Q&A Missing out on deals and bundles, how does it affect your purchasing decision?

[texhnolyze]

Everyone should probably have those games sitting in your whistlist for months, even years, right?

They've been on sale multiple times, even bundled for cheap, but somehow I still wouldn't pick it up on Steam. There's always this regretful feeling because I missed the best deal on those games in the past, so I tend to wait until the game gets at least the same deal again. The worse thing is when the game was bundled at some point, so I probably wouldn't have the chance to get it anymore and I tend to avoid buying the games at all.

Also, for games that are stuck at 50% off, I tend to leave them alone too. I feel like I should've picked them up when they're 50% off for the first time, not months/years later because their value should've gone down considerably today. If they're persistent with their 50% off (looking at you, certain Japanese games), then I'll gladly treat them the same way too.

How about you?

 

[Kurt Russell]

With bundles and off-Steam deals, it's OK with me if I miss them since it's my fault anyway. Regarding games that are stuck at 50% and I don't feel like paying that price yeah, if they keep doing it over the years, I keep waiting for a bigger discount for the same reason you posted. For instance, that's what I'm doing with Left Alive now

 

[Kuro]

Can't remember when was the last time I've paid full price for game on PC.
I make good use of Cdkeys, Voidu and GMG, the holy trinity for me. Always before buying check "isthereanydeal" site to make sure I'm paying the lowest amount of possible, and for pre-orders usually if you're smart with coupons you can get games for around 30-40€.
If it was a game from say, FromSoft, I'd gladly pay full price but alas, I don't have to.

To begin with I'm pretty picky with what I want to play so I don't really have "impulse" buys that often, usually I know what I want to play and will enjoy and if I want to play something I want to play it on release date.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

I don't often give it much consideration unless there's a drastic difference in pricing. If during a sale I see a game is 50% off now and was 66% off in the past I'll still likely pick it up if I simply am in the mood for that game. The original price of the game will impact that since that difference is different for a $10 game vs a $60 game. If I'm losing out on $1-5 because I'm not getting the best discount? Eh, whatever. But $10 difference? I'll likely pause and just be patient.

But I also buy games at full price, even if I missed the sale, if I'm really in the mood to play it. And occasionally I'll splurge for a full price game off sale to support the developer (typically more for indie games) and this can happen when they're in the news or post a blog or some sort of outreach that makes me aware that they could deserve the full price purchase.

 

[MJunioR]

If a game was bundled (for less than $10) in the past there is no way in hell that I'd purchase it full price or without at the very least 60% off. For games older than one year (excl. early access) I only purchase them if they are discounted and if the discount matches the historical low. I did one exception for this rule earlier this year with Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist, but I don't see any other game that I could do the same right now.

Regarding full price games, I usually pre-order games I'm hyped for on Steam, however much of this is due to the fact that often enough I can grab a discounted Steam wallet card on Reddit.

So basically:

game is one year old or more (after full release): only if its discounted and if it matches historical low
bundled games: only if heavily discounted
pre-orders / full price on release: sure, but usually after I fill my wallet with discounted gcs or if GMG / GamersGate has a good discount + regional pricing.