Next-gen (or current?) price reductions

[Deleted member 13524]

I though it'd be too soon to open a topic like this, but it turns out that Zavvi has already dropped the price of the xbone by £20:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-20-zavvi-selling-xbox-one-for-20-less-than-rrp

Online retailer Zavvi will currently sell you an Xbox One for £409.99 - that's £20 cheaper than the console's £429.99 RRP.
1

It's available for the same price on Zavvi sister site The Hut, too.

The console is the standard, regular model (not the limited edition Day One version with FIFA 14).

Post-launch, Xbox One has remained widely available, but this is the first time we've seen the console discounted in any way.

Zavvi's offer doesn't appear to be part of a special deal, and Microsoft has certainly not reduced the console's RRP.

At £410, Xbox One is still £60 more expensive than PlayStation 4. Usually the difference is £80.

In all honesty, the launch price in the UK is nothing short of ridiculous. £430 is >$700. No warranty extension or increased taxes justify the price difference.
It's also a lot more than the rest of the eurozones, which is 500€ = $678 or £412.

Maybe they're just trying to balance the price across all Europe, before launching in more countries.

 

[pjbliverpool]

I'm still considering getting one but I'll wait until it's a lot cheaper than it is now. £299 preferably but I might push to £350 is I'm feeling flush.

 

[AlNom]

In all honesty, the launch price in the UK is nothing short of ridiculous. £430 is >$700.

I can't say I wholly understand the pricing disparity (even after VAT), but at any rate, £430 vs $500USD seems about in line with £350 vs $400USD (0.86-0.875 x USD number).

Reducing by £20 seems somewhat odd to me given the attractiveness of "under X-hundred" currency in marketing (£399 vs £409).

---

Is Zavvi an online-only retailer? Wonder if they simply have leeway to reduce the price similar to how Amazon can be cheaper for various items. Anyways, it's clearly not a good sign if they have to do it.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

UK RRP, I mention in every thread it arises in, is typically higher and we typically get significant 'discounts'. eg. The Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition had a stupid price of £500, 20% above the US price given exchange rates. Yet the typical price, after early sales to those with more money than sense, is more like £450, and even as low as £400 (was £360 just before Christmas at one store). Pricing under RRP is the norm here and early discounts shouldn't be taken as particularly indicative of anything - the RRP affords retailers room to manoeuvre, as it were. Obviously they've been able to price at RRP for launch and maximise revenue, but Zavvi wanting to steal a little interest (and gain revenue from game sales) is probably just such strategic pricing.

Zavvi is also an online retailer, so can likely shave £20 off the price due to not supporting retail stores and prices.

 

[AlNom]

mm... thanks for that. Good to know.

 

[Phil]

In all honesty, the launch price in the UK is nothing short of ridiculous. £430 is >$700. No warranty extension or increased taxes justify the price difference.
It's also a lot more than the rest of the eurozones, which is 500€ = $678 or £412.

You've never been to Switzerland, I see.

Although I have to admit, this time around, the prices are quite sane, but that's probably due to the current strength of the Swiss franc (CHF).

The PS4 was launched at CHF 449, which is €369, where as in the past, we generally paid a lot more relative to other European countries. Or when I paid something like CHF 1200 for a PS2 with 3 games and a extra controller on launch (as a bundle) compared to the launching price of $299 back then in the US - and no, the currency rate didn't justify that much of a price difference.

CHF 449 is ~£300, which sounds as if we are paying way less, but bare in mind, in Switzerland we only have around 8% of VAT (it's more in the UK). If you account for the VAT difference, the price difference is actually closer. Still, the PS4 pricing is way below what we usually pay to the point that it's actually the cheapest console I've ever bought by quite a margin.

Unfortunately, no idea what the official pricing of the Xbox One will be over here, since it hasn't launched here yet and the only prices I can find are on import units. Import units are priced around CHF600 / £400 / €485, which amusingly is actually lower than the PS4 import units that are being sold (due to the shortage) at CHF679 / £452 / €550.

 

[zed]

http://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/red/catalog/product/XboxOne-Console?SKU=1759916
Xbone for $NZ700, usual price $750
nz700 = us581, nz750 = us622

thewarehouse is nz's largest retail chain (nz's walmart)