Woolworth's to cut Xbox 360 console prices in the UK?
By Thomas Ricker 
posted September 12th 2008 8:21AM
posted September 12th 2008 8:21AM
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
[Thanks, Anonymous Tipster]
Read -- Woolworth price war
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
No changes on the website yet >.<
Shame...
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...
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...
Woolworth's still exists?
Clearly..
You don't go outside much?
Sorry, I don't go to discount stores in the UK very often.
Woolworths isnt a discount "store" its a large retail chain like Argos.
there hasn't been a woolworth's around here for a good 10 years
pr, I don't go there either - but that doesn't stop me knowing it exists.
Have you heard of Mozambique? That exists too.
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.
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.
That would be epic if those were in USD.
Not for Woolworths.
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.
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.
Thought you were talking about Kmart for a second.
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.
Engadget comment system @ fail.
This was meant for Ignatius. =/
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.
£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.
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?
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
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
Ah.. yes. Shit :P
And stay out of the woolsworth!
I see what you did, i was hearing the same words as imagining Clooney comes flying out the door
I wonder if they still have Zairs or Montgomery Wards over there ?
Was it all woolworths or just the one branch?
@ marythegr8 its in all woolworths, when the new catalouge comes out. =]
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
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.
I want to see those price cuts in other european countries. 200€ for the Arcade is still a bit too much for my liking.
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 :)
Well thanks for the post Adam!! I am sure to ask 1 of my mates who also works at Woolworths as well!
I hated going to WoolWorths as a kid. Worst store ever. That and Odd Job were the worst stores to be dragged into.
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?
Around £99 is the point where consoles sell themselve
That's when I got my Xbox, and £69 is when I got my GC.
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
Thanks for showing up the entire UK with that utter crap.
*sigh*
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.
doesn't look like a temporary promotion to me. it looks like an annual catologue, and those are the new regular prices.
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.
If it works as a loss-leader, wonderful.
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.
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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