If you're planning on buying the new PS4, make sure you're getting the best price.
The latest PlayStation console arrives in the UK on Friday 29th November. And although pre-ordered copies have sold out at many shops, some will have a limited number to buy on the day.
Midnight openings will be happening across the country, though the consoles are expected to sell out fast.
Prices for the console vary quite a bit so if you’re hoping to get your hands on one make sure you don’t get ripped off.
The PlayStation 4 (PS4)
It’s one of the most eagerly-awaited consoles to arrive in the UK and Sony is predicting record sales for the PS4. If you were organised enough to pre-order the console back in the summer it should be arriving on Friday on day one of the UK release.
But even if you have pre-ordered there’s no guarantee you’ll get it on Friday or even before Christmas as demand has been so high some retailers have said they won’t be able to get the consoles out on time.
Some shops, such as Asda and Game, have confirmed consoles will be available in shops from midnight on Thursday even if you haven’t pre-ordered one. Participating shops and opening times can be found on the retailers’ websites and some supermarkets, such as Sainsbury's, and Tesco will be selling the console in their 24-hour shops from midnight.
The PS4 retails for £349.99 and you can buy it direct from Sony for this price. But instead of paying the full whack, many retailers are discounting the price. The cheapest price I could find was at ToysRUs, where it has a price tag of £339.99 followed by Zavvi, where it costs £348.95.
As the launch date coincides with Black Friday, prices may be further reduced on the day.
The cheapest PS4
| Shop | Price |
| ToysRUs | 339.99 |
| Zavvi | £348.95 |
| Tesco | £349 |
| Asda | £349 |
| Argos | £349 |
| Amazon | £349 |
| John Lewis | £349.95 |
| Sainsbury’s | £349.99 |
| Video Game Box | £379.95 |
| Play.com | £499.99 |
Bundle deals
To encourage you to spend more, some shops are throwing in extra incentives to try to secure customer sales. These offers will only save you money if you were planning on buying all of the separate items in the first place. You could sell unwanted games on, but there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to get the same price back.
O2, for example, is offering a bundle package which includes the game Killzone: Shadow Fall and 12 months free access to Sony’s PlayStation Plus service as well as a Sony Xperia Z1 with unlimited minutes, texts and 1GB data. This will cost £52 a month with an upfront fee of £89.99, but is obviously only worth getting if you’re going to use the extras included in the bundle.
Game has a range of similar deals. Its most expensive bundle costs £605.94 and includes the games Killzone Shadow Fall, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, FIFA 14, Battlefield 4, Need for Speed: Rivals and Call of Duty. It reckons buying the package will save you £45 over buying these individually.
[SPOTLIGHT]At Asda it will cost you £379 for a Knack bundle and £385 for the Call of Duty:Ghosts bundle. As the Knack game costs £47 on its own and Call of Duty Ghosts has a price tag of £49 it’s cheaper to buy the bundle rather than the console and game separately.
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How to get cashback
To save more money you can use a cashback website if you’re buying online, or an app from one of these websites if you’re buying in a shop.
The main two websites are Quidco and TopCashback. The idea is that you shop via a tracked link from the cashback site. The cashback site is paid commission, which it then passes on to you in the form of cashback.
For example, if you bought the PS4 at Game, through Quidco, you’d save 5% on the total cost. This will be returned to your bank account around a month after the initial purchase date.
| Retailer | TopCashback | Quidco |
| Toys R Us | 3.15% | 3% |
| Play.com | 5.77% | 3% |
| Tesco Direct | 3.67% | n/a |
| Zavvi | 3.15% | 5% |
| Game | 1.05% | 1% |
| Argos | 3.15% | 1.5% |
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Are you planning on buying the PS4? Have you found somewhere which sells it cheaper? Let me know in the box below.