The Blockbuster/Gamerush Thread XX - SMG $25 new, disc-only used 360/Wii games $9.99!

[Segasonic01]

Monster Jam held.

Oh & all the GTAs in the area have almost dried up. I only saw 2x PS3 versions left in the Tampa area & about 15 360 ones. Guess me & Berzerker are giving GS a major overstock.

[jer7583]

Just be careful. Gamestop doesn't have to wait for monday for TIV price drops, and BBV needs a reason for an exchange for a diferent product. Their used return policy isn't as lenient as Gamestop's.

[equax]

I'll be heading to BBV to check out Resistance 2 if its 37 dollars as mentioned before.

[Ragnorok64]

Some wierd stuff going on with one of my VV's an a Gamestop order.

I had ordered an Oblivion and 2 Legendarys, during the B2G1 free deal, but then the Legendarys went to back order. So After an afternoon on the phone with the customer service rep I changed my order to 3 Oblivions. The way it ended up going through they would charge me for 3 games then she said they'd recredit my card for a game and shipping, for the hassle.

So thats how things went down. The 80something showed up on the card, then later the cost of a game came back. I used most of the remaining balance to buy some art how to books, and finally split payment at Burger King to finish it off. So I check online today, and I have $33 dollars on there form seemingly nowhere! It seems Gamestop credited me back for two games or something as only the charge for one game shows up in the history.

I don't know what that's about but I'm not going to use this card for a while because I figure the charges will probably equalize out at some point. It makes no sense that they're recredit me for 2 games. I'm really confused.

[dallow]

Weird stuff happened, but good for me!

Bought two used games with the B1G1. (one was 9.99, other was 6.99)
Wrong game was in the free one's game case so I went back to BB later that night.
They didn't have the correct game so I wanted to switch it for another 9.99 game.

Should have been free since that's what the deal was, but they wanted me to pay the 3.xx difference. I told them no way, and after fumbling around on his register, he just gave me the credit.
Made a 360 and used that credit to buy the game I wanted to switch with and another one since it was B1G1. :)

So it was very nearly B1G2 for me.

[Friend of Sonic]

I missed reading the last 25 pages... but it almost didn't matter because there was less than ten updates to TIV. I got those, and the brand new ones from today. Thanks Animal, and JAG.

If anyone cares, especially with this mini frenzy of banning BBV has commited on CAG, the DM never called me back despite promising a precise call back time which was supposed to occur Wednesday. I called a random store manager for them to check into my account and apparently he sees no notation on my account. So... I think I'm not on hold any more? I'm going to try to flip my last copy of Smash Court Tennis to see. I definitely need more credit--I burnt through my five hundred dollars, so if my test run works, I'll stop by Gamestop and get a few things. I got mostly everything I wanted, although I could use another gift card as an Xmas gift, and seeing as though Nintendogs dropped to 14.99 (thanks Mighty Slacker for that info) I'll go back for that.

I'm thinking of leaving one message every day until the DM calls me back. I mean, I think it's a little rude to say something and do the complete opposite. But then again, maybe I shouldn't piss him off.

[stone1061]

Saw some used DS games, no price stickers but didn't have any credit left, going back tonight or tomorrow.
One was Alvin and CHipmunks, probably horrible, but if it is cheap enough, kids will like the box at least. They also had a DS Lego Indy, probably more than $14.99 but I notice the sticker on it read Alvin and chipmunks, so it may ring up as the price for that, which I would think is $14.99 or less.

[DarkRider23]

What happens if they ban you?

Nothing? I trade in a district that isn't connected to mine in any way. Sometimes I do trade in games at my BBV, but I don't go overboard like some of you guys do. I trade in 2 copies of a game (sometimes 3) max. And that's spread across 2 and sometimes 3 districts. They can't really ban me for buying multiple games, so I'm not worried about that. Hell, my manager was happy when I bought 12 used games from the store.

And I just got myself a 60GB 360. Can't believe my 360 finally died after 3 years. Transferred $63.47 in BBV credit to $121.80 in GS credit and ended up paying just $180 for it. Not bad at all considering I went from a 20GB to a 60GB HDD and got Kung Fu Panda/Lego Indie Jones ;). I was forced to use most of the shitty lower value games when transferring credit. SST for 360 gets $2 by the way. Costs $14.99 at BBV. I knew I was better off trying out Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber instead >_<.

[jmiller]

The best flip of all was forgotten from the list edavis0780,
Fantastic 4 Wii $4 --> $30 :)


Second best flip in my opinion. The best for me was going to Targert and picking up a 10.00 games and using the Target coupon "10 off any Game" and getting it for free.:applause:

[stone1061]

Second best flip in my opinion. The best for me was going to Targert and picking up a 10.00 games and using the Target coupon "10 off any Game" and getting it for free.:applause:
I agree 100%.
That target coupon got me my flip screen for my 360 for free. I guess honorable mention should be given to Cars, Call of Duty 2, and Viva Pinata, since they were the main games that were available for "free".

[gi60]

^ agree with 10 off + 5 off 25 games coupon.

[stoned99]

Second best flip in my opinion. The best for me was going to Targert and picking up a 10.00 games and using the Target coupon "10 off any Game" and getting it for free.:applause:

The Target 10$ coupon was a goldmine, I still have 6-7 1600 points cards from that time.

So I'm thinking I'm going to open a Better Business Bureau complaint as my first attack on the BBV trading suspension, that way they will have to resolve it in some fashion rather than just ignoring me.

[mkernan]

Various nuggets of BBV info:

-B1G1 Promo runs til 1/12/09 according to signage at my store.

-Guitar Hero: Aerosmith PS3 TIV is $23 today (presumably $22 for 360). My local Target finally dropped the PS3 version to $12.48 on clearance, but I'm sitting on plenty of GS credit so I didn't bother with a mediocre cash flip.

-I exchanged a completely jacked copy of GTA IV from one store at another store. Most of you know this is doable, just a heads up to anybody that might not know.

-FYI, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, which is $14.99 (hence B1G1-able) trades to GS base $7. I never got into the series and don't play DS much anymore, so I flipped it.

-I saw our good old friend Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Wii) tagged at $9.99. Its listed in the GS promo thread at $5 GS TIV, but no date listed... could be rather old, but maybe not. Its a decent BBV-GS flip if it still gets $5, especially with that $5 bonus promo coming.

[salty tbone]

I saw our good old friend Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Wii) tagged at $9.99. Its listed in the GS promo thread at $5 GS TIV, but no date listed... could be rather old, but maybe not. Its a decent BBV-GS flip if it still gets $5, especially with that $5 bonus promo coming.

I'm tempted to buy one back just out of sentimental reasons. Poor thing has been sitting at my local BBV for six months facing constant rejection. Come back home, little fella. You served me well ...

[frankcastle]

just found another great wii flip. mlb 2k8 is 9.99 at bbv and trades for 8 base at gs.

[Telemakhos]

just found another great wii flip. mlb 2k8 is 9.99 at bbv and trades for 8 base at gs.

mlb 2k8 is also $9.99 at Radio Shack, as well. It wasn't a popular game (it's worse than 2k7), so there are still some left. just FYI

[Animal7390]

i wish i could find that game to own.

[sandaz93]

GS- 10% + 30%

Wii-Alvin and Chipmonks-7
Wii-Ninja Reflex-7
DS-Ass Creed -7
Wii-Nights- 7
Xb-Top Spin 2/ Some football game -.28

BB
PS3-Legendary 36

Scanned Oblvion for 360 and rang up as 20

[ackbar7]

Had something odd happen at my BB. I took in a copy of Far Cry 2 (PS3) and Prince of Persia (360), and I got my $35 for PP but not FC2, she told me that they were not accepting that game, probably because it was too new. She even checked the system, and I guess it told her not to accept the game. What gives? Did she just not want to take that game from me or what? Just thought I should let you guys know.

[SoulEdgeVII]

GS- 10% + 30%

Wii-Alvin and Chipmonks-7
Wii-Ninja Reflex-7
DS-Ass Creed -7
Wii-Nights- 7
Xb-Top Spin 2/ Some football game -.28

BB
PS3-Legendary 36

Scanned Oblvion for 360 and rang up as 20

Was Oblivion the Game of the Year edition?

[NukedeH]

BB
X360 Endwar - 35
X360 Oblivion GOTY without second disc - 35
PS3 Legendary - 36 but wouldn't take it because GS punched holes into the UPC code =p

[mkernan]

Had something odd happen at my BB. I took in a copy of Far Cry 2 (PS3) and Prince of Persia (360), and I got my $35 for PP but not FC2, she told me that they were not accepting that game, probably because it was too new. She even checked the system, and I guess it told her not to accept the game. What gives? Did she just not want to take that game from me or what? Just thought I should let you guys know.

Is it a special edition of any kind? It could be a different barcode.... some stores refuse to accept a game that doesn't come up automatically when scanned and some employees are just too clueless to manually look stuff up.

BB
X360 Endwar - 35
X360 Oblivion GOTY without second disc - 35
PS3 Legendary - 36 but wouldn't take it because GS punched holes into the UPC code =p

That might not have been Gamestop that punched the holes... usually promotional copies of Games, CDs, etc have a whole punched in the UPC.

[h2dk]

BB
X360 Oblivion GOTY without second disc - 35


Please refrain from doing this crap in the future

[Slim Gatsby]

I can confirm that -- regular Oblivion for 360 rang up at $19.99 for me, too (it wasn't GOTY or anything funky like that).

[JAGII]

Had something odd happen at my BB. I took in a copy of Far Cry 2 (PS3) and Prince of Persia (360), and I got my $35 for PP but not FC2, she told me that they were not accepting that game, probably because it was too new. She even checked the system, and I guess it told her not to accept the game. What gives? Did she just not want to take that game from me or what? Just thought I should let you guys know.

I had a similar thing happen when I tried to trade in Dead Space a few weeks after its release. I tried a few stores, including one with a very competent employee who checked through the system and found nothing. They take it now, so I'm not sure what the deal was/is, but you're not alone.

[NukedeH]

Please refrain from doing this crap in the future
I bought it at a GS 5 minutes prior to trading it in to BB. I asked the GS worker about the second disc and he said I didn't need it, saying it was just a making of dvd. I never used the second disc on my copy so I wasn't sure what to think. I just told the BB worker the same thing I was told and he was cool about it.

[akiefer]

Guys - as far as the bannination goes...I had a nice talk with a gal (presumably manager - friendly, knowledgeable) today at a BB about the VV's. Apparently it's all Visa's doing and it concerns money laundering. I'm not going to say much as I don't want to end up on some list or anything, but apparently the more you try to avoid suspicious trading activity at one store and end up spreading it around looks to loss prevention as suspicious overall activity. It's in BB's best interest to nip the "offenders" in the bud before it attracts attention at a much higher level (feds) which causes them nothing but headaches. It's all about conversion of funds from one source (cash--->games) to another source (games-->VV's - essentially cash). If you stick to your 2/day per account, there would be no problems from corporate. That being said, each manager can, at their own discretion, hand out store bans and DM's district bans for any reason. The main reason those are handed out is concerns about theft.

Bottom line - they need to be able to follow the money. Once the source becomes obscured (gift cards ---> different gift card, etc) there's nothing but trouble on their end - it has nothing to do with aggravating the customer.

Also - the reason that they will typically not talk to you about your account is culpability. If they have concerns or suspicions, they are to be reported to the authorities. If they let activity continue that seems suspicious and do not report it, they themselves become party to the act and put the company at risk. It's all about the paperwork (or lack thereof).

Nice gal. Will continue to support her store with my business. Hope this clears up a few things.

Also - the last thing that you would want to do is to start a discussion on how to avoid detection, so please just read this post and digest.

360 TIV's:
Oblivion: GOTY $35
Monster Jam $22

[babigm]

The Gamestop TIV for Dark Sector (360) in the second post is outdated, it's 2.50 now. They have it in the GS thread, but wanted to mention it in case someone was buying it as B1G1 filler like I originally was.

At that TIV I might just keep it instead, the demo was decent. In case it does suck, how do the returns work for this sale? Can I exchange it for some other $9.99 game, do I have to return both games to do it, or what? Do I have to return it to the same store?

[Animal7390]

damn work getting in the way of my time.

[mkernan]

The Gamestop TIV for Dark Sector (360) in the second post is outdated, it's 2.50 now. They have it in the GS thread, but wanted to mention it in case someone was buying it as B1G1 filler like I originally was.

At that TIV I might just keep it instead, the demo was decent. In case it does suck, how do the returns work for this sale? Can I exchange it for some other $9.99 game, do I have to return both games to do it, or what? Do I have to return it to the same store?

Yeah I mentioned this TIV pages and pages ago but I guess it slipped past the jedi master.

However, I bought it shortly after release and really enjoyed; I'd say its well worth the $5 you paid for it. To over simplify, its a decent-to-good Gears of War clone with a fun throwing disc mechanic.

In my experience, they'll only let you exchange a game if it doesn't work and they'll only exchange it for the same thing (unless they don't have another copy). Depends on the employee, but I think that's technically their policy.

[stoned99]

Guys - as far as the bannination goes...I had a nice talk with a gal (presumably manager - friendly, knowledgeable) today at a BB about the VV's. Apparently it's all Visa's doing and it concerns money laundering. I'm not going to say much as I don't want to end up on some list or anything, but apparently the more you try to avoid suspicious trading activity at one store and end up spreading it around looks to loss prevention as suspicious overall activity. It's in BB's best interest to nip the "offenders" in the bud before it attracts attention at a much higher level (feds) which causes them nothing but headaches. It's all about conversion of funds from one source (cash--->games) to another source (games-->VV's - essentially cash). If you stick to your 2/day per account, there would be no problems from corporate. That being said, each manager can, at their own discretion, hand out store bans and DM's district bans for any reason. The main reason those are handed out is concerns about theft.

Bottom line - they need to be able to follow the money. Once the source becomes obscured (gift cards ---> different gift card, etc) there's nothing but trouble on their end - it has nothing to do with aggravating the customer.

Also - the reason that they will typically not talk to you about your account is culpability. If they have concerns or suspicions, they are to be reported to the authorities. If they let activity continue that seems suspicious and do not report it, they themselves become party to the act and put the company at risk. It's all about the paperwork (or lack thereof).

Nice gal. Will continue to support her store with my business. Hope this clears up a few things.

Also - the last thing that you would want to do is to start a discussion on how to avoid detection, so please just read this post and digest.

360 TIV's:
Oblivion: GOTY $35
Monster Jam $22

I find that argument hard to believe, there is no way BBV could have come to that conclusion so quickly after starting to sell VV just two short weeks ago. Now if the reason is simply that they never wanted the trade monies to leave blockbuster, then they could have quite easily have said so in the trade agreement, or by communicating such a thing to the store managers. I mean come on, I maybe bought 9 VV's, I doubt that the feds are interested in anyone buying 9 vv's, especially using BBV credit.

So is there anyone else out there who bought that many VV's but is still able to trade ?

[Animal7390]

im at 3 soon to be more though as mine are running out or bogo games.

[galvatron2k1]

I find that argument hard to believe, there is no way BBV could have come to that conclusion so quickly after starting to sell VV just two short weeks ago. Now if the reason is simply that they never wanted the trade monies to leave blockbuster, then they could have quite easily have said so in the trade agreement, or by communicating such a thing to the store managers. I mean come on, I maybe bought 9 VV's, I doubt that the feds are interested in anyone buying 9 vv's, especially using BBV credit.

So is there anyone else out there who bought that many VV's but is still able to trade ?

One store in my area has yet to sell VV's because the manager told me the store needs to go through a loss prevention class until they are "allowed" to sell them. He told me they have them, but cannot put them out. So, this might be true. And that was weeks before this story came out.

[akiefer]

I find that argument hard to believe, there is no way BBV could have come to that conclusion so quickly after starting to sell VV just two short weeks ago. Now if the reason is simply that they never wanted the trade monies to leave blockbuster, then they could have quite easily have said so in the trade agreement, or by communicating such a thing to the store managers. I mean come on, I maybe bought 9 VV's, I doubt that the feds are interested in anyone buying 9 vv's, especially using BBV credit.

So is there anyone else out there who bought that many VV's but is still able to trade ?

You missed the point - this particular aspect doesn't originate from BB, but from Visa (and presumably state and federal laws). It's not about what you did exactly...it's what your actions could possibly be construed as. The money laundering "class" and test (yes, they needed to pass a test) was required by Visa as a condition for the sale of the VV's.

It's about avoiding the headache. Even a potential one.

[edavis0780]

I find that argument hard to believe, there is no way BBV could have come to that conclusion so quickly after starting to sell VV just two short weeks ago. Now if the reason is simply that they never wanted the trade monies to leave blockbuster, then they could have quite easily have said so in the trade agreement, or by communicating such a thing to the store managers. I mean come on, I maybe bought 9 VV's, I doubt that the feds are interested in anyone buying 9 vv's, especially using BBV credit.

So is there anyone else out there who bought that many VV's but is still able to trade ?

It sounds like Blockbuster isn't the one that came to the conclusion. It does make sense, although if everything is being tied to an account there is a record. This is not something that is the trade agreement and it doesn't need to be in the trade agreement. If you think about it, it does make a lot of sense, because I'm sure that there are some people trading in stolen games as a part time job (professional thieves). This is also a quick way to cash out for them as well. Since most of us are trading in 5+ of the same game and purchasing Visa Vanillas we look like we fit the bill.

[king007]

As 1 of the banned Im pretty sure the banning has to do with the number of games being traded in and the value of those games. I exploited the hell out of BBV. Back when the MGS4 bundles were available at BBV, i bought 8 with credit so that should tell you just how much I was trading. But I DIDNT break the rules accroding to how they were outlined to me. BUT i can almost guarantee its dollar amount + the number of same title trades. Either way i just bummed 2 BBV cards off friends so i should be back in rare form soon.. BTW..Am i the only one who got a nasty call from corp when i was banned. I should have recorded the call. It was classic.:lol:

[donut]

I find that argument hard to believe, there is no way BBV could have come to that conclusion so quickly after starting to sell VV just two short weeks ago. Now if the reason is simply that they never wanted the trade monies to leave blockbuster, then they could have quite easily have said so in the trade agreement, or by communicating such a thing to the store managers. I mean come on, I maybe bought 9 VV's, I doubt that the feds are interested in anyone buying 9 vv's, especially using BBV credit.

So is there anyone else out there who bought that many VV's but is still able to trade ?

The reason mentioned so complete by the other op is the same one I was told by another smart/informed manager.
You bought nine and have posted that here.
How many lurkers that do not post bought nine or ?
The non informative bragging/reporting that takes place is this thread (and now another thread) with ten thousand views Will make a difference in two weeks.

[mkernan]

Back when the MGS4 bundles were available at BBV, i bought 8 with credit so that should tell you just how much I was trading.

Holy hell.

[sp00ge]

You missed the point - this particular aspect doesn't originate from BB, but from Visa (and presumably state and federal laws). It's not about what you did exactly...it's what your actions could possibly be construed as. The money laundering "class" and test (yes, they needed to pass a test) was required by Visa as a condition for the sale of the VV's.

It's about avoiding the headache. Even a potential one.

I heard a very similar story from the manager at my local BBV, so this could very well be true.

[dallow]

King, what did the message say?
Wow.

[stoned99]

You missed the point - this particular aspect doesn't originate from BB, but from Visa (and presumably state and federal laws). It's not about what you did exactly...it's what your actions could possibly be construed as. The money laundering "class" and test (yes, they needed to pass a test) was required by Visa as a condition for the sale of the VV's.

It's about avoiding the headache. Even a potential one.

OK, I did miss the Visa point, but I wonder what the watermark for being banned is (if this is the reason), I cannot for a second believe that I was at the top of a list of VV card buyers. I consider myself a midlevel flipper compared to most in this forum.

[n8rockerasu]

It really wouldn't surprise me if it was all Visa's doing. Even though the VV is more like a debit card, these companies come up with all kinds of rules to protect their backend.

In a way, it reminds me of how when you return something, if you paid with a credit card, the store HAS to issue the refund back to the card. If they don't they could get in a lot of trouble because this falls under the category of a cash advance, but of course without the finance charges. Credit card companies get pissed about this kind of stuff. You definitely don't want to screw with them, haha

[ghozt]

ps3
far cry 2 - no trade found
endwar - $36

[dyeknom]

I bought quite a few VV, but almost always in a separate transaction (except for one). I have, however, bought various other GCs with the same transaction.

I am, however, afraid to go try to trade... because I don't *really* want the embarassment of being banned.

[alexiel]

i had the same problem with trying to purchase a VV as well. manager said something about tracking the money etc. etc. Really wasn't paying attention because after she said no I stopped listening. Went to another BB and the guy told me you couldn't purchase a gift card with another gift card.

[spauldingfan]

Is this just for VV or all the gift cards....like the macys gc?

[stone1061]

ps3
far cry 2 - no trade found
endwar - $36
They wouldn't accept Far Cry 2? I was going to trade one tonight on my way to work. Guess I'll find out for myself.

[io]

Interesting comments about the VV's. Well, I've bought 2 - one on my account at my local store and another off-account with a Value card. I would have to think that certainly isn't enough to raise any suspicion (plus my relatively light trading the last few weeks). In any case, I'm glad I went (more nuts) with the Macy's cards, as they don't seem to cause quite as much fuss.

Someone said the manager told them if you stick to the 2 games per day you are OK? So these people that were banned all did more than that? That doesn't seem to be the case, but perhaps it is.

Just be careful. Gamestop doesn't have to wait for monday for TIV price drops, and BBV needs a reason for an exchange for a diferent product. Their used return policy isn't as lenient as Gamestop's.

Heh - I don't have much choice. We keep getting more and more snow and now I don't even think I can get down my street WITH chains at this point. Yesterday I said I was glad the GS trade-in promo was extended through the Dec 26-28 period as I still have a bunch of HWV games (in addition to Wii stuff from BBV that I planned to save till then). Well, now I'm not so sure I'll even make it out for THAT promo period :roll:. Damn... I don't have that many GTA's (3 PS3, 1 360 and might keep 1 PS3 copy anyway). Those I can probably eBay for at least even money. It's these crappy HWV games I was hoping to get rid of today at the latest - but that ain't happenin'. Not to mention I still haven't had a chance to check out more than a handful of HWV stores for restocks and barely any BBV stores for B1G1.

I did have a few eBay things to mail today - thankfully USPS has a free pickup option and it worked very nicely - signed up online last night and they came today when they delivered the mail. But the guy from Germany is gonna have to wait as I couldn't print postage for that one ;).

I agree 100%.
That target coupon got me my flip screen for my 360 for free. I guess honorable mention should be given to Cars, Call of Duty 2, and Viva Pinata, since they were the main games that were available for "free".

YMMV as all those games never got below $14.98 here - so it wasn't nearly as good a flip as the all-time king F4 $4->$30 ;). Of course another element of what made F4 so great was that it was so easy to get. Even if you had $9.98 Target games they were in limited supply (most places anyway) not to mention the YMMV of getting the coupon accepted.

Various nuggets of BBV info:

-B1G1 Promo runs til 1/12/09 according to signage at my store.

Awesome - well, we better be thawed out by Jan or it is the end of the world or something and we'll all have much bigger worries on our hands ;). So I'll be able to check out a few more BBV at some point, anyway. I just hope there's still a good GS trade-in promo in January.

I can confirm that -- regular Oblivion for 360 rang up at $19.99 for me, too (it wasn't GOTY or anything funky like that).

Yeah, we cleared that up a long time ago. I just forgot to delete it from the list - it's gone now. It was mistagged $9.99 at my store but is $19.99 in reality...

As for the second post, sorry I haven't been too on top of it recently - been distracted with the snow ;). But I just updated it with posts from here and will compare/contrast with the GS thread a bit later to make sure all the BBV->GS prices are current.

[mr. newbie]

snip

a manager let me exchange games when i told him i would much rather play zelda than spiderman fof. i think it's a ymmv. i didn't see anything on the receipt. he said someone came in before me and bough 15 gta4's lol.

[vanilla_shakin_it]

Gta iv is still holding at 10 base tiv and I was lucky enough to pick up a complete monster jam. BRING ON THE B2G1 ALREADY!

[bgame2]

Was anyone actually able to buy a VV in the last day or two?

[mkernan]

Was anyone actually able to buy a VV in the last day or two?

Last one I bought was on Saturday.

[bgame2]

I was planning on doing a little last minute christmas shopping with one or two. I may have to test the waters.

[sarge1991]

So i went to my BBV and picked up a couple games, i was brought aside by the manager and was told that my account has been flagged like many of your guys. He told me the main reason was because of the VV. And he named a couple of multiples i traded in at different BBV (3x Sea Monsters etc...). Anyways i have to call the DM now, what have you guys told them? I don't want to get a banhammer?!

[RCS0926]

Noob question. What does VV stand for?

[Nikadimas]

Noob question. What does VV stand for?

The Visa Vanilla giftcard.

[RCS0926]

Thanks!

[Nikadimas]

ps3
far cry 2 - no trade found
endwar - $36

They wouldn't accept Far Cry 2? I was going to trade one tonight on my way to work. Guess I'll find out for myself.

Had something odd happen at my BB. I took in a copy of Far Cry 2 (PS3) and Prince of Persia (360), and I got my $35 for PP but not FC2, she told me that they were not accepting that game, probably because it was too new. She even checked the system, and I guess it told her not to accept the game. What gives? Did she just not want to take that game from me or what? Just thought I should let you guys know.

Yeah I had a problem with that at one BBV today. Just took it to another and it went through fine. I guess it would have something to do with the amount of rental copies they have in their inventory or something.

Ratchet and Clank was up to $9.75 base at GS making it my favorite flip and I think the rest I traded in stayed the same.

EDIT: If you guys have cool GS employees, one of the store managers here will let you buy 2 games and, as long as it's within a week, let you bring back the receipt during the B2G1 sale and pick up a free game. Be sure to check with them before you do this though, since I only know of one that does it around here.

[andrew333]

been a long time since i have checked into this site as living with the wife has diminished my game playing

wondered if a definitive list of 14.99 games has been posted somewhere (i grabbed gta iv, no more heroes, condemned 2 and unreal 3 only one of which was marked at 14.99)

[Doc Samson]

Yeah, I also grabbed GTA IV and Condemned 2, but there was barely anything marked under 14.99. They had crappy little handwritten signs advertising the sale, but they hadn't changed any of the prices. I'm not gonna take 2 handfuls up to the counter and have them check them for me.

[animemaniac14]

^^ try fat..errr...first post! (sry was lookin at your avatar when i was trying to type lol)

[jdawgg76]

^^ try fat..errr...first post! (sry was lookin at your avatar when i was trying to type lol)There's a bunch of 14.99 games not listed in the first post, in fact the 9.99 list is great, but there's only a handful of 14.99 games listed. Edit: Just rechecked and the second post has a bunch more, but there's a bunch out there not listed like Turok, Prizefighter, Burnout is now 9.99, Virtua Tennis 3 is now 6.99, etc.

[Sinnbox]

Just be careful. Gamestop doesn't have to wait for monday for TIV price drops, and BBV needs a reason for an exchange for a diferent product. Their used return policy isn't as lenient as Gamestop's.

I jsut told them that I bought it for a friend and he found a copy elsewhere, They took it back without a problem.

[n8rockerasu]

been a long time since i have checked into this site as living with the wife has diminished my game playing

wondered if a definitive list of 14.99 games has been posted somewhere (i grabbed gta iv, no more heroes, condemned 2 and unreal 3 only one of which was marked at 14.99)

This was posted by Jesse757x on page 48, and has been very useful to me:

Heres my rough list of used 14.99 and under games. sorry i didn't write down every games price. Hope this helps lol

:360:
Beautiful Katamari
Condemned 2
the club
Eragon
Fear Files
Fear
Frontlines fuel of war
dark sector
narania
dead or alive
potc
spiderwick
shadowrun
spiderman3
sega tennis
sega rally revo
turok
Vf5
transformers
smackdown vs. raw
viva pinata
virtual tennis
dead rising
Crackdown
lost planet
all pro football
tony hawk pg
monster madness
the outfit
superman returns
shrek 3rd
armored core 4
blue dragon
earth defense force
harry potter order of phoneix
phantasy star universe
ratatouille
star trek legacy
orange box
call of duty 3
the simpsons
Moto GP 2007
Avatar burning earth
skate
jericho
need for speed pro street
stuntman
prizefighter
pgr4

:ps3:
ut3
tiger woods 08
gengi
lost
lair
ridge racer 7
sega rally revo
nba live 08
Medal of honor airborne
cars mater nation.
nba 07
nba ballers chosen one
mlb 2k7
ncaa 08
darkness
Blacksite area 51
skate

:wii:
nights
counter force
tony hawk downhill jam
bee movie
spongebob squarep creature from krusty krab.
no more heroes
meet the robinsons
battle of the bands
potc
go diego safari rescue
rock n roll
pinball hall of fame
alvin and the chipmunks
alien syndrome
bionicle heroes
fantastic 4
golden compass
billy the wizard
cocoto magic circus
ice age 2
ninja bread
dragon blade
escape from bug island
madden 08
crash of the titans
geometry wars
metal slug anthology
octomania
super swing golf
spyro
table tennis
godfather
sonic riders zero gravity
lego star wars complete saga

[Sinnbox]

Wow I just hit the BBV that had over 100 14.99 and under games last week, they told me that they have had several people buy 20+ games in the last week(crazy because I was the only one that bought any games lase B1G1)

[stone1061]

Denied on Far Cry 2 PS3. Will just return it tomorrow and wait til the B2G1 to consider getting it again seeing if it goes through.

[Warner1281]

Just got back from a week's vacation to find a whole turmoil of things have happened.

(1) B1G1 started early... damn. Missed out on some good titles I'm sure.
(2) Effective immediately, all stores are to pull all remaining Vanilla Visa's off the shelves. There was no reason given, nor were we told what to do with them. Only a communication saying to pull them off the shelf NOW!
(3) Something else I can't remember... :cry: Oh yeah, Mercs 2 and Bad Company dropped in price, so expect the TIVs to drop tonight.

[mkernan]

(2) Effective immediately, all stores are to pull all remaining Vanilla Visa's off

Ouch.

Although... knowing my local stores and how bad they are at keeping current on stuff, I probably have another week to buy them.

[dinovelvet]

(2) Effective immediately, all stores are to pull all remaining Vanilla Visa's off the shelves. There was no reason given, nor were we told what to do with them. Only a communication saying to pull them off the shelf NOW!


Who wants to bet that EVERY SINGLE VV sold at a Blockbuster to date has been bought with store credit?

[newlu]

(2) Effective immediately, all stores are to pull all remaining Vanilla Visa's off the shelves. There was no reason given, nor were we told what to do with them. Only a communication saying to pull them off the shelf NOW!

:cold:

Edit:

TIV 12/22/08
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition :360: - $35.00

[Sinnbox]

how much is far cry 2 at GS? I was there today and forgot to look.

[vanilla_shakin_it]

how much is far cry 2 at GS? I was there today and forgot to look.
gamestop.com
Figured that would be obvious.

[sgaldis]

Sorry to all you folks who had trouble with Far Cry 2 today; I was able to trade it in, no prob...

PS3:
Legendary $36.00
Resistance 2 $36.00

360:
Far Cry Instincts Predator $6.00
Far Cry 2 $32.00

picked up a bunch of stuff for the Wii sale next week; too tired right now to find the prices, but it's mostly the standard stuff that's been listed so far. Also was able to grab the DVR dock for my new Archos 605 for $69.99. I am really loving this little MP3 player, especially for $100.

There's another idea for you guys out there looking to cash out some BBV credit. I've been lucky to find some really nice more upscale BBV's lately that seem to be in the very first stages of switching over to that 'mini Best Buy'-type of mentality.

From what I've seen they've had some pretty decent deal on the electronics they do have. The Archos 605 is a steal at $99, and I've seen some decent deals up there on Blu-Ray players...one even had a pretty nice Sony HTIB (w/ HDMI, etc..) for $249. Just an idea of some alternate ways to spend all that hard-earned credit.

[eraser813]

Had something odd happen at my BB. I took in a copy of Far Cry 2 (PS3) and Prince of Persia (360), and I got my $35 for PP but not FC2, she told me that they were not accepting that game, probably because it was too new. She even checked the system, and I guess it told her not to accept the game. What gives? Did she just not want to take that game from me or what? Just thought I should let you guys know.

Yup, they don't take Far Cry 2 on PS3 but they do take it for 360. The reason is unknown to me. I found this out 3 days ago but forgot to share the info.

[io]

There's a bunch of 14.99 games not listed in the first post, in fact the 9.99 list is great, but there's only a handful of 14.99 games listed. Edit: Just rechecked and the second post has a bunch more, but there's a bunch out there not listed like Turok, Prizefighter, Burnout is now 9.99, Virtua Tennis 3 is now 6.99, etc.

Wait, Burnout what? Not Paradise as that was $19.99 last time someone checked it just a few days ago. Or did it just drop Sunday? And for what system if so?

(2) Effective immediately, all stores are to pull all remaining Vanilla Visa's off the shelves. There was no reason given, nor were we told what to do with them. Only a communication saying to pull them off the shelf NOW!

:shock:

Did I not say these were going to be trouble!? It looks like what has happened is all the VV purchases have triggered investigations of trading/spending habits and they've simply uncovered regular and ongoing flipping behavior but they've taken junior detectivism to a whole new level and assume they all must be related to money laundering, etc...

I just hope this doesn't derail the "normal" flipping that we've all enjoyed for so long. They may start keeping more of an eye out for this sort of thing. I think the VV's have (unintentionally) shown a bright light on our little dark secret ;).

On the other hand, since their major concern is stolen goods being traded in (they must just assume it is happening on a massive scale) it should be able to be cleared up on an individual basis if you can produce receipts. Problem is, you have to get a SM and DM that even cares to deal with it and that, as many have found out, is hard to do. It is pretty shitty that they will basically accuse you of being a criminal and then not give you the chance to clear yourself.

-----------------

OK, I hadn't heard anything about some sort of Far Cry 2 deal at GS and I'm looking now and still don't see what the big deal is. I see it at $35 used and it trades for $32 on the 360 and not at all on the PS3? Eh, is that it? That doesn't seem worthy of even adding to the second post if so...

[Sinnbox]

Who wants to bet that EVERY SINGLE VV sold at a Blockbuster to date has been bought with store credit?

I have no doubt all of them were bought with store credit, I have no idea why someone would want to pay $105.95 for a $100 gift, I would rather give someone a $100 bill, they could sepnd it alot easier.

[Sinnbox]

gamestop.com
Figured that would be obvious.

DUH, wow I feel retarded!!

[GuardianE]

just found another great wii flip. mlb 2k8 is 9.99 at bbv and trades for 8 base at gs.

I wanted to quote this because if I hadn't read back a few pages I would've completely missed it. Just in case it doesn't make its way to the OP.



.

[rywateska]

Hey IO,

Are the TIV to BB up to date in post #2? There are some values from way back into October on there. Why not just take them off? Also, I'm trying to keep track of recent drops and haven't some of the ones from 12/7, 12/14, & 12/21 been updated in the past week or so?

Thanks!

[io]

OK, just to be safe I added Far Cry 2...

I wanted to quote this because if I hadn't read back a few pages I would've completely missed it. Just in case it doesn't make its way to the OP.
.
Uh, I ignored that (mlb2k8 on Wii) because I didn't even think there was such a thing - figured it was a typo. I've certainly never seen it for sale anywhere. I'll add it to the second post if it was more than just a fluke find at one store.

Hey IO,

Are the TIV to BB up to date in post #2? There are some values from way back into October on there. Why not just take them off? Also, I'm trying to keep track of recent drops and haven't some of the ones from 12/7, 12/14, & 12/21 been updated in the past week or so?

Thanks!

They are as up to date as CAGs have made them up to date - though I still haven't gone through the GS thread to cross-reference. Some of the quotes may very well be from October in the GS thread as well. Then they will be from October here too... Just to be clear (again), when I say I am updating those values, I AM NOT calling and getting up to the minute trade-in values, I am simply going through the thread and taking what others have reported.

I've tried to catch any BBV trade-in price updates, though this thread gets so many posts it is hard to remember where I last checked. If anything needs updating there let me know. We haven't gotten a lot of TIV quotes recently as FoS noted earlier. So yeah, most will still have 12/21 dates at best.

[FaintDeftone]

I took the PS3 version of Prince of Persia up to Blockbuster today and got $36 for it. I used that trade in credit to buy four BOGO games. I got:

Frontlines: FoW
Dark Sector
The Club
TimeShift

all for $25 for 360. All of these games are games that I've played a demo for and enjoyed, but didn't want to spend a lot of money on. I'm going to start my overlooked mediocre marathon soon :D

I still have 10 bucks credit left too. I may go back and get Virtua Fighter 5 and something else.

[Ragnorok64]

(2) Effective immediately, all stores are to pull all remaining Vanilla Visa's off the shelves. There was no reason given, nor were we told what to do with them. Only a communication saying to pull them off the shelf NOW!


Can anyone else in another location/district confirm this?

[irishsoccermbw]

Wow about the VV cards, glad I didn't have them swipe my BB card when I purchased them.

[Sinnbox]

OK, just to be safe I added Far Cry 2...


Uh, I ignored that (mlb2k8 on Wii) because I didn't even think there was such a thing - figured it was a typo. I've certainly never seen it for sale anywhere. I'll add it to the second post if it was more than just a fluke find at one store.





I have it sitting here in my room, so It's a go, I wish I would have know it traded for $8 I would have takein it on my flip trip today.

P.S. Fronlines Fuel of war trades for $6 GS, I wish I would have known earlier, it was the title I needed to trade to get to the 40% tier.

[mkernan]

Uh, I ignored that (mlb2k8 on Wii) because I didn't even think there was such a thing - figured it was a typo. I've certainly never seen it for sale anywhere. I'll add it to the second post if it was more than just a fluke find at one store.

Apparently, it does exist. First I've ever heard/seen it.

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=4033

[Smallville123]

I also picked up unreal 3 for the ps3 and dead rising for the 360

[JJSP]

No Visa giftcards to be found in the three stores I visited tonight (Brea and La Habra, CA).

Also was told that they weren't taking :360: Beijing 2008 anymore despite having two copies on the shelf. Still picked up :360: Blue Dragon and :wii: Zack & Wiki tonight for $10.78. :)

[GuardianE]

Uh, I ignored that (mlb2k8 on Wii) because I didn't even think there was such a thing - figured it was a typo. I've certainly never seen it for sale anywhere. I'll add it to the second post if it was more than just a fluke find at one store.

Oh okay. I hadn't realized that. No one really commented on it afterward and the post was pretty small, so I thought that it might have slipped through the cracks.

[doubledown]

Wow, the VV is crazy....glad I picked up a $100 and a $50 recently to finish off XMAS shopping. I know when I bought my 1st one, the girl said they were unsure they could sell those with credit...threw up a red flag she said, but she said it was "ok" and I was able to purchase the $50 one.

Oh well, I have to trade in Too Human tomorrow....hopefully it still gets $22. We'll see.

[jdawgg76]

Wait, Burnout what? Not Paradise as that was $19.99 last time someone checked it just a few days ago. Or did it just drop Sunday? And for what system if so?
My bad, I shoulda been a little more specific, but I always seem to forget about the Burnout imposter (Paradise).

360 Burnout Revenge 9.99
360 Turok 14.99
360 Virtua Tennis 3 6.99
360 Monster Madness 6.99
360 Conan 9.99
360 Soldier of Fortune 9.99

Getting BR, VT3 and Conan at these prices without B1G1 is already well worth every penny, but getting these at half these price (and less for flipped credit!)is a steal.

[mvp828]

Shit... I am debating running out in the storm right now to see if I can catch a store that hasn't pulled the VVs yet.

On another note, extremely pissed that I got hit with my first refurb fee(s) ever today. I forgot to check the discs before I went in and the old guy working hit me with a $3 fee on one and then two more that were $1 and $2. I think a call will be going to customer service regarding this.

[sarge1991]

My BBV manager told me i had to call the DM, but he didn't say my account was banned! I dont know if i should call now or after the holidays (doubt ill be able to flip anything anyways). To those that have called there DMs whats the outcomes, do they question you and etc>?

[Ragnorok64]

Shit... I am debating running out in the storm right now to see if I can catch a store that hasn't pulled the VVs yet.

On another note, extremely pissed that I got hit with my first refurb fee(s) ever today. I forgot to check the discs before I went in and the old guy working hit me with a $3 fee on one and then two more that were $1 and $2. I think a call will be going to customer service regarding this.
Refurb fees are infuriating.

[irishsoccermbw]

Refurb fees are infuriating.

Especially when they don't tell you and its just tacked on (until you check your receipt in the car or parking lot and curse loudly). If anyone wanted to sue gamestop, theres your in.

[Link927]

Well, I just had an intersting expereince today. Checked out another BBV, and finally found at GTAIV. During checkout, the clerk told me someone had actually came in earlier and ask for that title specifically and bought them all out, didnt care about the case. I was thinking it was a CAG who did it, but then why would he/she leave the case on the shelf.

[Rave Child]

On another note, extremely pissed that I got hit with my first refurb fee(s) ever today. I forgot to check the discs before I went in and the old guy working hit me with a $3 fee on one and then two more that were $1 and $2. I think a call will be going to customer service regarding this.

I hate when they won't tell you that they're adding refurb fees. I was at a store yesterday and asked they guy what each of the games got individually. Then I totaled it up and did the math really quickly on my phone. The little screen came up for me to sign and I asked what the total was, and he told me to sign first. I told him I didn't want to sign it until he gave me the total. He told me he couldn't see it until after I signed and accepted. I was a little fed up at that point after waiting in a monsterous line, so I just did it. He finalized everything and printed out my receipt, then read the total off that. Of course, the jackass added refurb fees to two games and waited until after the transaction to tell me about it.

Also, when I was at a Blockbuster earlier, I was being helped by a manager who listening in on some sort of conference call. I'm not sure if it was a district or regional or nationwide, but she had it on speaker until they started talking about some sort of holiday sale. Basically, from what I overheard, there was supposed to be some sort of clearance sale starting on the 26th, but they're pushing it up immediately, starting tomorrow. All the stores were supposed to spend the rest of their night preparing for it. Can anybody shed some light on this? Maybe it's whatever that deal posted on SD was?

Finally, I see from Gamestop's website that the PS3 Endwar is supposed to come with a bluetooth headset. Does BBV need that when you trade in, or is game only fine? Thanks.

[Sinnbox]

Shit... I am debating running out in the storm right now to see if I can catch a store that hasn't pulled the VVs yet.

On another note, extremely pissed that I got hit with my first refurb fee(s) ever today. I forgot to check the discs before I went in and the old guy working hit me with a $3 fee on one and then two more that were $1 and $2. I think a call will be going to customer service regarding this.

I hate refurb fees, you are talking about GS not BBV right? that's all we need is BBV staring to do refurb fees!!

I was glad that I the GS i went to today was full of High school temps(that were possibly High), they didnt even check to see if the disk's were in the cases(they were) the norlam worker there usualy charges refurb fee's on everything, even some games I had just opened from K-Mart clearance!!

[sgaldis]

IAlso, when I was at a Blockbuster earlier, I was being helped by a manager who listening in on some sort of conference call.

Yes, at one BBV I was at today, I had a newer CSR who needed some help with processing a trade (she had only done one before, with the help of the manager). It took forever for him to come out, and she finally explained that he was on some super-important conference call.

...the plot thickens...

But wouldn't you really think it probably has more to do with this whole VV debacle? It seems a lot of stores are buzzing about it, and that another mass e-mail went out yesterday regarding these, according to my local.

Weren't we all just talking about 2 weeks ago over on thread XIX how the VV's would eventually be our downfall? :cry:


And to go a little OT with everyone else, I got slammed with refurb fees at a GS today, the most I've ever had: $26!!!!!! 11 out of 13 games got hit with a fee; but I do have to say, some of them were in extremely CRAPPY condition. Luckily, some of them were some high earners from MG/HWV, so I was still happy what I got away with. The Baldur's Gate II (PS2) I traded had a small area on the label of the disc that had been ripped down to the bare disc by someone trying to remove an old sticker (still playable, just looked like crap!). Still though, the GS I went to was staffed by 3 girls (seemed to be high school age), so I wasn't expecting them to be such sticklers! The old GS rhetoric did a good job of zombifying them, apparently.

[Ragnorok64]

Man and I just got into flipping too, and the house of cards is already coming down. Well at least on VV's

Guess I'll have to grab DS Lites and Wiis. I want a way of getting my money out of the cycle since places other and Gamestop and BBV tend to have the best sales on new releases.

[bgame2]

Anybody on the east coast seen any of this VV business yet? I wanted to hit up a few stores tonight but this evening's family activity got underway too late.

[GuardianE]

I'm on the east coast and while the bannings seem to be happening on the west, I'm going to hang up my VV purchasing. If new memos and calls are going around about the VVs and pulling them from shelves, then it's getting serious. Luckily, I've not bought a VV while my account was open, but it wouldn't take someone too much snooping to put it together, I believe. Most of the Blockbusters in my area know who I am from all the activity I do.

[Animal7390]

i went to a bbv today at lunch and they still had the cards up. i will check again tomorrow when i go to the other one during my lunch. also, i reported the prince of persia game earlier. i called in and got the value. i would say it not being accepted is ymmv by store.

[majinvegeta-88]

I picked up cranium kabooki today at blockbuster for 9.99 along w/ zack & wiki. Are you sure it still trades in for $16? Why would they give $16 for a game they sell for 9.99?

[GuardianE]

I picked up cranium kabooki today at blockbuster for 9.99 along w/ zack & wiki. Are you sure it still trades in for $16? Why would they give $16 for a game they sell for 9.99?

Because after they sell it to you, they realize how much they want it back.

[io]

OK, I synced up prices with the GS trade-in thread. There really wan't anything that changed. In fact, we have some newwer quotes in the second post of this thread than over there. Also, we have several games listed that aren't even in the GS thread list.

So I repeat, if you flip any games from BBV, it is more important that you post the prices OVER THERE in the GS thread than in here (though both help because I'm more likely to add it faster if it is in here also). But please make sure they get into the GS thread too. For example, no SST Wii, MLB 2K8 Wii, or Bee Movie Game (Wii and 360) over there at all - and several others too...

[bgame2]

I'll check tomorrow morning too. I'm wondering if this may be occuring in districts that have a few guys trading in the same area.

[Rave Child]

I'm on the east coast and while the bannings seem to be happening on the west, I'm going to hang up my VV purchasing. If new memos and calls are going around about the VVs and pulling them from shelves, then it's getting serious. Luckily, I've not bought a VV while my account was open, but it wouldn't take someone too much snooping to put it together, I believe. Most of the Blockbusters in my area know who I am from all the activity I do.

I'm also on the east coast. I'm definitely going to call it quits on the VVs, even if they remain available for another week or so. I bought 4, and I think 1 or 2 were attached to my account, but luckily I haven't been banned yet. I also traded a lot since the beginning of December. I know I traded about 9 Monster Jams (all to different stores) and about 10 Smash Court Tennis (all in pairs of 2), so I probably would have gotten the ban hammer if it was solely based on trading activity.

I'm kind of sad about the VVs being gone so quickly, even though it doesn't really surprise me. This storm has been much much more fruitful for me than the one from this summer, and I was hoping to cash some of it out. Oh well, maybe I'll just buy myself a new system or two...

[io]

If this turns out to be concentrated in certain areas (like LA) then I would guess that they had a huge number of VV sales there and got concerned about it. When they looked into it they found several people had bought many of them and did a lot of trading at the same time... And, well, they drew conclusions from that.

That's not to say that maybe there aren't some real thiefs out there trading in stolen games and cashing out with VV's. It's possible they have a big problem with that and the legit game traders have gotten swept up as well.

But since most of the bannings seem to be concentrated in parts of the LA area, let's all not forget that there are probably many more lurkers and, uh, former members of this site that hit that area pretty hard.

Where I am, for example, I almost never see a hot flip title at any Blockbuster that I didn't trade there myself. If I went in and saw 8-10 Legendarys or Monster Jams I'd probably turn the other way and never come back :lol:.

[nakanenui]

Found a BB with :360: Lego Star Wars Complete Saga for 14.99, :gc: Zelda Twilight Princess for 14.99, :ps2: Rogue Galaxy for 6.99 and :ps2: Prince of Persia Sands of Time for 6.99; but I ended up not going through with the sale because the discs were in terrible condition to risk keeping for collection. And I was able to cash out some Value Cards/Gift Cards that were less than $10 due to the California Gift Card law.

[nakanenui]

If this turns out to be concentrated in certain areas (like LA) then I would guess that they had a huge number of VV sales there and got concerned about it. When they looked into it they found several people had bought many of them and did a lot of trading at the same time... And, well, they drew conclusions from that.

That's not to say that maybe there aren't some real thiefs out there trading in stolen games and cashing out with VV's. It's possible they have a big problem with that and the legit game traders have gotten swept up as well.

But since most of the bannings seem to be concentrated in parts of the LA area, let's all not forget that there are probably many more lurkers and, uh, former members of this site that hit that area pretty hard.

Where I am, for example, I almost never see a hot flip title at any Blockbuster that I didn't trade there myself. If I went in and saw 8-10 Legendarys or Monster Jams I'd probably turn the other way and never come back :lol:.

Speaking of thieves, when I worked at a Blockbuster some 6 years ago, there was a story of some guy coming in to buy up about $500 of giftcards during the $5 free for every $50 bought. After they were all activated he walked out of the store while she was getting his free $5 cards. They caught the guy but man what balls to just walk out of the store with $500 of giftcards. And there are other stories too...

[Ragnorok64]

I may stop by my BBV tomorrow and try and pick up a PSN card(s?). I'll have to check and see what's up.

[Ragnorok64]

Speaking of thieves, when I worked at a Blockbuster some 6 years ago, there was a story of some guy coming in to buy up about $500 of giftcards during the $5 free for every $50 bought. After they were all activated he walked out of the store while she was getting his free $5 cards. They caught the guy but man what balls to just walk out of the store with $500 of giftcards. And there are other stories too...
Wait he tried to walk out with them after they were activated but before he paid, is what you're saying?

[hlb96]

TIV at BBV today:

Singstar PS3- $36

[nakanenui]

Wait he tried to walk out with them after they were activated but before he paid, is what you're saying?

He walked out with the cards, without anyone noticing. They caught him later when he tried to redeem them.

[ghozt]

Finally, I see from Gamestop's website that the PS3 Endwar is supposed to come with a bluetooth headset. Does BBV need that when you trade in, or is game only fine? Thanks.

i called for the tiv, so i didn't have a chance to trade it in yet. it didn't come with a headset or have that picture on the cover. i just made sure the upc was intact, no hole punches or not for resale logos. im sure trading it in game only will be fine as it has no mention of the headset and has a proper upc.

too bad about the vv. i've only purchased one $50 card not on account. my account is banned anyway so it wouldn't make a difference. now how would they link it back to my other account if i bought the card off the account. i didn't think bbv was smart enough to track people via account numbers on issued value cards.

[Slim Gatsby]

Eh, I dunno IO, I'm on the East Coast myself... :(

[smackattack]

No Visa giftcards to be found in the three stores I visited tonight (Brea and La Habra, CA).

Also was told that they weren't taking :360: Beijing 2008 anymore despite having two copies on the shelf. Still picked up :360: Blue Dragon and :wii: Zack & Wiki tonight for $10.78. :)

Ah, local competition.... ;)
I hit la habra and la mirada and found really weak selection. I was looking for ps3 stuff though.

I did finally find gta4 but typical of bb, no case. They also had oblivion, but when i went to the register they didnt have the game. Grrr, I did get them to give me the case though. I settled on UT3. I hate shooters on consoles, but 2 games for $16 is a good deal.

[JJSP]

Ah, local competition.... ;)
I hit la habra and la mirada and found really weak selection. I was looking for ps3 stuff though.

I did finally find gta4 but typical of bb, no case. They also had oblivion, but when i went to the register they didnt have the game. Grrr, I did get them to give me the case though. I settled on UT3. I hate shooters on consoles, but 2 games for $16 is a good deal.
I suppose that would explain why none of the stores I visited actually had GTA4. ;)

[falcon815]

Hm. No wonder my account was safe the last time I checked - I only bought one VV. Shame they're not hanging around for longer, but oh well; I'll just ring up some GS credit when the Wii trade bonus hits.

Gamefly order for QW:ET came a day late, so I'll probably take a slight hit on expected TIV, but it'll still turn into a discounted Red Lobster gift card, so it's all good.

[Animal7390]

Found a BB with :360: Lego Star Wars Complete Saga for 14.99, :gc: Zelda Twilight Princess for 14.99, :ps2: Rogue Galaxy for 6.99 and :ps2: Prince of Persia Sands of Time for 6.99; but I ended up not going through with the sale because the discs were in terrible condition to risk keeping for collection. And I was able to cash out some Value Cards/Gift Cards that were less than $10 due to the California Gift Card law.

i totally forgot to mention this. i should preface this by saying all bbv around me keep the games in the cases on the floor. the other day i bought a copy of mario baseball and the girl asked if she could open the non locking case games and make sure the games werent scratched too bad. of course i said sure. so she looks at mario baseball and says this one is pretty scratched do you mind waiting a minute while i buff it?

WHAT!!!?!?!?!?!

i was not aware of them having disc buffers. so anyway she puts the cube game in and came out good as new. so next time ask if they have a buffer or if there is a bbv with a buffer in your area, cause they apparently have the same policy hwv/mg/gc.

just a heads up as im going to be going back there to have some of my games buffed that i have left and have gotten for my personal collection and gifts.

[magus83]

i totally forgot to mention this. i should preface this by saying all bbv around me keep the games in the cases on the floor. the other day i bought a copy of mario baseball and the girl asked if she could open the non locking case games and make sure the games werent scratched too bad. of course i said sure. so she looks at mario baseball and says this one is pretty scratched do you mind waiting a minute while i buff it?

WHAT!!!?!?!?!?!

i was not aware of them having disc buffers. so anyway she puts the cube game in and came out good as new. so next time ask if they have a buffer or if there is a bbv with a buffer in your area, cause they apparently have the same policy hwv/mg/gc.

just a heads up as im going to be going back there to have some of my games buffed that i have left and have gotten for my personal collection and gifts.

Wow that's awesome news! I have no Hollywood video's and gamecrazy's near me so hopefully all BBV's have this. I have quite a few games I would like resurfaced.

[Yanksfan]

Dead Space still holding @ $25 this week. I am still contemplating whether or not to keep it or trade it.

[Horsewarrior of Janjaweed]

360 Endwar was trading in to BBV at $35 yesterday.

[camelking6969]

got outfit and quake 4 yesterday 9.99 b1g1 also had just cause for 6.99 but could not find anything to go with it

[bgame2]

Dead Space still holding @ $25 this week. I am still contemplating whether or not to keep it or trade it.


I sold my Dead Space for 40 after 1 playthrough and I have been regretting it for a while now.

[akiefer]

Guys - don't try too hard to connect the dots regarding your bans because there may not be any. Remember there are 3 roads to banland - corporate, district manager (district-wide), store manager (store only and whatever other local manager he/she calls) - and each can be for their own reasons with SM's being the most arbitrary.

IO - you mentioned earlier about multiples (I'm just catching up on the thread). It's multiples that are then cashed out with VV's that's setting off the alarm bells. Just trading in 2 of the same title per day per account will not peg the fraud-o-meter on the corporate level unless it's coupled with a VV purchase or these multiples are spread over several BBV's. It will, however, peg the annoy-o-meter of the SM who wants to see turnover or the DM who doesn't want inventory at all.

Funny, the BBV that I got the info from had no GTA IV's and had anywhere from 3-6 each of GOTY, Monster Jam and Legendary. CAG lurker, I guess... I wonder if the gal I spoke to, through her sharing of much information, was giving me a veiled warning to keep me out of trouble???

Cute gal...I'd have asked her out if I didn't think the wife would have a cow about it.

[emg28]

Wow about the VV cards, glad I didn't have them swipe my BB card when I purchased them.

I don't understand how anyone could have bought a VV on their account, unless they were forced to use credit on their account. I guess being paranoid paid off this time. All the VVs that I got were bought at BBs that I don't frequent.

If this turns out to be concentrated in certain areas (like LA) then I would guess that they had a huge number of VV sales there and got concerned about it. When they looked into it they found several people had bought many of them and did a lot of trading at the same time... And, well, they drew conclusions from that.

But since most of the bannings seem to be concentrated in parts of the LA area, let's all not forget that there are probably many more lurkers and, uh, former members of this site that hit that area pretty hard.


The Kunai effect.

You know he must have gone crazy with the VV. Damn lurker. ;)

[ReturnofBoltz]

TIV from BB-->GS

ALL WII:
=========
Elebits: $5
Battle of the Bands $5
Ninja Reflexes $5
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam $5
Super Swing Golf $4
Super Swing Golf Season 2: $2
Shrek the Third $3
Alien Syndrome $4
Dave Mirra's BMX Challenge $3

Figured I'd post them here as well as in the GS thread because I know a lot of you will be picking them up as part of the B1G1 and then the subsequent $5 bonus at GS.

Cute gal...I'd have asked her out if I didn't think the wife would have a cow about it.

This killed me.

[Lethal04]

so it is definitely confirmed that the BBV b1g1 starts 12/23. Along with that there is going to be a huge clearance sale on various stuff.

Consumer electronics
Archo mini dock $24.99
Archo battery dock adapter $34.99
Archo dvr statio gen5 for 605 $59.99
Coby photo key chain $9.99
Coby 2gb mp3 player $29.99
Pnimage 7" digital frame $59.99
Royal pf memory cup 1.5 $12.99
Royal pf photo clip 1.5 $12.99
Samsung bd-p1500 blu ray player $229.99
Sony mdr-v150 headphones $16.99

GOW figures $9.99
Nintendo figures $2.99

All board games and calendars 50% off
Halloween figures 50% off down to $7.49

Joker, dark knight and iron man standee $9.99

Ironman bobblehead $4.99

Wall-e plush and action figures 50% off

ALL framed art discounted.

Entertainment book $10 off

Can anyone confirm that all of this stuff is on clearance now?

[GuardianE]

I'm going to be hitting up BBV during lunch, so I should be able to report on some things. Crossing my fingers for a ridiculous drop.

[mkernan]

Can anyone confirm that all of this stuff is on clearance now?

Damnit... I forgot all that stuff was dropping and I forgot to hang on to any BBV credit. Whoops.

[akokonas]

i bought a gears of war figure last friday and it was still 14.99 r they really going on sale today?

[mkernan]

i bought a gears of war figure last friday and it was still 14.99 r they really going on sale today?

According to 'hawaiiboy' they are. I believe he works at a BBV, so I imagine his info is legit.

[Rave Child]

Can anyone confirm that all of this stuff is on clearance now?
The Mario figures still rang up as $4.99 on Sunday. These might be part of the post Christmas clearance that I overheard them moving up from the 26th to today, so perhaps they've all dropped. I'll be traveling this afternoon, so I won't be able to check any of it until tomorrow, at the earliest.

[GuardianE]

According to 'hawaiiboy' they are. I believe he works at a BBV, so I imagine his info is legit.

But those memos can get tricky. After all, the B1G1 started early.

[stone1061]

The Mario figures still rang up as $4.99 on Sunday. These might be part of the post Christmas clearance that I overheard them moving up from the 26th to today, so perhaps they've all dropped. I'll be traveling this afternoon, so I won't be able to check any of it until tomorrow, at the earliest.

I saw the Mario figures stickered $2.99 behind the counter yesterday when they wouldn't take my Far Cry 2 :cry:

[Animal7390]

well on sunday the date wasnt the 23rd. i am going on lunch to a bbv and will report back if i see anything.

[nlyonssmith]

Brea (on imperial) has the VV cards but you have to ask. I bought 2x 100 there last week.

[chuckx47]

BBV TIV (as of yesterday):

Oblivion GOTY - $35
Monster Jam - $22

[nietzsche74]

I think Dark Sector (360) might have just dropped to $12.99 at Gamestop, so if anyone was buying those just to flip...

[sgaldis]

Well, I was able to snag the Archos DVR dock yesterday, but it was $69.99...still a fair price, IMHO.


So has the big secret super-mega conference call sale started today???:bouncy:

[GuardianE]

The Gears figures weren't tagged any differently, but the guy working the store did have a list he was looking at while going through the merchandise. He may have simply not finished.

Vanilla Visas were still on the rack.

[mvp828]

Vanilla Visas were still on the rack.

So you're saying there's a chance...

I guess I will have to go out into the blizzard yet again. (Which by the way is crazy as it snowed for 51 hours straight and then stopped from 11 PM last night until 11 AM today).

Also, here were some GS TIVs from yesterday that I didn't get a chance to post late last night (I will post in both threads to help out the B1G1 peeps as well):

GTA IV 360 - 10
MLB 2k8 360 - 6
Virtua Fighter 5 Online 360 - 7
NHL 2k8 360 (was only 6.99 at BB) - 3
Spiderwick Chronicles 360 - 7

[Killer Rabbit]

He walked out with the cards, without anyone noticing. They caught him later when he tried to redeem them.

What, did he throw down a flashbang? I guess that guy's almost a ninja.

Not quite, since a real ninja would not have gotten caught. But almost.

Anyway, I'm sorry if this has already been explained, but how is the Blockbuster B1G1 sale any different from the one that had been going on before? Is it just an extension of the same deal?

[tmei2006]

I traded in this to BBV yesterday:
Zoids: Assault - $28.50 (xbox 360)

[Animal7390]

just got back from lunchtime excursion with some interesting info.

1. once again i wasnt able to trade in the singstar bundle as they do not accept hardware games. guy was nice about it so im cool with being denied.

2. no real sign of any of those other clearance items when i did a quick check.

3. the vv were taken down so i casually asked about them. he responded with some people were selling them wrong. i put a confused look on and he explain that its because of terrorist. yes terrorists. they use it for money laundering, which makes sence why they would pull if thats what they thought. so we can not buy vv and people are being banned, potentially, because of terrorism.

go america.

[mkernan]

3. the vv were taken down so i casually asked about them. he responded with some people were selling them wrong. i put a confused look on and he explain that its because of terrorist. yes terrorists. they use it for money laundering, which makes sence why they would pull if thats what they thought. so we can not buy vv and people are being banned, potentially, because of terrorism.

go america.

LOL!

[hawaiiboy]

so this VV thing is pretty serious. Employees are/will be terminated for the "fraudulent" use of the VV. Loss prevention is looking into the purchase and sale of these cards. Memo came out about pulling these and the first topic of the weekly conference call was the fraudulent activity with the VV.

And the sale did start today. If items aren't marked ask them to scan it.

[GuardianE]

just got back from lunchtime excursion with some interesting info.

1. once again i wasnt able to trade in the singstar bundle as they do not accept hardware games. guy was nice about it so im cool with being denied.

2. no real sign of any of those other clearance items when i did a quick check.

3. the vv were taken down so i casually asked about them. he responded with some people were selling them wrong. i put a confused look on and he explain that its because of terrorist. yes terrorists. they use it for money laundering, which makes sence why they would pull if thats what they thought. so we can not buy vv and people are being banned, potentially, because of terrorism.

go america.

Go figure. Same reason why Gamestop employees are paid on a Comdata card. I call bullshit.

[crunchewy]

My first visit to blockbuster for a used game purchase (or for any kind of game purchase)... the result? They tried to rip me off. I found 6 games I wanted to buy, all Wii games. 4 of them were 9.99 and 2 were 14.99. I had them ordered in a stack with the four 9.99 ones on top and then 14.99 ones on the bottom. So I hand them to them and the guy jumbles up the stack and I say to him that I think they have to be rung up in the right order and that I had them grouped by price. He said he knew how to group them. So he sits them down and stacks them up in three piles of two. Two 9.99 ones, then one 9.99 with one 14.99, and one 9.99 with one 14.99. I see this and give him the benefit of the doubt and presume he'll realize his mistake when he rings them up. Well, of course he didn't and I said to him, "wait, you made a mistake - you ran up a 14.99 title with a 9.99 title and so I didn't get the 14.99 title for free" and he said that he didn't make a mistake, that you get the lower priced title for free. I of course told him that if he put the two 14.99 titles together then I'd get the 14.99 title for free and he said, "that's not how we do it - you get a lower priced title for free". I was flabbergasted. So I said, OK, then I'll just make two purchases, I'll buy the four 9.99 titles and then, separately I'll buy the two 14.99 titles and he said, "I can't do that". Finally he walked off and said, "when you're ready you just let me know" and he walked to another register and asked for the next person! I pretty much shouted, "you're trying to rip me off!" Which of course he was. I asked if he was the manager, and he said he was! He claimed that this was the company policy!

Finally I decided I'd just buy the 9.99 titles titles and so I told him that. At first he just told me the old total and thus tried to sell me everything at the $10 too high price - I'm not sure if that was a mistake or intentional - so I had to say again that I didn't want the 14.99 titles. So he had to cancel it all out and re-ring up just the 9.99 titles, while the line got longer. In the end he made less money and I'm royally pissed off with them.

What a great experience!

[ChunkyLover78]

hmm so i do wonder if they will get it figured it out soon about the VV although if the do get rid of it, then people can't abuse the crap out of it....

anyways, so is it confirmed that the next trade in promotion for gs that starts on the 26th is only 5 dollars for each WII game? is it like 2 for 10? or is it just 5 per wii game? and im assuming no other games like the 360 or the ps3?

[Yanksfan]

My first visit to blockbuster for a used game purchase (or for any kind of game purchase)... the result? They tried to rip me off. I found 6 games I wanted to buy, all Wii games. 4 of them were 9.99 and 2 were 14.99. I had them ordered in a stack with the four 9.99 ones on top and then 14.99 ones on the bottom. So I hand them to them and the guy jumbles up the stack and I say to him that I think they have to be rung up in the right order and that I had them grouped by price. He said he knew how to group them. So he sits them down and stacks them up in three piles of two. Two 9.99 ones, then one 9.99 with one 14.99, and one 9.99 with one 14.99. I see this and give him the benefit of the doubt and presume he'll realize his mistake when he rings them up. Well, of course he didn't and I said to him, "wait, you made a mistake - you ran up a 14.99 title with a 9.99 title and so I didn't get the 14.99 title for free" and he said that he didn't make a mistake, that you get the lower priced title for free. I of course told him that if he put the two 14.99 titles together then I'd get the 14.99 title for free and he said, "that's not how we do it - you get a lower priced title for free". I was flabbergasted. So I said, OK, then I'll just make two purchases, I'll buy the four 9.99 titles and then, separately I'll buy the two 14.99 titles and he said, "I can't do that". Finally he walked off and said, "when you're ready you just let me know" and he walked to another register and asked for the next person! I pretty much shouted, "you're trying to rip me off!" Which of course he was. I asked if he was the manager, and he said he was! He claimed that this was the company policy!

Finally I decided I'd just buy the 9.99 titles titles and so I told him that. At first he just told me the old total and thus tried to sell me everything at the $10 too high price - I'm not sure if that was a mistake or intentional - so I had to say again that I didn't want the 14.99 titles. So he had to cancel it all out and re-ring up just the 9.99 titles, while the line got longer. In the end he made less money and I'm royally pissed off with them.

What a great experience!

Call the District Manager if you like..you might get somewhere with that.

[vanlandw]

Picked up SMG yesterday for the noted price of $25+tax. I went to a non gamerush if that helps anybody and they had plenty of copies. They also were promoting the B1G1 but had nothing new or nothing of note that hasn't been discussed here.

[h2dk]

My first visit to blockbuster for a used game purchase (or for any kind of game purchase)... the result? They tried to rip me off. I found 6 games I wanted to buy, all Wii games. 4 of them were 9.99 and 2 were 14.99. I had them ordered in a stack with the four 9.99 ones on top and then 14.99 ones on the bottom. So I hand them to them and the guy jumbles up the stack and I say to him that I think they have to be rung up in the right order and that I had them grouped by price. He said he knew how to group them. So he sits them down and stacks them up in three piles of two. Two 9.99 ones, then one 9.99 with one 14.99, and one 9.99 with one 14.99. I see this and give him the benefit of the doubt and presume he'll realize his mistake when he rings them up. Well, of course he didn't and I said to him, "wait, you made a mistake - you ran up a 14.99 title with a 9.99 title and so I didn't get the 14.99 title for free" and he said that he didn't make a mistake, that you get the lower priced title for free. I of course told him that if he put the two 14.99 titles together then I'd get the 14.99 title for free and he said, "that's not how we do it - you get a lower priced title for free". I was flabbergasted. So I said, OK, then I'll just make two purchases, I'll buy the four 9.99 titles and then, separately I'll buy the two 14.99 titles and he said, "I can't do that". Finally he walked off and said, "when you're ready you just let me know" and he walked to another register and asked for the next person! I pretty much shouted, "you're trying to rip me off!" Which of course he was. I asked if he was the manager, and he said he was! He claimed that this was the company policy!

Finally I decided I'd just buy the 9.99 titles titles and so I told him that. At first he just told me the old total and thus tried to sell me everything at the $10 too high price - I'm not sure if that was a mistake or intentional - so I had to say again that I didn't want the 14.99 titles. So he had to cancel it all out and re-ring up just the 9.99 titles, while the line got longer. In the end he made less money and I'm royally pissed off with them.

What a great experience!

I have experienced this with both this sale and the previous sale. I found it best to make separate purchases...one with $14.99 games, one with $9.99 games, etc. BB employees tend to get a bit irritated when you try to tell them how to do their job.

[Animal7390]

its an extra 5 per wii game.

[GuardianE]

My first visit to blockbuster for a used game purchase (or for any kind of game purchase)... the result? They tried to rip me off. I found 6 games I wanted to buy, all Wii games. 4 of them were 9.99 and 2 were 14.99. I had them ordered in a stack with the four 9.99 ones on top and then 14.99 ones on the bottom. So I hand them to them and the guy jumbles up the stack and I say to him that I think they have to be rung up in the right order and that I had them grouped by price. He said he knew how to group them. So he sits them down and stacks them up in three piles of two. Two 9.99 ones, then one 9.99 with one 14.99, and one 9.99 with one 14.99. I see this and give him the benefit of the doubt and presume he'll realize his mistake when he rings them up. Well, of course he didn't and I said to him, "wait, you made a mistake - you ran up a 14.99 title with a 9.99 title and so I didn't get the 14.99 title for free" and he said that he didn't make a mistake, that you get the lower priced title for free. I of course told him that if he put the two 14.99 titles together then I'd get the 14.99 title for free and he said, "that's not how we do it - you get a lower priced title for free". I was flabbergasted. So I said, OK, then I'll just make two purchases, I'll buy the four 9.99 titles and then, separately I'll buy the two 14.99 titles and he said, "I can't do that". Finally he walked off and said, "when you're ready you just let me know" and he walked to another register and asked for the next person! I pretty much shouted, "you're trying to rip me off!" Which of course he was. I asked if he was the manager, and he said he was! He claimed that this was the company policy!

Call the District Manager if you like..you might get somewhere with that.

Ummm, no.

The employee is not obligated to ring them up separately and, to be truthful, he's not supposed to. By ringing them up separately, he's doing the customer a favor. He chose not to in this case.

Think about any B1G1 free you've ever seen in your entire life. In any of those scenarios, it always reads *item of equal or lesser value will be free*. To be safe, just buy them in separate bundles. Pick up some games. Look pleased at the cost and them go grab some more, saying that you saved more than you thought you would have.

[jer7583]

funny about the visa vanillas.. Why would someone launder money with a card that is tracked online by purchases?

BBV makes no sense.. Cranium Kabooki sums up their corporate policies.

[mkernan]

Yeah, I've gotten plenty of gruff from employees when I told them how it ought to be done, both during B1G1 and just in general. They make such a big stink about how big of a pain in the ass it is to credit things off, you'd think they'd at least hear ya out.

I've had it both ways though.... I've had clerks pull an arrogant "I know what I'm doing" thing and I've also had clerks that actually do know the right way to do it who act like I'm crazy when I check to make sure they'll total up each equally-priced pair.

[GuardianE]

Cranium Kabooki sums up their corporate policies.

Hahahah, I like that. I like that a lot.

[mkernan]

Ummm, no.

The employee is not obligated to ring them up separately and, to be truthful, he's not supposed to. By ringing them up separately, he's doing the customer a favor. He chose not to in this case.

Think about any B1G1 free you've ever seen in your entire life. In any of those scenarios, it always reads *item of equal or lesser value will be free*.

I strongly disagree with this sentiment. A $14.99 game is 'equal or lesser than' another $14.99 game. The well-informed customer is doing the employee a favor by politely asking them to ring it in a certain order and total it after each pair. That saves the employee the time and hassle of having to ring up multiple purchases. Because lets face it, any customer can easily make separate purchases, going through the line again if need be. So why not just cut to the chase and get it done?

[jer7583]

Giving $16 for an item you charge $10 for and then calling your customers thieves when they take advantage.. Just shameful.

[GuardianE]

I strongly disagree with this sentiment. A $14.99 game is 'equal or lesser than' another $14.99 game. The well-informed customer is doing the employee a favor by politely asking them to ring it in a certain order and total it after each pair. That saves the employee the time and hassle of having to ring up multiple purchases. Because lets face it, any customer can easily make separate purchases, going through the line again if need be. So why not just cut to the chase and get it done?

I'm just saying that the employee is in no way obligated to perform this action for you and can most certainly make you go back in line. I've been denied before, which is fine. At the Blockbusters that know me, they don't mind ringing them up separately, but ultimately the system deducts things a certain way for a reason. In order to ring things up separately, the cashier must hit Total after each pair. It's not like Gamestop, where it chooses the pairs of equal value.

Basically, what I mean is that there are hoops they may force you to jump through and it's all up to the manager's discretion (as are all discounts/coupons/offers).

[Friend of Sonic]

Yeah, it's very easy to do the B1G1 easily, just seperate them into piles and they hit tab-enter-ctrl-alt-delete- or whatever the hell it is they press after scanning in two games. So, considering there's that process, I think the the other way of scanning them all where you pay for all of the expensive games, even if they could be paired up, is 100% incorrect. I don't see the arguement for the scenario where buying, say, four 14.99 games full price while you get 9.99 and 6.99 games for free could be just as correct as the other way where you get two 14.99 games for free.

[GuardianE]

The whole point is, with a B1G1 sale the store benefits when people buy that $14.99 game and a $6.99 game. Some people don't consciously pair up equally valued games. This is what BBV wants and it's in the fine print, if I remember correctly, that the lower valued games will be free.

It's the same sentiment to using coupons. They'll say "one coupon per visit." Well, okay, then walk out the door and walk back in. That's another visit, right? Some managers will get prissy and not let you use it and others will allow you to sit in line and ring up separate transactions, but the manager is not obligated to do this.

All offers are at the discretion of the manager.

[msamjr1]

i bought a gears of war figure last friday and it was still 14.99 r they really going on sale today?

I can confirm that at least this figure was on sale; I went to a BBV about an hour ago and it was 'clearanced' down from 14.99 to 9.99. The same thing with the Dark Knight action figures; everything on clearance was bunched up into a section, although I cannot confirm the rest of the things on the list -

It appears as though they weren't/aren't moving product like the Blu-ray players and the frames as quickly as originally thought, so they're lowering the price~

[whatup5]

BB TIV

PS3 - Enemy Territory - 26
360 - Supreme Commander - 28.50
360 - Deadliest Catch - 12
360 - Unreal Tournament III - 15

Both Enemy Territory and Supreme Commander are $10 at gamefly with free shipping. Even with taxes, those are some good flips.

[mkernan]

The whole point is, with a B1G1 sale the store benefits when people buy that $14.99 game and a $6.99 game. Some people don't consciously pair up equally valued games. This is what BBV wants and it's in the fine print, if I remember correctly, that the lower valued games will be free.

It's the same sentiment to using coupons. They'll say "one coupon per visit." Well, okay, then walk out the door and walk back in. That's another visit, right? Some managers will get prissy and not let you use it and others will allow you to sit in line and ring up separate transactions, but the manager is not obligated to do this.

All offers are at the discretion of the manager.

I see what you're saying, but limiting the number of times a promotion can be used (your coupon example) and an incompetently designed automatic register promo discounted the wrong games are two completely different things. True, every buy however many, get however many free sale stipulates that the free one must be of equal or lesser value. but that stipulation exists because it prevents people from buying a $7 item and getting a $15 item for free, not to prevent people from buying two $15 items and two $10 items from getting one of each price point for free.

Its just bad register promotional programming and ill-informed / stubborn employees is all.

[WTFer]

What is the VV everyone is talking about?

[GuardianE]

I see what you're saying, but limiting the number of times a promotion can be used (your coupon example) and an incompetently designed automatic register promo discounted the wrong games are two completely different things. True, every buy however many, get however many free sale stipulates that the free one must be of equal or lesser value. but that stipulation exists because it prevents people from buying a $7 item and getting a $15 item for free, not to prevent people from buying two $15 items and two $10 items from getting one of each price point for free.

Its just bad register promotional programming and ill-informed / stubborn employees is all.

I agree that it doesn't make sense and should be complained about, but I don't think it's something we're entitled to. I don't think that it's valid to file something with corporate about.

I've always interpreted the B1G1free as such: that it is the customer's burden to match comparably priced items, but I guess I'm in the minority. In any case, I find it just as irritating as all of you do.



After all, it's not like helping a customer is their job or anything OH WAIT IT IS.

lol, well, we all know how that goes. You'll get varying degrees of helpfulness at any retail establishment. This is no exception.

[mkernan]

What is the VV everyone is talking about?

Vanilla Visa. A pre-paid Visa gift card BBV has been selling in increments of $25, $50, and $100 with activation fees of $3.95, $4.95, and $5.95 respectively. Some of us have been using out BBV store credit to purchase them, effectively "cashing out".

[mkernan]

I agree that it doesn't make sense and should be complained about, but I don't think it's something we're entitled to. I don't think that it's valid to file something with corporate about.

I've always interpreted the B1G1free as such: that it is the customer's burden to match comparably priced items, but I guess I'm in the minority. In any case, I find it just as irritating as all of you do.

Well, I don't know that its something to complain to corporate about either, but it certainly sounds like the employees rudeness and inability to politely and effectively help a customer may have been.

In the examples we've discussed, the customer is matching comparably priced items, its the register thats matching them in a way we did not intend if they wait til the end to total it all.

In any event, hopefully everybody reading this knows how to handle the situation by now.

[Friend of Sonic]

I've always interpreted the B1G1free as such: that it is the customer's burden to match comparably priced items, but I guess I'm in the minority. In any case, I find it just as irritating as all of you do.
That's precisely what the original poster did. He sorted his games and matched the comparably priced items, and the manager of the store followed incorrect procedure when processing the transaction, and acted like a complete dumbass about it to boot.

Hey, thanks Whatup for those TIV. There's some very nice flips. I may order some of these to flip to Blockbuster. I'm out of credit, so these would work nice to build some again.

[GuardianE]

Maybe I'm interpreting it incorrectly, but the employee really didn't do anything that rude. I mean, he went to help another customer while our fellow CAG was thinking. That's about as rude as it became. He did this because there was another register open and he could continue the CAGs transaction whenever he finished contemplating about which games he wanted to keep. Maybe I'm taking it entirely out of context. It was the CAG was thinking of shouting that the employee was trying to rip him off.

I'm not trying to upset anyone. I've interpreted the fine print differently, even though I don't like it. That's how B1G1s have always worked for me at any store. This is why I was so surprised when Gamestops' rang them up differently.

Now don't get me wrong. If he was actually rude then he should get a complaint. Once when I tried to ring games up separately, an employee repeatedly and defiantly said "You're wrong" in a belittling way. Needless to say, I spoke with his manager.

[n8rockerasu]

I agree that it doesn't make sense and should be complained about, but I don't think it's something we're entitled to. I don't think that it's valid to file something with corporate about.

I've always interpreted the B1G1free as such: that it is the customer's burden to match comparably priced items, but I guess I'm in the minority. In any case, I find it just as irritating as all of you do.

I gotta jump in on this because it happened to me as well the other day. I get what you're saying GuardianE, but the evidence that other CAGs are providing goes right along with your "interpretation" of the policy. So, it's the customer's burden to match up comparably priced items. Do we not do that by grouping them correctly and informing the cashier that if they don't press "enter" after each group of two, the system will screw up the discount?

At that point, is it not the BBV employee's responsibility to do his/her job correctly? Most of the time, they may give you a look like "how the hell do you know that?", but you're still trying to let them know ahead of time, before creating more work for them. This is what I did. The cashier seemed to ignore my advice (probably thinking he knew how to do it). I gave him the benefit of the doubt, went out to my car, and then checked my receipt, and of course the system screwed up the discount.

I went back in, told him about it, and he proceeded to take 10 minutes trying to figure out "what to do". In my view, he created more work for himself. I told him I was just trying to keep from having to do separate transactions, and he didn't really say anything. I probably pissed him off, but who's fault was it really?

[GuardianE]

Yeah. I mean, ultimately it doesn't matter what I think. It matters what the manager on duty thinks. I do hope all of you are right, and I'm wrong, because that means more consistent deals without headaches for me.

[n8rockerasu]

I'm not trying to upset anyone. I've interpreted the fine print differently, even though I don't like it. That's how B1G1s have always worked for me at any store. This is why I was so surprised when Gamestops' rang them up differently.

Dude, I really think you're just missing the point. Yes, pretty much every place that gives you something free, that thing has to be of equal or lesser value. But the entire reason that Gamestop's system (finally) works the way it does is because they can at least recognize that if they didn't do it that way, you could just make separate purchases and get the exact same deal. But why piss off the customer and waste their time when there is nothing for them to gain from it? It's just poor business.

The point the BBV clerk was out of line is when he told the CAG that "separate transactions" would not be allowed. There was no mention of "fine, but you'll have to get back in line". He simply told him he couldn't do it. That's being an ass just for the sake of being an ass. There's no corporate policy to defend that.

EDIT - Also, the way it SHOULD be viewed (especially when it's B1G1) is that you're buying something for $14.99. Therefore, you get up to a $14.99 credit. Buying multiple items shouldn't affect the value of your credit.

[SonictheHedgehog1337]

I can confirm that at least this figure was on sale; I went to a BBV about an hour ago and it was 'clearanced' down from 14.99 to 9.99. The same thing with the Dark Knight action figures; everything on clearance was bunched up into a section, although I cannot confirm the rest of the things on the list -

It appears as though they weren't/aren't moving product like the Blu-ray players and the frames as quickly as originally thought, so they're lowering the price~

What are the dark knight action figures? Are you talking about that joker bobblehead thing?

Yesterday, the leftover Star Wars Bobbleheads were marked down to 4.99. I just picked up Dark Vader.

How is the framed art marked down? Do they all ring up 10% off or something along those lines?

[GuardianE]

Dude, I really think you're just missing the point. Yes, pretty much every place that gives you something free, that thing has to be of equal or lesser value. But the entire reason that Gamestop's system (finally) works the way it does is because they can at least recognize that if they didn't do it that way, you could just make separate purchases and get the exact same deal. But why piss off the customer and waste their time when there is nothing for them to gain from it? It's just poor business.

I'm not missing the point. I do know exactly what everyone's talking about. I simply chalked the way things rang up to nonsensical business policy as BBV and many other retailers are apt to have. ;)

Just because it doesn't make sense doesn't mean that corporate won't do it. Like I've said, whenever I've taken advantage of a B1G1 free in the past and bought more than one pair of items at a time, it rings them up how I said. This is why my interpretation was skewed.

But yeah, anyway I'm wrong. And that's a good thing. That doesn't mean that CAGs aren't going to be faced with the same problems just discussed... separate transactions in one go will be quasi-YMMV, whether we like it or not. I don't want that to be the case, but it will be.

[n8rockerasu]

But yeah, anyway I'm wrong. And that's a good thing. That doesn't mean that CAGs aren't going to be faced with the same problems just discussed... separate transactions in one go will be YMMV, whether we like it or not.

Oh yeah, I hear you there man. I think when dealing with any business it's your responsibility to practice smart consumerism and make sure you're getting the best deal possible. If this means making separate transactions, then so be it. Whether or not the cashier allows you to hold up their line, while they ring up your multiple transactions, is a judgment call on their part though.

Basically, they're deciding whether they want to piss off you...or the person behind you, haha. Again, this makes simply pressing "enter" after every two equally priced items the safest option. There's always something to be said for being a smart employee as well ;)

[worshipsf]

My first visit to blockbuster for a used game purchase (or for any kind of game purchase)... the result? They tried to rip me off. I found 6 games I wanted to buy, all Wii games. 4 of them were 9.99 and 2 were 14.99. I had them ordered in a stack with the four 9.99 ones on top and then 14.99 ones on the bottom. So I hand them to them and the guy jumbles up the stack and I say to him that I think they have to be rung up in the right order and that I had them grouped by price. He said he knew how to group them. So he sits them down and stacks them up in three piles of two. Two 9.99 ones, then one 9.99 with one 14.99, and one 9.99 with one 14.99. I see this and give him the benefit of the doubt and presume he'll realize his mistake when he rings them up. Well, of course he didn't and I said to him, "wait, you made a mistake - you ran up a 14.99 title with a 9.99 title and so I didn't get the 14.99 title for free" and he said that he didn't make a mistake, that you get the lower priced title for free. I of course told him that if he put the two 14.99 titles together then I'd get the 14.99 title for free and he said, "that's not how we do it - you get a lower priced title for free". I was flabbergasted. So I said, OK, then I'll just make two purchases, I'll buy the four 9.99 titles and then, separately I'll buy the two 14.99 titles and he said, "I can't do that". Finally he walked off and said, "when you're ready you just let me know" and he walked to another register and asked for the next person! I pretty much shouted, "you're trying to rip me off!" Which of course he was. I asked if he was the manager, and he said he was! He claimed that this was the company policy!

Finally I decided I'd just buy the 9.99 titles titles and so I told him that. At first he just told me the old total and thus tried to sell me everything at the $10 too high price - I'm not sure if that was a mistake or intentional - so I had to say again that I didn't want the 14.99 titles. So he had to cancel it all out and re-ring up just the 9.99 titles, while the line got longer. In the end he made less money and I'm royally pissed off with them.

What a great experience!

Similar thing happened to me too (I had 8 games to check out), and the employees took my word that it was a $5 difference and manually gave me the $5 off! I was expecting to have to go through and do a bunch of separate transactions, so that was a nice surprise.

[ghozt]

i've noticed it works best if you just tell them you work at a blockbuster location and tell them how to do it. i heard the "i know what im doing" too many times the last time this sale happened. i've even had managers get mad after totaling everything without listening to me and then having to redo the transaction. all it takes is to teach them one time, so the next time you come in they get it right.

[chimpian]

Just got back from the local BBV (livingston, nj) they have some good stuff there still.

I got:
Elebits wii
Nights wii
Dark Sector ps3
Time ???(that first person shooter what was meadiore that had time in the title) 360
total
$21.xx
I am happy and wish you all a happy hunting :)

[Ragnorok64]

My first visit to blockbuster for a used game purchase (or for any kind of game purchase)... the result? They tried to rip me off. I found 6 games I wanted to buy, all Wii games. 4 of them were 9.99 and 2 were 14.99. I had them ordered in a stack with the four 9.99 ones on top and then 14.99 ones on the bottom. So I hand them to them and the guy jumbles up the stack and I say to him that I think they have to be rung up in the right order and that I had them grouped by price. He said he knew how to group them. So he sits them down and stacks them up in three piles of two. Two 9.99 ones, then one 9.99 with one 14.99, and one 9.99 with one 14.99. I see this and give him the benefit of the doubt and presume he'll realize his mistake when he rings them up. Well, of course he didn't and I said to him, "wait, you made a mistake - you ran up a 14.99 title with a 9.99 title and so I didn't get the 14.99 title for free" and he said that he didn't make a mistake, that you get the lower priced title for free. I of course told him that if he put the two 14.99 titles together then I'd get the 14.99 title for free and he said, "that's not how we do it - you get a lower priced title for free". I was flabbergasted. So I said, OK, then I'll just make two purchases, I'll buy the four 9.99 titles and then, separately I'll buy the two 14.99 titles and he said, "I can't do that". Finally he walked off and said, "when you're ready you just let me know" and he walked to another register and asked for the next person! I pretty much shouted, "you're trying to rip me off!" Which of course he was. I asked if he was the manager, and he said he was! He claimed that this was the company policy!

Finally I decided I'd just buy the 9.99 titles titles and so I told him that. At first he just told me the old total and thus tried to sell me everything at the $10 too high price - I'm not sure if that was a mistake or intentional - so I had to say again that I didn't want the 14.99 titles. So he had to cancel it all out and re-ring up just the 9.99 titles, while the line got longer. In the end he made less money and I'm royally pissed off with them.

What a great experience!
There's been a lot of talk about this so it may have already been said,but next time hand the games to the cashier in groups. If you want purchases on separate receipts that's your prerogative. That's what I did the 2nd time I went through the check out with this deal. They can't ring up what you don't hand them.

[Link927]

With all the time spent trying to get BBV employees to ring them up correctly, I just line up twice. Im not sure how long your BBV lines are, but mine are usually < 3 people. After rining up my set of 9.99 lets say, I put them in my car, and go back in to pick up the 14.99 sets and tell them that I found some more stuff I wanted to buy. Less complications, and in the end, they got their sale, you got your games, and all it took was an extra walk to the car.

[sgaldis]

And the sale did start today. If items aren't marked ask them to scan it.


Are you talking about the sale listed a few pages back with some clearance prices on electronics, figurines, etc... or something different??

[cdeener]

I got these all for the Wii today:
Zack and Wiki $10 (Funny thing is this is a game I traded to this store)
Wing Island Free

Pool Party (Second copy of it) $10
Rockstar: Table Tennis Free

Also, Fifa 08 PS3 trades into BB for $9. I need to hit up a couple more BB for Wii games so I hope they have some to add to the 8 I already have.

[crunchewy]

I guess I had gotten so use to Gamestop where they, it seems, actually have a customer focus, as opposed to (at least this) Blockbuster where the focus seemed to be: screw the customer. He intentionally re-sorted the games so that I would pay more then I had to, un-sorting my sorting of them. When he ran them through and I noted the mis-pairing and I asked him to put the 14.99 game with the 14.99 game so I'd get one of those free, he refused. Then when I told him that I wanted to do it as two transactions, he refused that as well. Yes, I fumed. Yes, I yelled at him that he was trying to rip me off, but that's exactly what he was doing. He was trying to charge me approximately $5 more then he should have for the games. How is that not ripping me off?

In the end, since I ended up buying only the four $9.99 titles, he made less money then he could have and his other customers were needlessly inconvenienced. I'm not going to go back and buy those two games. Hopefully they'll sit there until they drop down to next to nothing.

[Animal7390]

just an update about the wii game trade in promo going on fri - sun. the thread has a pic uploaded for those who do not like to read the first post of a thread that they do not normally go to.

http://s398.photobucket.com/albums/pp63/lost5789/Gamestop%20Ad/?action=view&current=12-23-200834125PM.jpg

[Horsewarrior of Janjaweed]

Are you talking about the sale listed a few pages back with some clearance prices on electronics, figurines, etc... or something different??

He's talking about anything in the store in general. I've ran the gamut on how stores label their games in the few I've been to. GTA4 for $15, $35, and $45 within the same store, nothing but $50 in another. Merc 2 for $15 and $50. Same store. Who knows how many others. I've had them honor $20 games listed at $15 too.

[dinovelvet]

BB TIV

PS3 - Enemy Territory - 26
360 - Supreme Commander - 28.50
360 - Deadliest Catch - 12
360 - Unreal Tournament III - 15

Both Enemy Territory and Supreme Commander are $10 at gamefly with free shipping. Even with taxes, those are some good flips.

Whoa, thanks for that tip. Yeah this Gamefly sale is looking pretty great, for cash flips. Other possibilities :

Wii Baroque $8 > $16 (assuming the OP quote is still valid)
PS3 Blacksite $10 > $20 (360 version is also $10, don't know if it has the same TIV)

Monster Jam is also there for $10 if you can't find any at your local Gamestops.

Iron Man and Hulk also $10 each, any possibilities there?

[Ragnorok64]

You know, I'm pretty certain that my local Gamestops will have no good flippables left in stock for this upcomming B2G1 free. I could try my luck with an online purchase again but I'm not too eager to do that again.

[DarkRider23]

So, I walked into my BBV today to rent Prince Caspian(since it finally became 3 weeks old, so I should have gotten it for free) and I had my manager bring me to a private part of the store and tell me that I can't trade in any games at all to other stores. Some stupid corporate shit. So now, I'm limited to trade just at my store. The only bad thing about this is that he has to transfer all the games from the other stores to our store. The day Zoids Assault x2, Oblivion GOTY x2 and Bourne Conspiracy x2 show up at our BBV is going to be a fun day. I think I'm done with the GS -> BBV flipping or flipping to any BBV in general. With my employee discount, I can easily get 2x flips from BBV to GS. I've also been doing tons of eBay flipping lately which is proving to be more profitable than BBV flipping.

And the great thing? I had to fucking pay for Prince Caspian. Fucking co workers. They are god damn great. Apparently, I have to wait for the day "after" a movie becomes 3 weeks old. They tell me a movie has to have been out for 21 fucking days and today is the 21st fucking day. It's officially been out for 21 god damn days, but no, I can't rent it for free today. I'm so glad one of them told me that it had to be the day AFTER it's been out for 21 days.

Edit - THANK GOD for the filter. That was my mini-rant of the day.

[captnjack]

i've noticed it works best if you just tell them you work at a blockbuster location and tell them how to do it. i heard the "i know what im doing" too many times the last time this sale happened. i've even had managers get mad after totaling everything without listening to me and then having to redo the transaction. all it takes is to teach them one time, so the next time you come in they get it right.

Or stack the same priced items together. Ask them to do separate transactions because your buying the separate stack for someone else and they need a separate receipt.

[aea414]

TIVs
BB - > GS
:360:GTA IV $14.99 -> 10(11 with edge)
:360:TUROK $14.99 -> 6(6.60 with edge)

[dyeknom]

Random note:

Igor Bobblehead actually rang up as the Gummis for .99 cents, rather than the 1.99 discounted price.

Bullet Bill mario figure rang up as an error, so the guy just let me have it.

I picked up a Marcus as well, for 9.99.... but think I should have waited for one more drop :/

[Friend of Sonic]

Hmm, I'd love to have a Bullet Bill figure for free. I need to unload this damn Smash Court Tennis so I can grab all of the Mario figures...

[stoned99]

<< stuff deleted by io >>

For the record, for those of you trying to unravel the banning / vv relationship. My purchasing habits included buying 2 at a time, and using 2 BBV gift cards to buy 1 vv card, and buying using credit on my account (which looks like cash to BBV).

Buying the vv's without being associated to my account was just about impossible as I'm well known and I'm always asked for my BBV card (or they have the account already up).

[ackbar7]

Personally, I think if buying VVs with credit gets someone banned it is stupid. Selling VVs with credit is store policy, and until they make it store policy not to do that, it has to be OK. It seems much more likely that going to multiple stores, and trading in copies of the same game, surpassing the 2 per day limit, and then maybe, buying VVs is the way to get a ban. That is against the agreement that was signed, and a valid reason for ban. Just my 2 cents

[raiser]

Shit, Soul Calibur IV was on the $14.99 list? My store had shite.

I got a semi decent copy of GTA4 for 360, she was nice enough to let me have the rental box and instructions as none of the "used" copies had them.

For my free game I got a mint VF5-online complete with instructions (also from a rental copy). I know it's only $9.99, but everything else was crap.
Still 2 good games for $16 OTD was a great deal IMHO, and I was awaiting VF5 to get under $20, so $8 is a bargain for either game.

Edit: Apparently I misread that a Franchise Store had SCIV for $10, but that corporate stores it is still $40+
- give me a reason to watch for the next B1G1 sale :)

[Skoad]

I don't have Blockbusters near me. :( I want GTA IV and some other cool game for $15...

[jer7583]

Southwest corner of michigan. I think there might be more stores down by south bend, IN, but it's a long trip, the weather is bad, and I'm here to visit the family, not flip! ;)

I've got so many games to play thanks to blockbuster that I have a hard time finding anything to buy anymore..

[doubledown]

I forget to check my BB today. I forgot I had Too Human to trade...grrr. Probably won't be able to do it until Friday maybe now as tomorrow I'm busy then XMAS. I suppose I can get some Macy's cards or soemthing. What else does Macy's sell in their machines? I may get an Ipod Touch for XMAS, so do they have accessories or Itunes cards?

[sprintfinanceguy]

Io - I tried to get you a full set of the mario figures today, but I could only find duplicates of Mario, Luigi, and Bullet Bill. No Yoshi, no Goomba/Bob-bomb?. ( I think there are only the five.) If you want me to grab these, let me know, and if I run across another complete set, they are yours. At $2.99 a piece, they are a pretty awesome buy.

Good trip for me today, as I got the set of 5 mario figures for my son, a KU framed art that had FINALLY dropped to $24.99 and was becoming very hard to find, and a handful of 9.99 wii titles at a BB that I always forget about.

I am getting low on BB credit, but am brimming with GS credit and wii games at this point. I'm actually pretty scared to try to trade anything in due to the banhammer falling on everyone. I guess we'll find out during the B2G1 assuming there is any inventory to flip at the GS near the in-laws...

[MasterYensid]

Anyone check for potential flips in the new gamefly sale? I saw Monster Jam, Blacksite: Area 51, and Deadliest Catch for $9.99. Many many more!

[heatdolphins45]

Tried to trade in Far Cry 2(PS3) today, it wouldn't scan correctly, anyone else run into this problem?

[stone1061]

Tried to trade in Far Cry 2(PS3) today, it wouldn't scan correctly, anyone else run into this problem?
I just returned mine to GS since I had trouble trading in too. I paid $31.xx for it with credit, they gave me $37.xx back for it. Cool.
Neptune NJ Gamestop finally hired some eye candy! Nice.
I don't think she was impressed with my credit total though. Maybe if I brought in a stack of Macy's gifts cards:-k

[dyeknom]

I don't think she was impressed with my credit total though.

I dont think BBV sponsors those types of sales :)

[cdeener]

I dont think BBV sponsors those types of sales :)

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Well at least I found out today that my local store will let me get my credit on a Value Card again after a longgggggg time of not doing it. This is a big help because a lot of times they don't have anything I want to buy so I will enjoy stacking credit again.

[io]

DAMMIT people! I thought I nipped that in the bud before I headed out today but I come back and there's like 20 more posts to delete :roll:...

Anyway, I put chains on the car (first time ever in my life) and dragged the family to the store to get supplies. Then I stopped in Blockbuster. Despite what I thought was heavy snow keeping everyone locked up at home the last 3-4 days, just about every one of the 15 360 and 10 PS3 GTA IV's a I saw a few days ago were gone.

I did pick up one more 360 copy along with Armored Core 4 for the PS3 (to keep).

They also had the electronics markdown sheet but hadn't done anything yet. Despite that, the one thing I would have wanted (the photo keychain that was marked from $19.99 to $9.99) had been sold 1/2 hour before :bomb:.

I saw the Mario figures on the sheet, but of course they (and every other BB near me) never had them.

All in all, a pretty worthless trip. I didn't ask about my account but I bought stuff on it (had nothing to trade though I should have just brought in a random game to ask about) and they didn't say anything to me. The manager was there helping me find more $14.99 games from the shelves too and she didn't say anything. The VV cards were pulled as expected, though.

I have some games to return that I will "own" on the 26th. I could have returned them today but I really wanted to keep playing them a bit more the next 2 days (really want to finish Tomb Raider Underworld). I guess if worse comes to worst, I pay the $1.25 restocking fee on both, right?

Oh, and for what its worth, GTA IV PS3 trades for $12 at Hollywood Video. I held on to it figuring I should at least trade it to GC and get the MVP boost on top of that (assuming it is the same there). But then, if I can get to my GC store then I can get to some GS stores and get even more for it. It looks like, maybe, possibly, things will be thawed out here by Saturday so I might not completely miss the GS B2G1 and $5 extra Wii game trade deals... But they've been wrong before - we were supposed to be thawed out today and it didn't come close to happening.

[Manatee]

Just some intel i saw on the barcode sheet the csr had to scan to do the b1g1. The promo is ending January 5th

[Plastics]

Can anyone confirm if Soul Caliber IV is ringing up as 14.99?

[Animal7390]

anyone have a link to what the mario figures are and maybe some item numbers cause i have not seen them at my stores?

[maximus101]

Yes- the buyback price is dashed out in their system.

Is the Far Cry 2 issue limited to the just the PS3 version or is the 360 version untradeable as well?

[sgaldis]

Is the Far Cry 2 issue limited to the just the PS3 version or is the 360 version untradeable as well?


Nope, I don't know if it's updated in the 1st message, but I (and some others, I believe) reported yesterday that the 360 version fetches $32, and scans fine.


I actually grabbed one tonight on the way home, as a measly 1:1 flip from GS to BBV. (hey I'm sitting on a ton of GS right now, and needed a DVD for an X-mas present). With the EDGE discount it came to $34.01 actually, so I guess i lost 2 psuedo dollars, but I grabbed the DVD I needed and another set of Wii titles to flip back on Friday.

Come Friday it will make a much more viable flip with the GS B2G1 sale. I've got my eye one a store that has a nice little FC2/Zoids/Gundam combo...would be pretty good for flipping back to BBV. More ideal would be to get a PoP, or a Legendary into the mix.

[maximus101]

Nope, I don't know if it's updated in the 1st message, but I (and some others, I believe) reported yesterday that the 360 version fetches $32, and scans fine.


I actually grabbed one tonight on the way home, as a measly 1:1 flip from GS to BBV. (hey I'm sitting on a ton of GS right now, and needed a DVD for an X-mas present). With the EDGE discount it came to $34.01 actually, so I guess i lost 2 psuedo dollars, but I grabbed the DVD I needed and another set of Wii titles to flip back on Friday.

I just find it hilarious that BB won't take the PS3 version since they've been favoring the PS3 in their trade in prices for most games.

[SonictheHedgehog1337]

I saw a singstar I traded in marked at $44.99. I traded in the bundle for 36. Expect a drop in TIV next week.

[SonictheHedgehog1337]

I want to buy some stuff from Blockbuster.com with store credit. They put my credit on a value card against my will because they didn't know how to put it on a giftcard.

What is the best way to get my credit from my value card onto a giftcard? I asked a nice store manager if he would do it, but he said he didn't know how. I think the part that he couldn't figure out was how to get the credit from my value card off the card and onto my acct. He didn't have an objection to doing it. He just didn't know how.

I think I might just have to buy a bunch of their "clearance" new games and then return them and ask to put it on a gift card. They're not going to like that, but I just say they were christmas gifts or something and I got the wrong ones.

[yukafls]

Can anyone confirm if Soul Caliber IV is ringing up as 14.99?


Is it Used??

[cagvash]

Hmmm, $10 total, got a (near) mint complete Subsistence ($9.99) and a free (near) mint complete Psychonauts ($6.99?!).

[ghozt]

What is the best way to get my credit from my value card onto a giftcard?

wondering the same thing. i wanted to get some of those hd movies they have on sale online. i was gonna try and just buy a giftcard with my value card. really no difference from a vv or a macy's card, so im not sure why they would deny it.

[Nikadimas]

Went into a few blockbusters and grabbed a couple clearance items. Was really hoping to see the Dark Knight Joker bobblehead down to $10 but no luck. Picked up a whole set of the Mario Figures for $15, the Iron Man bobblehead to go along with the 10 others I picked up this week (wife likes collecting bobbleheads), and 6 Wii games to flip after Xmas because I probably won't drive all the way to that particular BBV again this year. Also noticed the Guitar Hero Air Guitar Belt Buckle was marked down to $10 and the Christmas Story bobbles were down to $7.

[SonictheHedgehog1337]

wondering the same thing. i wanted to get some of those hd movies they have on sale online. i was gonna try and just buy a giftcard with my value card. really no difference from a vv or a macy's card, so im not sure why they would deny it.

thats a good idea, but literally every single BBV employee at every blockbuster knows me as that moth@fucka who trades games, so they'll know what im up to. Maybe ill drive to a far away BBV where they dont know me, but i doubt it on christmas eve.

[spauldingfan]

Don't step into Al's territory.


I already got my disguise ready for fri..... Millhouse sized glasses, marx brother moustache, and my left over joker wig from halloween. Lets see him catch me this time!8-)

[bmulligan]

I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain on theis GTA IV for ps3 nonsense.

It's $21 at my GameRush new and it's 24.99 used. How is this a deal for trade-in at $12? Are they cheaper at some Blockbusters or something? I can't figure the frenzy out from the copious amount of random posing on the subject.

[vanilla_shakin_it]

I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain on theis GTA IV for ps3 nonsense.

It's $21 at my GameRush new and it's 24.99 used. How is this a deal for trade-in at $12? Are they cheaper at some Blockbusters or something? I can't figure the frenzy out from the copious amount of random posing on the subject.
WAAAAAAAAH!

[SonictheHedgehog1337]

I guess when you're too important to read up on it than it would be hard to understand. Do your homework than come back mmmmmm'kay?

lolerskates roflocopter :lol::lol::lol:

[Animal7390]

I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain on theis GTA IV for ps3 nonsense.

It's $21 at my GameRush new and it's 24.99 used. How is this a deal for trade-in at $12? Are they cheaper at some Blockbusters or something? I can't figure the frenzy out from the copious amount of random posing on the subject.

wow good price new. if i had that option i might actually buy one.

its also 14.99 used at bbv (so presumably gr too). that price enables the bogo deal currently going on so you can pick up 2 copies for 14.99 and since you can get that much credit with one game that you paid less than that for, you really are getting both games for about 10, which is the cost of a game from gs. which was probably bought with credit from a 5 game ... get the picture?

[Birakon]

on a side note, I really didn't want condemned 2 (360) but they had nothing else that was any good, if anyone wants condemned 2 and got something from this sale they didn't really want, send me a message. id like to swap.

[jer7583]

I had a laugh today because I saw there's a demo up for Legendary on Xbox Live. Did anyone put the game in and play it for a few minutes?

It's, no joke, the worst non-licensed game ever made for the system. It's that bad.

And we're getting $35 apeice for them! :whee:

[Chadt74]

I only got $9 for GTA IV 360 this morning. When the clerk rang it up he even said "hum" so I'm not sure if it a store specific thing?!? In the GS price thread someone this morning got $10 base for it, but wanted to throw out an FYI.

[Rave Child]

I want to buy some stuff from Blockbuster.com with store credit. They put my credit on a value card against my will because they didn't know how to put it on a giftcard.

What is the best way to get my credit from my value card onto a giftcard? I asked a nice store manager if he would do it, but he said he didn't know how. I think the part that he couldn't figure out was how to get the credit from my value card off the card and onto my acct. He didn't have an objection to doing it. He just didn't know how.

I think I might just have to buy a bunch of their "clearance" new games and then return them and ask to put it on a gift card. They're not going to like that, but I just say they were christmas gifts or something and I got the wrong ones.

Just buy a gift card and swipe your value card. I've done it plenty of times in the past few days (to get the $5 bonus), and no one has any problem with it. Just tell them that you need the gift card to use online, or that you are giving it as a present.

[bmulligan]

I guess when you're too important to read up on it than it would be hard to understand. Do your homework than come back mmmmmm'kay?
I have already attempted to "do the homework" and have read more than 20 pages of bullshit while coming up empty handed. A simple explanation would have sufficed, but I guess being a jerk was easier.

[Animal7390]

i gave you an explanation.

[jer7583]

Bmulligan, did you have them price check the used GTA4? Could have just been an old price sticker.

If it rang up at $24.99, it might be a situation similiar to how only Hollywood Videos without gamecrazies are running the $4 Last Gen sale.

Maybe GameRush resisted dropping the price to $14.99 for GTA4? I don't know why it would be different. I have no GameRush stores here.

[mkernan]

No, both my stores are "gamerush" stores... pricing is no different. He probably was just going by what's on the tag. Otherwise, he's got a franchise store on his hands.

[Nikadimas]

I have already attempted to "do the homework" and have read more than 20 pages of bullshit while coming up empty handed. A simple explanation would have sufficed, but I guess being a jerk was easier.

Price tags are not always correct. This is the case with pretty much any retail store and applies double to BBV since their prices change weekly. ALWAYS have them scan it to be sure. Unless of course it is tagged at a significantly cheaper price. Then you can go by that.

[confoosious]

hey cheapasses! I havent been trading much but I want to use up some of the credit i have from the summer of flipping... my last 200...

has anyone seen Guitar Hero WT Wii at Blockbuster? My store doesn't have it.

thanks

[Rave Child]

Bmulligan, did you have them price check the used GTA4? Could have just been an old price sticker.

If it rang up at $24.99, it might be a situation similiar to how only Hollywood Videos without gamecrazies are running the $4 Last Gen sale.

Maybe GameRush resisted dropping the price to $14.99 for GTA4? I don't know why it would be different. I have no GameRush stores here.

I had a problem with the 360 version of GTA4 ringing up at $24.99. Turns out they were all mistagged as Guitar Hero III. So make sure the tags are always right, because the pricing should be uniform.

[mvp828]

I had a laugh today because I saw there's a demo up for Legendary on Xbox Live. Did anyone put the game in and play it for a few minutes?

It's, no joke, the worst non-licensed game ever made for the system. It's that bad.

Not gonna lie, I played and beat it. They definitely could have done much much worse. There has been much much worse games that were supposed to be good (I'm looking at your Far Cry 2).

Updated TIVs as of 12/23

NBA 2k8 (360) - 8
Ace Combat 6: Liberation whatever (360) - 8

[h2dk]

I guess when you're too important to read up on it than it would be hard to understand. Do your homework than come back mmmmmm'kay?

is this Gamefaqs?? He had a legit questions. A simple explanation would have been easy (thanks Animal).

So no one is allowed to ask questions in a thread?

So until we know what the coupon is on friday, can I assume that the only deal would be to use the 10 percent off coupon with my edge card? Unless the b2g1 is still going on but I'm pretty sure it's not.

EDIT: Does smash court tennis give anybody trouble trying to trade it in? I thought I read that.

So I think I'm going to buy a copy of legendary (to flip) and a copy of burnout paradise (to keep) but I need one more game to flip or keep. Any suggestions at the 26.99 level? Thanks a lot people.

Have the b1g1 sale always been automatic or is there something extra that needs to be scanned in? I remember that some employees will give you trouble about matching up pairs of games in the wrong order but other than that I can't remember any trouble people have had.


So is brothers in arms used or new? I have a sinking feeling that it's new only but the ad doesn't specify...either that or I'm blind. Anybody know?

Should your answer "Do your homework than come back mmmmmm'kay?" relate to all of these as well?

[animemaniac14]

is this Gamefaqs?? He had a legit questions. A simple explanation would have been easy (thanks Animal).

So no one is allowed to ask questions in a thread?









Should your answer "Do your homework than come back mmmmmm'kay?" relate to all of these as well?

HAHAHAHA:applause::lol::applause:

vanilla...you got served :puke:

on a side note...xmas time w/the family makes it oh so hard to get out and build some credit up :( but im sure it's much worse for all you married men (and women?)

[dyeknom]

Io is gonna have to hand out temp bans again :(

[deadlykeyboard]

please take note that I had nothing to do with this.

[Animal7390]

i go to sleep and when i wake up the thread is always smaller cause of all the cleaning he did. i understand it is frustrating, but either link them to where they can find their answer or dont answer at all.

please take note that I had nothing to do with this.

noted.

[Friend of Sonic]

I'm back in business! I even got lucky and the employee LOOKED UP THE TIV FOR SMASH COURT AND GAVE IT TO ME OMG.
...Still never heard back from DM. I'm assuming he fixed things and moved on. Whatever, DM Mark. Unfortunately, this store did not have any of the Mario figures. :( I want them so bad. The store by my house better have them in stock still...

[majinvegeta-88]

Traded in alien syndrome today for $4 at gamestop. Not $1.75 like the trade in value post says.

[SonictheHedgehog1337]

does bbv have normal hours today? Are they closing early?

[ChunkyLover78]

does bbv have normal hours today? Are they closing early?

should close at 10 according to this... it might be ymmv though but i would assume its the same

http://www.examiner.com/p-92665~BLOCKBUSTER_R__Stores_Open_Through_Christmas ___New_Year_s.html

[SonictheHedgehog1337]

should close at 10 according to this... it might be ymmv though but i would assume its the same

http://www.examiner.com/p-92665~BLOCKBUSTER_R__Stores_Open_Through_Christmas ___New_Year_s.html

thanks. this is near my area so it's probably the same.

[po0po0h3ad]

Came back from gamestop
Grand theft auto for ps3 dropped to $9 base plus edge/30 % = 12.60