The Worst Gamestop Policy Ever

General and high profile video game topics.
PSX1
Posts: 388
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The Worst Gamestop Policy Ever

Postby PSX1 » September 11th, 2013, 2:32 pm

I, and serious gamers in general, tend to disagree with a lot of GameStop policies.  But at the same time, I understand that they're a business and their goal is to make money -- their goal is not to make sure that I have pristine, sticker-free copies of every used game I buy for my collection.  Heck, I can even understand them charging the same $40 for a game no matter what -- even when it's missing its case and manual -- because at least I can pass on that copy, and wait for a nicer copy to spend my $40 on (and, after all, this is how capitalism works, so if they can find some schmuck to pay the full $40 for it, why not?, I just won't be the one to do it).  And I can live with that, because I'll go to eBay and Amazon for most of my games, and then use GameStop for trashy $5 games that I don't feel like paying shipping to purchase online.

But have you heard this one?  I walked into GameStop last week to look at the 3DS games.  And I noticed that none of them had cases.  I figured they must have been behind the counter or in the back, so I asked the clerk about it..... nope, turns out that they throw out every case and manual for every portable game that gets brought it the store.  3DS, PSP, DS, whatever, doesn't matter if the case and manual are in mint condition -- they're going straight in the garbage the second the trade-in is complete.  Now, like I said earlier, if some 10-year-old kid trades in his loose copy of a Pokemon game and GameStop sells it loose for the same price as a boxed copy, fine, I can at least live with that -- it's not GameStop's fault that the meathead kid can't take care of his stuff.  But to take the affirmative step to actually purposely turn complete copies into cartridge-only copies simply to save shelf space and storage space (I assume), is a complete slap in the face to any serious gamer.  I know plenty of gamers (non-collector's of course) who could care less about condition and don't mind 20 stickers on their box -- but even they would still prefer the box and manual, given the choice.  Worst of all, I asked if that was just a policy for this particular store or if it was a corporate policy, and the clerk said it was a policy set by the corporate office -- so I guess we'll see this policy in effect throughout the country.  Anyone else seeing this where they live?  Who knows, maybe it's been around forever, and I just noticed.

kew9820001
Posts: 87
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The Worst Gamestop Policy Ever

Postby kew9820001 » September 11th, 2013, 3:32 pm

I am going to have to agree with you on this 100% This policy of throwing away perfectly good manuals and cases really infuriates me to no end. As a collector, I try to find complete copies of games and with this happening at Gamestop, it will only make it that much harder for collectors in the future to track down complete copies of games. They claim it's because they don't have the space to store the cases, but in my opinion it's BS. At least if I find a game without the case and manual, I know where to look. The Gamestop dumpster!![biggrin]

darkrage61
Posts: 1678
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The Worst Gamestop Policy Ever

Postby darkrage61 » September 11th, 2013, 4:30 pm

This does not really bother me to be honest, I don't really care much about cases or manuals in the case of portable games, I rarely ever buy portable games from Gamestop nowadays anyways unless it's a new 3DS game, so I hardly think it's the "worst" policy or a "slap in the face" I can recall plenty of times where I got rid of the boxes for my own portable games so I could save space, so I can understand why they do it.  I was surprised at how much store credit I got for trading in a loose copy of Yoshi's Island DS.

If you want complete copies there's always Amazon or Ebay.


User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

The Worst Gamestop Policy Ever

Postby VideoGameCritic » September 11th, 2013, 4:43 pm

Yeah this pisses me off too.  It seems like GameStop doesn't have a firm grasp on the product they are selling.  The fact that they have a monopoly makes it even harder to accept.

Clearly GameStop is catering to the lowest common denominator - kids who scrape together their allowance to buy a game.  But they are really missing the boat because serious collectors are willing to pay substantially more for a COMPLETE game in GOOD condition.

darkrage61
Posts: 1678
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The Worst Gamestop Policy Ever

Postby darkrage61 » September 11th, 2013, 4:58 pm

I very strongly disagree with Gamestop being the "lowest common denominator"  it's not just kids who go to Gamestop. I really don't think they're "missing the boat" so to speak, most people who want complete versions of older games will buy them on Ebay or Amazon, they're not going to drive down to Gamestop just for older portable games.  I'm not a collector so this is non-issue for me.

PSX1
Posts: 388
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The Worst Gamestop Policy Ever

Postby PSX1 » September 11th, 2013, 6:02 pm

[QUOTE=darkrage6]I really don't think they're "missing the boat" so to speak, most people who want complete versions of older games will buy them on Ebay or Amazon, they're not going to drive down to Gamestop just for older portable games.[/QUOTE]

Oh no, darkrage's account has been hacked by a Gamestop manager again...  "Darkrage", I have to disagree.  You say people don't go to Gamestop to buy complete versions of games because they use eBay and Amazon instead -- I think people go to eBay and Amazon mainly because they can't buy collectible-quality versions of games from Gamestop.  If Gamestop could offer used games in quality condition at competitive prices, then I would always choose to make the 10 minute drive to buy the game from Gamestop in person rather than risk buying an item of unknown quality online.  So you're assuming people would choose online purchases no matter what, without considering that perhaps it is Gamestop's policies that have forced them to go online to find quality games.


[QUOTE=darkrage6]This does not really bother me to be honest, I don't really care much about cases or manuals in the case of portable games . . . . I can recall plenty of times where I got rid of the boxes for my own portable games so I could save space, so I can understand why they do it.[/QUOTE]

Well that's great, and fine, because that's your choice to do that to your games.  You probably also take old baseball cards and put them in your bike spokes to make motorcycle noises, and that's ok too.  But when Gamestop does it, it's different because they intend to sell the games to consumers as a product, and they are intentionally diminishing the quality of their product prior to putting it on store shelves; solely for the purpose of saving a little space in the store to make their lives easier, to the detriment of the product.  Big difference.  While we're at it, let's just have Walmart sell everything without packaging to save space.

Segatarious1
Posts: 1110
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The Worst Gamestop Policy Ever

Postby Segatarious1 » September 11th, 2013, 6:19 pm

[QUOTE=darkrage6]I very strongly disagree with Gamestop being the "lowest common denominator"  it's not just kids who go to Gamestop. I really don't think they're "missing the boat" so to speak, most people who want complete versions of older games will buy them on Ebay or Amazon, they're not going to drive down to Gamestop just for older portable games.  I'm not a collector so this is non-issue for me.[/QUOTE]

You get the least amount for your money at Gamestop, I don't care how old you are. Are you kidding?

Its a STRIP MALL store - need I say more???

Well I guess on those rare occasion I find myself in a mall and look around - what you see is what you expect....

kew9820001
Posts: 87
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The Worst Gamestop Policy Ever

Postby kew9820001 » September 11th, 2013, 8:35 pm

Thought I would throw this out there too. I don't think it's right for Gamestop to sell opened games at full price. There have been a few times I've gone in to buy a "brand new" game only to find out the copies they have are already opened. No thanks. If I'm going to pay $60 for a newly released game, I want it to be factory sealed.

HardcoreSadism1
Posts: 526
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The Worst Gamestop Policy Ever

Postby HardcoreSadism1 » September 11th, 2013, 8:38 pm

This is why I support the local video trading establishments, they are a breed of store that specialize in both new and used merchandise. I got a ton of Sega Genesis games with complete packaging from them. Or at least in spectacular condition standalone. As for new games I got a several DS titles with everything even one of those spare registry stickers that fall out whenever not paid close enough attention to.


Return to “Video Games General”