HARVEY Norman has launched a direct import website to sell video games at cheaper prices evading the GST and warning game buyers they will pay "much higher prices" for titles in its own stores.
The Australian retail giant will officially launch
harveynormandirectimport.com at 6pm AEDST tonight in an effort to catch post-Christmas sales.
The website will sell video games for consoles, with prices significantly cheaper than seen on the websites of leading Australian game chains.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for Xbox 360 will be $35 cheaper on the new website than at EB Games, for example. Similarly,
Batman: Arkham City will be $20 cheaper. Shipping will be charged at a flat fee of $3.95 per game and no GST will be charged for orders under $1000.
The game titles will be sourced from overseas suppliers and sold by Harvey Norman Ireland, a company Australian chief executive Gerry Harvey said was separate to the local retail chain.
Mr Harvey said the company had considered the audacious move for 12 months, finally launching the offering after the Australian Productivity Commission announced it would take a further six months to investigate adding GST to overseas purchases.
He said bricks and mortar Harvey Norman stores would still sell games, but took the unusual move of warning Australian consumers not to purchase them.
"If people want to buy games in stores they can but they will be paying much higher prices," he said.
"We're not doing this with a great deal of joy. We've been able to do this for a long time and we've held off and held off but you get to a stage where you just can't hold off any more."
Mr Harvey said the company was considering offering the direct importation of other goods in future and "we'll let you know soon".
Harvey Norman's move follows JB Hi-Fi's addition of a direct importation section on its website (
jbhifi.com.au/direct-import) last month. The section offers big-name DSLR cameras and lenses at cheaper prices than those seen in Australia.
