Where do you buy your retail games (NA)?

[outlawauron]

superchunk said:

TalonMan said:

That part is DEFINITELY not true!! Of course in this day of Amazon, they do free shipping - and they also do free "release day" shipping via FedEx, too (Super Mario was on my doorstep Friday morning)...

And this has nothing at all to do with a credit card - I don't have a BestBuy credit card. This is just membership 'rewards' money (like GameStop does), they apply the money to your account for future purchases - I believe it's fifty cents on the dollar. I already have $15 of reward certificates and they work just like an ordinary gift card - when I check out, I apply it to my order and VOILA! It's $15 less - and that's ON TOP of my 20% discount!!!

...again - I get nothing from any of this, so don't get me wrong! I don't work for BestBuy, I don't get any kickbacks - this is simply one gamer trying to help another. And for $30 for two years, I'm telling you it is WELL WORTH the investment (in my humble opinion). As I mentioned further up - right now, Super Mario is back to being $60 on Amazon (with or without Prime), where as on Best Buy (with GCU) it's still $48 - and it will be $48 from now until forever (unless, of course, they lower the price from the standard $60 - in which case, it will then be 20% off of that NEW price!!).

I've been using Prime forever and there's no doubt, I will continue using it!! I just won't be using it for videogames anymore, at this point - BestBuy is totally unbeatable, right now...

None of the brick and mortar retailers match Amazon's service when buying online (one-click!) or shipping to home. With Amazon it almost exclusively arrives in my USPS box, even launch day. I hate to risk stuff on my door step. So, if I'm buying from BB, then I'm forced to go in-store... which sucks. No way do I want something coming to me via FedEx or UPS. Additionally, I hate BB pre-order online setup. I shouldn't have to pay 100% up front. Amazon allows zero payment until shipment, which means I can pre-order and then cancel later on without any cost/frustration.

My mention of the credit card wasn't because I thought it was tied to GCU. It was because another person remaked how you can get additional discounts by using your BB card. The interest rates of retail cards and lack of kick-backs make them meh to me. I solely use my American Express or other rewards cards if Amex is not accepted on a rare occasion. With that I get hundreds of $$ free shit all year long (I just spent $200 on Nike shoes for myself and my son from Amex rewards - free shoes!). Amex is also my default payment method when I do my one-click checkout via Amazon. (oooh so easy)

To be fair, the 20% for any new game with GCU is better than the pre-order only feature of Prime. However, I spend $99/yr on Prime for A LOT more than discounts on pre-ordered games. Prime movies, free 2-day shipping, exclusive buys, bigger discounts during holiday / prime days, exclusive discounts on various types of merchandise, and many other things I'm not even counting. All in all, I consider the 20% off pre-ordered games a $0 benefit. GCU would cost me an 'extra' $30 and would require me buying at least 2 games via Best Buy to break even. With Amazon's deal, if I choose to go digital, I don't even care about the potential 20% I "lost" as I don't feel like I'm spending anything to have that benefit. I only buy retail when I think I either may sell it later or want to share with my son. For instance, while I bought SMBO retail (to share), I am buying LA Noire and Rocket League digital (again for simplicity).

But this is how Best Buy is too. There's zero convience that Amazon offers that Best Buy does not have. If anyhting Best Buy is FAR better at delivering on time. I regularly get things a day early from BB preorders where Amazon is on time most of the time. Outside of the desire to not have anything shipped to you (which is not my case), I figured the option for physical pickup outside of mail carrier would be a pro, not a con.