One thing that makes gaming expensive, apart from the outlay for the initial console is the cost of the games. One can always wait to pick up the games in the bargain bin of your local store but often the draw of the big name games weighs heavily on your wallet. It's annoying and frustrating to say the least when something good comes out that everyone is raving about but you're waiting for it to reduce in price to something more affordable. I'm sure at one time or another all of us have had to hold back against our desires for the latest and greatest. Therefore for those of you, including myself, with limited funds, I thought I would point you in the direction some better value outlets and practices.
First up are the brick and mortar stores. Some of these can be relatively cheap and often have BOGOF offers or 3 for 2. Game, the biggest games retailer in the UK has both a High Street presence and an online store. It often has game offers on, especially on it's relatively large stock of second hand or as it calls them pre-owned games. Be sure to check in there for games that are a couple of months old, especially for the 360, as PS3 games seem to hold their value for longer probably due to the cost of the Blu-Ray discs themselves. On a related note, Gamestation is now owned by Game and therefore has similar offers and benefits so if you've still got a local Gamestation check them out.
Other High Street stores also include the once traditional music retailers Woolworths, HMV and what once was Virgin Megastores but is now Zavvi. They all have online shops too that sometimes but not often reflect their in-store offers. In general they are normally more expensive than Game or other specialist independent game retailers but again they often have decent offers that are worth taking advantage of. The old adage springs to mind in that it is best to 'shop around'. Anyone who doesn't know that these days probably doesn't need to be bothered bargain hunting in the first place.
The brick and mortar stores are all very well if you must have that precious game immediately. Online only retailers and those that have both often have good discounts available if you're willing to wait a few days. First off we have Game.co.uk, game's online presence which can have decent deals from time to time and also sell pre-owned games online which not many of the others manage. Both HMV.com and Zavvi.co.uk have cheaper prices than the High Street plus sometimes bargains can be found on Woolworths.co.uk but like Game's online site are often outdone by online only retailers. One of the other problems with the online shops from the High Street in one of delivery times. Often the items are dispatched from the tax haven that is Jersey and therefore can take up to 5 days to arrive at your door. I'm often prepared to wait for stuff but sometimes there's a limit to the price paid/delivery time ratio.
Online only retailers have historically been plagued with rubbish service and high delivery costs with difficult customer service as there's no one to complain to face to face. These days delivery costs on things like games and DVD/Blu-Ray are often thrown in for free (or included in the price for the more skeptical among us). Service from online retailers can vary greatly. Larger services like Amazon and Play are pretty reliable and there are some smaller ones that do very well indeed. Amazon often has the cheapest costs out of the bigger online retailers but has the sting of using their 'super saver delivery' if you don't want to pay for delivery yourself. This in my experience can mean a long wait for it. They're quoted time is '2-4 days later than 1st class delivery' which in practice means 3-5 working days. Play offers free postage on everything game and video related but it also quotes 3-5 working days for delivery. I have to say in my experience Play has delivered within 2 working days of ordering if ordered in the morning. 
They do however have offers on games quite frequently and are very cheap most of the time.
The best online retailer I have experience of however is not a big name player currently. Shopto.net is a relatively new online retailer that time and time again has had the cheapest price and the quickest delivery. They're slogan is shop late - play tomorrow and as long as the order is placed and processed before 1730 then you should receive your item the next day with Royal Mail's blessing. In my experience I have always received the game the very next day and their delivery promise is backed up with a 72 hour reshipment service that means if you don't receive your game within 72 hours they will ship another out immediately. I can't vouch for that particular bit of their service as I haven't needed it yet but I'm sure like the rest of their service that it is top notch. The only draw back from my perspective is their use of Recorded Delivery which means someone has to be there to sign for it or you will have to pick it up from you local Delivery Office. You can get it delivered to an alternate location other than your card address after a couple of successful transactions. I'm assuming this is to cover them from fraud and is understandable if a little irritating at first. Their website is also a little difficult to look at and is not as slick as some others around but you truly can't beat their prices on most things especially pre-order items that are often at least £3 cheaper than their rivals and will normally arrive on the day of release.
The final place in my round up of bargain hunting spots has to be eBay. Originally set up as a book traders site, eBay is an excellent place to pick up used games. Often people are worried about buying second hand games due to the nature of the medium current games are shipped on. Optical media suffers from the perennial scratch problem that has reduced over the years due to disc technology and coatings but is still a problem regardless of how much the disc associations claim otherwise. Therefore gamers buying second hand games on eBay have to be careful and buy from more reputable sources. Looking at your sellers feedback is imperative and can often show you if they're likely to be trust worthy and ship you a decent item. As always if you're not sure of the condition of the game from the listing you must ask before bidding. Having said that I have found some bargains on eBay of games that I would not have paid full price for and after playing them I have sold them back on eBay in the same condition that they arrived in for more or less the same price I paid for them in the first place. eBay is especially good if your one of those people who likes to play a wide variety of games and not revisit them and therefore have no qualms with selling them on. So don't be afraid to check out eBay for game deals on older games.So if you live in the UK and are looking for bargains on the newest games head over to shopto.net but again shopping around is always the best policy and when you're on the net it is incredibly easy to save yourself a few bob and maybe make that burning purchase affordable.
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