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

[BoneSnapDeez]

Me and a friend each bought the Sony Pulse Elite headsets- they retail at around 150 dollars- He kept his in pristine condition, barely used, less than a year old, and gamestop gave him....8 dollars IN CREDIT. Thats outright thievery. He took the credit because he didn't feel like finding a buyer himself, but thats a shame to pay all that money for the convenience of a guaranteed buyer.

Gamestop's trade-in prices may be crappy, but this is all on your friend for taking such a low offer when you both knew it was worth way more.

Yup.

Low trade-in price policy really isn't unique to GameStop. One can have similar experiences at local retro game stores, pawn shops, etc.

There are a ton of issues with GameStop, but this isn't one of them.

[SpoonyBard]

The trade in values are absolutely unfair. I could understand the low values if you are trading games for cash, but the store credit they give isn't much better.

Look at the clearance items at Gamestop next time you're there and thinking the trade prices are "unfair". How many copies of (Duke Nukem Forever/Brink/Other flop games) do you think they paid $25 for the next day that are sitting there for $5 right now? They probably only made $5 a piece selling them new, so they're taking a $15 hit on each copy they sell.

Who would give you half of what you paid for a game drastically declining in price and popularity?


And don't get me wrong, $8 credit on a pulse headset seems like a pretty ridiculous deal, but as Apple said, it's your friends fault for accepting it. (I also don't see them for sale as pre-owned on their site.)

One for selling them at an absurd price for a used copy and two for devaluing my copy by half.

Xenoblade Chronicles has never lost half of it's value.

And how is their price absurd? What's the difference if Gamestop is selling copies at $90 or $45? If they were $45, someone would've already bought up the copies and tried to flip them online for $80-$100 anyway.

[Hobie-wan]

Low trade-in price policy really isn't unique to GameStop. One can have similar experiences at local retro game stores, pawn shops, etc.

...car dealerships, comic shops, horse traders, organ resellers, toenail collectors, the list goes on and on.

[BurningDoom]

Low trade-in price policy really isn't unique to GameStop. One can have similar experiences at local retro game stores, pawn shops, etc.

...car dealerships, comic shops, horse traders, organ resellers, toenail collectors, the list goes on and on.

If I've got a key issue, I can usually talk my comic shop into upping their offer. GameStop, on the other hand, there is no barter room. And that's frustrating.

[noiseredux]

If I've got a key issue, I can usually talk my comic shop into upping their offer. GameStop, on the other hand, there is no barter room. And that's frustrating.

I don't know of any major chains that let you barter. I'm not talking about just video games either. I don't think you can talk Subway down a couple bucks on a foot long, negotiate the price of a haircut at Supercuts, or find wiggle room with a cellphone at Best Buy.

Gamestop doesn't let you barter the prices of the games they're selling, so I'm not really sure why you'd expect to be able to barter their trade-in prices.

[artphotodude]

Gamestop's trade-in prices may be crappy, but this is all on your friend for taking such a low offer when you both knew it was worth way more.

EXACTLY. Also, for anyone who is on the GS mailing list, they are constantly having specials offering bonus trade in like "get 30% EXTRA when you trade in any five used games"

Also, while they may not always pay top dollar, they also have some of the best prices on used games out there. Here are a few examples of rare games I bought as GS and the average ebay prices for the same games at the time:

Ico (PS2) $12 at GS - Was $50-$100 on ebay
Pikmin 2 (GC) $32 at GS - Was $60+ on ebay
Haunting Ground (PS2) $17.50 at GS - was $50+ on ebay

One of their employees told us that they have decided as a company to 'price to sell' and that they always try to come in a fair bit below ebay for that reason. I asked why workers there, like himself didn't buy the games at the lower prices and sell them on ebay themselves, and he replied that the company expressly forbids this and will fire any employee suspected of doing it. They want good deals in the store.

If anybody has hurt the used game values it has been the re-releases on the systems themselves through PSN and XBL. Ico for PS2 is now worth about 20% of what it was because of the HD re-release.

[BurningDoom]

If I've got a key issue, I can usually talk my comic shop into upping their offer. GameStop, on the other hand, there is no barter room. And that's frustrating.

I don't know of any major chains that let you barter. I'm not talking about just video games either. I don't think you can talk Subway down a couple bucks on a foot long, negotiate the price of a haircut at Supercuts, or find wiggle room with a cellphone at Best Buy.

Gamestop doesn't let you barter the prices of the games they're selling, so I'm not really sure why you'd expect to be able to barter their trade-in prices.

I didn't say I expect them to, I said it's annoying. I generally don't trade my games in to GameStop.

[marlowe221]

I really only have two main problems with GameStop.

1. I wish they wouldn't open/unseal brand new games. That annoys the hell out of me.

2. I wish they wouldn't put those damn price stickers on the front of the case of the game. What's wrong with a bottom corner on the back? No other video game retailer that I know of finds it necessary to put irremovable stickers on the actual case of a game - new or used. Of course, if they didn't open the new games in the first place and put the stickers on the cellophane it would solve a lot of that problem....

On the plus side I will say that I have never had a GS lose a pre-order on me or fail to have a copy reserved for me as promised. Also, I live in a rural area and if it weren't for a couple of nearby towns that have a GS I would have to do all my game buying online or at Walmart.

[CRTGAMER]

Me and a friend each bought the Sony Pulse Elite headsets- they retail at around 150 dollars- He kept his in pristine condition, barely used, less than a year old, and gamestop gave him....8 dollars IN CREDIT. Thats outright thievery. He took the credit because he didn't feel like finding a buyer himself, but thats a shame to pay all that money for the convenience of a guaranteed buyer.

As others have already mentioned, a dumb move by your friend trading them in when they could have been sold for more. I'm still taken aback why gaming headsets cost so much more then home stereo headphones.

1. I wish they wouldn't open/unseal brand new games. That annoys the hell out of me.

2. I wish they wouldn't put those damn price stickers on the front of the case of the game. What's wrong with a bottom corner on the back? No other video game retailer that I know of finds it necessary to put irremovable stickers on the actual case of a game - new or used. Of course, if they didn't open the new games in the first place and put the stickers on the cellophane it would solve a lot of that problem....

1. Any other retailer would not do that, the reason why I never buy new games at Gamestop until they get retagged to used.

2. At least the stickers are so much easier to remove compared to the older glue they used to have. Still hate the multiple stickers, a price with the used game bar code in front should suffice with all employees trained to scan that instead of the manufacturer bar code in the back.

[TheGregzilla]

While its true he shouldnt have accepted the deal, it was store credit. The fact is, he spent 150 dollars, to essentially get nothing out of the deal. He gave them a headset, they gave him 8 dollars of 'credit' Not only did they make a profit, they made a WILDLY HUGE profit. Hundreds of percent profit. Also, maybe I just have bad luck and live in a crappy town, but My gamestop doesnt have 5 dollar games at least none that aren't sports or like bottom of the barrel crap games, and even then, some of those are like 8 bucks here.

I don't expect gamestop to barter, but it makes no sense when I can take 10 games in there, and not even be able to afford to trade those for ONE new game. That would still be profit out the ass for them, and yet Ive brought Playstation 3 games in, and been offered 2 and 3 dollars for them. Thats highway robbery. Yet, if nobody took those craptastic deals, there wouldn't be used games in the store for us to buy.