Exaggerated Claims at Game Stores

[chosen1s]

This is a very specific post, because if I'm not careful it will be a duplicate of all the "don't you think video game store workers are stupid?" threads. I would like to point out a very specific pattern and see if anyone has a reasoning for this. Today I had the following experience:

I walk into Game Crazy and trade in some games. As I'm looking around the guy behind the counter starts in: "Anything you're looking for?"

"No, I collect games for all systems"

"Oh, really? Which games are you looking for?"

This is about the time I just comment on a game so the guy can make his sales pitch, I can turn him down, and he can figure out that I have a mind of my own and leave me alone. Ah, there's the perfect target...

"Cool, Secret of Mana." (At a whopping $40. Incidentally, I know of 3 SOM's at 3 different Game Crazy's, none of which have sold at this price but that's a different story). So here he goes into his pitch.

"Yeah, that one is ultra-rare. I'm surprised it's still there". I'm already looking at different games and trying to show disinterest and then he revealed himself to be what I can only define as the ???gamer:

"Yeah, this game is $80 MINIMUM on the internet if you tried to find it today."

A couple of questions later and he revealed Ebay as his resource of video game knowledge. Now, this has happened to me a number of times, at video game stores, with hard-core gamers working at the stores, which has caused me to label these guys the ???gamers. They tend to be male, have a strong understanding of games, perceptions of rarity, what is and is not valuable, and seem pretty normal. They're not morons. But then out of the blue they will swear on a stack of Bibles that Final Fantasy II on Super Nintendo is worth $70 on Ebay.

Here I am thinking that I'm talking to someone who really knows what's going on in video games and has a basic understanding of the Internet world, and when they say something like that all I'm left with is ???

My brain is confused. I had one ???gamer SWEAR to me that Chrono Trigger sealed for the SNES was so rare it was worth $1,000 on Ebay. That night I looked it up and they were routinely going for $250. Now, $250 is nothing to sneeze at, but it is nowhere near $1,000.

I had another one telling me Skies of Arcadia on Dreamcast was impossible to find anywhere, and it was $50+ on Ebay. Sorry, $25 tops on the day I looked it up.

Do any of you out there work with any ???gamers, and can you provide some insight into what their motivation is? I would think they're trying to sell games, but to my knowledge they don't get bonuses or incentives to sell these games, so such exaggeration doesn't make sense. Have you had similar experiences with "experts" who are WAY off on their pricing?

[Alpha2]

I think the motivation of anyone making claims like these is to look like they know more than the customer, thus making the customer immpressed with his intelligence and suddenly grant a great deal of respect to the pathetic "register monkey".

[CaseyRyback]

the only people who work in retail who have an opinion that I trust are the people at the one gamestop I shop at. Mainly because he plays games and even when no one is in there they are talking about old and new games. They never pressure me to buy anything and generally just seem pretty cool.

[Scrubking]

The more important question is - why does anyone bother to talk to these people?

At most I will only say 3 words to those people - Hello, thanks and bye.

[elprincipe]

The more important question is - why does anyone bother to talk to these people?

At most I will only say 3 words to those people - Hello, thanks and bye.

Really. When they ask me if they can help me I just say no thanks, not looking for anything in particular, just looking, whatever. I mean, I understand it's their job to come and ask me, but 99% of them shut up if I say one of those things.

And yep, I have heard too many exaggerations in stores to recount. I think people search for the highest price something went for on eBay and then quote that to others. I find this odd, but I can imagine that some idiot on eBay bid a copy of SoM to $80 at one point maybe. The strangest thing perhaps is the look they used to give me when I said "no, I don't have a PS2 but I have a GameCube".

[pimpinc333]

Same here scrub king i learned that if u say nothing back they will not talk to u lol

[Spiritseed]

I would have to say this has a lot to do with location. There are several stores around town here in Indy, Myself being one of them. On my side of town I can sell whatever I want for basically whatever I want. So I could probably sell an $80 secret of mana, if the customer did not shop around or go on e-bay. Whereas if I went to the southside I'd be lucky to get $20 out of one. So the perception of prices at different venues is greatly different. If the same customer were to see an $80 secret of mana at my store and then go to his own and see it for $40 to him that would be a great deal. And if this same person were to go to E-bay for 5 minutes and a freak accident happens and someone were to bid $80 on a copy and then go to his store, again it would seem a great deal. So I don't think these store workers are dumb they just don't do enough research before they speak.

[vlv723]

I swear, some video game places I go to, all they care about is getting your bucks. I had two interviews with Gamestop before and nope I didn't get the job. I guess they are looking for people who can sell, not people who has their knowledge and love for video games.

[daphatty]

I swear, some video game places I go to, all they care about is getting your bucks. I had two interviews with Gamestop before and nope I didn't get the job. I guess they are looking for people who can sell, not people who has their knowledge and love for video games.

That's actually discouraging. I was considering getting a part-time job at a gamestore just to spend what I earn on games and be around people with similar interests. I already have a full time job and make plenty of money so this would be just for fun. I'd hate to be dealing with some idiot manager pressuring me to sell sell sell... Looks like I'll have to find a mom and pop shop for that sort of thing.

[moiety]

I swear, some video game places I go to, all they care about is getting your bucks. I had two interviews with Gamestop before and nope I didn't get the job. I guess they are looking for people who can sell, not people who has their knowledge and love for video games.

....Which is exactly why I don't trust the employees at all. I know what I want, I do my own research, etc.

I always feel bad for the parents, like around Christmas. They go right in and ask an employee "What's good for a 10 year old girl?", and out comes some Barbie game. I know when I was 10, I was playing games like LoZ: Link to the Past and Street Fighter II on my SNES.

...Or when parents are holding really *good* games in their hands and then see a *crappy* game and choose that instead. (** - my opinion of the game)

Since I'm a girl, they also think I don't know about videogames and they wonder why I'm browsing the racks: that's aggravating..... Well anyway, in sum, I just ignore them/refuse assistence.

[sandwiches99]

The more important question is - why does anyone bother to talk to these people?

At most I will only say 3 words to those people - Hello, thanks and bye.

Nice. Yup, its confirmed once again: game stores suck.

[suprsaiyanMAX]

I would have to say this has a lot to do with location. There are several stores around town here in Indy, Myself being one of them. On my side of town I can sell whatever I want for basically whatever I want. So I could probably sell an $80 secret of mana, if the customer did not shop around or go on e-bay. Whereas if I went to the southside I'd be lucky to get $20 out of one. So the perception of prices at different venues is greatly different. If the same customer were to see an $80 secret of mana at my store and then go to his own and see it for $40 to him that would be a great deal. And if this same person were to go to E-bay for 5 minutes and a freak accident happens and someone were to bid $80 on a copy and then go to his store, again it would seem a great deal. So I don't think these store workers are dumb they just don't do enough research before they speak.


haha....Sure am glad I grew up and shopped on the southside for my games then.

[chosen1s]

And yep, I have heard too many exaggerations in stores to recount. I think people search for the highest price something went for on eBay and then quote that to others. I find this odd, but I can imagine that some idiot on eBay bid a copy of SoM to $80 at one point maybe. The strangest thing perhaps is the look they used to give me when I said "no, I don't have a PS2 but I have a GameCube".

Good idea but I'm not buying that answer. The reason being, there are also really low prices. If they're going by what they saw "one time", then they'd be telling me the Chrono Trigger's only worth $10 or something like that.

Do any of these stores have incentive systems? For instance, I know that the more pre-orders they get the more of the game they get on the day it ships, etc. But seriously, some guys go WAY overboard trying to sell me pre-orders. I understand loyalty and all that, but they HAVE to be getting something additional out of it. Employee of the week? Same for game sales?

[minx]

moiety,

The more arrogant the guys are, more fun is the knock them on their ass :-)

After all, if it wasn't for us girl gamers, they would have to pay a very expensive dominatrix to do the same thing, so were really performing a public service putting them in their place ;-)

Seriously, I have a serious lot of fun most of the time with the clerks considering I'm always asking for things they don't have and many times have never heard of before.

and then of course, I have to explain the back history of the thing I wanted that they didn't have; which usually involves the other customers getting involved also explaining to the clerk about the thing I wanted that they didn't have.once in a great while, even another employee will chime in with personal experience with whatever I wanted that they didn't have.


Interesting times ;-)

[suprsaiyanMAX]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-03-20&res=l

That's pretty much sums up how I feel on the subject.

[magilacudy]

Funny story actually. I went into EBgames in Princeton (BigDirty if you're reading this maybe you know what I'm talking about) and then I ask about the Metal Arms $10 rebate and the UT 2004 voucher thing. No dice, the guy had no idea what I was talking about. He was a nice guy though, so he called up other EBs asking about it. (I don't think he would've done that for anyone else, its just that I came in the week before asking about Genma Onimusha for $7, which he was amazed was on sale but thats a whole other story)

Anyways, he admitted that he had no idea what was going on, that the main EB store doesn't even communicate with him... then he says that he finds out most the sales at his own store BY GOING TO CHEAPASSGAMER.COM. The manager was next to him and randomly said, cheap ass in a squeaky voice. We both had a laugh at that.

Anyways that just goes to show some employees do know what they're talking about, provided they visit this site. The employee was a really great, honest and friendly fellow -- if only all gamestore peoples were like that =/

[defender]

It pisses me off when my employees try to SELL SELL to customers...personally I think its best to help customers look at what they are interested in and that's it. Scrubkink would be my ideal customer. We of course would ask him if he needed help but until he said.."can I get X game" we would just leave him alone.

As for exaggerations from Employees...Its 10X worse with customers. I have had people swear to me that Xbox 2 is out and their friend has it and they want to argue...usually we just claim ingorance. Or some crappy games they are selling go for a ton more on Ebay and we should give them some outrageous sum. Every day its the same thing too.

And Chosen1....let me explain to you something.

1. You walk into the store.
2. You ask about a game you have NO INTENTION of buying.
3. You start conversing "A couple of questions later" to the employee about total nonsense.
4 . After looking around and wasting time of an employee and deciding the stores prices are too high, which you already knew, you most likely leave without getting any items.

Sure that one employee you spoke to was some nard but if every store you go into and you act like that....then you deserve it. Work some retail and you will understand that in many cases gamers have incredibly poor social skills and they just want someone to talk with about a game. Your actions can be considered rude.

We almost never mention the internet in my store as a source. What's the point? Ebay Ebay Ebay...I could care less that someone is selling some game on ebay for less than my price. And if you come in to my store to get cash for games and think you are gonna get the same as on Ebay then you are a complete fool. Go sell on Ebay and deal with it otherwise accept our fair offer (always a fair offer).

Also that same Ebay quoting guy of course wants to buy every game in the store that he can sell on Ebay himself. Ebay doesn't set my prices I do. While I may consider Ebay as a source for a games value...its not the damn Video Game Price Guide.

[chosen1s]

And Chosen1....let me explain to you something.

1. You walk into the store.
2. You ask about a game you have NO INTENTION of buying.
3. You start conversing "A couple of questions later" to the employee about total nonsense.
4 . After looking around and wasting time of an employee and deciding the stores prices are too high, which you already knew, you most likely leave without getting any items.

Sure that one employee you spoke to was some nard but if every store you go into and you act like that....then you deserve it. Work some retail and you will understand that in many cases gamers have incredibly poor social skills and they just want someone to talk with about a game. Your actions can be considered rude.

I understand your point. And I agree, sometimes all kinds of people just want someone to talk to. But there is a difference between talking video games and trying to sell me a game by telling me an incorrect value. For the sake of space, I left some of the detail but since you mentioned it...

1) The guy asked me more than once what I was looking for. When I say "just looking. I collect a lot of different games" that is generally my cue that I don't want to be bothered. Maybe I need a better line.

2) Maybe I should do a better job of pointing out his "high-pressure" tactics, but this guy asked me several times "Are you SURE you don't want to get it? $40 is a great deal..." You accused me of being rude in my approach to this guy. Would it have been MORE polite for me to say "You're out of your mind, $40 is way more than I want to pay for that?" I did tell him I thought $40 was more than I wanted to spend in a nice way. Even after I had paid for my games (yes, I did get around $70 in games that day) he tried to talk me into buying it.

And finally, I wasn't even complaining about the guy. THAT'S WHY I LEFT THOSE DETAILS OUT. READ THE POST. I'm not complaining about the guy or "making a case" for his annoyance. I'm trying to figure out what his motivation is. Defender, this is the second time I've been in a topic with you where you got up on your soapbox about how people treat workers in your video game store (I'm referring to your rant on Greatest Hits titles). The picture you painted about me going in to this guy's store was completely inaccurate and probably is more a picture of another guy who has been in your store at one time or another. To answer your points:

1) Yes, I did walk into the store
2) No, I didn't ask about the game. I was merely making polite conversation because the guy wouldn't leave me alone. Seroiusly, you're telling me when you're out somewhere and there's somebody who insists on having your attention that you don't make polite conversation?
3) The "total nonsense" was all on his side. I didn't ask him what it was worth. He just blurted out that the game was worth $80 on the Internet and all I did was ask where. How is that total nonsense?
4) You're wrong there too. I bought Ogre Battle, Thousand Arms, Super Dodge Ball, and Bubble Bobble 2 (Settle down guys, it was the Gameboy version).

Seriously dude, I don't know if the video game industry is especially stressful as of late or what, but take some prozac next time before you toss me in with the unhappy customers who frequent your stores.

[LoganDX]

I swear, some video game places I go to, all they care about is getting your bucks. I had two interviews with Gamestop before and nope I didn't get the job. I guess they are looking for people who can sell, not people who has their knowledge and love for video games.
Alot of these places,mostly B&M, don't want to hire "gamers" because anymore employers are worried about theft. Honestly, places are so afraid that you may steal their product that they would rather have you come in ignorant and "train" you to know their product.

And as far as "rude" customers, I agree with Defender about how they can be and how you wish they had an ounce of brains and common sense. However at the same time, I understand where others are coming from. I have seen things as a customer that drive me crazy. I went into a Game Crazy the other day and the clerk was playing NFL Street. I asked him what he thought. He liked it but couldn't figure out how to use the cheats. I showed him how the make the profile,etc. and talked him through how to load it. He gets to the screen where you can load it and I tell him to press up or down to select the profile for the cheat you want to use. He does and I say okay now go play your game. What does he do? He backs out, goes back , looks at me and says how do you do that again? I looked at him and said "press up or down." Now come on, I know attention spans are really short now but that was asinine. I should have just told him"up,up,down,down,left,right,left,right,B,A,start"....

Moral is for me-Treat the employees/customer with the respect you would want and ignore the stupidity as much as possible.
Although sometimes it is very hard to do..... :?

BTW: I have close to 10 years customer service experience so I can speak from both sides.....

[defender]

I agree about employers not wanting to hire gamers...

I try to hire good retail employees that know about customer service, stocking, and generally work hard. When I hire someone with a ton of game knowledge they tend to just chatter all day long and play games on my 35" store TV. Usually casual gamers are the best.

It's sort of a running joke in the store when I do interviews I ask what their favorite genre is and so many reply "RPG" and then the follow up question is what is their favorite game of all time..."Final Fantasy" something. That's the killer and they don't get hired. The RPG fans I have hired usually have the worst social skills and they dont last a week.

One thing if you are trying to get a job. Look the interviewer in the eye. Answer the questions with as few ummms as possible and know when to shut up. I usually let an interviewee talk all they want to see how "chatty" they are.

I know a lot of employees at other small stores in NY and they shop at my store since I get the rare stuff more often. Most are pretty cool people. I think the larger chains like BB, CC, TRU, GameStop, and EB just have poor hiring skillz and the manager are just as clueless as the people they hire. Not always but sometimes.

Working retail aint easy. At this point I buy 99% of everything online. Clothes and food are the only things I get locally nowadays.

Boy I am tired.

[Theenternal]

I think its a YMMV, and defintely just a part of a the retail business. Honestly from about 1998-2001 I was making more money per year on ebay selling video game/toys then I did at my ok paying job. My source were places like ebgames/gamestop/rhino, fleamarkets and pawn shops. I actually sold a chrono trigger for 305 sealed.

Towards the end of my selling I even had a guy tell me that final fantasy was worth 70, and they were selling it for 40.

IMO I consider ebay a price guide for a lot of items. But for items like games, its give or take. Sometimes you can save money, but sometimes the item becomes so high priced on ebay that its better to go to a few walmarts and pay retail for it. Well until it goes oop

[Reality's Fringe]

The thing about working for a big name chain (in my case, GameStop) is that you're constantly under the eye of "Big Brother". The reason most of the employees seem to be mindless zombies is that we're required to be. If you happen to come across one who still has some semblance of humanity, just come back in 3 months and stare in horrofied awe at the husk of a once budding young man/woman. We SELL SELL SELL otherwise we'll get FIRED FIRED FIRED. I'm trying to spread this message as far as possible because no one recognizes that simple fact.
As for employees being ANNOYING. Well, I can see that, not everyone is your favorite personality. On that note, you have to understand this simple fact; The store only has a set amount of personalities(the employees) that you have to "deal" with, but the employees have to deal with a potentially limitless pool of personalities(the customers in the entire city/area/state) and most of them are what I classify as"Ass Annoying". For every one guy that comes in and is polite and easy to work with, there's another twenty-four that smell bad, don't know what the hell they're talking about, are rude, are demanding, never buy anything, talk about stupid ass bullshit, complain to me about prices that I have no control over, can't read, and try to sell stolen/broken merchandise. IT's terrible. Trust me. I'm currently searching for a new job because, since I've been working at GameStop, I've actually started to drift away from my once grand hobby. It's one of the most bizzare occurences I've ever been privy to. The easy solution to the dillema would be for Corporate to at least give us back our personalities.

[defender]

Hey Chosen1...sorry I was on my soapbox..I am just very self-absorbed at times.

Sounds to me after reading your reply to my first post that you were on the right and the guy was a real retard. This happens all the time and its like one person said...they are forced to sell sell sell. In my store its not like that at all. I just make sure all the employees ask every customer if they need help. If not then fine..my store most likely has more browsers that just about any game store. Because of my classic section where I sell Atari, ColecoVision, Vectrex, and classic handhelds. So we are used to people coming in all the time with no intention of buying. We just try to be nice just in case.

And to say it bluntly. The game industry is stressful for retailers.

[chosen1s]

Thanks for following up Defender.

I'll admit, I can be a punk at times when I go into game stores, especially if I'm already expecting them to pull some shananagins on me. I do a lot of shopping at video game stores and it just seems sometimes like they are willing to do anything on earth to sell you a game. I still haven't figured out their motivation on this, because I am doubting it is fear of being fired. Not that this isn't a real threat, but fear usually inspires a different kind of passion for selling. I don't know. It's late and I'm kind of blabbering.

Anyway, this was one of the times that I was just trying to mind my own business and the guy just went off on exaggerated values of games. Oh well, thanks again for following up. Sorry to hear that the business is stressful right now. I know how that can be.

What's up with that vomiting avatar? It's kind of nasty.