We are all guilty of buying a game full price, usually the latest release. Many, if not all, of us want to get our games for less, which can be a bit harder than resisting the urge to buy a new game! I always end up doing whatever I can to get a cheaper bargain though, which I am going to share.
Website Hunting & Discounts
One of the easiest ways to save money on your games is to use price comparison websites as well as going discount hunting. There are some great sites to help you with this such as Find-game, Flubit and G2A.
Find-game works by typing in the name of the game that you want and clicking search. The site will then list the sites that it can find that have the game and the prices to compare them. All you have to do then is click on the link it provides to take you straight to the page.
Flubit works differently. Find the game you are after on amazon and then copy paste the link into flubit, they will then offer you a better price on the item if they can and deliver it as well. On average they will save you 10-15%.
G2A is another site that is great to get discounted games. These range from consoles to PC and is a must check before buying a game elsewhere, especially on Steam. The site only deals with game codes, so there is no postage to pay, saving you even more money. They also accept a wide range of payment options.
Reward Cards
Stores that sell computer games will often have a reward or discount card, from the high street shops like GAME to superstores like Tesco.
They will all work on the same principle. When you buy an item and it is linked to your card then you will receive a certain number of points for the amount you have paid. These points will convert to money that the store will take off a future item/s if you wish to use them.
Some cards are store specific in which you can use such as Tesco's clubcard and Game's reward card. My favourite however is the Nectar Card as it has a larger number of places in which you can gather ‘Nectar Points' which include Sainsburys, several different petrol stations & eBay.
If you work at any of these places that sell games then usually you will have a staff discount card, which can get you from my experience 10-20% off anything you buy in store. Different companies will have different percentages off and different terms and conditions, so if you have a staff discount card make sure to check up on it.
Coupons
Coupons specifically for games are extremely rare, however you can still use certain coupons at stores to reduce the price of a game or to give you points to get off the next game.
Many supermarkets now give out coupons for when you are shopping with them such as Sainsburys. These can range from specific food to bonus points and money off if you spend over a certain amount.
Always remember though to check if your coupons are still in date, as nothing is worse getting to the till and seeing the coupon expired the day before.
Using multiple methods
Combining several things such as discounts, points, coupons and gift cards, can end up annoying for any cashier but in the end if you get the game cheaper than it is a bonus for yourself.
When Call of Duty Advanced Warfare came out my wife and I bought the game from the supermarket that I worked at. We bought it for just 85 pence!
We used a combination of things to reduce the game to this price. First my staff discount card which removed 10% of the price. Then we used some till spit coupons, which you get most of the time you buy something in the store, the first to was to triple the loyalty points and the second to reduce the price as we were spending over a certain amount.
The remaining money was taken from a gift card that we had received from a mobile app and loyalty points taking the price to just 85p that we had to pay.
Surveys for Gift Cards
There are loads of websites that pay you for completing surveys in the form of gift cards. Sites like swagbucks & mintvine will reward you with points which when you reach a certain number can be exchanged for a giftcard for places like Amazon. I'll be bringing you a post on Monday that goes into more detail about these websites.
Zeek is a great app where people sell their unwanted gift vouchers for less than market value. You can grab yourself a discount on a voucher for the store you want to buy your games at. To get an extra £5 off your first order enter code 27L9PA.
Consider second-hand
Second-hand games can be bought from a number of sources, these can range from the preowned games sections in most high street stores like GAME, to stores that specialize in second-hand products such as CEX and websites like eBay and Amazon, that sell a mixture of preowned or discounted games.
Although you can buy games at car boot sales I am usually more cautious with these as you usually will not get a refund if the game is faulty or damaged.
Patience
Sometimes a little bit of patience is all you need to get a game a little cheaper.
All sites and stores will place different games on sale at different times, so if you can handle the wait after a big release or even want an older game for that little bit less then patience is the key to getting it for less.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Do you have any extra tips that I might have missed or even if you have a tale of an amazing price you have managed to get a game for, then please comment below.
On Monday I will be uploading a post on How to make Extra Money for Buying Games.
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