Company Games Mighty Ape customers hung out to dry
203 comments Published in business and Sony on 17 September 2010, 11:41 by Dylan
Over the past week or so we've had to deal with a handful of local suppliers who have let us down, and let our customers down. As a customer-focused company, it's frustrating to say the least.
First up was the NZ “launch” of the PlayStation Move. Mighty Ape has been collecting pre-orders since the announcement of the device several months ago and we've managed to secure a reasonable number of pre-orders on our usual promise of day-one delivery.
We kept Sony informed of our pre-order numbers, placed our order, and when the device was due to ship, were given only a fraction of our original allocation leaving many of our pre-order customers high and dry. Meanwhile, our CEO Simon Barton is out shopping with his family in the weekend buying Playstation Moves off the shelf from JB, EB etc at full retail price trying to fulfill our own pre-orders.
We think that's poor.
Now we've received the news that Mighty Ape will receive no copies of the Collector's Edition of Star Wars Force Unleashed II. Once again, we've been collecting pre-orders for this product from eager customers expecting day-one delivery. This time around, the supplier concerned has bowed down to pressure from a foreign-owned retail chain with 40 stores (no prize for guessing who) who are, presumably, using their market power to demand exclusive rights to the Collector's Edition in New Zealand. Of course, now that they've granted an exclusive they'll keep the price at full RRP and consumers will have nowhere else to turn.
We think this sucks.
As a small locally-owned operation we find it difficult to compete with larger foreign-owned companies who use their size to control the market. Suppliers who pander to their demands ultimately starve competition and limit the choices available to the consumer. Make no mistake, consumers will be paying more for their Force Unleashed II Collector's Editions than if Mighty Ape were also in the market selling the game. And this is just one of a growing number of games…
It's hard for this post to not come across as a giant whinge, but frankly we think many of our customers would be shocked to learn how much of this goes on, and how we have to fight day in day out to compete and carve a place for ourselves in the local market. In fact, even yesterday we received news that EA is about to grant yet another exclusive to the same foreign-owned retail chain. Here we go again…
At Mighty Ape we're working our tails off to create a great NZ-owned company with a focus on excellent customer service, fast and reliable delivery with some fun and personality thrown in for good measure. It's frustrating that some suppliers attempt to thwart our efforts in their attempt to shift the greatest number of units for the least amount of effort possible.
If you've read this far, thanks for shopping at Mighty Ape. Your support means a lot to us and we appreciate you joining us on our journey to creating a world class online shopping site for New Zealanders.
What do you think of suppliers who grant “exclusives” to a single retailer? Are you happy for suppliers to remove competition and keep prices high?
203 comments
But still sucks that customers don't have a choice of where they want to buy their items from...
Keep up the good work guys - good luck with the gunslinging giants!
Keep up the great work :)
Sometimes I'll cheekily wander into one of those stores and ask if they'll pricematch a deal of yours, and they just balk at the prices you guys offer =D
It sucks that bigger outlets can use their parent companies power (gamestop) to secure exclusives and then charge absurd prices for them.
Mighty Ape, you are the best online retailer around, don't let these large corps get you down.
If you want I'm sure your customer would gladly sign a petition to remove the exclusive deals, although i'm sure it ownt make any differance.
I'll make sure none of my mates buy it from JB.. oops i mean the foriegn retailer.
The supplier should honor their original agreement to supply you with collectors editions.
You're it.
Keep on trucking.
EA sucks anyway.
Sony needs to ask itself some hard questions, why on earth would they not ship you the preordered units?!
I suggest you get this info to gerard at gamejunkie blog, he might be able to get a little publicity on the issue.
maybe we could organise ourselves a good oldfashined EB boycott?
And I think I should have the ability to. Screw you EA, Sony and anyone else doing this kinda thing.
*Hugs*
We the punters can really only do one thing in this situation which is to vote with our wallets and keep on supporting Mighty Ape... that'll give the suppliers no choice but to give Mighty Ape the same product as everyone else (lest they lose sales).
The way the world is going, it is no longer about what is best for the consumer, but which Fat Cats can strike the best backdoor deals. What is particularly unethical about this is that your suppliers had promised you stock, and then reneged on that.
FWLIW, you guys are my preferred supplier for my gaming needs (and many other products too). Nobody else can even come close to your value for money (especially for gaming products) and excellent customer service. I recently purchased a modem/router from you that differed from the model that was highly recommended to me. You didn't stock the recommended model, but your superior customer service track record won out. I made sure I scored a MightyApe cap with my Banana Bucks too, and I'll be wearing that with pride at every opportunity.
Kia Kaha Mighty Ape!
To know there is also store exclusivity of collectors/limited editions annoys me even more. I avoid brick'n'mortar stores like the plague. They're always a let down, and that whole disk insurance is the biggest scam since $100+ HDMI cables.
The fact the suppliers are not warning you upfront and letting you take pre-orders that they won't allow you to fulfill is also horrendously unprofessional.
The question is, how do we turn this from a whinge to some sort of action/change. Having MightyApe fanbois (like myself) promising not to buy at stores that we stopped using when we discovered gpstore » mightyape isn't much help.
(I also just wanted to use that avatar)
For what it's worth, I never buy anything from the big foreign store, they're overpriced and in general don't care about gamers, only about making their sales. Mighty Ape kick their ass in every single way.
Screw EB Games. Those bas**rds always rip us(customers) off. Mighty is by-far the best shopping site (online and in store) I have ever noticed. You guys should never be taken down by EB Games (aka; bas**rds). I will try and refer you guys to as many people as possible.
I was lucky enough to get my PS Move on day of release, but cheers anyway to Simon Barton for going around purchasing Moves off the shelf at other retailers to fulfill orders.
My friends and I never buy anything from those Evil B@$t@rd$ who shall remain nameless, but if some gaming companies are going to pull this crap, I'll simply refuse to buy their game at all. I think I'll buy a different game by another developer instead - from Mighty Ape, of course!
Keep fighting the good fight!
GO MIGHTY APE!
So can't believe they're doing this to you guys, and your customer base. You guys will always have my support. Even more glad now that I don't buy games in-store!! Mighty Ape ftw!! :D
I swore off ever buying anything from The Store Who Must Not Be Named ever since they flat out refused to honour their warranty for my Guitar Hero drum kit, never again. Now they're doing this?
I'd say they are concerned that they can't compete on their own merits so they're resorting to dirty tricks. Don't worry Mighty Ape, keep doing what you're doing and you'll always have me as a customer.
Other than that though, I've not found anything I really want from them.
I also used to buy many games second hand, but ever since they changed their policies to be "priced as new -$5" I just walk over to Dollar Dealers or Cash Converters instead. I mean really, Oblivion GOTY was $70 from EB, I got it $25 from DD. And it was $50 new on MA at the time.
Ahh, I don't know. You'd think they'd offer more competitive prices to draw customers, rather than eliminating the competition in order to force us through their doors. Anyway, pretty top job you're doing so far MA, keep up the good fight. And keep us informed! Gamers have a tendency to be loyal, and if your regulars heard about this more often, I'm sure they'd give the big finger to EB.
Oh and to the above, Gamesman is owned by EB now I believe.
Most of my last years xmas shopping was one order on mighty ape....gold :)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/games/4140106/NZ-games-seller-vents-frustration
Just a heads up. If JB doesn't have enough for you guys, The Warehouse also has them priced quite competitively. $94 for the starter, $64 for the motion controller, and $46 for the navigation controller :)
Don't worry, we still know you guys are the best in the biz in NZ.
It's not fair that sometimes the only way to get all the items is to get three or four different editions of the same game. I miss the days when fans could collect everything.
Keep your chins up. Collector's / Special Edition stuff won't see me give up.
AND you guys are smart enough to do the 'Fries with that' upsale with the 'other things you might like' feature with the games at discounted prices. Yes - I am a sucker for a good deal!
Mind you, not a difficult conclusion to come to when 'the store that shall not be named' seems to employ staff that don't even realise that Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (probably the last time I preordered a game there) is exclusive to PS3. I dare not preorder the Signature Edition of GT5 from there, for fear of wetting myself should the 18 year old girl behind the counter ask me if I want it on PS3 or 360.
Hang tight MA. Like 'The Rock' you are the People's Champ. The only other store I ever buy from is instore specials at The Warehouse. The brick and mortar so called Games Specialists all lost my dollar a long time ago.
I would much rather deal with MightyApe even if it meant waiting weeks for a shipment ( but we don't have to wait very long do we ;D ), that is my choice as a consumer and one I will stick by as long as I am breathing..
You guys have done nothing but the best for your friendliness and support to the NZ gaming community and for that have earned my 110% support and dedication your business alone.
All the best and keep up the awesome work!
P.S: I look forward to more ranting, somebody needs to step up and tell it how it is! come on drop that hammer hard!
You have consistently had the best service, prices and day-one delivery is awesome. We really need to do something about it. Got any ideas? I know I'll support you!
Should try to get onto those tech/gadget review TV talk show segments and talk about this issue.
Hang in there guys. You doing good job here! Since discover Mighty Ape, I actually don't have an urge to order games/books/DVDs from a certain large U.S. online store anymore... (except for items you don't carry of course)
One - did not receive product.
Another - received product, somehow MA's Collectors Edition was different to rest of world. Portion missing, sent weeks later.
Without a compelling reason to, I find myself not overly keen to bother any more.
>:-]
EB is certainly a company I do not support at all, so keep providing the service that we all know Mighty Ape does, and I hope the suppliers see some sense soon!!!
Revolution!
It is MA's commitment to it's customers that has me keep looking here first for mah gaming/movie needs
Having Barton buying stock from other retailers off the shelves, just to try and furfill your own promise to your customers is simply way beyond the call of duty. On behalf of all MightyApe shoppers, I salute you, and I hand you a (bunch of) banana(s).
For as long as I have money, you have yourselves a loyal customer here.
I used to board with one of the guys from one of the mentioned suppliers and as an avid gamer was always interested in the gaming market. The number of times I heard that Mighty Ape had parrallel imported local suppliers stocks even when they had been offered the same editions was amazing, the fact that they do not support local supply but then when there is a launch of a product that is in huge demand world wide, they suddenly try to source it locally and are suprised that they don't get support on it.
Looking at Mighty Apes mantra, they even state "Hundreds of exclusive import games", there is no way they will get local support from suppliers if they import their product left, right and center.
Can't have your cake and eat it too I would say, looks like maybe they are getting a little of their own medicine.
And when the Ape says they are about to blow the lid off this thing, would be nice if they gave the full story.
Support local business and local jobs I say, local economy is hurting enough without self acclaimed NZ companies buying stock from China.
I for one like to buy my stuff locally as I now firmly beleive that we need to support NZ businesses that support NZ suppliers and hire NZ staff.
I really do think that an "NZ Business" sourcing their product offshore isn't really an NZ business.
From what I can see JB and EB source locally so that will be where my support lies.
I'm surprised that MA didn't know that there would be a shortage of stock into the country when people who don't even sell games knew about it from the supplier.
Bizarre.
Mighty ape has delivered outstanding customer service to me since I joined the site and I feel like they are not a big chain who only care about making money but a company that want to provide a good service to people first and foremost. So if they source product offshore to give the NZ public a fair, reasonable and affordable price then I feel they are a great kiwi business!
With almost all new games releases that I am interested in/have bought over the last 2 years, I am finding or have found that I can pick them up for cheaper at JBHifi. People can call it a big corporate or whatever you like but they employ people too. A copy of any game is ultimately the same thing anywhere and I'll follow my wallet. Sorry, guys, I only buy from you when you have your sales on now.
PS. Simon its a pity you never did open that Christchurch store, hang in there bud do not let them get to you..
EB & the other places dont have hardly any PC game software which is kinda sad. Though I think a problem with PC games is that Steam has grown to be quite a good delivery system, so making your lives that much tougher.
Anyway you guys do it with style, panache & some sharp pricing keep it up
This behavior is no different that of Telecom in the past. What it results in is consumers paying more than what they should be, this cant be good for New Zealand.
I am assuming you are an "innocent" poster and not an employee of one of these companies.
I've been buying stuff from Mighty Ape since it was GP Store and it's been fantastic. Never had any issues and like has been said above I was quick to point the finger at MA over this latest Move issue however after reading this my full support is with them.
EB Games is a HORRIBLE store to shop at. You go there and check out a game (Example, Fallout 3 for PS3) which was being advertised for $129.99 and then look online at MA or even DSE and they have it for sub 69.99! How can these *insert a massive string of swear words* people justify that? JB Hi-Fi is no better either. I just purchased (not directly gaming related) a 3D TV and they tried to charge me $500 more than another company in town at their normal retail price!
Long live MA and i'm happy to support you in any way I can. Sign something? Harrass someone via phone? Throw toilet paper over someones house?! You name it!
Keep up the great service and if you have to parallel import then thats just what has to be done. I reccomend you to all my friends and even my customers when we are on the right subject.
Buying from a Kiwi company in NZ keeps us going even if he imports first. You buy from the others, yeah they employ local people but take away there wages, and paying the basic on the building, the rest of the money is gone byebye.
No, this can't be. Medal of Honor Limited Edition. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO..........
**** you EB games, you overpriced piece of ****.
I'm with MightyApe to the end.
Won't be the MOH LE, that's available to everyone nationwide.
Interesting article, interesting point-of-view
Mightyape FTW!
I have been a loyal customer since I bought my first ever game from you guys when you were GPStore, haven't looked back since, often your even cheaper than those other stores WITH their sales on :D
Hang in their, you will always get my support!
In the category I operate in, suppliers know that failure to serve the market here will quickly result in both our NZ retailers and NZ consumers seeking out other ways to get what they want. Sadly, when that happens, some if not all the revenue is lost to NZ businesses, and hey, we all need every dollar we can get right now.
Keep up your good work, Mighty Ape and don't let the b***ards grind you down!!
MA all the way, never shopping anywhere else for my games.
Keep up the great work MA
Anyway, I think MightyApe should expand.
Its really sad that you guys have had to fight tooth and nail against these guys and i actually feel really guilty that i pulled my Move Order from you guys one week before release because of a cheaper deal with JB Hi Fi (Of course im going to go for the better deals, :(....)
However this blog really has inspired me somewhat, im tempted to cancel ALL my pre-orders through JB Hi Fi in order to use you guys singularly as my main source of games etc etc....if you guys are willing to price match...im gladly going to support you guys to the end.
Let this also stand as the day i refuse to ever buy from EB games ever again, not that i was anyway...but i will never ever step inside that demons lair ever again.
I wish you guys all the best of luck of taking down this titan because they need to be brought back down to earth.
I would have thought getting the exclusive for the DVD set would cost some coin(or x stock orders), given the movies themselves pull in 10-15million a year.
Shame about Sony not being able to provide the number of stock that you informed them you had preorders for.
MH FOR THE WIN
Good Luck and thank you for informing us; it is good to know what is happening in the market place.
Seems these companies are Nazis and MA are the resistance trying to bring order into the world.
Long live Mighty Ape!
I came to Mighty Ape in search of a Collectors Edition and they had it, I couldn't find it any where else, you guys have a great system and a strong community background. It saddens me when I find that the Larger Companies are stepping over the smaller firms. A++ Mighty Ape. Best Store Ever.
PS looking forward to Civ5 :)
at the same time but the pre-order got sent out early :) and the second item sent out later that day. Both arrived via the
same courier next day....Postage on second item $0.00. Cheers MA :D
RE:Exclusive Deals, sadly this happens everywhere but in this case it's every one that loses out. If Activision (or whoever)
want to exclusively allow only one outlet to sell a product when other outlets can also sell it, who misses out.
Activision etc, the outlet and the gamer/purchaser.
Once companies realize that the more they put out to retail (regardless of whose selling, I'll only buy from MA) the more
they'll sell = more for everyone! ;)
So, I converted to Mighty Ape with all my gaming passion.
P.S. I LOVE your daily deals!!!
It is sad that as the movement of gaming to the mainstream of society has made this industry more profitable it has unfortunately as result made it more cut-throat.
This state of affairs is only the tip of the iceberg really, but something must be done to counteract the monopolization of gaming in a similar sense as to how the airline industry is monitored to ensure reasonable but not ludicrous competition.
This is just my two-cents on the matter but I would suggest bringing this to peoples attention through the media or the commerce commission (as stated by Helena in a previous post) .
Thanks MightyApe for your continued effort to put customers before pure profits.
Like im not overly fussed about it as I still keep shopping but just checking that when you pre-order unreleased stuff are they meant to arrive as early as possible on release day. btw i live in central Auckland near a courier-post pick up so always wandered why it takes half a day before i get them.
Anyway I love mighty ape and would rather shop here most of the time as nothing beats their good range, friendly and reliable service.
Even when something wrong does happen they have the best response and go above an beyond fixing it which is something lacking from certain big business who merely go meh an only do something if your willing to pay more despite the fact it was their mistake.
Its just big business doing what it does best... screwing everyone else for a slight increase in their percentage of sales.
Just look at what big chain malls do to local pop an mum stores/boutique
the little guy struggles to compete because the big chain can commander prices by buying such high volumes of units that they get a discount small companies cant compete with.
(i may be wrong but my mate at a big yellow store told me that they buy for every store in the country so have such a huge volume of units that they get an unfair discount compared to what their competitors have to pay plus this gives them the power to hold so much sway over suppliers...
think about it... if they have such a huge unit order they can threaten to go elsewhere if suppliers dont meet their demands and with such a big customer which supplier would tell them to fob off.
but that discount rarely makes its way to giving the customer the better deal as when they can pay to monopolise a product they have no reason to place competitive prices.
Idk im over big business because all they seem to do is screw everyone(like the cliched comment about sales people would sell their own grandmother if they could make a quick buck).
Monopolising anything usually means the consumer comes last.
eg.
For years telecom stripped the company to make more money and shipped majority of profits overseas with little reinvestment and then people wonder why we have such an awfull un 1st world internet service now in 2010...Just go to any major developed country an its a joke
Time an time again monoplies have only proven to be self serving entities where the consumer usually gets shafted. :/
I didn't realise that its ok for one company to hold so much control in a market seeing how much the gov went on about forcing telecom to open up their monoploy back in the day but money talks i suppose...
regardless I'd rather be treated by decent people at mighty ape even if its slightly cheaper elsewhere. heck even when other companies monopolize special editions i will still rather go without an buy standard at MA
(if your anti anything then stand by your beliefs an dont give in by buying from them)
I haven't even looked at and EB Games store since.
It's unfair of an overseas-owned store to monopolize game distribution in New Zealand, and quite frankly I wish there was a way to get back at them...maybe provide some Mighty Ape posters we can put up outside their stores? =)
I support this action.
Couple years ago, when ah used to stay up all night, ah would hear a (thump) on the front step around 6-7am and it would be mah parcel, but lately ah'm lucky if it arrives before 1pm
Just an idea i suppose ;)
They should think about things a little further: if you have high priced games, you're going to sell smaller quantities. Only those who really want it AND have the cash to spare will go for it. Others who might otherwise be interested will wait and wait and wait until it finally comes down to 50% of the price because sellers can't get rid of it.
That's one way to look at it anyway. But granting exclusives to one company for a particular area... it's really not right.
However, this is business. Since NZ is a small economy unfortunately EB can do this and it makes perfect business sense to do so - effectively take away MA's customers piece by piece with the eventual hope of making their gaming section collapse.
They did it to CPI and they tried to with Gamesman but ended assimilating them instead. It'll be a sad day if something like that were to befall MA.
Having worked as a manager in games retail and in online promotion in games editorial I've seen many of the shortcomings of this industry, many of which are completely absurd. I would hope that someone publishes an article to the public officially detailing it. Though I think it would have little long-term impact a statement is a statement and this is a strong one.
File a compliant. Monopolies are frowned upon in New Zealand remember.. so supplies cannot deal solely with one business even if its contractual.
Its a pity that it happened to this game as this was the one that I will go with who ever had the collectors edition (I am the biggest Star Wars nerd this side of the Galactic Republic).
If it were any other game, I would have gone with the standard edition and another game to make up what I would have spent with you guys (because you’re awesome).
It saddens me to see that the big international companies like Gamespot and EB Games (one in the same really) do not give the, in my opinion, better smaller national companies a slice of the materialistic money pie.
But in reality it all boils down to how a developer wants the game released, which even further boils down to a base emotion of human nature... greed and in this case specifically for money. A good example is with Sony and Move as prior mentioned in your original blog.
Mighty Ape is a rare company in the fact that it does not cheat people out of money with fine print, they are honest and try help a customer to the best of their abilities whenever they are needed. Game developers, suppliers, and other game stores don't listen to their fans (not that suppliers actually have many fans but...) and almost continually let their fans down.
Mighty Ape on the other hand has a unique hands on approach with their customers through Facebook, Twitter and the mail service. Mighty Ape is a truly remarkable New Zealand company.
I think I can safely say that 100% of your customers are not angry with Mighty Ape over the supply issues and will continue to purchase through you guys until the end of time.
I will be doing 99.9999999999% of gaming shopping through you guys, this game just happened to be the 0.0000000001% that I had to buy else where.
So sorry, but may I leave these parting words...
May the Force be with you, always.
Cheers,
Joseph
There's more to it than that. Suppliers get the games rated in NZ, which can cost a lot of money. They have to recoup this cost through selling the game to NZ retailers. If a retailer bypasses this by sourcing overseas, then they're not contributing to the cost of getting the game rated in NZ.
While a retailer is allowed to import if they wish (as long as games with restricted content carry a NZ rating sticker), you can't be surprised if it strains the retailer/supplier relationship.
Technically that's a whole different issue. In regards to the topic of this blog post, I'm all-for market equality, and no retailer should have exclusive products over another. Don't go thinking it's just limited to the video game market though. Even flicking through The Warehouse brochures, you can sometimes spot things like Lego kits "exclusive to The Warehouse". :-(
Fight and fight hard MA we are with you.
To the gutless losers from EB etc here on this blog have the balls to say who you are and state fact.
MA rock on...... to the others Burn baby burn
EB Games... well... they're overpriced and their customer service sucks (had past experiences. Asked to move one game from one store to another, kept getting lost between stores until they eventually found it, months later).
Keep up the awesome work Mighty Ape :)
I wish you guys had decided to buy out Gamesman before EB got their dirty mitts on it, it's gut-wrenching to walk into one of the few Gamesmans left and find EB stickers everywhere and that godawful announcer blaring in the radio!
After checking for the same game on here I had to buy it since it was of course cheaper but also because you guys are a Kiwi company, which makes all the difference!
Keep up the great work I'm sure all us Gamers and Movie-Addicts will continue to show our gratitude ! :D
i mean omg there selling games at the 'RRP' I MEAN HOW DARE THEY DO THAT ITS NOT LIKE ITS THE RECCOMENDED PRICE OR ANYTHING . GOSH THE DEVILS.
ITS CALLED KEEPING A BISSNESS ALIVE UNLIKE THOSE OTHER PEOPLE WHO SELL A GAME AT COST AND WAT A SURPRISE WOW NOW WERE OUT OF BUSSINESS DAMN HOW DID THAT HAPPEN.
OH AND BEFORE YOU WHINE SOME MORE HOW ABOUT MIGHTY APE SUPPORTS LOCAL COMPANYS BEFORE THEY WHINGE ABOUT UNFAIR I MEAN ITS NOT LIKE SAID COMPANYS IMPORT FROM OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY HENCE GIVING THERE MONEY TO THEM RATER THAN SUPPORTING OUR LOCAL DISTRIBUTORS THEN THEY COMPLAIN ABOUT SAID DISTRIBUTORS NOT BEING FAIR ISAY GOOD ON THEM FOR SHOWING LOVE TO THOSE COMPANYS THAT SUPPORT THEM HERE LOCALLY
I support NZ. I support the businesses bringing lots of jobs into this country.
Exclusives are fair, get used to it.
Half of you are clearly under eighteen, who use Mightyape to get yourselves Grand Theft Auto since they can't really ID check.
And while I'm here, sure MA sometimes has cheaper new release products but you look for older stock, still fullprice here.
I think you need to state fact not fiction. The likes of EB do sales on games that are 6 months plus old say 20 – 50% off marked price the marked price on 99% of them is higher, than the date they were 1st released to the public at full RRP which Means places like MA current price is still cheaper than there’s with 20 – 50% off simple math
You also need to read the above a few time and do a little research even ask questions if you still don’t understand. Because you’re missing the whole point of that is being said. Sadly its people like you and a few of the above that are bring this country down.
The point is MA is attacking Sony for their messup.
This turned into an attack on exclusives, which is just natural competition.
Which turned into a bitch session about chain stores.
Chains can't put their prices up without justification, and neither can MA. The end line is, games can be cheaper at chains and online, it depends on availability and things. It's the same product, and I usually get it wherever is cheaper. The only time you should see an increase in price should be Oct 1st with GST. Some places are just going to absorb that loss.
But new games NEVER go up in price without the previous justification. It just sometimes takes a while for them to come down, and it has a lot to do with the vendors supplying. *cough*activision*cough* EB/JB also does preowned so if price is a problem, buy secondhand. I always do if it's available.
And before anyone pulls the service line, pushing a few buttons online isn't service.
I had picked you guys to be more professional than that.
Ever think maybe your parallel importing pisses off local vendors and THAT'S why they're not supplying you?
Do you work in the gaming Business ?
You still dont get what is going on !
MA were told that they would have X amounts of PS move stock for day 1 release a few days out from day one the stock comes in missing about 95% odd of that they were told they could have So not MA messing up. As for EB they are using there size in the market to get exclusives, Thats fine to a point but when the exclusives have already been like move stock had units given to other companys ie MA, JB and now have been pulled for EB. Service Iam not sure how much you have purchased here on MA but I guessing not much as you just dont have a qlue.
By the way I have not brought from EB Games in over a year. I only ask the questions as I think there were two issues in the original blog and it has skewed that it is all EB Games fault for both issues and not the supplier. They way I read it is that it is the supplier who is not being upfront and honest.
WE dont just go oh hey you know this move thing it sounds cool can we please have a couple... cheers.
well in advance we receive order forms for all major game releases and if we order them before a certain time(well in advance) we get it slightly cheaper than leaving it to later.
the supplier supply's us with an order form for the products they are supplying well in advance and we order them under the expectation of having them on release day.
THE SUPPLIERS KNOW FULL WELL THAT WE HAVE TOLD THEM THE EXACT NUMBER WE WILL ORDER and will pay before release day even hits.
The exact number might increase depending on demand later on
but we know that any of our late orders will be dependent on availability but with our original orders that they've made with us in advance there is no reason to relocate our allocation.
If we knew suppliers would decide to give our orders which they supplied to us under the assumption we would have them when they become available to the market and they knew we had placed our order in advance then we wouldn't have bought it.
The main problem is with suppliers is that there is a lack of communication sometimes. Even when we place orders well in advance an pay we only find out we have been shafted or wont receive stock till much later after the release date.
We only find out after the games dont show up and we have to ring them.
By then we have already payed and if we had known they wouldn't supply us when they said they would we wouldn't have wasted our money.
plus i know how much we buy the games for from suppliers so it certainly is interesting.
just my point of view and may have no relevance to who MA deals with.
NZ is a small country with very limited suppliers.
Sometimes they dictate how many units we order and we have to buy them otherwise they wont supply them to us on release day.
With some products there is only one nz supplier..
its just business.
I don't know about anyone else, but MightyApe has had the best service out of any website or store selling ANYTHING that I have come across.
So in my opinion, you ALREADY ARE a world class online shopping site.
I like you guys because of the extremely prompt delivery, well packaging. And when there is a need for customer service, your reply is always prompt and helpful. The once or twice when I needed to cancel pre-orders because I needed money elsewhere when release date got closer, your reply and actions have always been prompt even when the release date is so close that I don't think I can cancel.
Don't lose that! It is what keeps most of us coming back, ciao and good luck!
Do you think that many of the brick and mortar game suppliers are good at enforcing R18 sales?
TV3's "Target" programme's hidden camera trials in recent years would indicate otherwise.
In my own experience... I went down to EB for the midnight sale of both GTA:SA and GTAIV (I'm 34 btw) and in both instances there were children not even of high school age standing in the queue to buy those games with their parents, and the Store Manager both times didn't even bat an eyelid as Mum and Dad paid for the game while he handed the game case over to the child.
Further more, to suggest that half the people responding to this blog are underaged children... Last time I looked, the methods of purchase from Mighty Ape were Internet Transfer, Credit Card and Pay Pal. I highly doubt that 'children' are buying from Mighty Ape using those methods.. especially when at least one of them requires you to be over 18.
If there's something we do not have instock, MA is the first recommendation. I will not send people to those rip-off artists downstairs.
I'm also a bit of a MA junkie myself lol.
Yes I do work in the gaming industry. I know full well what is going on, thanks. I said MA was attacking Sony for THEIR messup, I never said MA had messed up. Minus the wee cry about it.
Darryl,
As I recall, EB passed the target sting this year. Some stores are a lot stricter with the games sales. If the kid hands the game to the parent, I refuse sale, and yes, I've had things thrown at me for that. By the parent. It's illegal to sell an R Rated game with the knowledge that it will be supplied to a minor.
I pay for things via Visa Debit, you have to be sixteen to get one. That's still classed as a "credit card."
Which company would that be ?
This kind of mix up happens to small businesses a lot... its the nature of the retail world..big dogs win.. deals are done, I've been hacked off when stuff I have promised customers just hasnt shown up..
also its MAs blog, they're just saying they're unhappy with the service.. given the opportunity most people vote with their feet, unfortunately we're at the bottom of the food chain and the bottom of the world.... . so our options are limited. Economically its tough to stay afloat when there is little assistence for local retailers - even F&P went off shore! The big guys Can get better deals, MA sells some of the stuff our FLGS does and can do it cheaper..but not by much and that shows how tough it actually is out there.
I’m not picking at anyone Just making sure some people here are stating fact and really understand what’s going on at the end of the Day MA is NOT the bad guy.
The Bad guy is the Supplier. (Not running their business right & breaking agreements)
There are others in the Market that also do not have clean hands in this and other current situations.
What Bugs me most is Agreements and company’s word, Are being broken because of
1) bad business management.
2) Others going out of their way to make back door deals (with suppliers) to give them the upper hand in the local market and hurt their competition. (They know the Supplier has also made agreements with others in the market but yet they push to break those)
This Hurts the Customer most the Company selling to them and the market as a whole.
In the old days you went to a local retailer who had a passion for the product they were selling and knew about it.
Dick Smith and Gamesman used to be like that and but Gamesman has sadly gone and Dick Smith is lucky to have one staff member who actually knows anything. It's been a long time since Dick Smith had any pre-orders for any Limited Editions - there buyer clearly sucks.
I got sick of being told that they didn't know whether they would have a game available - in some cases even a week before release - Beatles Rockband was pretty much the last straw for me.
EB is too expensive and there is no local store anyway and their policy around being allowed to return games within 7 days and still selling the returns as new means I don't trust that their "new" games have not been played.
Dick Smith have started not giving me the 10% discount on my VIP card which pretty much kept some sales there. As someone who has spent probably close to $20,000 in that store over the last 30 years I don't want to stand at the counter arguing the point.
The Warehouse is starting to emerge as a credible alternative to Mighty Ape for standard releases with it's reduced pricing and it's closeness to work.
I don't have a problem with exclusives - that's life, but retail stores do need to take a long hard look at themselves. If you want me to walk in your door it not actually about the product - it's because you can offer me things an on-line retailer cannot such as knowledgeable staff, not begging for discounts I've been promised, early pre-ordering and a friendly experience that makes me not mind getting out at lunchtime and walking the few blocks to your door.
Til then Mighty Ape will get much of my business.
Don't worry I won't shift my allegiance :)
EB's prices are simply insulting most of the time, and their prices on second-hand games doubly so. Combined with their notoriously poor business ethics (letting employees play unsold games; reselling used and returned games as new etc.) I swore off shopping there long ago.
I always come here first - for whatever it is.
I've had to turn to the Gamesman (ONCE), but that's okay. (You guys were way better).
Occasionally when I am near an EB or so, I'll take a look - and buy something (no insurance).
But Mighty Ape will always be my main source of games and movies.
Oxcgn.com
"Exclusive Retailer Collector’s Edition Deals: Unfair Trading Or Value for Money?"
google it yourself or take the link
http://oxcgn.com/2010/10/05/exclusive-retailer-collectors-edition-deals-unfair-trading-or-value-for-money/
"I think that no collector’s edition should be exclusive to any shop for a number of reasons.
Reason 1: Availability
Reason 2: Online Shopping
Reason 3: Price
Reason 4: Smaller Retailers Disadvantaged
List of games with exclusive editions:
Some of the latest games that have a collector’s edition that are only going to be at EB games are :
Medal of Honor
Star Wars Force Unleashed 2
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Some of the latest games that have exclusive content only available to JB Hi-Fi are:
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit"
oxcgn.com
not entirely relevant to nz but is interesting none the least.
-cam
Exclusives should be something special, such as how some retailers have different bonuses with their games (for example, Gamestop overseas might have a code to unlock a different character costume that is exclusive to Gamestop pre-orders, and EB Games might give you a code to unlock a bonus map for a game).
Exclusives shouldn't be these Collector's Editions, or Limited Editions or whatever you want to call them. They seem to be steadily becoming more popular, and to be honest, I think they are neat, but sometimes pointless, but they should contain a bunch of neat extras that won't hinder the game if you don't have them (a whole new character unlocked because you paid $20 more is stupid, for example) so that if you ONLY want the game, you pay less, but if you're a die-hard fan, you can get some neat collectables for more.
I think the new Dragon Ball Z Raging Blast 2 and Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 Collector's Editions have the idea perfected, and $120 for that new Naruto game with the soundtrack as well is music to my ears. Literally.