I can answer that: THEY DON'T GIVE A @^&@ ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT. Money matters more than anything to them.
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I can answer that: THEY DON'T GIVE A @^&@ ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT. Money matters more than anything to them.
you know, you can resurface discs. The Play N Trade I work for does it for $1.50.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ace
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dartagnan1083
That dude is such a moron, I gave up after 3 minutes on him ever realizing how dumb his argument is. Look, bottom line, physical store fronts cost money, ALOT of money. You have to take care of rent, utilities, employees, damages, etc. etc. it takes alot of $10 profits to pay off a $12,000 monthly operating cost (yes, it seriously costs that much to run the Play N Trade I work for, partly because it was started with a $200,000 loan). Testing games and hardware just isn't practical. To actually play a game long enough to know if its going to work 100% you would have to play it at least 30 minutes (and even then it could still have problems). When you're taking in 200 trades a day, you can immediately see that is not going to happen. We always test systems before taking them in and try to test controllers at least in some capacity (its hard to test EVERY button in any timely fashion) so it ultimately passes the savings along to the consumer to let them pick out which controller they want and return it if it doesn't work. You pay the premium at GameStop and Play N Trade etc. because they remove the hassle from finding the game yourself. You simply drive up, go in the store, buy the game, end of story. Many people (believe it or not) do not have credit cards or at least don't like to use it online, so for them, this is the only option. I buy about 50/50 online and from the Play N Trade I work for. Usually Play N Trade will have the game for less than online with shipping, especially for PSX and older. GameStop and others can't charge different amounts for incomplete games because then customers would constantly try to haggle a price down because a page in the manual had writing or the case had a crack in it. By putting a bottom line "this is how much this game sells for" price, you eliminate that bullshit. Plus, most people throw away or lose instructions anyway (why the game is like that in the first place) so they don't really care if its complete. Only maybe 10% of video game players really give a fuck about condition beyond whether it works or not. If you have one near you, I recommend Play N Trade because they are all locally owned franchises and when buying retro stuff you may be able to talk them into a deal if you buy lots of stuff or show them the going eBay/Amazon price. If its been sitting for a while, they will probably be willing to knock a few bucks off. Saying a business is in it for the money is the most dumbass statement ever on the face of the earth. Even if you love video games you still have to eat.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ace
Gamestop could adopt polices of many second hand stores and have a desk just for customers selling stuff to the store were before the store buys the product they visually inspect the product as well as test the product before making any offer for it.
Testing games is easy (I've done it before) you just use cheat codes to test it like debuggers but you are seeing if the game will load every level okay (or in games like GTA use cheats to see if the game can play all the radio tracks and you can drive through the entire map without a read failure, with cheat codes you can test a game in about 15-mins or less (depending on the game, I do wish all games had a music and audio test screen as it would make testing much much faster). Game systems also can easily and quickly be tested if the stores had a workbench where a worker can quickly run the system through its paces.
ha, i just watched those GameStop videos all the way through and it reminded me of something sad that happened the other day. I was working last weekend when I went in the back room and noticed a box of shipment. We don't get shipment on the weekends so my first thought was WTF, I look at the box and come to find out it was a store transfer from a different GS. I open the box and inside are 10 PSP's. Easy shipment I think, and I open up 1 PSP box just to make sure things are all well before I finalize the box in my system, and the goddamn thing is in pieces, and is missing the analog stick and the battery cover. So I'm pissed that someone would send me this junk, so I check all the others now (I previously had faith they were passable systems as its a store we used to deal heavily with), and of the 10 PSP's, 5 were either broken, missing pieces, or the completely wrong SKU. That doesn't even count the 5 working complete ones that were technically resalable but a few of them looked like ass.
It was amazing to me that employees could be so incompetent, and it really amazed me that they would then proceed to pass their crap onto us.
We should have a thread or list or something of competent GameStop locations around here because as much as I wish I could argue, a lot of people are right.
I really don't understand the GameStop model, other stories kick their junk to manufacture warehouses for example Toys R Us would just dump their returned PSPs to Sony as is not their problem. Okay that is because GameStop deals in second hand products yet most stores that deal with second hand goods either has in-house repairs, sends their busted products to a third party repair service or buys repair services from manufactures thus you don't have store to store transfers of junk as all broken products gets sent off to where ever they send products to be refurbished.Quote:
Originally Posted by AD2101
Most second hand chains kick all incoming products to a warehouse where it is then processed, meaning if someone brings in even say a DVD you can't buy it at that store yet as that store first sends it to their warehouse where it is then cleaned, tested and if necessary repaired, then it gets sent to the store tested and cleaned.
That's the thing though, we have a repair warehouse. It's not official "Sony" or "Nintendo" or a 3rd party one, its GameStop's own little setup. I would never want to buy a GS refurbished 360 for example but for most other things, they seem to do just fine. It just shows the difference in quality from store to store, because anyone that's any kind of educated in these matters would not take those in as resalable, let alone would a customer consider purchasing one of those.
It's not like its hard to defect an item out, all you have to do is press F11 on the item at the trade screen, the people at that store are either just incompetent, or don't care. Not every store is like that but sometimes you would wonder.
The question would be why wouldn't GameStop just process all used stock at a warehouse like most second hand chain stores, just ask the employ to fill out what it is, save shipping costs by linking it to a warehouse network so when the truck comes to deliver a shipment it picks up any used products and returns so the truck doesn't have to deadhead back to the regional warehouse and the regional warehouse sends it to the repair warehouse when they get it.Quote:
Originally Posted by AD2101
See even if the system looks good it still needs to be tested and cleaned, for example odds are a portable like a PSP and DS is going to have fingerprints all over it so it would have to be wiped down.
I think you are missing the premise of "used" hardware. See, um, when it says "used" it has been "used." If they were going to take it apart, clean it, inspect it, perform oral sex on it, etc., then it would be a "refurbished" system. Its not cost effective to do so much shit when you're only going to make MAYBE $40 on it. When you realize the overhead involved in a physical storefront, you realize what a tiny profit $40 really is (by profit I just mean minus trade credit, that "profit" is going straight to rent and utilities for at least the first 2-3 weeks of the month). Plus, you would have to have a highly paid trained technician do it as well, some dumbass minimum wage flunkie would just fuck it up the second he tried to open the case. Even if you do test it, it doesn't mean it won't fail in a week. Recently I was trying to fix an XBOX 360 giving an "Unplayable Disc" error and I got it to play Skate FLAWLESSLY for 45 minutes with no read errors of any kind. I turned it off and turned it back on to be absolutely sure and the piece of shit wouldn't read a disc again. If I had a choice between a tested system and a system with a 30 day warranty, I'd take the warranty every time. Most dumbasses wouldn't even appreciate a mint/clean system anyway, I mean, have you seen most peoples houses? Most used systems are going to get chips and salsa all over it in the first 2 hours of ownership, so why make an effort to make it all nice? I'd rather it be in its original shape anyway so I can judge the kind of care that has been taking by knowing if its clean or not. If you want a perfect shape system, just sit and wait until you come across one. Until then, STFU because you apparently don't get economics or the premise of a trade-based store.Quote:
Originally Posted by Psy
Gamestop is not a independent game store, they have enough stores they could dump all their incoming product to a centralized refurbishing warehouse then kick it back to stores. I do know the premise of a trade-base store and economics, it is just that Gamestop doesn't, why would I buy a used system from Gamestop when I can get a tested and cleaned system for cheaper from independent game stores with much better reputation then Gamestop? Then twice a year my city has a video game swap that is also attended by independent video game stores meaning great deals on used systems all tested clean and shinny so they look brand new and you can test them at the meet (many independent stores also let you test systems at their stores). The only reason Gamestop is still in busniess is the average gamer is too lazy to go to shop around and find independent game stores will good prices and services.Quote:
Originally Posted by 17daysolderthannes
That's a good concept, it's not really logical or practical though. Not every solitary item we take in as trade needs to get sent back to a warehouse, have a resurfacer or whatever taken to it , and sent back to a GameStop on the other side of the country. I think a lot of people even on these boards will attest to the fact that sometimes resurfacers do more harm than good on discs. It all comes down to the employees, which everyone seems to hate (a lot of times for good reason), and they are supposed to use "their better judgement" when taking in used product. If it seems stolen, refuse it, if it's in horrible condition take it in as defective, and essentially make the customer pay to get their game they're trading in fixed. Well that's the evil way of saying it, we just deduct a certain percentage off of what they would have been getting had the game been in resalable condition.Quote:
Originally Posted by Psy
All I meant to say, really all I ever say when I get into these "Fuck GameStop and their employees" threads is that one size doesn't fit all when judging these matters. I used the box of PSP's to prove that that particular GS sucked 3 different kinds of ass, and that would never fly at MY particular store. Sadly, a lot of stores pull these kind of stunts and when they realize that they have over a thousand dollars worth of defective product, instead of having their store take the hit for their problems like they should, they kick out the merchandise to a different store, namely mine, so we can deal with it. That's not cool, plain and simple. I avoid these stores because (according to my mentality) if they are gonna screw over other employees this hard imagine what they do to customers.
Also Psy, my store does do all the other things you mentioned, we have the trucks pickup when they drop off, we test each system, and we clean them (when it's actually necessary, the few systems traded in by people that actually take care of their stuff don't need anything).
Really though, to avoid 95% of the problems people have with GS all you have to do is find a store with a staff that doesn't blow and become a regular. Befriend them (not as lame as it sounds) and support that particular store. We don't hassle our regulars for reserves or subscriptions, we always let them look at all copies of a used game so they know they are picking the "best looking" copy, let them know information about games and the store thats' actually pertinent, and shoot the breeze with them and talk to them like friends instead of pitch thngs at them like a salesman. In return they reserve more, get the discount cards, hang out, bring their friends in, and a lot of them even ask for our gamertags and play on Xbox Live with us.
The thing is if GameStop doesn't have the floorspace or staff to process incoming products (understandable) they can do what Toys R US, Sears and Wal-Mart does with their returns and process it at a warehouse were they have the cheap floor space to process returns (in GameStop's cause it would be used products GameStop took in) on a large scale, I've done returns for manufacturing warehouse years ago and there was a number of returns that were fine (returned product that seem to never been used and with no trouble ticket (meaning odds are the customer just returned it within the retailers no questions time limit or returned it unopened) and it was no big deal we just entered it as fine wiped the outsides down with disinfectant just in case and repackage it ensuring any missing slips of paper (like instructions, warnings, warranty card and advertisements) that was missing was put in from the warehouses stock then we reseal the box and put it on a skid as new (since I was working at a factory warehouse thus when we reseal it it counts as a factory seal if we classed it as such) or as used if it was not in mint condition, if it required testing, repair and/or more cleaning we put on a skid marked as defective were it would be refurbished.Quote:
Originally Posted by AD2101
Even then you have Gamestop flat used game price system that while it means Gamestop gives away some PS2 games dirt cheap because of their pricing system on average it doesn't work. Also Gamestop has fallen behind the services provided by independent game stores many which now offer on site disc repair (like a few Gamestops use to) and some even will ship your damaged system to a repair warehouse (saving you shipping cost) for you and call you when it is ready for pick up. Oh and lets not forget importing which independent game stores have done for years, you can't go into a Gamestop and ask for a Japanese PS2 yet many independent game stores will get it for you even if they don't have one in stock, they'd even mod it for you so it plays all regions. Then we have the growing retro scene, many independent game stores have taken in older games and systems to offer more selection to their customers, meaning you can buy a SNES or Sega Genesis from them, last time I was in a GameStop a women asked if they sold SNES and the guy at the counter said they didn't, she asked who does and the guy at the counter said he didn't know of any so I mentioned the major independent game stores in the city that did carry SNES (which was all the major independent game stores in my city). Also GameStop's strength is also its weakness, it has tons of used of PS2 titles yet many of them are loose while the independent game stores don't deal in loose PS2 titles as most understand there are so many used PS2 titles in the market there is no point in them taking in loose PS2 titles, what is GameStop going to do when loose PS2 titles become worthless and they can't give them away?Quote:
Originally Posted by AD2101
They usually take in loose games for less money (I believe), and if they don't, they should, because that means it is less likely someone will want to buy it. If its $5 and a game I want, I don't care if its loose, as long as the disc is OK. Asking for perfect/complete games is asking way too much when so many people keep their games in CD binders or lose the case one way or another. If you want a mint copy, eBay is the best way to go because that's where all the people that take care of their shit go to get the most money they can for it. What does it hurt that they carry loose games anyway? its not like you ask for a game, pay for it, then they whip it out from a back room and say "here you go, no returns!" If they have a complete copy, great, if they only have it loose, that may be good enough for some people. If the price is good enough and its not "one of those games" that I have to have complete, I'd gladly buy it loose. I think more people would be pissed if they STOPPED taking loose games because some people are just happy to get the game (especially if they plan to trade it in anyway) and then they couldn't do anything with their loose game anymore.Quote:
Originally Posted by Psy
The Play N Trade I work for sells imports, does region modding (by me :) ), sells anything that can be considered a video game, resurfaces discs, repairs systems (me again), etc. etc. When there is down time, usually someone will grab a dirty system and wipe it down a little bit to make it more presentable, but there are limits on how in depth you can do that kind of stuff. If a game seems like it won't work or is returned, we resurface it in house, but even then it doesn't always work. The first week (maybe first day) they opened, I bought Jet Grind Radio for Dreamcast. I had to take that game back like 8 times before it worked right because they just weren't good with the resurfacer yet and didn't realize there was 1 really deep scratch that had to be sanded out. If you had a warehouse processing hundreds a day, that would've slipped through and still wouldn't have worked. Bulk processing for games less than $20 would take all of the profits between shipping, unpacking, paying someone to put it in the machine, testing it, putting it back in a box, shipping it, etc. Quit being a whiny cheapass and if the game doesn't work, drive your happy ass to a store and pay $1.50 to have it resurfaced, or if the store you bought it from has a resurfacer, they'll probably do it free. If you still aren't happy, then why do you shop there? You already mention there are other options, so why do you even go there? I haven't been to GameStop since Play N Trade opened because the selection and prices are better, so if you don't like it, don't go there, its that simple. I guess you could argue "it would be nice" if they would carry older stuff so you would have another source, but it will probably find its way to an independent store anyway, so in the end it works out.
Because PS2 prices are crashing and many independent stores are well aware that their profit margins for selling common loose PS2 games is not as high as selling common PS2 at least with the box and insert. Basically PS2 games are so cheap there is no point for game stores to deal with loose PS2 gamesQuote:
Originally Posted by 17daysolderthannes
Warehouses have the luxury of having cheap floor space to test products.Quote:
Originally Posted by 17daysolderthannes
Then Gamestop should be more picky about the condition of incoming titles.Quote:
Originally Posted by 17daysolderthannes
For one due to Gamestop stupid pricing system it means they are underselling complete PS2 titles since they price them competitively with loose PS2 titles of independent stores (that are trying to flush their stock of loose PS2 titles). If we make a comparison in time EB flushed most of its PSX stock by 2003 we are now in 2009 and Gamestop hasn't even stopped taking in loose PS2 titles and I think this practice could case Gamestop to go bankrupt as they get stuck with too much inventory of worthless loose PS2 title as the value of loose PS2 titles continues to fall to zero like loose common PSX titles did (meaning eventually common lose PS2 titles would be worth on average $0 like loose common PSX titles now).Quote:
Originally Posted by 17daysolderthannes
As for older titles like the SNES, it would be nice if the Gamestop staff were helpful and aware of independent stores that offer the services Gamestop doesn't (like stocking SNES like the women wanted), when the Gamestop was still Electronics Boutique prior to 2005 the staff would give directions to the game stores that still dealt in older stock. Gamestop is a specialty store that offers less service to customers then Wal-Mart.