GAME, Amazon and Argos are already confirmed to have had their prices bumped. GAME boast their ”wide range of special deals” will lessen the burden.
Basically it means seeing a lot of games that were £39.99 before now tagged at £40.99. Already console SKUs are seeing weird numbers like Xbox 360 250GB selling for £203.99, 4GB at £152.99 and the 260GB bundled with Kinect reaching £305.99.
”We are working hard with our suppliers to minimise the impact of the VAT rise on product prices but from 4 January 2011, customers will see some increase in our in-store and online prices,” said a GAME spokesperson.
”However every week, customers will also see that we have a wide range of special deals and promotions that offer a greater discount than the VAT rise and offer incredible value for our customers. These will continue in 2011 and we are confident that customers will see that we provide value and expertise that they cannot find anywhere else.”
Current deals they’re running include Halo: Reach for £24.98 and PS3 Fallout: New Vegas for £19.98, which haven’t been increased as they’re a part of the Christmas promotion. GAME says these are the best prices for these two titles in the UK.
Online retailer Amazon has already nudged up their pricing overnight for the new VAT rate of 20 percent. ”The VAT rate is one of many factors that is considered when we determine our prices,” said a representative. ”Prices may decrease or increase depending on any of these factors. Amazon.co.uk will be applying the new 20 per cent VAT rate to all orders dispatched after January 4th 2011.”
It’s worth noting that when the VAT was lowered to 15 percent for a short period, GAME kept prices static informing their stores that all prices had increased 2.5 percent. Naturally the hypocrisy hasn’t gone unnoticed. It was either VAT or some other tax increase warn the Coalition Government, arguing this is the lesser evil.
