Metroid Prime preorder for 10$ instead of 5$.

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PROLIFE333

CAG Veteran
:whistle2:# :whistle2:# :whistle2:#


Nice job ebgames/gamestop for lying to people and trying to make a little more interest off of them. I went into the store yesterday to ask about the preorder and the guy said it was because the game is popular and they want to make sure everyone gets one.


:hot: Unlike Halo and Halo 2. Unlike every RPG on the Playstation and Playstation 2. Unlike Super Mario Galaxy or Super Smash Bros.


I didnt get it, but I was amused by there reasoning. I understand you dont have to do it. So why complain. I just thought it was interesting.
 
I forgot where I read this (somewhere on this site), but the consensus is that GS is trying to make all preorders ten bucks.
 
Don't preorder it. I've never had problems finding a game launch week. NEVER. Not even in the NES or SNES days when gaming wasn't as mainstream.

I'll only preorder if there is a worthwhile bonus (i.e. the zelda games with Wind Waker preorder). Otherwise there's not point IMO. Used to get it sooner, but lately it seems like the big box stores get them the same day (and some times sooner) than the game stores, and I don't have to lower my IQ by setting foot in a Gamestop.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Don't preorder it. I've never had problems finding a game launch week. NEVER. Not even in the NES or SNES days when gaming wasn't as mainstream.

I'll only preorder if there is a worthwhile bonus (i.e. the zelda games with Wind Waker preorder). Otherwise there's not point IMO. Used to get it sooner, but lately it seems like the big box stores get them the same day (and some times sooner) than the game stores, and I don't have to lower my IQ by setting foot in a Gamestop.[/quote]

I agree, though for special editions I'll pre-order as well as I have a hard time finding those sometimes after releases. Luckily those are few and far between so I don't generally do that. :)
 
[quote name='Rocko']...I fail to see the big problem here. You're going to pay $50 plus tax later anyway.[/quote]

the point is to stand up to the man. in addition to denying them free interest, refusing to preorder will hurt their numbers and they wont go through with making all preorders 10 bucks. but sure if you want to pay ten then go ahead, and when you pick it up be sure to 'roll it over' to another preorder that you know you are gonna get anyways.
 
From what I was told when I worked there, it was an "experiment," more or less, to see if people would be willing to pony up $10 instead of $5. Then we got no Prime 3 preorders. ;)
 
[quote name='monkeydeew']the point is to stand up to the man.[/quote]

:rofl:

I don't preorder anything unless there's a bonus or it's something I really want on day 1, and when I do I pay in full. If you want to preorder something, five extra dollars won't kill you. It's five less you have to pay later.
 
The only reason I don't like pre-ordering in stores is because they only hold the game for 2 days and after that it's open game and they don't keep track of the money you already deposited. So unless you have your receipt or like to spend a lot of time on the phone, you've just lost some money.
 
So what? It's been $10 for the MP3 preorder for at least over a month now, so you can either pay it or not. It's not like MP3 will be hard to find when it comes out.

I need to cancel my MP3 preorder since I won't be around here when it does come out, though I'll be back a few days afterwards and could pick it up then.
 
so the whole idea behind pre-orders is just to collect interest on the money, right?


anyway, glad I ordered mine from liongames.
 
[quote name='PROLIFE333']:whistle2:# :whistle2:# :whistle2:#


Nice job ebgames/gamestop for lying to people and trying to make a little more interest off of them. I went into the store yesterday to ask about the preorder and the guy said it was because the game is popular and they want to make sure everyone gets one.


:hot: Unlike Halo and Halo 2. Unlike every RPG on the Playstation and Playstation 2. Unlike Super Mario Galaxy or Super Smash Bros.


I didnt get it, but I was amused by there reasoning. I understand you dont have to do it. So why complain. I just thought it was interesting.[/quote]

That's weird, because when I was trading in a bunch of stuff the other day, the employee said it would only be $5.
 
From my understanding, they're trying to make Console games $10 to pre-order and handheld games $5 to pre-order. This puts more pressure on the consumer to keep the buy at the store if they don't cancel it because they will remind you of a game's release, and pre-orders cannot be taken back once pre-orders are stopped, so you're out of the money anyway.
But, since they don't tell consumers this up front, they could face legal challenges if some dispute ever came up.
 
Why doesn't anyone understand? GameStop does not care about this so called "interest" you think they make with your preorders. Bullshit, its utter bullshit. If anything, I'd say it's on the bottom of their list of anything profitable with very few dollars from it.

The only reason they want $5.00 for a pre-order is to GUARANTEE that you come to their store to buy the game. This is whatthey want, they want you to buy the game from them. And with that, you bring trades, reserve more, and buy more. That's what they want, not stupid ass interest.

They made it $10.00 for experimental reasons (which will probably not occur officially) mostly because they want the customers who reserve the game to come and buy it. They think with it at $10.00 instead, customers willremember better to come pick it up then ot getting it. It's literally amazing how many people don't pick up their games, they hate that. They WANT YOU to come buy it.

Also, you can get your pre-order money back anytime whether the game is or not, no exceptions.
 
Yeah, part of the reason they make you want to come back after plunkering down $10 on a pre-order is because they think they can BS unknowing customers to believe the games will be hard to get if they don't pre-order. They go through the whole crap about how pre-ordering guarantees you a copy at the store as there might not be enough...which is amazing considering regular retail chains actually have more stock for EVERYONE while a gaming retailer seems to be unable to keep up stock.
 
[quote name='Apossum']so the whole idea behind pre-orders is just to collect interest on the money, right?.[/QUOTE]

Well duh.

That $10 that GameStop has of yours for 1 month will net them somewhere around $0.01 profit, if that much. Clearly its so Game Stop can take over the world!!!!!
 
[quote name='NismoZZzz']Why doesn't anyone understand? GameStop does not care about this so called "interest" you think they make with your preorders. Bullshit, its utter bullshit. If anything, I'd say it's on the bottom of their list of anything profitable with very few dollars from it.

The only reason they want $5.00 for a pre-order is to GUARANTEE that you come to their store to buy the game. This is whatthey want, they want you to buy the game from them. And with that, you bring trades, reserve more, and buy more. That's what they want, not stupid ass interest.

They made it $10.00 for experimental reasons (which will probably not occur officially) mostly because they want the customers who reserve the game to come and buy it. They think with it at $10.00 instead, customers willremember better to come pick it up then ot getting it. It's literally amazing how many people don't pick up their games, they hate that. They WANT YOU to come buy it.

Also, you can get your pre-order money back anytime whether the game is or not, no exceptions.[/QUOTE]

Hey!!! Don't have things make sense now! Most people here never worked in a game store but are experts.

This is pretty much what any and all Game Stops want to do. Its not the 'interest' in your money that they care about.

You pre-order Zelda for $5
You are now more likely to come back and buy Zelda.
You come back and buy Zelda.
They ask you to move that $5 over to Smash Bros.
You then come back, buy Smash Bros, Trade in Zelda for store credit, and Pre-Order Mario Galaxy. Hell, maybe even buy a used Cube game or DS game.
That's what Game Stop WANTS you to do.
The "interest" on your money means nothing to them if you don't buy there game that they make $10+ profit on. You really think that $0.01 - $.03 profit matters to them instead of the $10+ when you buy it from them?


Now only THAT, but now they have an idea of how much interest the game is and won't under order.

There you go. Thats why Game Stop wants you to pre-order. Officially.
 
Do you guys have any idea how many people don't pick up their preorders? When I worked at EB once a year we would cash out the all the preorders of games that were out more then 6 months and deposit the cash. We depositied hundreds of dollars every time we did this. It was always unbelievable how many there were. Some games were even paid in full.
 
[quote name='nazrad']Do you guys have any idea how many people don't pick up their preorders? When I worked at EB once a year we would cash out the all the preorders of games that were out more then 6 months and deposit the cash. We depositied hundreds of dollars every time we did this. It was always unbelievable how many there were. Some games were even paid in full.[/QUOTE]

That also depends what state you live in. In California we HAVE to keep any and all store credit/cash in the system....can't cash it out. It does not expire out here nor can we take an 'account fee' each month after a certain time.
 
I always get a good laugh when people come in here thinking that they're gonna set everyone straight and then can't even explain their own BS.

No one ever said that Gamestop makes interest on the $10. That was the first mistake. People say that it's an interest-free loan, which it is. It funds regular store operations until it's used towards the purchase of something and then it becomes a deduction. That is how a business works for all you savvy know-it-alls. Secondly, preorders are pure profit until fulfilled. It didn't cost the store anything to make that $10. In the case that a customer doesn't use it, it never becomes a deduction.

The reasons that they keep pushing them are simple. It guarantees a customer or free money.
 
[quote name='davo1224']I always get a good laugh when people come in here thinking that they're gonna set everyone straight and then can't even explain their own BS.

No one ever said that Gamestop makes interest on the $10. That was the first mistake. People say that it's an interest-free loan, which it is. It funds regular store operations until it's used towards the purchase of something and then it becomes a deduction. That is how a business works for all you savvy know-it-alls. Secondly, preorders are pure profit until fulfilled. It didn't cost the store anything to make that $10. In the case that a customer doesn't use it, it never becomes a deduction.

The reasons that they keep pushing them are simple. It guarantees a customer or free money.[/QUOTE]

I don't know much about business/economics/loans/finances/etc, so I could be way off, but my understanding is that they'll put that preorder money into their bank account, and the more money sitting in a bank account, it accrues interest.

So if 1000 people preorder Halo 3 at 10 bucks and it sits there for 6 months, that's 10,000 bucks Gamestop gets to accrue interest on.

Of course, if there's 500,000 preorders for Halo 3 (I know there's a ton), then you've got a cool five million to work with.

So at the end of 6 months, Gamestop's interest nets them...what, maybe a few thousand? I have no idea.

This is my understanding. If I'm wrong, someone tell me.

I mean I've got maybe 125 bucks or so in a savings account, and it's probably accrued some miniscule amount of interest. So I'd like to think a company doing that on a much larger scale is getting some sort of compensation for it.
 
[quote name='davo1224']I always get a good laugh when people come in here thinking that they're gonna set everyone straight and then can't even explain their own BS.

No one ever said that Gamestop makes interest on the $10. That was the first mistake. People say that it's an interest-free loan, which it is. It funds regular store operations until it's used towards the purchase of something and then it becomes a deduction. That is how a business works for all you savvy know-it-alls. Secondly, preorders are pure profit until fulfilled. It didn't cost the store anything to make that $10. In the case that a customer doesn't use it, it never becomes a deduction.

The reasons that they keep pushing them are simple. It guarantees a customer or free money.[/quote]

You either know nothing about accounting, know nothing about business, or just like talking out of your ass. Oh wait, all of the above could be true as well.
 
Seems to me this is why we have to foster Liongames and any other merchants like it. Its just a better place to pre-order games. I men hell, its even cheaper. fuck gamestop
 
[quote name='Ziv']You either know nothing about accounting, know nothing about business, or just like talking out of your ass. Oh wait, all of the above could be true as well.[/quote]

Care to explain how many businesses you've ran?
 
[quote name='Strell']I don't know much about business/economics/loans/finances/etc, so I could be way off, but my understanding is that they'll put that preorder money into their bank account, and the more money sitting in a bank account, it accrues interest.

So if 1000 people preorder Halo 3 at 10 bucks and it sits there for 6 months, that's 10,000 bucks Gamestop gets to accrue interest on.

Of course, if there's 500,000 preorders for Halo 3 (I know there's a ton), then you've got a cool five million to work with.

So at the end of 6 months, Gamestop's interest nets them...what, maybe a few thousand? I have no idea.

This is my understanding. If I'm wrong, someone tell me.

I mean I've got maybe 125 bucks or so in a savings account, and it's probably accrued some miniscule amount of interest. So I'd like to think a company doing that on a much larger scale is getting some sort of compensation for it.[/quote]

Correct but that's assuming that the money ever makes it to the bank account. Preorder money isn't specially put aside. It is in the system but the physical money isn't. They might end up getting a defective game that same day and be out that $10 already. None of us can really say what money goes where but I'd imagine that they couldn't accrue very much interest on just preorder money. It gets mixed in with all the gains/losses and its purpose is to be used at a later time.
 
[quote name='davo1224']Correct but that's assuming that the money ever makes it to the bank account. Preorder money isn't specially put aside. It is in the system but the physical money isn't. They might end up getting a defective game that same day and be out that $10 already. None of us can really say what money goes where but I'd imagine that they couldn't accrue very much interest on just preorder money. It gets mixed in with all the gains/losses and its purpose is to be used at a later time.[/QUOTE]

So let me get this straight.

You don't know where the money goes...but you also say it goes into the register as a gain/loss, which means it never makes it into a bank account, and therefore could never accrue any interest.

I don't know how Gamestop runs their stores. We'd have to talk to a Gamestop manager of some kind.

But I'm trying to figure out why Gamestop would push preorders on every customer as hard as they do. They ask me when I walk in the door and then when I take something to the counter. If they answer the phone they ask if someone wants to preorder something. And generally right before I leave they ask me again.

That's 3 times they've asked me. That makes me think they've got to have a reason, and I want to say that's money being generated because it's sitting in their account.

Again, I'm going to need someone who absolutely knows to tell me whether or not that's the case.
 
[quote name='davo1224']Care to explain how many businesses you've ran?[/quote]

Three.

But you still don't know what your talking about. A preorder doesn't count as sales. They haven't transacted a sale or performed a service. It isn't revenue. No money hath been scored. That money does just sit there because it isn't Gamestop's. It might accrue some interest, but as has already been stated in this thread it really doesn't amount to much.

But go ahead and explain away how stupid you are. I'd love to hear what you have to say.
 
[quote name='Ziv']Three.

But you still don't know what your talking about. A preorder doesn't count as sales. They haven't transacted a sale or performed a service. It isn't revenue. No money hath been scored. That money does just sit there because it isn't Gamestop's. It might accrue some interest, but as has already been stated in this thread it really doesn't amount to much.

But go ahead and explain away how stupid you are. I'd love to hear what you have to say.[/QUOTE]

Leave him alone! He worked at Target for 3 weeks, he knows how to run a business!
 
[quote name='Ziv']Three.

But you still don't know what your talking about. A preorder doesn't count as sales. They haven't transacted a sale or performed a service. It isn't revenue. No money hath been scored. That money does just sit there because it isn't Gamestop's. It might accrue some interest, but as has already been stated in this thread it really doesn't amount to much.

But go ahead and explain away how stupid you are. I'd love to hear what you have to say.[/quote]

Unless Gamestop has an incredibly flawed system where they don't take deposits into account as money that's coming in, then I'd say that they're making money initially, regardless of whether or not it's used towards something else in the future. If the money isn't Gamestop's per se then what happens to it if it's forgotten about? It just stays in the monetary version of purgatory?

If you've ran Gamestops and know this for a fact then I can't really argue with that. If that's how it's really run though then that's such a poor system.
 
[quote name='monkeydeew']so when you cancel a preorder, where does that money come from?[/QUOTE]

Its printed in the back room by an Elf.
 
[quote name='davo1224']Unless Gamestop has an incredibly flawed system where they don't take deposits into account as money that's coming in, then I'd say that they're making money initially, regardless of whether or not it's used towards something else in the future. If the money isn't Gamestop's per se then what happens to it if it's forgotten about? It just stays in the monetary version of purgatory?

If you've ran Gamestops and know this for a fact then I can't really argue with that. If that's how it's really run though then that's such a poor system.[/quote]

As has already been stated, old pre-orders (usually left for over a year after release) are cancelled and deposited as a cash overage. It's no different than if an employee forgot to give change back. It's not revenue. But hey, that's beside the point.
 
LOL They had a bitch of a time getting me to plunk down even $5 for a preorder on any game, but if they move it up to $10 per, then they're smoking crack.

Usually the only reason I'll put down $5 on a preorder is for some sort of pre order bonus, although none of the games recently have had decent enough ones to warrant even the $5 PO deposit.

Plus, the only bonus I've ever received was a Transformers movie poster, which isn't all that special in the first place, but I know some on here have received multiple art books and other goodies from pre-orders.
 
[quote name='Theduck']BAAAAAAAAW GAMESTOP

Get some 1up's and stop whining.[/quote]

hey brother where you been?? update on the bach? :)
 
[quote name='Ziv']As has already been stated, old pre-orders (usually left for over a year after release) are cancelled and deposited as a cash overage. It's no different than if an employee forgot to give change back. It's not revenue. But hey, that's beside the point.[/quote]

As has already been stated, you can't do that in California so where does their money go?

If a cash overage isn't considered money gained then why is a shortage considered a loss? You don't consider it a gain because it gets eaten up by the drawer shortages 100% of the time. However without that "cash left behind", the losses would be even bigger.

Please continue to speak from your wide experience though. Your cocky attitude is laughable considering that you already gave information contrary to an actual Gamestop employee's.
 
[quote name='davo1224']As has already been stated, you can't do that in California so where does their money go?

If a cash overage isn't considered money gained then why is a shortage considered a loss? You don't consider it a gain because it gets eaten up by the drawer shortages 100% of the time. However without that "cash left behind", the losses would be even bigger.

Please continue to speak from your wide experience though. Your cocky attitude is laughable considering that you already gave information contrary to an actual Gamestop employee's.[/quote]

I can't speak for California, I don't live there. Everything I've said is a true statement. If you call stating facts being cocky, then I guess that just makes me a dick.

Also if you read the thead there was one former part time employee who said as I did: cashed out old reserves (must not have been in CA). That was the only employee post. Well except mine. I ran a Gamestop for 5 years. That company blows chunks as far as how they treat their employees. I won't go into that. But I know what I'm talking about.

But that's enough out of me. I won't be posting in this thread anymore. My information isn't welcome.

BTW, I do still preorder games with them, because if I want a game, it's worth making sure I get it.
 
Less catty bullshit from both sides, more verifiable facts. Or at least rational supposition.

This goes toward helping me for my story, for one. For another, it goes toward progressing the general conversation about GameStop's business practices.

We need more out of GS employees, and whatever the provocation, this "i'll take my ball and go home" shit makes you look like childish attention whore. Unless, of course, you want every thread on GameStop to be stuck in the same rut of superficial bitching until the end of time. Because these threads sure as fuck aren't going away.
 
Just pre-ordered MP3 today...yeah I put $10 down, sue me ;p Anyhow...does anyone know if you can pick up a pre-order at a different store than the one you pre-ordered at? In the same city...
 
Forget about accruing interest on the money, it's essentially an interest free loan for GS/EB. Also, regardless of any expected interest rate, you have to take into account the time value of money. One dollar today is worth more than a dollar a month from now.
 
Man, so the point of this thread is to complain that they keep $10 instead of $5 of your money for a month or three? And what investment vehicle were you planning on putting that extra $5 that would make ANY DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER?

Anyway, you guys would hate what I did - I have 7 or 8 Wii games fully paid for as preorders at EB/GS. Now, NO, I didn't put cash down like that. It was from the trade 2 Wii games get 1 free deal. So I traded, on average, $20-$24 or so worth of games for a full preorder on things like Metroid, Battalion Wars 2, Strikers, Mario Galaxy, SSBB (plus a few on placeholders like the Olympics game that will get bumped to other things like Mario Kart when they hit the system). I guess what I'm saying is why would any CAG preorder anything at EB/GS (besides an exclusive LE or something) without some sort of deal or trade-in credit to make them a good value? I would assume it would be with trade-in credit, otherwise there's better deals to be had elsewhere. Of course, even if you did put the $10 cash down, I don't think you'll lose out too much on the interest there ;). I guess I effectively put that $20 or so down and could be earning interest on that $20 x 8 (or however many preorders I have). But the price I'm getting for the game more than makes up for that.
 
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