[michaelb007]

I thought I'd draw up a list of the major retailers and some info about them, I hope it helps some people and if anyone has any info for the list please reply.

More retailers and info to be added when I get the opportunity.

Amazon
Amazon.co.uk: Low Prices in Electronics, Books, Sports Equipment & more
Ship from: UK Mainland, Offshore
Delivery time: Choice of delivery options.
Pros: Competitive prices, good customer service, great console bundle deals, some limited editions and pre-order bonuses
Cons: Pre-orders generally wont arrive release day on free delivery.
Quidco: No (Nectar Points available)

Cex
CeX.co.uk : Sell to CeX CeX.co.uk : Sell to CeX
Ship from: UK Mainland
Delivery time: 1-2 days from sourcing stock (which can take a while depending on stock).
Pros: Cheap for older stuff, huge range to buy, ability to sell/trade online, best trade in values, accept paypal.
Cons: 99% of stock is 2nd hand, quality issues at times, stock availability online, newer releases cheaper to buy new elsewhere, difficult to contact, no phone based customer service available.
Quidco: No

Game group
GAME.co.uk - Buy video games, consoles and accessories with free UK delivery - GAME.co.uk - GAME.co.uk Gameplay » Buy Cheap Video Games and Consoles + Free UK Delivery Gamestation.co.uk - Buy video games, consoles and accessories, new and pre-owned with free UK delivery
Ship from: UK Mainland
Delivery time: 1-4 days with Game being generally the fastest.
Pros: Good customer service, reward points at Game, high quidco rates, pre-orders usually arrive on release day or before, exclusive limited editions.
Cons: Prices can be steep compared to other retailers, some issues of 2nd hand stock being sent as new
Quidco: 1.5% Hardware 6% Software across the board.

Game Collection
TheGameCollection.net - buy ps3, wii, ds, xbox 360 games
Ship from: UK Mainland
Delivery time: 2-5 days
Pros: 10% student discount off many items, some surprisingly good prices especially on pre-orders
Cons: Limited range of stock.
Quidco: No

HMV
Buy Music CDs, DVDs, Games, Consoles, Blu Ray, MP3s & More - hmv.com - Free Delivery
Ship from: Offshore Mainly
Delivery time: 2-4 days
Pros: Usually allow price mistakes, pure reward scheme, exclusive special editions
Cons: Prices can be high, very few genuine bargains.
Quidco: 3% Software

Hut Group
TheHut.com: online shop | Cheap DVDs, Blu-ray, Games | Free UK delivery zavvi.com - DVDs, Blu-ray Movies, Games, Music & more - Free UK delivery Sendit.com > DVDs, CDs, Games > Free delivery to UK & Ireland - Sendit.com
Ship from: Offshore
Delivery time: 3-5 days
Pros: Some very good prices in their sales. Zavvi have been excellent recently for preorder delivery times.
Cons: Lengthy despatch issues reported for more popular items.
Quidco: 2% Hardware 3.5% Software

Play
Play.com (UK): DVDs, Music CDs, MP3s, Video Games, Books, Electronics & Gadgets - Free Delivery
Ship from: Offshore
Delivery time: 3-5 days
Pros: Some good prices, wide range of goods, some limited editions and pre-order bonuses
Cons: Packaging can be terrible
Quidco: 1% Hardware 4% Software


Shopto
ShopTo.Net: Video Games, Consoles, Accessories - Free Delivery in Uk - Orders before 5.30pm dispatched Same Day
Ship from: UK Mainland
Delivery time: Nextday
Pros: Very fast despatch and delivery, preorders usually arrive before release date, accept Paypal. Good prices on new releases. Reward system for frequent buyers
Cons:
Quidco: 4% Software

Tesco
Tesco entertainment - Home
Ship from: Offshore
Delivery time: 3-7 days
Pros: Some very cheap stock if look hard enough, staff discount, clubcard points, high quidco.
Cons: A lot of teething problems, customer services hard to reach, deals onsite that dont exist, long despatch waiting times. (Service has improved notibly recently)
Quidco: 8% + Clubcard points

Looking to import?

Recommended from users on this site are

Canadian based Videogames plus Welcome to Video Games Plus Online
Renchi Buy Import Video Games from RenChi.com for Sony PSP PS3 Xbox 360 Nintendo DS Lite Wii
Axelmusic AxelMusic - Blu-Ray (Region Free) and DVD movies, PS3 and Xbox 360 titles
Play-Asia Buy Video Games for Consoles and PC - From Japan, Korea and other Regions - Play-Asia.com

Please be aware of customs marking procedures when importing, many sites will under value the item to ensure you dont get stung by customs charges.

Always make sure to use an affiliate cashback service when ordering such as Quidco, Topcashback, Cashbackkings. It is literally free money and it all adds up!

[dgibbs]

Not a bad idea.

I would add some extra pros & cons for CEX though.....

Pros - Best trade in values by far


cons - Complete rip off for any recent releases, they charge more than anyone for recent games even though their goods are second hand, which is a disgrace really.

cons - Contacting them. No numbers for any stores and only email on the website. I emailed a query about 4 months ago nad got no response.... which begs the question what do you do if sent poor quality goods and don't have a store near you or time to go in if you do.

[sparky321]

CEX can be real deceptive to be honest. If you're careful you can get some real bargains IMO.

For example, I have picked up FIFA 09 and Fifa 08 for the grand total of 4 quid, (3+1) on the PS3, so free online too as a bonus :D...

Also nailed a few bargains on the PC too, Enemy Territory Quake wars for 4 quid ( it's 3 now) and it works online too!

In other areas, both series' of Creature Comforts for a fiver? Blackadder series 2 for 3 quid?

Never had an issue, I guess I must have just got lucky...

Some of their prices for games that have just come out are just plain silly though, make no mistake. Its definitely worth a look though

There is occasionally even a little profit to be made on some games when one place does sells things for less than CEX will trade in for....
For example, Gamestation were selling Fallout 3 for 20 quid and CEX would give you 30 quid cash for it. Good lord they got taken to the cleaners...

Oh and before anyone asks, no I don't work for them, or own the joint...

[Scipion]

Hi, please add Sendit.com to "the hut" group since it's same

[justageezer]

Nice list, cheers.
Play, Game and Amazon all have / have had exclusive editions of games.
Not sure if it's still active but Gamestation used to beat any other trade-in price by £1 (per item), so if you had a Cex nearby to compare to they were the best for trade-ins.
And although they're in the same group as Game the trade-in rates for games were different between the two retailers.
You could add Blockbuster (Game group I think)?
And maybe indicate online only / number of stores?
Tesco quidco looks good at 8% - but this doesn't include delivery - which they price at about £5 IIRC. E.g. buy one item for a fiver and you get no quidco...
And don't forget topcashback - often higher rates than quidco - and Nectar points for Amazon...
Indicate for all retailers whether or not delivery is free.
And if you're not too busy I've got all this nasty snow in my driveway ...

[michaelb007]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, Ill implement as much as possible into the section.

I think I'll leave it as online retailers only at the moment then look at expanding it with high street details.

The newish Tesco Entertainment site has free delivery unlike Tesco Direct, I say free, well it can be painfully slow.

Ill get a snow plough retailers and info thread opened up soon (not)

[94jdh]

Originally Posted by Scipion

Hi, please add Sendit.com to "the hut" group since it's same

same goes for lovefilm shop as well.

[Always-hungry]

Can I say what a great idea this thread is, good man

Can I now add that anyone with any sense should avoid using a credit card with shop to, avoid at all costs, use paypal but there price, service and delivery is first class.

[justageezer]

Originally Posted by michaelb007

I think I'll leave it as online retailers only at the moment then look at expanding it with high street details.

Yep, but maybe mark those that are online 'only' (amazon, cex etc) as opposed to also having shops, as some have different deals on / offline.

Originally Posted by michaelb007

The newish Tesco Entertainment site has free delivery unlike Tesco Direct, I say free, well it can be painfully slow.

Quidco just says "This merchant pays cashback based on the order value excluding VAT and delivery charges (calculated as £5 per order)." - but isn't clear if that applies to 'every' Tesco e.g. grocery, entertainment, wine etc. I do know that I've had varying results - orders of £11.47 and £11.97 on 5/11/09 paid 22p and 23p quidco, whilst one on 11/11/09 for £15.94 paid £1.11 - go figure

Originally Posted by michaelb007

Ill get a snow plough retailers and info thread opened up soon (not)

Many a true word spoken in jest - if this weather keeps up that could be a popular thread

[Rock Da Bass]

Play are terrible for getting pre-orders to you on release day (apart from that they're generally a very good retailer though)

[imnotrich]

Dont forget thehut group also includes Lovefilm, ASDA, WHSmiths.

Theres also 7.5% off with the hut thru morethan insurance if your a member.

[dgibbs]

Originally Posted by justageezer

Yep, but maybe mark those that are online 'only' (amazon, cex etc) as opposed to also having shops, as some have different deals on / offline.

:

CEX have a number of stores also, they are not online only. All of their prices are applicable to both though as far as i'm aware.

[sparky321]

I can confirm the above

[Andori]

The Hut also operate:
Asda Entertainment
LoveFilm
WH Smith Entertainment
Games4u
Woolworths Entertainment
Click a Game
Currys Entertainment
Dixons Entertainment
PC World Entertainment
Argos Entertainment
Chipsworld

[wakobi]

One thing I would add to what is already an awesome and well detailed listing, is which of those online retailers bill your account on order and which bill you when they actually ship your goods.

Awesome work!

[_mike_]

can someone make this sticky

[michaelb007]

Thanks for all suggestions and advice

Ill update the list Saturday hopefully when I have a bit of spare time to look into it

[Dave]

Originally Posted by _mike_

can someone make this sticky

Yes.

[michaelb007]

Well at least my first post fits in well with the new colour scheme for the forums

Will be updating as soon as possible.

[CrazyHorse]

Anyone have any experience of SimplyGames.com?

Are they reliable/trustworthy, etc.?...and how are their shipping/delivery times?

[michaelb007]

I haven't any personal experience with simply games - thats why they arent in the list, but reviews on ciao and review centre are positive, and the site has been going for over 10 years now.

Been reading a few other forums and generally delivery seems to be 1-2 days

2% quidco as well.

I f you order drop your experience in the thread and I'll add it up.

[krusty]

grainger are the best out of the indies...in fact in our town we have grainger ,gamestation, game, chips, and ive have used grainger over all 3 of those .

[pesser]

so has tesco entertainment inproved cos i just ordered halo reach from them

[ODB_69]

Gamestop are also now part of Game group

Originally Posted by Rock Da Bass

Play are terrible for getting pre-orders to you on release day (apart from that they're generally a very good retailer though)

disagree...always been good with me, tend to get new release blu's on the friday before too

Originally Posted by Andori

The Hut also operate:
Asda Entertainment
LoveFilm
WH Smith Entertainment
Games4u
Woolworths Entertainment
Click a Game
Currys Entertainment
Dixons Entertainment
PC World Entertainment
Argos Entertainment
Chipsworld

think CDiscount now as well

Originally Posted by pesser

so has tesco entertainment inproved cos i just ordered halo reach from them

yeah massively...mine never showed up so sent another out straight away