Scummy Retro Game Store Practices

[emwearz]

When I was recently in a retro game store a guy was selling a small stack of PS2 games, while the guy at the counter was checking the prices on eBay and then buying them off the game for like a tenth of the price, the guy could see him on eBay, dont understand how someone can see that and not just think to themselves I might as well go sell them myself.

[D.D.D.]

When I was recently in a retro game store a guy was selling a small stack of PS2 games, while the guy at the counter was checking the prices on eBay and then buying them off the game for like a tenth of the price, the guy could see him on eBay, dont understand how someone can see that and not just think to themselves I might as well go sell them myself.

Probably the same reason people still go to Gamestop; they're lazy and/or don't care.

[Gunstar Green]

Selling stuff on eBay is a real chore and you run the risks inherent with trusting the postal service. I'm currently on pins and needles myself about a game that was supposed to arrive yesterday but was never scanned as delivered and the buyer hasn't gotten back to me about it yet.

When you trade stuff in to a store they're not trying to rip you off (usually) by only paying you a fraction of what the game's worth. They have to run a business, if they bought games from you at their actual price they wouldn't make any money. Gamestop takes it a bit too far though, they practically rob you.

Anyway I don't mind stores using eBay as a guideline when they sell stuff but they often factor in the shipping prices when they do this, one store owner literally told me he does this, which is just absurd.

[emwearz]

When you trade stuff in to a store they're not trying to rip you off (usually) by only paying you a fraction of what the game's worth. They have to run a business, if they bought games from you at their actual price they wouldn't make any money. Gamestop takes it a bit too far though, they practically rob you.

I understand the way a business works, I was more meaning that it seems illogical to show someone a game is worth $20 then offer then $3, like slapping them in the face.

[Gunstar Green]

When you trade stuff in to a store they're not trying to rip you off (usually) by only paying you a fraction of what the game's worth. They have to run a business, if they bought games from you at their actual price they wouldn't make any money. Gamestop takes it a bit too far though, they practically rob you.

I understand the way a business works, I was more meaning that it seems illogical to show someone a game is worth $20 then offer then $3, like slapping them in the face.

Yeah that is crazy. It always shocked me at Gamestop the most because it's insane that you can literally go in and see a game on the shelf for $25 and have them offer you $2-3 for the same thing.

[Zing]

The worst experience I have had seems pretty tame. I bought a used game and it would frequently give disc read errors on my Wii. My Wii has worked flawlessly otherwise, and the disc appeared to be in perfect condition. I returned the game to swap for another copy, since I knew they had more than one. The owner decided to just try to "clean" the existing disc. It went from a flawless surface to being coated in swirls. I immediately asked for a different disc and he gave it to me after some hesitation. The second disc works fine. I'm sure that first faulty disc is up for sale again, this time with swirls.

[AppleQueso]

The worst experience I have had seems pretty tame. I bought a used game and it would frequently give disc read errors on my Wii. My Wii has worked flawlessly otherwise, and the disc appeared to be in perfect condition. I returned the game to swap for another copy, since I knew they had more than one. The owner decided to just try to "clean" the existing disc. It went from a flawless surface to being coated in swirls. I immediately asked for a different disc and he gave it to me after some hesitation. The second disc works fine. I'm sure that first faulty disc is up for sale again, this time with swirls.

Retro shops need to seriously quit using those disc cleaning machines unless they have some seriously high grade equipment.

Local Play N Trade's all have some really nice disc resurfacing machines. Stuff doesn't come out with swirl marks, it comes out looking freaking brand new.

[brandman]

Retro shops need to seriously quit using those disc cleaning machines unless they have some seriously high grade equipment.

Agreed. Sometimes it seems like they HAVE to use them.

[SamuraiMegas]

I had a horribly scratched copy of SA2 and my game store apologized for the problems and cleaned it to the point of perfection.

[Breetai]

The store is Game City in Londonderry Mall. Edmonton Alberta. I'll post it in that thread too I guess.

Aren't they a chain of stores in Edmonton, or am I thinking of something else? Believe it or not, I used to work at Londonderry Save-On foods. I lived in Edmonton for 5 years about a decade ago.

I remember that game store on 118th, not far from NAIT, often had some imports. It was the only place that regularly had any TG-16/PC Engine stuff.