4. Gamestop loans out your new games
Kotaku broke this story a while ago, but here it is again if you missed it. GameStop guts games and displays an empty case on store shelves for promotional purposes. The game and instruction manual goes inside a locked drawer behind the counter. However, since employees are allowed to borrow games from the store, they're allowed to take home the gutted new copy as long as they return it intact. What this means, though, is that the “new” copy you paid full price for, isn't actually “new” at all. If this sounds bogus as hell, it's because it is.
What isn't as commonly known, though, is that this practice has been going on for years and continues to persist to this day, despite the bad press its generated. According to a source at GameStop, some store managers are stricter than others and flat out refuse to check out “new” games and force their employees to wait until a used copy is traded in at the store. Others, though, are far more lenient and allow it as long as they have enough copies to cover reservations and normal sales. To date, the policy has not been modified to explicitly forbid the checking out of new games and still occasionally occurs.
3. Employees can give you discounts (most of the time)
While bargaining is quite common in some countries overseas (in Thailand, for instance, haggling is fairly normal), for some inexplicable reason most customers think the only way they're going to get a discount is if the item is on sale or they have a coupon. That isn't always the case, particularly when it comes to electronics that have a substantial markup on them. Stores have quotas to reach (both in revenue and profit), and it's not out of the ordinary for employees to make deals if it means making a sale and getting the store that much closer to reaching its monthly or even daily goals.
You probably won't have too much success bartering with an employee at GameStop, but at bigger retailers, like Best Buy, according to a report made in 2008, any employee who is capable of ringing up sales can usually apply a discount between 15-18% off without needing approval from a manager. That's not a substantial savings, granted, and it only works on certain occasions.
For instance, if you simply waltz into Best Buy and pick up one game, the employee working the gaming department probably won't feel too inclined to give you a discount. However, if you're purchasing an item you know for a fact the store makes bank on (the aforementioned third party accessories for example) that might be a different story.
Also, if you're purchasing a console, see if they'd be willing to toss you a discount on some controllers and games. While Best Buy employees do not work on commission, it always looks nice on their sales tracker (which they're required to maintain) if they have a sizable sale with loads of attachments. Offer to throw in a good word for them as well to their manager as well. Scratch their back and there's a good chance they'll scratch yours.
Naturally, the more time you get to talk to them, the better your chances are of striking some kind of deal. This won't work all the time, of course, but it's definitely worth keeping in mind. At the very least, the next time a Best Buy employee tells you that they're not allowed to hand out discounts without a manager's approval, you'll know they're probably lying.
Do note: employees can not apply discounts on everything. For instance, a video game console can not be discounted. Same thing goes with digital cameras, laptops, etc.
2. The odds of a highly anticipated, new release selling out is virtually nil
This probably goes without saying, but yeah, the odds of a highly anticipated, new release title selling on launch day (or even the first week) is virtually non-existent at most big retailers. If your local GameStop is small, there's always the possibility, but if you live in a big city, it's within the best interests of the company to ensure each and every one of their stores are well stocked. After all, if the game sells like hotcakes, both the video game publisher and retailer are screwed if there's no inventory to sell.
Depending on how anticipated a title is, it's not unusual for a store to receive their inventory well before launch date. For example, boxes upon boxes of “Halo 3” was reportedly sitting in stores' warehouses a good week before the game's release date. Obviously, this is to ensure the store has the item in stock well before it actually goes on sale.
So upcoming games like “Call of Duty: Black Ops”? Yeah, you shouldn't have any trouble finding a copy come launch day.
1. You can return everything except opened games
When it comes to video game merchandise, you can return anything (except for opened software) as long as its within the retailer's specified return policy. That means video game controllers, memory cards, and even video game consoles. If the item is returned in perfect condition, the store has to refund your purchase, even if you've already used it and there's nothing wrong with it. Accessories they'll need to tape back up and throw on shelves with an open box discount applied, and game consoles they actually have to ship back to the manufacture. Theoretically, this means you could “rent” a video game console for 30 days from Best Buy for free.
Video game software, on the other hand, can only be exchanged once it's been open. The official stance is because of piracy concerns, but I suspect it's because they don't want people buying games, playing them, and then returning them. Oddly, this is exactly what you can do at GameStop with used games, though employees tend to get pretty annoyed by that the fifth or sixth time you do it. I would know.
http://www.examiner.com/game-news-i...ou-didn-t-know-about-video-game-retail-part-5
Kotaku broke this story a while ago, but here it is again if you missed it. GameStop guts games and displays an empty case on store shelves for promotional purposes. The game and instruction manual goes inside a locked drawer behind the counter. However, since employees are allowed to borrow games from the store, they're allowed to take home the gutted new copy as long as they return it intact. What this means, though, is that the “new” copy you paid full price for, isn't actually “new” at all. If this sounds bogus as hell, it's because it is.
What isn't as commonly known, though, is that this practice has been going on for years and continues to persist to this day, despite the bad press its generated. According to a source at GameStop, some store managers are stricter than others and flat out refuse to check out “new” games and force their employees to wait until a used copy is traded in at the store. Others, though, are far more lenient and allow it as long as they have enough copies to cover reservations and normal sales. To date, the policy has not been modified to explicitly forbid the checking out of new games and still occasionally occurs.
3. Employees can give you discounts (most of the time)
While bargaining is quite common in some countries overseas (in Thailand, for instance, haggling is fairly normal), for some inexplicable reason most customers think the only way they're going to get a discount is if the item is on sale or they have a coupon. That isn't always the case, particularly when it comes to electronics that have a substantial markup on them. Stores have quotas to reach (both in revenue and profit), and it's not out of the ordinary for employees to make deals if it means making a sale and getting the store that much closer to reaching its monthly or even daily goals.
You probably won't have too much success bartering with an employee at GameStop, but at bigger retailers, like Best Buy, according to a report made in 2008, any employee who is capable of ringing up sales can usually apply a discount between 15-18% off without needing approval from a manager. That's not a substantial savings, granted, and it only works on certain occasions.
For instance, if you simply waltz into Best Buy and pick up one game, the employee working the gaming department probably won't feel too inclined to give you a discount. However, if you're purchasing an item you know for a fact the store makes bank on (the aforementioned third party accessories for example) that might be a different story.
Also, if you're purchasing a console, see if they'd be willing to toss you a discount on some controllers and games. While Best Buy employees do not work on commission, it always looks nice on their sales tracker (which they're required to maintain) if they have a sizable sale with loads of attachments. Offer to throw in a good word for them as well to their manager as well. Scratch their back and there's a good chance they'll scratch yours.
Naturally, the more time you get to talk to them, the better your chances are of striking some kind of deal. This won't work all the time, of course, but it's definitely worth keeping in mind. At the very least, the next time a Best Buy employee tells you that they're not allowed to hand out discounts without a manager's approval, you'll know they're probably lying.
Do note: employees can not apply discounts on everything. For instance, a video game console can not be discounted. Same thing goes with digital cameras, laptops, etc.
2. The odds of a highly anticipated, new release selling out is virtually nil
This probably goes without saying, but yeah, the odds of a highly anticipated, new release title selling on launch day (or even the first week) is virtually non-existent at most big retailers. If your local GameStop is small, there's always the possibility, but if you live in a big city, it's within the best interests of the company to ensure each and every one of their stores are well stocked. After all, if the game sells like hotcakes, both the video game publisher and retailer are screwed if there's no inventory to sell.
Depending on how anticipated a title is, it's not unusual for a store to receive their inventory well before launch date. For example, boxes upon boxes of “Halo 3” was reportedly sitting in stores' warehouses a good week before the game's release date. Obviously, this is to ensure the store has the item in stock well before it actually goes on sale.
So upcoming games like “Call of Duty: Black Ops”? Yeah, you shouldn't have any trouble finding a copy come launch day.
1. You can return everything except opened games
When it comes to video game merchandise, you can return anything (except for opened software) as long as its within the retailer's specified return policy. That means video game controllers, memory cards, and even video game consoles. If the item is returned in perfect condition, the store has to refund your purchase, even if you've already used it and there's nothing wrong with it. Accessories they'll need to tape back up and throw on shelves with an open box discount applied, and game consoles they actually have to ship back to the manufacture. Theoretically, this means you could “rent” a video game console for 30 days from Best Buy for free.
Video game software, on the other hand, can only be exchanged once it's been open. The official stance is because of piracy concerns, but I suspect it's because they don't want people buying games, playing them, and then returning them. Oddly, this is exactly what you can do at GameStop with used games, though employees tend to get pretty annoyed by that the fifth or sixth time you do it. I would know.
http://www.examiner.com/game-news-i...ou-didn-t-know-about-video-game-retail-part-5
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