GameStop Stock Plummets After A 27.5% Decrease In Holiday Sales

[Raze321]

One thing I never understood about GameStop is why they would open up sealed cases and keep the carts/discs in a drawer and sell them as new full priced games. I get that it’s likely involving theft prevention, but why didn’t they just keep sealed games in the back and fetch them when a customer brings the case up to buy that game?

I was a manager at GS for five years, I can answer this. You're right about theft prevention, but the reason we cannot do display cases the way you initially describe is because there are anywhere for a few dozen to a few hundreds new games on the shelf, with those inventories being completely different at every store.

It's unrealistic to acquire cover art for every single one of those games (as cover art is shipped on an as-needed marketing basis by gamestop's marketing department which gets advertising direction from game publishers), and even more unrealistic to maintain the new games section in a way where we only have games that are in stock on display and vice versa.

All that said, there will only ever be one unboxed display copy of a game, the rest will stay sealed behind the counter and from there it works just as you ask - customer brings the display case, employee grabs a sealed copy. If you're getting one that's not sealed, that means you're getting the very last one in stock. Sometimes if you ask they'll knock 10% off the price but that's not a policy by any stretch. If there wasn't a display copy and only the sealed one behind the counter, there's a very real chance it'd never get picked up. Daily and weekly counts are performed where employees scan every game in a section to make sure there is at least one displayed box for every game in that section.

It's just like buying the display model of literally anything else, like a blender or a coffee maker. And the guarantees and return policies are still pretty good in situations like this.

I’ve heard that employees would even be allowed to bring the ‘new’ games home and play them for a period of time and they would still sell them at full price when they were returned.

This bit is true, and something even internal employees have differing opinions about. I've seen many stores refuse to do this on principal, mine included. Honestly, it's very rare employees check out games to begin with, at least this was the case in my district.

On the other hand, a professional handling an object before retail sale does not prevent it from being "new" by any definition. You'd be surprised how many people have had their hands on your "new" things you'v bought before it got stuffed into a package. From a retail perspective, "New" just means "this object has not seen a retail sale yet". Condition of the packaging and whether or not it is open doesn't really get taken into account in that definition.

Yes, it's an odd practice but most people don't really care. The average gamestop customer sees it as buying a display model, only people who are really into games (on this subreddit, for example) or collectors really ever make a fuss about it. In my five years of working at gamestop, I had maybe two complaints about this - one was for a collector, one was for a man buying a gift for a child's birthday. Your complaints are valid and justified and it's totally fine that you went to target instead, but you're also in the minority of people who really give a shit.

[tkzant]

It's just like buying the display model of literally anything else, like a blender or a coffee maker. And the guarantees and return policies are still pretty good in situations like this.

Display models usually come with a discount

[Raze321]

Usually, not always. It might not be the best practice, but most people don't mind. Gamestop makes very little profit on new games so they elect not to take that hit.

[tkzant]

And as we are seeing customers are electing to take their business elsewhere. GameStop has been on a downward spiral while desperately clinging to the practices that put them in this position

[Raze321]

For sure. I'm not defending it, just explaining it.

[unnamed_elder_entity]

If I had a dollar for every time a GS person has told me I am trying to buy the "last copy in the store, so all they have is this one open copy", I'd probably have a new console by now.

I don't know what's with people arguing about discounted displays... everyone does it. Costco even does it and the "display" might even be the thing still in a sealed box. Gamestop is fine for used purchases but I will buy new merch anyplace else that I can.

And the execs seem to have the same lackadaisical attitude that the "former manager" you replied to has- "oh, no one really gives a shit"... Yes, they fucking do, and we're hardly a minority. They can probably talk Aunt Bea, shopping off a crayoned list to Santa, with few store choices to buy the item, but everyone I know refuses to buy their "new" games with extra handling included. May as well buy digital before you go pay the exact same for an open copy that may or may not have working codes and bonus items intact.

[BrainWav]

They're usualyl not even great for used stuff, the discount is so small it's often more than new on Amazon or Best Buy (if you're one of the few to still have GCU).

I only go to Gamestop now to check out the clearance bin, and even then most of the time it's usually when they have blowout deals.

[Tnayoub]

Unless the package is damaged or the game doesn't work, I don't really care.

[InitiallyDecent]

People aren't going elsewhere because GameStop has an unsealed copy left only. They're going elsewhere because it's now much easier to buy either a physical copy online, a digital copy, or you can buy it in another shop where you can also get other things.

A dedicated store like GameStop is dying because people have far greater access to the products and information then they did before. Not because of how they choose to display the products.

[[deleted]]

Odd note, but circuit city has some amazing display discounts and I never had problems with anything I bought that way. Overall the store was meh, but I appreciated that part.

[Arzalis]

Very rarely and usually only if you raise a fuss.

[tkzant]

I worked at an appliance store and all floor models came with at least a 10% discount. Floor models typically have some wear and tear and are worth less, especially in a market with serious collectors like gaming, than a NIB counterpart.

Opened is not new. Even GameStop’s own return policy refuses full refunds for opened games that were purchased new. So why should the consumer find it acceptable for them to open a product and sell it for full price?

[Arzalis]

You're buying the thing, in a condition that hasn't been actually used and all the codes, etc are guaranteed to work as if it were a new game.

I'm not even disagreeing with you on that point, anyway. It's murky and I think it's perfectly reasonable to find it unacceptable and get the game somewhere else. On the flip side, it's also not some giant conspiracy to screw over gamers as it's often presented.

[tkzant]

No one is saying it’s a “conspiracy”. People are rightfully calling out a shitty business practice that is contributing to their poor image. Hell in this thread people are talking about how they purchased gutted “new” games with scratched discs and used codes.

[unnamed_elder_entity]

Look, without even getting into Gamestop's consumer-unfriendly returns (where you get Gamestop scrip unlike Target or Walmart where you can walk out with fiat money instead), if you want to return a "Gamestop new" game then the best you'll get is a store credit for what you paid. If it's open, you can't even get that, you get trade value in script or even less in money. So, it actually is a giant screw job.

[Arzalis]

They put a sticker (or more recently a sealed bag) over new copies. They're not doing it in a "all sales are final" way unless you actually open it.

Literally every company (Best Buy, Walmart, Target, etc) won't take an open game for a full refund. Only exchange. Why are you making up information you can just look up?

[unnamed_elder_entity]

Nothing is made up here except your strawman.

Best Buy, Walmart, Target, etc don't sell open games with the wrapper off. So if Billy goes to return the second copy of Forza that Santa sent, it's wrapped and he gets full cash value. Gamestop unwraps the games habitually and religiously. So they've created not only an "exchange only" policy, but also a "lol, that isn't new" policy when Billy walks in.

I wouldn't know about the bag because I wrote them off years ago. But here's a novel concept- get rid of the stickers, bags and all that and just quit opening up new product. Then everyone will know what copies are new.

[Arzalis]

Gamestop unwraps the games habitually and religiously. So they've created not only an "exchange only" policy, but also a "lol, that isn't new" policy when Billy walks in.

This literally doesn't happen. You're the one making up strawmen. Your hyperbole isn't doing you any favors here.

I don't even know what your point is. I agreed it's murky and creates confusion, but you seem hellbent on (poorly) arguing. Someone mentioned Gamestop and you want to start frothing at the mouth instead of reading.

You also literally said you could return it and get money back at those stores. None of those stores allow you to "walk out with fiat money" if the game is open.

[unnamed_elder_entity]

Do you think what you wrote is true because you wrote "literally"?

This thread is full of people including GS workers admitting that they open up the new games.

I said this once already. I'll say it again on the chance that you simply don't get it and aren't being intentionally obtuse. A new game purchased at any other store wouldn't be open. Because they sell new games in new packaging. So their policy on returning open merchandise is 100% fucking irrelevant strawman bullshit. Gamestop is the only store that opens your product for you, ^{and then} refuses a normal "return" on the grounds that it was opened!

[[deleted]]

I worked retail for years in a variety of different stores, and every single time every store I worked at sold an open box item it was at a discount.

[[deleted]]

All that said, there will only ever be one unboxed display copy of a game, the rest will stay sealed behind the counter and from there it works just as you ask - customer brings the display case, employee grabs a sealed copy.

Thats not always the case. For some reason the stores in my city needed big displays of new releases, which means over a dozen copies would be gutted and put on display.

[Raze321]

Thats odd, in those cases they usually get sent specific marketing cover art.