Slashdot Mirror
Confessions of a Gamestop Manager
The site Consumerist has up a lengthy post from a former Gamestop manager, listing some of the sins, boons, pitfalls and promises perpetrated while he was on the job. Includes a discussion of the 'gutted' display game, pre-orders, the 'discount' card, trades, and lots of 'pro-tips' on how to get the most out of your Gamestopping experience. "19) Don't be afraid to sell things on your own! The going resell rates for any current games or accessories online is usually close to what we resell for. If its a much newer title and you don't mind listing and shipping it, you could make a small handful more selling it online yourself. Ebay and Amazon.com are obvious choices, but you may find other outlets that work for you."
http://www.actsofgord.com/ excellent reading. all the horrible things he did to customers in a undisclosed video game store.
thats right, I rarely use capitals. deal with it. but don't mistake my laziness for stupidity
The Gamestop trade-in business is based on on key tenet; we hardly turn down ANYTHING. For all the rage and screaming we take from people getting one dollar for years-old Madden games, you need to remember one key fact; we are taking in games that are often unlikely to EVER resell.
17) Outdated consoles are traded in every day. Almost every gamestop literally has fifty or more used Xboxes and Gamecubes in stock at any time. They do not sell and we get one at least every day, so they are worth very little. The new slim PSP is in much higher demand than the original, and so the trade-in value on the old model has since dropped. If you want the hot new version of anything, trade in as far before its release as you can stand so you can get the peak value.
in other words: we pointlessly hoard crap that we're not planning to ever resell, because we'd rather it go into a landfill than to actually sell it to people for what it's actually worth. I mean seriously - every game store I've ever seen has a huge stack of games they wouldn't give two bucks for if you brought them in, sitting in a bin, unsorted... and still priced at $30 each. I think they need to learn the meaning of the word "clearance".
Also, Don't lose your receipt and expect us to find records for you, it is quite difficult.
Our IT Structure Is Still Suck In The '70s.