Is Gamestop Evil? The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[Tanooki]

Same here used and new, it better be cheap enough and my intent has to be there for me to actually play it to buy it, secondarily if I can get it cheap without haggling as the seller prices it for me to make something on to get something I really can use (and not often is it games.) Flipping has got me a netbook, 2 laptops, a tablet, (delayed flipping of sorts) for my pinball machine, and other things aside from games.

And yes I do agree, people are fools for paying in advance on a game so a company can bank it and get the interest or whatever comes of it. The only preorder I see of any value is one under Amazon prime IF you intend to play it right away still, free shipping, no tax (unless it ships in state) and 20% off. I did that with mega man collection on 3ds, will do it for the sega one on 3ds too and uncharted 4 but it's not normal in the least bit. I can and will rather wait for a game to fall around 50% off it's starting value for console stuff. I know I'd like to play Street Fighter V, but given Capcom and their updates, and how the game values fall and their bloated pay per upgrade crap they pull I can wait a few months and $30 would be nicer plus I don't think I'd play it enough to qualify full price either as I won't take it online.

[jmbarnes101]

I normally don't like buying new games and especially doing pre-orders but for Fire Emblem SE I'm very glad I did. I would be spending a lot more or not have it if I didn't so thank you GameStop.

[CRTGAMER]

With the recent discussion of WiiU and possibility of certain Wii games including Wii Super Mario All Stars going Selects, I finally decided to look for Wii Mario Brothers Anniversary (though slim chance locally) of finding a complete version. The newer Selects if it comes out in the U.S. likely will not include the bonus Soundtrack or History Booklet as the original release. I have always held off on this game due to reviewed as just four emulated SNES Marios and nothing else on the game disc.



THE BAD
I first pulled up all the local stores showing availability from the Gamestop online site and telephoned each store. As expected, the first five stores were just the game with some without the original case or manual.

THE UGLY
I then extended the search adding 8 plus another 8 stores to widen the area. Even after over twenty stores, NONE had the bonus CD or especially the rarest item of all, the outer cardboard box. Confirmed with a few stores once again, most of the branch Gamestop's policy only requires the game to be traded in; the bonus music CD is not even accepted and given back to the customer for disposal! The game is same price complete or not so the stores do not care to deal with the extra disc!

THE GOOD
The next to very last Gamestop locally under fifty miles did have the game, case and manual, but no separate soundtrack red case or bonus booklet. However, the employee had taken the time to stash the outer cardboard box along with the game with crisp case in the cabinet since there was already a game only case on display. I jumped on it asking the employee to hold that game and box for me! The missing soundtrack not an issue since I had already ordered the extra disc CIB from EBay, a relatively inexpensive item which includes the 32 page bonus History Booklet and red case!

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 0#p1027450



THE OUTSTANDING
When I came in to pick up the Anniversary Mario, the box had a price sticker with a date of Jan 2016, the price was $49.99. The game was a very recent tradein, the employee remembered the customer did not have the sound track included. The price had just dropped down, now goes for $34.99 CIB or not. The price label an easy removal after a 5 minute soak of LiftOff. I am soooo lucky the employee saved that box even without the extra soundtrack case. A few days later by UPS, the soundtrack came in and now I have a CIB Anniversary Mario for a lot cheaper then complete versions sell online. I gave it the BookOff treatment, keeping the box crisp with an easy open "comic book" clear plastic bag.

EDIT
In writing this post, the price has gone down again! Wii Super Mario All Stars is only $29.99! I'm over the seven day mark on the $34.99 used game purchase. Oh well, still happy compared to the prices CIB online.

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The Rarest item of Wii Super Mario All Stars - The Outer 25th Anniversary Cardboard Box
Do the hunt, you just might score a CIB for under thirty bucks at Gamestop. Good Luck! Or purchase the Soundtrack with History Booklet online while cheap before it spikes up again when the Selects comes out.

[Tanooki]

I normally don't like buying new games and especially doing pre-orders but for Fire Emblem SE I'm very glad I did. I would be spending a lot more or not have it if I didn't so thank you GameStop.

Nintendo thanks to their intentional shortages to push same price digital leases makes that argument very effective. Very few of their titles would be a case of a gamble where the price drops out from under when it comes to 3DS and WiiU stuff in particular. You're better off buying it now than 6-12+months later. Whenever they decide to make it even worse if not impossible to physically buy the games usually maintain or exceed their retail value, rarely would they say fall under the 20% less than MSRP value which is why a pre-order via Prime would keep you in good standing. A special box though, if it's that Fire Emblem, or third party they publish for say like Bravely Default, buy now, or get baked later.

I recently sold the SE box to Bravely Default and I got $65 off a BIN I didn't expect as I placed it at $50. Other than the game it was damn near perfect, cards, CD still unopened. I got what I paid new for the box set and kept the game. A complete one in that shape nicely hits $100. So even third party games can be a burn if Nintendo publishes them. Everything(more or less) they touch turns to sh*t when it comes to buying on the after market the longer out it goes from launch which is a shame.

Oh and that Mario Allstars complete set, saw one at Half Price a couple miles down the road from here and they were asking I think $60-65 for it. Annoying but reality, so yeah you did well.

[marlowe221]

I currently have over $100 in store credit with Gamestop kicking around right now, so I don't think too poorly of them at the moment.

Not sure what I'm going to use it on though!

[Tanooki]

Pokemon duo of games coming out later this year, the obvious choice considering your recent discoveries.

[darsparx]

Talking about SE's though I wish nintendo would do the same for sun and moon so you can get on one cart if you so desired but nintendo would never do that

[CRTGAMER]

Price Jump - Games now start at $4.96
Oh crap, all Wii games now have a minimal price of $4.96 including games that were only ninety nine cents. Only a few accessories and a pile of Skylanders and Infinity are below the $4.99 mark.

Well, at least this prevents Gamestop from just tossing out the inexpensive games. Gamestop in the past has thrown away product when below the dollar mark due to profit loss of paying employees utilizing time for packaging, stocking and selling the low cost games.

I also checked the PS3 listing, physical games also now at minimal of $4.96.

As in any retailer, pretty sure Gamestop will honor a game that still has an older $0.99 price label.

[Fragems]

Yeah they will honor any old labels or mislabels I've had that happen quite a few times in the past.

[Tanooki]

Makes sense not to go under the $5 mark. There's overhead. I do the same thing on ebay with games, even if they can sell pretty easy for $3-4, I won't go under $5 because it's not worth my time after fees, gas+drive time, buying bubble bags, tape, paper and printer ink. At that point I'll start a pile and dump the crap for $1-3/ea at a local shop for trade value against something I would like whatever it may be. Under $5 isn't worth wasting my personal time.