Buying PS4 Controllers

[Shakilrahman96]

Hey! 

I've been looking into buying a secondary controller for my PS4 but the main issue is the price for me. I should note that I live in Ireland where Gamestop is the ONLY store to buy new games, consoles and controllers. Due to their lack of competition their prices have sky rocketed ever since "GAME" went bust in Ireland. Games that would cost €50 elsewhere in the world, or digitally sell for 60-70 euro in Gamestop Ireland at times. Due to this I've been forced to go hard copy free for the most part but I'm waffling now.

We also have a 2nd Hand gaming store called "CEX" which exclusively sells second hand stuff only. I went in the other day to buy a controller where I was told a preowned one would cost me €65. I instantly declined and fucked off out of there. Is that some sort of joke?

I can buy some online which are 30-40 euro inc. shipping but tends to catch me is the import tax. Anything I get from America ends up being +50/60 euro on top of the original price which leads me to my original question.

1: Any good online EU based stores where I can get a cheap controller?
2: If not, any good sites where I can avoid the import tax/duty?
3: Any general tricks which help you guys avoid the tax? 

Its really frustrating dealing with customs or Gamestop's shitty prices. 

[iAlphaSoldier]

Don't know how cheap is ok for you, but at amazon you can pick from different sellers (amazon and 3rd party ones) as well as new and used.

 

Amazon PS4 controllers

[yowzagabowza]

Damn, that CEX must have the same bullshit ideas as GameStop does! 65 for a used DS4 is ridiculous! I'm glad you declined!

 

I don't have any advice to help you, though, sorry. 

[rdhight]

I don't know what kind of shipping/customs you would deal with buying from eBay where you are, but you might investigate them. They seem to have a combination of official, used, and knock-off DS4s. I saw a non-Sony one, new, for $35 US and free shipping.

 

I don't know how any of this translates for your location/currency, but I would look into it if I were you.

Edited July 11, 2017 by rdhight

[DuckSwimmer]

6 hours ago, iAlphaSoldier said:

Don't know how cheap is ok for you, but at amazon you can pick from different sellers (amazon and 3rd party ones) as well as new and used.

 

Amazon PS4 controllers

 

I agree with this post ^ Amazon has some decent prices. Also sometimes the controllers do go on sale for a few days.

[g-bake_1986]

Don't any supermarkets sell gaming products over there? Or could you try Ebay or something similar?

 

It sucks that you have to be hit with the import tax, DS4's are already expensive to start with let alone with the extra fees.

Edited July 10, 2017 by g-bake_1986

[Dreakon13]

The problem is eBay (and Amazon depending on what seller you buy from) is that it's rife with shitty knockoffs.  I've learned that the hard way, a few times, with PS3 controllers... if it's only $15-20, in all likelihood its a scam and you'll either never get the controller, or you'll get some very authentic-looking controller that barely works.  Maybe it's less common with PS4 controllers (I'd hope so).

 

Not that it's all a big scam, there are some legit controllers out there probably for a fair price.  Just be very careful to check out the sellers feedback/rating if you go the eBay route... and if the price is too good to be true, it probably is.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Dreakon13

[Auto-Tomato]

Amazon also has a discount code which is possibly still active, but I think it's for first time Prime and/or Prime Now use:  10NOW40    Spend a min of 40 to get 10 off, I used it on a first time Prime Now red ps4 controller less than a month ago, £32 I got it for.   Google Amazon discount codes, most are useless but occasionally there'll be something worthwhile. 

 

CEX, Game, Gamestation etc.. are usually a rip off, it's a rarity I trade anything in, I'd rather give something to family or mates or sell it myself.   Their pricing and practices are shocking at times, my local CEX was selling a used DS4 with the rubber off one stick for £48 (£55 for the good ones)...it was £40 new on Amazon at the time!   I once bought a PS3 bundle from Game, it came with a Prince of Persia game I already had, wanted to buy the bundle but immediately trade in the new and sealed PoP game...£2 was the offer, as it was technically used...like they weren't going to put it back on the shelf as a new and sealed full price game, ridiculous.   I know some don't have the outlets or online to choose from but I'd never recommend any game store, especially not for trading.

Edited July 10, 2017 by RedMustang72

[nyantzu1986]

i suggest ebay, but beware of "fakes" they significantly cheaper than original

[Han_the_Dragon]

Try https://www.base.com/fsearch.htm?search=dualshock

 

Well while not the cheapest place, I can somewhat guarantee that it doesn't have extra fees add to it.. well, it didn't, while UK was part of EU.. so it probably still doesn't.. I say this because they mainly ship from UK, but I have got some games shipped from other EU countries, I think it depends on where they have them stored.. and even when I bought something more expensive from them (Persona 5 Collector's Edition), they didn't charged extra fees other then the stupidly high ports (well, the package is kind of big, so I should had expected it..).

 

Still they have been reliable for games, and usually have decent prices + cheap ports (2,50€ per game for Portugal), and I checked that they would only add 2,50€ of ports to ship a controller to Ireland.

[Shakilrahman96]

22 hours ago, iAlphaSoldier said:

Don't know how cheap is ok for you, but at amazon you can pick from different sellers (amazon and 3rd party ones) as well as new and used.

 

Amazon PS4 controllers

 

I've considered Amazon but even then its about €5 cheaper than what I could get locally once shipping and P&P is included. Not to mention i'm debating whether or not waiting 2 weeks for a controller is worth a 5er.

 

22 hours ago, yowzagabowza said:

Damn, that CEX must have the same bullshit ideas as GameStop does! 65 for a used DS4 is ridiculous! I'm glad you declined!

 

I don't have any advice to help you, though, sorry. 

CEX used to be excellent when it first came around but in recent months or so they've upped their prices big time and it really reflects their business practices. Nobody goes into CEX anymore, before the shelves would be wiped out within a few hours with plenty of people trading in and buying out etc. but nowadays they're just not worth going into anymore. It's a shame really because they used to be able to give Gamestop a run for their money.. literally!

 

 

22 hours ago, rdhight said:

I don't know what kind of shipping/customs you would deal with buying from eBay where you are, but you might investigate them. They seem have a combination of official, used, and knock-off DS4s. I saw a non-Sony one, new, for $35 US and free shipping.

 

I don't know how any of this translates for your location/currency, but I would look into it if I were you.

I think the general rule is anything above 40 euro = 60 euro import duty/fee/tax. Meaning if I were to buy a controller, I could easily be paying 100 euro for it just to get it from America. Its a bit of a joke.

 

 

16 hours ago, RedMustang72 said:

Amazon also has a discount code which is possibly still active, but I think it's for first time Prime and/or Prime Now use:  10NOW40    Spend a min of 40 to get 10 off, I used it on a first time Prime Now red ps4 controller less than a month ago, £32 I got it for.   Google Amazon discount codes, most are useless but occasionally there'll be something worthwhile. 

 

CEX, Game, Gamestation etc.. are usually a rip off, it's a rarity I trade anything in, I'd rather give something to family or mates or sell it myself.   Their pricing and practices are shocking at times, my local CEX was selling a used DS4 with the rubber off one stick for £48 (£55 for the good ones)...it was £40 new on Amazon at the time!   I once bought a PS3 bundle from Game, it came with a Prince of Persia game I already had, wanted to buy the bundle but immediately trade in the new and sealed PoP game...£2 was the offer, as it was technically used...like they weren't going to put it back on the shelf as a new and sealed full price game, ridiculous.   I know some don't have the outlets or online to choose from but I'd never recommend any game store, especially not for trading.

Thing is... I was over in Bristol (UK) about 3 weeks back and they were selling controllers in GAME for 40 pounds... brand new... regrets </3 but I only had 35 pounds cash on me as the fellow who came with me "forgot" to bring money with him so I had to pay for all his food. Funnily enough, he's the kinda guy who always manages to leech for freebees so it really got on my nerves that I couldn't even enjoy my holiday without paying for expensives of two people. Never again with him... shoulda known so it is my own tough shit.

I'll give that code a try! 10 dollars off would be a huge help I have to say, I'll definitely give it a shot!

 

 

14 hours ago, Han_the_Dragon said:

Try https://www.base.com/fsearch.htm?search=dualshock

 

Well while not the cheapest place, I can somewhat guarantee that it doesn't have extra fees add to it.. well, it didn't, while UK was part of EU.. so it probably still doesn't.. I say this because they mainly ship from UK, but I have got some games shipped from other EU countries, I think it depends on where they have them stored.. and even when I bought something more expensive from them (Persona 5 Collector's Edition), they didn't charged extra fees other then the stupidly high ports (well, the package is kind of big, so I should had expected it..).

 

Still they have been reliable for games, and usually have decent prices + cheap ports (2,50€ per game for Portugal), and I checked that they would only add 2,50€ of ports to ship a controller to Ireland.

I'll check it out there man! never heard of them but I'll see how it goes!  cheers! 

[rdhight]

Hey @Shakilrahman96, I just realized today is Amazon Prime day! You should definitely go there and see if they have some kind of discount/promotion that would help.

[makka77pakka]

I am also from ireland and somehow i dont agree with you that gamestop is the only place for games and controllers. Ever heard about argos or smythtoys. For example smyths selling most of new games for 59.99 and you often get 5 eur discount if you preorder. I also bough a v2 controller from them for 49.99. Argos have game discounts often too. If you never checked them you missed alot my friend. Damn even littlewoods is better than gamestop.

Edited July 11, 2017 by makka77pakka

[Auto-Tomato]

Amazon Prime day is selling 15 months of PS Plus for £30 (I bought it), obviously only for Prime members and as of right now unfortunately only in the UK, but seeing as we're talking Amazon in this thread I thought it was worth a mention.   The 10NOW40 code is still active but I think it's for Prime Now, although I'm not 100% on that.   You can also make numerous Amazon accounts with the same name, address and card details, but with a different email, in order to use this or any other code (or free Prime trials) over and over, once per acc...

[Elvick_]

This was my first thought. I import (I live in Canada) from them a lot, though not in recent years since the CAD is worthless and importing things now days makes me want to cry. But they've always had really cheap shipping and I've never had to pay duty on any of it. Which is why they're my go-to for importing from Europe. Imported the Child of Light CE from them, a Disney Infinity figure, Invizimals games, DBZ: Battle of Z (Vita), PS Vita Pets, and a bunch of other games that got retail releases in EU but not NA. Not sure how their prices compare to others though.

http://www.365games.co.uk/search/dualshock+4/sort-price-low-high/exclude-oos
 

[Shakilrahman96]

3 hours ago, rdhight said:

Hey @Shakilrahman96, I just realized today is Amazon Prime day! You should definitely go there and see if they have some kind of discount/promotion that would help.

I just saw! Came to about €55 (due to 12 euro import duty). Decided to pass on it as next comment reminded me of a beautiful store we have called Argos.

 

 

3 hours ago, makka77pakka said:

I am also from ireland and somehow i dont agree with you that gamestop is the only place for games and controllers. Ever heard about argos or smythtoys. For example smyths selling most of new games for 59.99 and you often get 5 eur discount if you preorder. I also bough a v2 controller from them for 49.99. Argos have game discounts often too. If you never checked them you missed alot my friend. Damn even littlewoods is better than gamestop.

While I'd disagree with Smyths due to the fact their selection tends to be pretty poor Argos man! how did I forget about those guys? Just bought a Golden controller to match my Gold PS4! It'll look lovely! it was only €53 too! Managed to snag a ps4 Hard copy of The World of Final Fantasy for €20 too, have to say I owe you! Appreciate the suggestion.

 

18 minutes ago, RedMustang72 said:

Amazon Prime day is selling 15 months of PS Plus for £30 (I bought it), obviously only for Prime members and as of right now unfortunately only in the UK, but seeing as we're talking Amazon in this thread I thought it was worth a mention.   The 10NOW40 code is still active but I think it's for Prime Now, although I'm not 100% on that.   You can also make numerous Amazon accounts with the same name, address and card details, but with a different email, in order to use this or any other code (or free Prime trials) over and over, once per acc...

Said I had to be from the USA to use the code sadly :/ which sucks! decided going for a cheaper place which is right beside my work place *brain fart*. Totally forgot they did games and game accessories 

 

 

6 minutes ago, Elvick_ said:

This was my first thought. I import (I live in Canada) from them a lot, though not in recent years since the CAD is worthless and importing things now days makes me want to cry. But they've always had really cheap shipping and I've never had to pay duty on any of it. Which is why they're my go-to for importing from Europe. Imported the Child of Light CE from them, a Disney Infinity figure, Invizimals games, DBZ: Battle of Z (Vita), PS Vita Pets, and a bunch of other games that got retail releases in EU but not NA. Not sure how their prices compare to others though.

http://www.365games.co.uk/search/dualshock+4/sort-price-low-high/exclude-oos
 

Seems like a fairly priced site and considering its in the UK there wouldn't be any import duty although shipping may catch me some times. Thanks for the suggestion!!

 

[Lava_Yuki]

Coincidence I live in Ireland as well! I usually go for Amazon. I bought a Turbo controller (Hori pad) for my PS4 for around 45 euro on Amazon US and I didn't get taxed or anything despite it coming all the way from Japan. I almost never buy games in Ireland and usually import them second hand for no more than 30 euro, mostly from Amazon US or JP. I've used Ebay and PlayAsia a few times as well, which have great deals sometimes. 

 

About tricks for avoiding tax, I don't know if being taxed is by luck but the chance of being taxed is less if you buy it from an independent amazon seller as opposed to Amazon itself so the box won't have all the Amazon logos on it. I've imported a lot of games from both Japan and the US without being taxed, and I noticed the items that I do get taxed are the ones i get from official companies with logos all over the box, so I avoid those if getting stuff outside the EU. Independent sellers often mark it as a gift to try help you avoid tax. If possible, always ask for items to be marked as gifts. 

 

I don't know any decent retail stores in Ireland as they are all pretty much the same as GameStop, although my brother said he sometimes finds decent deals in CEX. Gamestop is indeed horrible and overpriced.  

[Guest]

Just wait a little more...holidays are coming.

[closertim]

I recently bought mine from nzgameshop.com. free shipping and only 71nzd. Normally 99 over here.  Think the shop is based in uk. 

[Raidou Kuzunoha XIV]

I think they place a postal charge on orders outside the UK, not entirely sure what it is, but I recommend checking out ShopTo. They tend to be pretty cheap compared to pretty much every other site in the UK (and I wouldn't think twice about ever buying something from GAME, as they'll tend to charge £50-60 for new AAA games, that ShopTo will charge about £35-45 for).

 

One of my controllers that I had since the PS4 launch was unfortunately starting to go a bit wonky about 2 months ago now (the left analogue stick wouldn't respond correctly), so I brought a new PS4 controller from shopto for about £35.

 

I'd also recommend checking Amazon if you haven't already. I buy and pre-order games from there sometimes as well when they're cheaper than ShopTo, or if ShopTo just doesn't have a game in stock any more. They tend to be pretty responsible with prices. Also check out eBay if you haven't done so.