Xbox Series X Console & Hogwarts Legacy £479.99 with free click and collect at limited locations @ Smyths

Shout-out to the numerous people on this thread that have pointed out the savings that can be made against deals like this for a little bit of work with Xbox Gift Card purchasing on online key marketplaces.

I've seen those deals posted on here before, and I kind of knew how they worked but I've never been hugely drawn to them, and I certainly never thought that it would be how I eventually purchased a Series X... But today that's exactly what I did.

Whilst I've read lots of comments previously telling people to do it, and providing links to the likes of All Key Shop and Eneba, I don't think I've ever seen anyone lay out exactly what they bought and where they bought it from, and how they got to the result that they got to - so it's always previously been a slightly obscure idea and not a super appealing one.

So.... I muddled (muggled?) my way through it today. I know that I probably didn't do this the best way ever (for example, I wish I'd found the Kinguin ones before I'd bought so many of the EBEBA ones) but I'm SUPER happy with the result...

I used links from 'All Key Shop' (Google it) as a starting point - and was sure to use the discount codes that it provided for BOTH Eneba (AKS8) and Kinguin (AKS10), and paid for everything in GBP, on my credit card, via PayPal. I found that I needed to visit the sites via the AKS links in order to get the discount codes to work, but then, once in the basket, I reopened the sites via their TopCashback links (no idea whether or not the cashback will pay out given the use of the discount codes though!)

I visited the websites (through the AKS links) and browsed the UK Xbox Live prepaid giftcards - which come in all the various denominations. Throughout the course of the day I kept checking the available prices, and jumped on those that offered the highest % discount against their value. Today when I was looking, the cheapest pound for pound rate was on £10 giftcards at a little over £8 each. Obviously £10 giftcards with, for example, £1.50 off are cheaper overall than a £50 giftcard with £5 off, or a £100 giftcard with £8 off. So, you just need to pick up what's available, at a price that you're happy with - until eventually you've purchased enough credit to buy the console that you want directly from Microsoft. Just make sure that you're buying UK GBP codes, and not Euros etc.

The price displayed for the codes isn't the price you pay - both sites I used added payment charges and a service charge at checkout - however these amount to less than the AKS discount codes take off, so you can use the displayed prices a broad guide for what you're going to end up paying for the codes. The overall value (accounting for the service and payment charges) can be maximised by buying larger amounts in fewer transactions - eg try to purchase as much as you can in one transaction rather than buying each card seperately.

You likely won't be able to emulate exactly my transaction from today, because it just depends which of the sellers are selling what value of giftcard and at what price at the time that you are looking. However, I've listed below the details of how my purchase came together in the end as a representative example - some of you might well be able to do better than I did!

Transaction 1:
10 X £10GBP @ £81.66 from ENEBA

Transaction 2:
10 X £10GBP @ £81.39 from ENEBA

Transaction 3:
10 X £10GBP @ £81.39 from ENEBA

Transaction 4:
1 X £10GBP PLUS 1 X Hogwarts Legacy (Series X/S) @ £43.86 from ENEBA

Transaction 5:
4 X £40GBP @ £118.61 from KINGUIN

TOTAL SPEND:
£406.91

Purchases:
£470 Microsoft Credit
+ Hogwarts Legacy for Series X/S.

Xbox ordered easily through Microsoft Store once my giftcards were added, and is due for delivery on Monday.

So... that's the Xbox Series X plus Hogwarts for about £72 LESS than the price of this Smyths deal PLUS I've still got £20 Microsoft store credit left over (because I purchased badly!)

All codes (and there was a lot of them) received instantly and redeemed super easily, without a hitch.

This wasn't a big stressful difficult thing. In the end, once I got the hang of it, it was really easy.

To be honest, I wish I'd done it years ago. Upgrading from an Xbox One, and have been lying to myself that it's about future proofing, and saving myself from loading/boot times....but really it's all just been purely so that I can get to wizarding!! (edited)

I'd buy it just for Hogwarts. Amazing game new more story dlc. I also use my Xbox series X over PS5 all the time now too.

I bought this game on PS5, playing it since the 10th. Got to say, wow this game is great, I'm loving all the stuff you can do on it, it's massive, I'm only around 15 hours in and all I've been doing is exploring, and doing loads of side quests, whoever I bump into on my journey. I can't put the game down. Its prob gotta be up there with one of the games of the year in 2023, definitely.

If eligible, probably cheaper to go 10% for new account holders at Very using new credit account ( can pay off immediately ). Game to be purchased separately, may be available in cheaper formats.

I'd sooner buy a switch than an xbox these days. Better first party games for sure.

Cheapest for no nonsense but those that want to save a few quid have a little 5 minute dig...
I spent 2 mins and the game is £50 (posted on HUKD at gamecollection)
and you can get the console for at most around £410 using 9x Gamivo/Eneba Xbox £50 credit purchases and getting the console direct from Microsoft. (It was only ~£380 very recently using this method)

Will John Lewis price match this as they don’t have the bundle like Smyths

Is this a disc copy of Hogwarts or a digital download?