My attempt at finding Rouge Galaxy...

N

NightNinja7

CAGiversary!
Well, I had a jolly good time attempting to find Rogue Galaxy below MSRP – well technically I’m still on the lookout. To start things off, I just finished my finals a few days ago – Dec 16 (a Friday) to be exact. Going home from college on Saturday morning, I remember reading on CAG that Rogue Galaxy was 19.99 at Circuit City. Trying to relieve the memories of organic chemistry, I thought a game at a good price would be a nice consolation for the last two weeks of hell.

Reaching home around five (traffic was horrendous), I decided to go to Circuit City and check out if they had the game at the sale’s price. Entering the store, I noticed that the entire games section was rather… unorganized. At first, it seemed to be in alphabetical order, but that was a rather large mistake. Different games were randomly found through the aisle. Well, in vain and trying to avoid looking through each and every individual case, I decided to ask the employee. The first guy that I approached looked seemingly lackluster and bored, so I hoped that my task would send him into an active frenzied search (I was mistaken…). Alright, so he couldn’t really remember what the game looked like, no problem… I had the advertisement. Well, as I quote, “All the games should be in the section, have you looked?” So I stated that there was no real ordering and was wondering if he could check the computer.
Little did I know, the computer system at Circuit City was ineffective (or so I presume). They cannot search through the store inventory by name, only by the SKU or UPC number. Well… I asked if they could look in the back while I look through the shelves – five minutes later… all he could see was old madden games. Well, dinnertime was approaching so I left the store grabbing an ad to pricematch.

Returning from dinner, I headed towards a nearby Best Buy in hopes to get a pricematch. Hey, the good part is, they had the game … unfortunately at a 40 dollar price range. I went towards the customer service with game an advertisement in hand hoping the female cashier would just ring the game and let me leave in peace. Ultimately, she placed me on hold and decided to call the nearby Circuit City… Great. I’m standing there with a credit card ready to purchase for around fifteen minutes. Being slightly dejected at the wait and my hopes fading, the young female returned. Huzzah? Well… no. According to her, the Circuit City did not pick up, and therefore there is no way they can verify – so much for matching the ad on the spot. Being a bit cynical, I was wondering if she called the other Circuit City’s around the area. With a curt reply, “They are not local competitors,” I was undeniably a bit frustrated and annoyed since “local” can constitute as any nearby stores. In curiosity, I asked what “local” meant. With a slightly confused look on her face, she replied the “nearby” stores. Slightly amused at this comment, (since the nearby CC could also be located along San Francisco or San Mateo County region), I asked about the other stores. Apparently no matter how far the store, it has to be the closest within vicinity (that’s my theory at least… Best Buy used to price match with the nearest Fry’s Electronics, around a 45min drive on the freeway… :/).

Well, apparently pricematching didn’t work, so I decided to check back at CC one last time. Came in, found an employee. Ah excellent, he’s next to the computer, I’ll ask him to search! Apparently he just looks on CC’s website and claims its out of stock, but it could be in the shelves! Slightly annoyed at the response, I asked him if he could check the store inventory system. Well, the SKU/UPC argument came up again, but have no fear, the website that he looked for showed it. Delighted at this prospect, and the employee bending towards my will; another C.C. employee came up, and said that the game’s out of stock. Sigh…

The next day, I decided, hey maybe Target has it for around 20 dollars, I saw it on another CAG topic. Arriving at target, I asked the employee if he could check if the game is in stock through the computers… Well, I assume that the computer system is the same as the pathetic CC system, since he didn’t even bother, saying look at the shelf, and claiming they had the game previously. I’m not sure about you guys, but is checking through the computer system that big of a deal? There’s no one around when I asked and he wasn’t even doing anything.

Bah one last shot, CompUSA’s website has Rouge Galaxy in stock for 26.99, but hey they’re getting liquidated so I’ll still have it slightly less than the retail 40. Arriving at the store, I was first disappointed by the game selection, nothing really promising for the systems that I had. As I headed out towards the store, to my delight, I found another cart of games. And Rouge Galaxy was there! Buwhahaha… I can finally get the game! Alas, the “manager’s special” was at $39.98! Well… I’m confused, the website was claiming it was 26.99… Heading over to customer’s service, the guy started to explain that the store pricing was it. Being slightly annoyed and a bit cynical through my adventures, I questioned why the CompUSA website was claiming the price at 26.99 while the CompUSA store is 39.98. As I heard from this great reply, “the online section is different from the stores…” As it drew on, I replied with “So the CompUSA website, which is the website of the CompUSA stores, are different from the retail pricing of CompUSA, which in the end is still CompUSA (well… technically not for long)?” Well, apparently the store is no longer CompUSA, but a liquidation store… even with CompUSA logos flying around everywhere.

In the end, after searching through a bunch of stores… I have ended with… well… nothing but wasted gas. I suppose my last ditch effort might be walking through a Walmart as I have heard other people have bought the game for 19.92 or something. Unfortunately, it’s a rather lengthy distance… Anyone else have such fun holiday shopping experiences? Or find any deals on this game?
 
Ah I saw a bunch of them at target a month ago for $27 and I wanted to wait till it went down more and when i went back two weeks later they clearanced it down to $20. They had at least 7 or 8 copies. Good luck on finding it though. Heard that its going down everywhere.
 
[quote name='NightNinja7']Alas, the “manager’s special” was at $39.98! Well… I’m confused, the website was claiming it was 26.99… Heading over to customer’s service, the guy started to explain that the store pricing was it. Being slightly annoyed and a bit cynical through my adventures, I questioned why the CompUSA website was claiming the price at 26.99 while the CompUSA store is 39.98. As I heard from this great reply, “the online section is different from the stores…” As it drew on, I replied with “So the CompUSA website, which is the website of the CompUSA stores, are different from the retail pricing of CompUSA, which in the end is still CompUSA (well… technically not for long)?”[/QUOTE]

That's the case with a lot of stores, Toys R Us, KB Toys, Target, Walmart, K-Mart etc. all have different in store pricing and online pricing for clearance/sale games.
 
Might I suggest Sears.. I found my copy there for $15 about a month or so ago. They only had the one copy. It may be worth a shot, at least.
 
First off, how hard is it to bring a UPC # with ya when going to a store? I know there's LOTS of game/electronics stores which use the UPC barcode as their main way to look up items. This is why it's ALWAYS good to come prepared.

Plus, have you ever worked in retail? And had 90 bajillion slappies come up to you in an average day and ask something so plainly stupid, it's not funny.

I remember when I worked WalMart, people would flag me down to ask where xyz item was, even though it was about 6 feet away from the. People are just fuckin lazy, if you ask me. Either that or blind and fuckin stupid.

Oh and like everyone else said, Kmart has RG for UNDER $10. I've had about 3-4 copies of it myself, mostly trading or selling to other CAGs. But, I do know where there's another copy, assuming the Christmas shoppers haven't bought it yet.

Oh and Yoshi, I know for a while Kmarts site WAS linked to in-store prices, since I pointed out many a game that matched their in-store counterparts. Too bad they didn't keep that clearance pricing on the games online, though.
 
You should have tried PM with another cashier at BB. Not every cashier will call to confirm CC inventory. Any cashier at BB can PM, not just those at Customer Service.
 
if you cant find a cc that has this, go to walmart. check to see if its $19.82, actually to save you a trip just call them and ask for a price check and give them a upc.
 
[quote name='emg28']You should have tried PM with another cashier at BB. Not every cashier will call to confirm CC inventory. Any cashier at BB can PM, not just those at Customer Service.[/quote]

Good call when I PMed the Daxter PSP bundle based on the Target web error printout the woman cashier never called them on it. She looked at the sheet, asked another cashier if the can PM the internet, she was told yes as long as it's not amazon.com, and she did it.
 
~First off, how hard is it to bring a UPC # with ya when going to a store? I know there's LOTS of game/electronics stores which use the UPC barcode as their main way to look up items. This is why it's ALWAYS good to come prepared.

Ah yes, I'll clearly bring a UPC # with me, yes of course, after my brain has been rattled and belittled by finals. Its always good to come prepared? Of Course! I'm stocked for a nuclear winter while I'm at it...

~Plus, have you ever worked in retail? And had 90 bajillion slappies come up to you in an average day and ask something so plainly stupid, it's not funny.

What was so plainly stupid? I asked if the game was within the computer system because If its in the system then the game's in the store. Why would I search through a shelf that has a random order if the computer system can easily determine if there is a copy or not within the store? Isn't checking with the store inventory even better than wasting both my time and the employee's time? There was hardly anyone at the store in either case, so I find it hard to believe that they were in a position to not help.


~I remember when I worked WalMart, people would flag me down to ask where xyz item was, even though it was about 6 feet away from the. People are just in lazy, if you ask me. Either that or blind and in stupid.

Well I highly doubt I was blind and stupid, but in either case, the item no longer existed, so I suppose I was rather late.

~Oh and like everyone else said, Kmart has RG for UNDER $10. I've had about 3-4 copies of it myself, mostly trading or selling to other CAGs. But, I do know where there's another copy, assuming the Christmas shoppers haven't bought it yet.

The K-mart that used to exist in my area closed shop two years ago. The nearest K-mart that I see from the store locater is around oh... 30min drive at the least?

~You should have tried PM with another cashier at BB. Not every cashier will call to confirm CC inventory. Any cashier at BB can PM, not just those at Customer Service.

Now that I think back, I was going to try with another cashier, but I asked the first guy near the games section and they referred my to CS.

And since I'm from the SF/Bay Area... the nearest Walmart is also around 30-45 mintues away... well probably less, but I don't want to pay the toll :/

At any rate, I will check the nearby Sears in hopes that I do find it.
 
Wow, just call the store and ask if they have it... might take a few minutes, but if I am seeking one game, that's how I shop for it.

It helps to have the UPC - BB, CC, Kmart, Sears can search nearby store inventory, then it;s just one more call to confirm...
 
[quote name='NightNinja7']
Ah yes, I'll clearly bring a UPC # with me, yes of course, after my brain has been rattled and belittled by finals. Its always good to come prepared? Of Course! I'm stocked for a nuclear winter while I'm at it...[/quote]

But, did you FIND the game you were looking for WITHOUT said UPC? NO! So, what does that tell you? That it's better to have a point of reference for the clerks to use to look up items.

[quote name='NightNinja7']
What was so plainly stupid? I asked if the game was within the computer system because If its in the system then the game's in the store. Why would I search through a shelf that has a random order if the computer system can easily determine if there is a copy or not within the store? Isn't checking with the store inventory even better than wasting both my time and the employee's time? There was hardly anyone at the store in either case, so I find it hard to believe that they were in a position to not help.[/quote]

You know, unless you've been bitten by a venomous snake and only have X amount of minutes to live unless you get help, it DOES usually pay off to check the 'disorganized' shelves, since MANY retail employees are clueless and/or lazy. Judging from the fact that not one but TWO stores told you you need the UPC to have them look up items, I'm betting one was a case of maybe a lazy employee, while the other was being honest about that being their inventory system.

Either way, you failed for not actually expending all of your OWN options FIRST and hoping that some underpaid shnook could help your lazy ass to find a game without having to look through all the shelves. Plus, if their shelves were as disheveled as you SAY they were, then it would've taken the employee 20-30 minutes or more to possibly find the item for you, even if you HAD the UPC.

[quote name='NightNinja7']
The K-mart that used to exist in my area closed shop two years ago. The nearest K-mart that I see from the store locater is around oh... 30min drive at the least?[/quote]

OH NOEZ!!! A 30 minute drive to get to a store?? It's the end of the world as we know it. I've driven 40 minutes to stores before, even with gas being over $3 a gallon at that point. Why would I do such a thing, you might ask?

Well, I really wanted the item that I was searching for and we have no less than SIX Kmart stores around here. So, if one didn't have it, one of the other five might've.

If you're not willing to make some sacrifices and make the retail employees jobs a lil easier(by having a UPC # for reference or a barcode from Slashbunny's list) and maybe expend a little gas, then you're definitely NOT a true deal hunter.

The way I understood your wall of text like post was that you wanted people to do the searching FOR you and you weren't willing to give any of YOUR time to check for the item yourself. Selfish....maybe? Lazy......possibly?

Maybe I'm just a different breed of CAG who isn't afraid to dig through a massive bin of junk games to find that one rare gem, instead of just saying 'mr clerk, can you help me?'. The fun of finding deals on your own is the real thrill of being a CAG, plus I thought you would've known by now that CC employees are unwilling to expend the energy to help you out in many cases and to avoid that store at all costs.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']OH NOEZ!!! A 30 minute drive to get to a store?? It's the end of the world as we know it. I've driven 40 minutes to stores before, even with gas being over $3 a gallon at that point. Why would I do such a thing, you might ask?[/quote]
:lol:
I've driven over 1.5 hours (so says google maps... might not have been that long) one way just to check out a new KMart.
I'm a bit crazy.
 
Hey, I'm right there with ya. For a while, my 'region' included parts of NY(up to Middletown and Poughkeepsie) and NJ(out as far as Paramus at times). I'm only about an hours drive from the NJ border, so I'd hit the interstate and cross over into Jersey, stop at the one hot dog stand called Hot Dog Johnny's in the summertime, then hit Parsippany and many of the towns around there.

And, the one trip to Atlantic City with a friend of mine....took 8 hours.....since I stopped in about 25-30 stores along the way and spent at least 10-20 minutes in EACH. From my area, a trip to AC on a good day with little traffic takes THREE hours. So yeah, that trip was a tad long. LOL

I haven't been on ANY real long trips lately, though that's because my friend is working long hours and I prefer to bring someone along in the event we break down or something.
 
But, did you FIND the game you were looking for WITHOUT said UPC? NO! So, what does that tell you? That it's better to have a point of reference for the clerks to use to look up items.
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I can't even find the game WITH the UPC since it no longer is in existence at that price at the store. What does that tell me? The search would have been fruitless. At any rate, the UPC might not be the most useful thing since I called three nearby target about the game's UPC. They honestly had no real use for it, because the stores were asking for their own specific code roughly around eight digits, which I presume to be an internal SKU.

You know, unless you've been bitten by a venomous snake and only have X amount of minutes to live unless you get help, it DOES usually pay off to check the 'disorganized' shelves, since MANY retail employees are clueless and/or lazy. Judging from the fact that not one but TWO stores told you you need the UPC to have them look up items, I'm betting one was a case of maybe a lazy employee, while the other was being honest about that being their inventory system.

Either way, you failed for not actually expending all of your OWN options FIRST and hoping that some underpaid shnook could help your lazy ass to find a game without having to look through all the shelves.
Click to expand...

No, I've been poisoned by the air when I walked into the store. Did you think I did not look before I asked the employee? The only reason why I asked for a working employee was for assistance to search through the lackluster organization. From what I posted before, I did not first look for an employee, but for the game. Wow, if I certainly was that lazy, I wouldn't have even bothered searching for the game on sale. Why else do you think I was complaining about the organization of the shelf? I couldn't find the product even after fifteen minutes. Could it be in the back? IT MIGHT! Hence looking for the employee. As a customer, I doubt I can easily walk into the back of the store without being questioned.

Plus, if their shelves were as disheveled as you SAY they were, then it would've taken the employee 20-30 minutes or more to possibly find the item for you, even if you HAD the UPC.
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Well, if there WAS the game, it would be worthwhile to look since it would still be in the system inventory. It seems to be a brilliant tactic to search for an existing game -- not one that is no longer in stock. Do you think that I am that inept? Honestly, are you trying to defend an employee that tells you to look for the item in the shelves, even though they noticed you staring at the same aisle for at least fifteen minutes?

OH NOEZ!!! A 30 minute drives to get to a store?? It's the end of the world as we know it. I've driven 40 minutes to stores before, even with gas being over $3 a gallon at that point. Why would I do such a thing, you might ask?

Well, I really wanted the item that I was searching for and we have no less than SIX Kmart stores around here. So, if one didn't have it, one of the other five might've.
Click to expand...

Wow, congratulations, you're willing to spend money on gas over three dollars nonetheless! Also, I'm happy that you have over 6 k-marts around in nearby vicinity, I don't. But honestly, what does that have to do with me? Are you trying to inform me that you have a great selection of k-marts?

Now, I didn't say Rogue Galaxy was out of stock at every other store, I was saying that I was trying to get the game at a certain price. If I truly wanted the item that I was searching for at a price at least 50% more than the one I was trying to get, I can easily find it.

If you're not willing to make some sacrifices and make the retail employees jobs a lil easier(by having a UPC # for reference or a barcode from Slashbunny's list) and maybe expend a little gas, then you're definitely NOT a true deal hunter.
Click to expand...

Look, you are trying to say I can make a retail employee's life a little easier. Well, let’s look at it this way. To get the number that the store is trying to find might not always be the UPC, as I have stated earlier with Target, they did not accept the UPC code, I would most likely have to print out the UPC and have it scan at their price check machines. However, that appears to be a pointless endeavor if you're trying to call the place earlier to find out whether or not they have it in stock. Now, I have another question to you, what is a retail employee's job if they're standing idly about within the store? Do they do nothing in their power to help the customer out? Is it that difficult to use their own store computer and search within? The employee I saw at the end of my trip at CC easily pulled out their SKU/UPC from their website to my frustration. Shouldn't there be more effort in the way they work? I suppose not because the retail job does not have a very enticing job wager. Shouldn't the workers be, I don't know... working? Not lollygagging around?

And I'm just curious, if I expend a "little" gas that is nearly equal to the non-sales price if not more, wouldn't that be basically be a person that uses a 10 dollar off coupon while wasting 15 dollars in gas? That by itself is no deal, rather a disastrous payoff. Who in the right mind would consider that a great way to go deal hunting? It is certainly not a bargain through the total calculation. There are certainly sacrifices that I'm willing to make, but it is rather a redundant, if not wasteful effort, if the item I am searching for does exist but at a higher (but not extremely expensive account). I do go hunting or I suppose camping like an idiot during Black Friday, but the idea of using that much money traveling just for a twenty dollar game seems a bit off the scale.
 
I was simply trying to say that you should have looked through the PS2 game section completely before asking an employee, since many employees are less than truly helpful. I was NOT trying to really call you lazy, though I suppose I did. For that I do apologize, but if you had taken the time to check the shelves fully yourself and had info ready that could've helped speed up the search and reduced the amount of time and effort needed to find said info, you might have had a better end result.

But, truth be told, MANY retail employees will take whatever 'down time' they can get during the holiday season, since many times they have stuck up soccer moms barking at them to find this or that for them. People have to learn to HELP THEMSELVES.

Oh and I found a bit of info you may find useful....in the event you don't wanna go through the Kmart thread to find Slashbunny's UPC list, here's UPCDatabase's listing for Rogue Galaxy:

http://www.upcdatabase.com/item.asp?upc=0711719749028

Oh and for any other Target store you may try to go into to try and find this game, here's the DCPI #(the number they normally need to look stuff up for you):

Catalog # : 10337281 ASIN: B000G77X34 DPCI: 207-12-0095

Amazing thing, this internet, you can find tons of information, just a mouseclick away.

And ya know, had we both not gone off on each other in this thread, I was gonna offer to check my one local Kmart and see if they have Rogue Galaxy still in stock and offer to do it for my cost, shipping and maybe a $1-2 extra for my time. If I recall correctly, it was around $7 @ Kmart last I checked. Unlike some gougers on here, I try to help the community when/if I can.
 
Honestly, I did check the shelves first, but I gather that was not the impression some people get from my post, however, I'm too lazy to reedit the main post.

And yes, that was the UPC number that I found. At any rate, I'll try again calling the nearby target using that DPCI number. Thank you for that.

Oh, and thank you for the offers, assuming I cannot find said item at a nice price when I head towards sac next week, I would contact you guys. There's bound to be one walmart as I head up 80...
 
No problem. I may come off as abrasive and confrontational, but if for nothing, I love this site and all of the sales/deals I've snagged due to it, so I try to help out whenever possible.

And sorry again for coming off as I did. I know I've spent numerous trips at many stores looking through the shelves, not finding what I want and practically having to hog tie an employee to get them to help me. I should just learn to do like I've seen numerous soccer moms do when I AM being helped, simply come up and in the middle of my conversation/question just blurt out a question for the clerk.
 
Well... of all things, I actually did find the game for 9.98 at target -_-; The annoying part was, this was the target that I called twice asking if they had it around, while giving off that code and UPC...

Ah well, just stopped by over there to check for some gifts for friends/family and the game was out in the open. Makes you wonder if they put you on hold for a few minutes to actually check :/
 
My attempt at finding Rogue Galaxy:

Added to cart with a click, filled out forms with a few more clicks, and submitted the order with a final click.

Total time spent = less than 1 minute

Total price paid = $9.99.

Being able to buy the game in my PJs and avoid traffic and B&M stores = Priceless.
 
One of my local Kmarts has it for under $10 still, plus I think Target must've cleared out their remaining copies, since shopgoodwill.com has multiple copies up for auction.
 
I'd pick up a copy on Ebay... they're pretty easy to find used for under $15 shipped.

I paid $40 for this shipped from Amazon.:whistle2:(
 
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