old man

 

[Quivorir]

Take what?

EB already do it with some games, except we sell them in store

Gears of War 3 we had for $68 as of 2 days after launch and we had Revelations for $73 recently that were like that too.

Edit: And its a great thing that HN are doing. It sends a message to the distributors that they are overcharging Australians and if they want more business (from the retailers buying their goods), they should lower their wholesale price, which in turn will create a lower price in retail in the end. Its a win for all. Gamers get their games cheaper and retailers keep the same margins that they make now

Take it as in there is even more ways to avoid going to your over priced stores now. You really need to stop defending your failing company. The sooner occasional games realise this maybe then we will stop seeing the massively inflated prices that stores have (mainly EB).

 

[grrofunger]

if you pay full price in an EB store you are an idiot

EB have plenty of offers and benefits to keep me shopping there

use your brain when you shop

 

[sacka]

if you pay full price in an EB store you are an idiot
use your brain when you shop

YEP, it only takes 5 mins to find out where to get the cheapest price.

Word is H/N will ship from Ireland.

 

[PP34]

Is Gerry living life like he is in the 60s or something? Get with the times.

 

[Pepziteric]

if you pay full price in an EB store you are an idiot

EB have plenty of offers and benefits to keep me shopping there

use your brain when you shop

Yes i use my brain and go to whoever has the game on sale or is the cheapest.
I can't remember the last time that turned out to be EB
The place is a dam rip off

 

[Syphoncom]

Yes i use my brain and go to whoever has the game on sale or is the cheapest.
I can't remember the last time that turned out to be EB
The place is a dam rip off

This is true.

 

[pantskyle]

JB HiFi is going to do the same thing although they are rather cheap already.

 

[Conan Troutman]

JB HiFi is going to do the same thing although they are rather cheap already.

Good stuff.

I will happily pay a few dollars more (than UK based stores, OzGameShop etc) if JB start doing it.

Although OzGameShop is obviously awesome, if the Aussie versions bomb, it may not change anything for AU prices.

 

[BandF]

Why not just buy from OZGameshop or the other UK based Ebay retailers?

Although I sometimes buy from Harvey Norman stores if I want a new release straight away as I find their prices reasonable of late.

 

[Biggy_Boy]

So, it's more expensive and takes the same amount of time as Ozgameshop?

Yeah, good idea...

 

[The Filth Wizard]

Gerry is as crooked as they come no matter how positively Today Tonight, ACA and the like try to paint him.

He's still getting his markup if not more doing this.

Of course this is running at a profit. HN is a retailer, not a charity. This is toe tipping stuff... a retail giant is getting on board and sending a message to the gaming industry. I would have seen this as a good thing.

It is important to note that HN is putting all their gaming eggs in this basket essentially... Gerry has encouraged consumers to buy from the website and not from his retail stores, citing the franchises prices as a reason not to. This is not a crooked move... its a fair message.

Gerry is a moron

Online business is very good. Gotta keep up with the times and what consumers want

Gerry runs a retail business that is suffering within the Computers and Electrical divisions. He despises online shopping (due to the sufferance of his business). I think he is more avoiding the prospect of people buying things like mattresses for example from online shopping. Saying that, HN's online sector is currently pretty solid.

Generally looks to be $5-$10 above ozgameshop on most things, and charges postage. Might get lucky and jag a better deal if there are any discounts offered, I suppose.

10-21 days delivery is for regional addresses, 7-14 for metro. Not bad, just not anything new, either.

Except its a big retail player. Again... sending a message. Only good for Aussie gamers.

Word is H/N will ship from Ireland.

True. Ireland has roughly 6 Harvey Norman retail outlets. This will assist their franchise system.

 

[Glenno23]

Take it as in there is even more ways to avoid going to your over priced stores now. You really need to stop defending your failing company. The sooner occasional games realise this maybe then we will stop seeing the massively inflated prices that stores have (mainly EB).

I'll never stop defending EB

Not sure how we can be failing with all the new stores we open and the market share we hold. If i worked for GAME, then failing would be the right word. They closed down 23 stores in 2010 and about the same number this year

In the end the customers (including you) have a choice of where they shop, don't know why you would care how others spend money. A high % of the market chooses EB. Got to be a reason for it....

Gerry runs a retail business that is suffering within the Computers and Electrical divisions. He despises online shopping (due to the sufferance of his business). I think he is more avoiding the prospect of people buying things like mattresses for example from online shopping. Saying that, HN's online sector is currently pretty solid.

.

Ah, this makes sense. i thought he was against having a huge online side of his current business full stop, when for EB, its quite a huge part of the business. Just thought it was strange, but thanks for letting me know what he meant

 

[Ochre]

Not sure how we can be failing with all the new stores we open and the market share we hold. If i worked for GAME, then failing would be the right word. They closed down 23 stores in 2010 and about the same number this year

Oh no he di'nt