Budget Gaming Tips: Extreme Rewarding!

26 July 2011

Posted by:Meg

Hello everyone and welcome to VGB’s new budget gaming feature with Meg!

Now in this video series we will be going through some personal tips and tricks for saving money on videogames, and/or personal recommendations on deals and stores!

Make sure you submit your own, so we can feature your suggestions in future videos!

Let’s kick start this series with the ‘Extreme rewarding’ trick – much like extreme couponing!

Check out the video!

Rule number one:

Fed up with a game? Wasn’t as good as you were expecting? Perhaps you got lumped with a game you really didn’t want for Christmas or your birthday? Don’t trade it in straight away! Put it to one side in a ‘hoard-pile’ and keep collecting these dud games till you have three-to-four (or more) in a pile!

Rule number two:

Sign up for reward cards to your local videogame stores! Game, Gamestation, Gamestop, and even CEX have them! They come in really handy and most importantly it doesn’t cost you a thing to get one!
Some cards build points over a certain period of time. But make sure you use them up before they expire! You can also earn extra points and goodies with these reward cards if you pre-order games!

Rule number three:

If you are a student and have some form of student ID – don’t be afraid to use it! Always check first to see if student discounts are available in-store (sometimes stores can be a stingy with their discounts,) and if they are, you can get a pretty good deal using your student card!

Combine all three rules in store when purchasing the game you’ve wanted for what feels like a lifetime!

Trade in the ‘hoard-pile’ of games you were saving for extra points or money off your purchase, combine it with points gained on your rewards card, and present your student ID for an another discount and voila! You get a rather large discount!

Work it right and its extremely rewarding!

Using this trick I bought Heavy Rain on its release date for £20 pounds. Its retail price was £49.95. Impressive no?

Did you find this video interesting or helpful? Please comment below and leave your own stories or suggestions!

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Houdini

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Houdini

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AI

Great advice there. I’ve been selling games on eBay a few days after I play them because there have been some real disappointments lately from my personal opinion. Doing this, you can save a lot of money and i’ve often sold them for slightly less than I bought them brand new, at least until eBay and PayPal rip you off with their monstrous percentage takings. Not sure if you allow users to advertise other websites on here but I’ve just found out about a site called Hotukdeals.com which basically lets users post deals for anything and everything (including video games).
Houdini

Not really impressive, no. You invested your own possessions for a £30 discount? and this is a trick? tricks on you, mine cost £30 on release, without any discount. If you pre-order with some companies and they give you a low price, then they honour that price up until the day of release. Additionally, reward cards, though sometimes worth using, offer little by means of a return. I am a deal savvy shopper, and therefore tend to shop around and as such, never really accumulate many points at one store. Additionally, reward schemes are usually offered through retail outlets that whilst occasionally offering good deals, are usually the most expensive. As for trade-ins, the money given in return isn’t free. It’s a transaction and one in which the consumer is usually at a loss. Am I wrong? well, go and have a look at how much your game is being re-sold for a couple of days after a trade. I understand the store has to make a return, but the amount offered is a contentious issue for many. There are other, online outlets that will offer a better deal. So whilst the game your looking to invest in may require little in means of actual currency, that privilege has to come at some cost.
Anonymous

@f4c0efc9d6de584be662911d8deb56b7:disqus I don’t consider it investing my possessions, I don’t hold onto games I don’t enjoy. This tip isn’t about getting as much money as you can, its about combining trade-ins with other things (student discounts, and reward points.) Many of which can be utilized by students, parents etc. who haven’t the time or ‘savvy’ to scour websites or the town.This also works well for people who gain a lot of reward points from the mentioned stores – like me.Then again I have personally used these tips and tricks. It works well for me. If you don’t think it’s a good idea or have your own way, stick with what works best for you lol! I’m not demanding that you use my tricks I’m simply sharing ideas.
@588d5cf818a293edced701b51845b532:disqus Thanks for watching and commenting! And I completely agree, a lot of games either through over-hype of lack of originality have disappointed after release. Ah the murky waters of ebay, I too have swum them lol but unsuccessfully most of the time xDAll suggestions are welcome of course!Thank you very much for you comment and suggestion
Houdini

Wow, I am impressed, your actually serious. I Seem to of hit a nerve , as you have missed the point completely. Whether you keep hold of games you don’t enjoy or not, they come at a cost. A cost of which you in part, recuperate when you trade in for another. It’s simple economics. Speaking of simple economics, if you get a new game and do not want it, dont sit on it, trade/sell it STRAIGHT AWAY. Too many store are intent on giving customers a bad price, and as games often don’t hold their value I would strongly suggest you part with it as quick as you can. It’s utter idiocy to sit on it until it’s worthlessI didn’t suggest it was about ‘getting as much money as you can’, you did “Trade in the ‘hoard-pile’ of games you were saving for extra points or money off your purchase, combine it with points gained on your rewards card (which contrary to your suggestion, GAME DO charge for) and present your student id for another discount and voila! you get a rather large discount”.I do not wish to seem rude, but your ‘tips and tricks’ are basically store incentives, which most in-store staff either offer on the floor, or the checkout. This is suspiciously more of an advert than it is advice………You also appear to of taken this personally, which surprises me as I thought this site took it’s self a little more seriously by not letting a little constructive criticism personally offend. Don’t bother to reply, I shant be back to read it! lol!
Anonymous

I wouldn’t call your criticism constructive, it comes across as rather obnoxious. There are ways to put your point across without sounding contrite, or, as it appears to me, condescending. Final point, I don’t know what Game or Game Station you frequent, but the one’s I use have never charged for a points card. If you are implying that there is a hidden cost, fair dues. But the whole point of video games retailers is to make money. Nuff said!
http://www.videogamesblogger.com Ferry

I hope you don’t mind me bothering to reply, I care, so I can’t help it. — I think this first part of a series is more about trading in games you have lying around anyway. I agree with you that you get more money (on average I’d say I got twice as much) by trading in games on eBay, but the amount of time and effort that takes, well a lot of people just don’t want to do that or don’t have the time… I know, because I had to stop doing it at some point over a year ago as I could never find time to send them to the buyers fast, since I always prided myself on fast shipping and extra bubblewrap packaging, but I digress.

I imagine the same gamers who have games lying around don’t really want to spend their free time selling on eBay. So this might be a good nudge for them to wake up trade in all their older games at a local gameshop. I mean, if they are about to buy a new game anyway, they might as well pay less for it. I personally think the cost of a game is received back by how much fun and time you’ve spent with a game, you can calculate an average you feel an hour spent on a game is worth, but not many people do unless it’s a short game. And while us gamers are getting screwed (a technical term lol) by second-hand stores on not getting the best possible prices, it’s definitely much easier than eBaying it. I guess I’m defending both your points, but trying to get across it’s more of a Time VS Money perspective debate.
AI

And with that, Houdini does his infamous disappearing act. *POOF*

Anyway back on topic, I completely agree with the “Time Vs. Money” statement and even agree to an extent with something the magician said which was “trade/sell it straight away” because you are of course more likely to get more money back for it the quicker you sell it since it’s been released on the market. However, occasionally a new game will come out e.g. NFS Shift 2 Unleashed where if you trade in a game like Portal 2 you will get NFS and only have to put something towards it like £5 (I believe this was the deal that happened in Game earlier in the year).

I for one am looking forward to the next segment on this series, don’t let 1 individual who’s had a bad day by getting constantly killed on Call Of Duty online put you off creating more of these!
Rlangley643

I do have to agree with some of the comments here that the longer you sit on a game the less you get for it when you do finally trade it in, but that only really applies for new games. Older ones are worth less anyway and you never get a good trade in price. So the way I see it is if it’s a new game and you really don’t like it, or completed it and are never gonna play again then yes trade in ASAP to get the most got it.
The points card is s good thing but if your like me and you shop arround online a lot you never get many points in one store so it can take ages to build up anything worth using.
Also I really do recommend eBay, I’ve been using it for ages to buy games that I really wanted to get at the time but never got round it it. And you van get them quite cheap on there if your looking at bidding only (you might not get it first time or it might not even be there first time you look, but keep looking and eventually it’ll turn up lol).
Anyway my main tip would be search everywhere not just in the first shop you come across (so many people I know just pay full price…..).
Nice vid good to know I’m not the only one looking for a bargain! Lol.