GameStop Thrives Because of Lazy and Uneducated Gamers

GPT: "Though it's not limited to this one form of media, convenience makes for a lot of sales in the gaming world. Maybe you prefer digital downloads to hard-copies; or a corded microphone is simply too bothersome and you buy a wireless one to compensate. And in a world where consumers want everything done as quickly as possible, why would you ever overlook immediate satisfaction? It's not hard to find gamers proclaiming their detest towards GameStop; usually about their supposed shady business practices and pushy clientele. With that kind of negative feedback many wonder how a company like them can exist with BestBuy and other competitors now taking trade-ins on used video-games. The answer is obvious though; gamers are lazy."

[kennykramer]

Let's not forget Steam and their often unbeatable prices.

[Warprincess116]

Alot of people don't have gaming PC so they are irrelevant.

[solar]

the PC is the biggest Platform in the world. people know.

[ATiElite]

250 million online PC gamers.... i guess that's not a lot. (Google it)

PS3/360 100 million units sold Lifetime.

AMD/Nvidia 100 million discrete Graphics cards sold every YEAR! With an average price tag of $270 these GPU's are not just so Grandma can play Farmville either.

Warprincess116 is a PS3 Fangirl 4 Life!

[killerhog]

@ATiElite

the troll said "gaming pc's" which is true. Also not many retailers sell pc games because of cd keys. really sorry to say but the troll is right pc gaming is irrelevant. also doesnt matter if theres "250 millions pc users online" i would say 60-75% of them are using cracked/pirated games

[LOGICWINS]

@kennykramer- The average gamer doesn't even know what Steam is.

[kennykramer]

Of course, I'm just making a point for PC gamers :)

[VG_Releaser]

PS3 gamers know what STEAM is. Of course we have that luxury. :)

[Jazz4108]

Appaprenlt not as the ps3 does not have steam it has steamworks. Big difference.

[BeaRye]

All business takes advantage of naive consumers. It's business. They have responsibilty to make money.

[LOGICWINS]

YUP. If I worked at Gamestop and I saw someone buy a brand new copy of Infamous 1 and LBP 1 for $50, I wouldn't mention a damn thing about the PSN Welcome Back Package.

Thank you for your purchase. Have a nice day! =D

[SegaSonic]

Because that's what you're paid to do. In the real world, businesses make money. In "Happy-Land Kiddie World" mommy and daddy make the money, so kids think businesses are big meanies.

[Hicken]

And THAT'S the difference between you and me.

I'm a gamer. And guess what: I work at GameStop. And guess what I do: give people a heads-up on all such deals that I'm aware of.

Moreover, you obviously don't know GameStop; used sales are where it's at, anyway. I wouldn't sell somebody a new copy of a game if we had a used one, unless that person was acting like they knew it all, or I knew they were the type that only bought new, as some of my customers do.

On top of that, there's always the chance they wouldn't like it. I'd tell em to try it out, and if they liked it, return it and get the free copy. But I'd tell em to hurry, because the Welcome Back program won't last forever. (AND you only get 7 days to play a used game before you can't get your cash back; you're not supposed to, but we tend to make exceptions at our store.)

Unfortunately, there are too many people who think like you do in the company now. It stinks.

EDIT: I forgot to mention: when somebody comes in wanting to trade something in and they're not getting much for it, we tell them to keep it (at my store). If another customer in the store is looking to buy that very product, we WILL make them aware of each other. And as long as they conduct their business outside, we don't care; we'd rather people get the most out their money and their game. (Made more difficult, because our new boss is the type who puts numbers over the customers.)

These things only happen, though, when you have GAMERS working in a store. GameStop didn't make it to where they are by only thinking about business any more than Microsoft got to its position by catering to the casual market. But as long as people are willing to say, "That's business," or otherwise make excuses, such companies will continue to milk people for all they're worth.

[LOGICWINS]

"I'm a gamer. And guess what: I work at GameStop. And guess what I do: give people a heads-up on all such deals that I'm aware of."

I'm a gamer too..that doesn't mean I need to let that get in the way of a sale. It's my job. Just because I'm a gamer doesn't mean I MUST help less informed gamers make a purchase decision. Thats not my problem.

"Unfortunately, there are too many people who think like you do in the company now. It stinks."

If too many Gamestop employees thought like you did, Gamestop wouldn't be making any money.

What do you think would happen if employees befriended every person that walked into the store and gave them some friendly "gamer advice" such as:

"If you buy games used, you can beat it, come back within a week, get a full refund, and repeat the process over and over again"

[Hicken]

"I'm a gamer too..that doesn't mean I need to let that get in the way of a sale. It's my job. Just because I'm a gamer doesn't mean I MUST help less informed gamers make a purchase decision. Thats not my problem."

Working on the bottom end of any retail means you should be helping your customers make informed decisions. YOUR problem is that, if that's your way of thinking, you are a drone. I'll get to that later.

"If too many Gamestop employees thought like you did, Gamestop wouldn't be making any money."

That might be true, except that people tend to come back to your store after you've helped them out once. We've got a number of customers who travel 20 miles or more to come to our store, because they like how we treat them. They bypass dozens of other retailers JUST to come to us; a good number of customers don't come to our store because our old manager- a great guy and a real gamer- is gone. Long story short: repeat customers make a company more money than one-time buyers.

"What do you think would happen if employees befriended every person that walked into the store and gave them some friendly "gamer advice" such as:

"If you buy games used, you can beat it, come back within a week, get a full refund, and repeat the process over and over again""

There ARE such people, but GameStop has its limits. Here's the thing, though: GameStop doesn't care all that much. After that initial purchase, the money is GameStop's. And as long as they keep coming in, there's a chance of buying more than just a replacement for for the game they're returning.

Common business sense is this: they can't buy things from you if they're not in the store. And if you just act like it's your job to just make a sale, people aren't gonna have a reason to come back.

We've actually got a group of businessmen- a mix of Japanese and Hispanic- who come into town every few months and ONLY buy things from our store. There are two other GameStops within a mile of us, as well as a Toys R Us, a Best Buy, and a Target. But the majority of our customers ONLY come to our store, unless we send them to another for something we don't have.

That's not due to us only trying to make a sale. I can guarantee you that much.

[SeanScythe]

same could be said with any business.

[ColossiSlayer]

Say what you want about Gamestop but their Buy 2 Used Games Get 1 Free sale is the reason I have 30 PS3 exclusives & 5 Multiplats. I save over 80$ including tax with my Power Up Rewards Card, when I B2G1F. I hustle Gamestop, not the other way around. I dont trade in or reserve a damn thing.

[lizard81288]

of course they are, I have heard TONS of GS story, regardless if they are secret shopper or not.

can the wii play 3ds games?

Killzone 2 is for the 360 right?

why doesn't the ps3 play PlayStation disks?!

Do i need to buy Super Mario Bros 3 here to get it to work for the wii?

The wii gun also works for the ps3 right?

they are dumb. i heard the employees aren't any better. My GS is lucky i guess. they have people who know about video games there.

[StarWolf]

I would rather buy my games at GS instead of BestBuy. One looks really cool with only games and will always have the games in stock. the other has a small gaming section at the back corner. It looks normal to buy games at the GAME STORE. That being said, I will ONLY buy games at Amazon unless I trade games in for a new one at GS.

Amazon trade ins have better prices...but you have to ship the game. Costs 10 bucks -so whats the point?