Woolworth's to cut Xbox 360 console prices in the UK?

We received the image above from a supposed Woolworth's employee who scanned an upcoming retail catalog for our sicko pleasures. We can't verify the claim, but we understand that Woolies is in the midst of an escalating, retail price war in the UK gaming space. As such, what we're likely looking at are promotional cuts from the normal, £160, £200, £260 prices for the Arcade, Premium, and Xbox 360 Elite consoles, respectively. Then again, the across the board price cuts in the US seem to have really paid off so who knows.

[Thanks, Anonymous Tipster]

Read -- Woolworth price war

[Shadowise @ Sep 12th 2008 8:26AM]

Hmm... my brother is about to get me a new arcade for my birthday to replace my dead premium... maybe I should get him to get me a new premium from woolies instead... :D

[Shadowise @ Sep 12th 2008 8:30AM]

No changes on the website yet >.<

Shame...

[DigDug @ Sep 12th 2008 12:56PM]

I remember when Woolworths in the UK had a firesale to get rid of surplus HD DVD stock.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/toshiba-disappointed-at-woolworths-hd-dvd-snub

This sounds very similar. Perhaps the begining of the end of Woolworths stocking Xbox, due to abysmal Euro sales...

[Tom Robertson @ Sep 12th 2008 8:26AM]

Glad I waited out to get one!! I hope this comes into effect. Strangely enough, while walking to work though, I saw that exact poster, but without the price drop...

[pr @ Sep 12th 2008 8:34AM]

Woolworth's still exists?

[Tom Robertson @ Sep 12th 2008 8:45AM]

Clearly..

[Raheem @ Sep 12th 2008 8:45AM]

You don't go outside much?

[pr @ Sep 12th 2008 9:11AM]

Sorry, I don't go to discount stores in the UK very often.

[ArcticFox @ Sep 12th 2008 9:29AM]

Woolworths isnt a discount "store" its a large retail chain like Argos.

[whormongr @ Sep 12th 2008 9:49AM]

there hasn't been a woolworth's around here for a good 10 years

[Vanillacide @ Sep 12th 2008 1:01PM]

Those of us who are more business minded know that Woolworths Group plc not only owns retail outlets that for most of the past three decades sell more records/CDs/DVDs than anyone else on the UK High Street (accepting their customers are mostly CDE socio-economic demographic) but they also own Entertainment Wholesale which is the company that supplies (wholesale) CDs, books, DVDs, Blu-ray, and video-games to the UK's supermarkets (e.g. Tesco), WH Smiths, Zavvi, and others.

They also half-own 2 Entertain Ltd with the commercial arm of the BBC and are the UK's largest independent video publisher/distributor.

[Raheem @ Sep 12th 2008 7:05PM]

pr, I don't go there either - but that doesn't stop me knowing it exists.

Have you heard of Mozambique? That exists too.

[Mikey @ Sep 14th 2008 11:10AM]

Wollworths was based out of the US at one point. about 10 or 15 years ago, they unexpectedly closed ALL of their American retail locations (that I know of) and apparently liquidated. I had NO idea that Woolworth's was around OUTSIDE of the US.
I think that is where the confusion is coming from.

[Scump @ Sep 12th 2008 8:40AM]

Wow, that means in the UK the Arcade is on route to compete with the bloody PS2... still a strong system seller for sony. The Pro console is now cheaper than the wii and the elite cheaper than the PS3. Best of all Woolies charge the normal RRP so i would imagine amazon and Play.com may have another £10 off these prices again.

This is good news for all system owners.... PS3 cannot sustain sales (at the current price point) in the UK with the economy in a soon to be depression. If more people are spending money on home entertainment during these tuff times the 360, in terms of raw price, is a good start.

[Ignatius @ Sep 12th 2008 8:43AM]

That would be epic if those were in USD.

[Raheem @ Sep 12th 2008 8:46AM]

Not for Woolworths.

[maty @ Sep 12th 2008 8:44AM]

Well if they're in a gaming price-war, its news to me. They overcharge way too much on their games. I can pick up Forza 2 and PGR4 for £30 for both in other stores, Woolworths charge £40 each for them. They sell everything at full price regarlelss of its time spent on the shelf. Games stores like GAME and Game Station, online stores like Amazon, Play.com are always cheaper, but even Tescos and Asda are cheaper then Woolworths. I don't buy anything from Woolie's except my mobile pay-as-you-go top-up because its close to me.

[Rednecs @ Sep 12th 2008 9:06AM]

If these price cuts are official and not just promotional I'm guessing its not long before there are bundles with 2 games for an extra £10/£15 at other places.

[jupiterthunder @ Sep 12th 2008 12:36PM]

Thought you were talking about Kmart for a second.

[Vanillacide @ Sep 12th 2008 1:10PM]

Which is smart of Woolworths Group plc as they are the wholesale supplier of games to many of those companies you listed (see my post above), including ASDA and Tesco, so they make money from those cheaper sales too.

[maty @ Sep 12th 2008 8:46AM]

129.99 GBP = 230.361 USD

After all the price cuts have gone through, you guys over the pond in the US will still be paying less than us.

[maty @ Sep 12th 2008 8:49AM]

Engadget comment system @ fail.

This was meant for Ignatius. =/

[Scump @ Sep 12th 2008 9:00AM]

Yea, but factor in VAT at 17.5%. Im not sure but I don't think Americans advertise products with sales tax included... its done on a state by state basis...I think. Also our population is smaller, so the cost of marketing the same product to an isolated economy is significantly higher than the US- especially one that doesn't use a contenental sized currency.

[jas0nuk @ Sep 12th 2008 11:22AM]

£129.99 * 0.825 = £107.24
£107.24 = $189.32

So, just a bit less than the recently price-dropped $199 Arcade, before 8.whatever% tax on top of that.

[JerkfacedFed @ Sep 12th 2008 12:09PM]

good point, with tax the prices are comparable through the store, but what about when purchasing online? In the US, Amazon charges no tax no shipping on most items over $25. For instance a 360 would be $199 shipped, but how much would it cost over there?

[antbring @ Sep 12th 2008 2:15PM]

Actually, the price is:
129.99 pounds / 1.175 = 110.63 to get the price without VTA. jas0nouk did it wrong, which you will see if you apply 17.5% tax on the value he got
110.63 = 198.193

So, there's virtually no difference in price

[antbring @ Sep 12th 2008 2:16PM]

Actually, the price is:
129.99 pounds / 1.175 = 110.63 to get the price without VTA. jas0nouk did it wrong, which you will see if you apply 17.5% tax on the value he got
110.63 = 198.193

So, there's virtually no difference in price

[jas0nuk @ Sep 12th 2008 2:23PM]

Ah.. yes. Shit :P

[eiki @ Sep 12th 2008 8:51AM]

got my 360 60GB for £162 from game, sold the games that came with it on a weekend offer and got cashback through quidco site, pays to shop around

[mattclarkie @ Sep 12th 2008 10:00AM]

Strangely I was driving past woolies yesterday and thought.

'I should check them out, they can't sell many games and they might have some older games really cheap'

Funny that.

[▀█▀ █ ▀█▀ ▄█▀ @ Sep 12th 2008 10:10AM]

I want to see those price cuts in other european countries. 200€ for the Arcade is still a bit too much for my liking.

[adam @ Sep 12th 2008 10:14AM]

I submitted the image, and no the prices havn't been put into effect yet, as the catalogue isnt supposed to be out on store shelves, i piked one up from the store room at my local store, im going to be hounest, i havn't a clue when the cataloues are on shelves. but the old ones have been taken away, so shouldn't be long, lets hope :)

[Tom Robertson @ Sep 12th 2008 11:17AM]

Well thanks for the post Adam!! I am sure to ask 1 of my mates who also works at Woolworths as well!

[Chris @ Sep 12th 2008 11:16AM]

I hated going to WoolWorths as a kid. Worst store ever. That and Odd Job were the worst stores to be dragged into.

[Sean @ Sep 12th 2008 11:20AM]

Just curious...

Here we often see stories of the magical $199.00 price point where a console has their most sales. Now I could do the exchange rate, but what is the psychological price point for the UK?

[mattclarkie @ Sep 12th 2008 12:09PM]

Around £99 is the point where consoles sell themselve

That's when I got my Xbox, and £69 is when I got my GC.

[BOGRASH @ Sep 12th 2008 11:38AM]

a uk-based story on engadget? ye gods, what is the gadget world coming to? i thoought you horrible fucks only gave a shit about whatever bullshit goes in the US. ps 'gaming' is for manchild retards

[Aaronage @ Sep 12th 2008 2:19PM]

Thanks for showing up the entire UK with that utter crap.

*sigh*

[Dij @ Sep 14th 2008 5:02PM]

Oh my, 'gaming is for manchild retards'.

And yet you still went to all this effort to prove what a massive inferiority complex you have.

[kyle @ Sep 12th 2008 11:48AM]

doesn't look like a temporary promotion to me. it looks like an annual catologue, and those are the new regular prices.

[Retronana @ Sep 12th 2008 12:55PM]

Woolworths Big Red Book is published twice a year, October & March.

Its not actually an in store catalog , its given away in store but is a driver for online and mail order sales.

[Derek @ Sep 12th 2008 1:20PM]

And stay out of the woolsworth!

[timmy @ Sep 12th 2008 9:18AM]

I see what you did, i was hearing the same words as imagining Clooney comes flying out the door

[timmy @ Sep 12th 2008 9:21AM]

I wonder if they still have Zairs or Montgomery Wards over there ?

[marythegr8 @ Sep 12th 2008 10:34AM]

Was it all woolworths or just the one branch?

[adam @ Sep 12th 2008 4:34PM]

@ marythegr8 its in all woolworths, when the new catalouge comes out. =]

[Ethan @ Sep 12th 2008 1:57PM]

If it works as a loss-leader, wonderful.

[paul-engadget @ Sep 13th 2008 7:25PM]

pcworld.co.uk already lists the premium at GB£200, the elite at GB£270 and the cheapest arcade at GB£160.
I don't normally buy things in PC World, but I was passing by on lunchtime, had some time to waste and called in on Monday and they definitely had the premium on show for £200, so I was a little surprised.
I was going to hold out for longer, but my original xbox has started getting flakey - dvd drive doesn't read reliably, the fan can be very noisy, so I may give in.

[Chris @ Sep 14th 2008 11:22AM]

Don't forget to add:
Price to connect wirelessly
Annual subscription to play online
Decent Hard Drive non-standard so quite expensive (unless you get the elite)

These are good headline prices, and quite a few parents will probably fall for it, nice one Microsoft

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