Reduced price game guides, all stores. Thread 6

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floormat

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3-17-07 Here should be most of the information that anyone would need in acquiring guides. please read ALL the information below before asking questions. most question are answered below. Again thank you 6669 for all your contributions to this thread and web site.



My wifes web site - Nice jewelry good prices.

www.ladieslovejewelry.com



For hopefully the latestest most current up to date guide drops please refer to the

"CAG Strategy Guide WIKI page"

recent drop section

http://wiki.cheapassgamer.com/index.php/Category:Strategy_Guides_(recent_drops)

master list section

http://wiki.cheapassgamer.com/index.php/Category:Strategy_Guides_(master_lists)

they will be filetered from the thread posts to the WIKI page as often as possible. Thank you for your contribution.




Listed in the wiki is the most up to date compiled list of all known guide deals from the posts of this thread and similar threads. I will update the wikis lists as people post new guide deals. Everything listed in this thread “should” be the price listed or lower. These prices are typically company wide price reductions and not YMMV. But just because the prices are typically universal does not mean that they are guaranteed to be sold to you. Most stores have a destroy clause with the guide companies. So whether or not you get these guides depend on many many factors from how diligent a staff is to how reasonable or friendly one is. Good luck on any you may find and good luck on acquiring them. Please dont have a fit if a store wont let you have them just move on. Causing trouble rarely gets guides and most of the time stops others from getting guides in your area. If anything is incorrect or missing please post so corrections can be made.


Now you can just cut, paste, print, and GO!!!



What is a Penny Guide:

To answer this question fully, one first has to understand the longstanding legal agreemenat which [book] publishers have with book sellers such as Borders, Barnes & Noble and other chain and Mom & Pop shops, as well as other retailers who similarly sell their books.

For several decades, publishers such as Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Random House, et cetera will send out X-number of a title to stores to be sold. After a time, when it is decided that those older titles have little chance of selling and the store shelf real-estate would be better used for newer publications, they issue a recall to the vendors to field destroy all remaining copies of titles A, B & C.

The stores then will pull those titles from their inventory to be field-destroyed, and in their systems mark the publications as 1¢. The 1¢ price is to indicate to the publisher that they are no-longer selling the pulled title, and it is also to serve as a Red Flag to any cashier who might ring up a title (on the chance that the titles were not pulled as legally they were required).

When the pull lists are sent out by the publishers, and the stores adjust the price in their inventory (and pull and field-destroy the books), the stores also are to report to the publisher the number of the books they pulled. (This is generally done at a corporate level.) The publisher then credits the stores full cost of the books.

So lets say, MegaChain orders 8000 copies of the Bread Baker strategy guide for their stores in North America for say, $4 a piece. They owe $32,000 to Publisher X. Bread Baker being a big seller and a hard game, then sells 6000 of those 8000 guides, leaving around 2000 guides on the shelves when Publisher X issues the pull demand. Publisher X then issues MegaChain an $8000 credit for the 2000 unsold copies of the guide.


According to IAmTheCheapestGamer, some retailers also have deals where each copy of pulled titles sent to their recognized Recycling Centers are additionally issued further credit for being environmentally responsible in the manner in which they field destroy each book.



How you can help: You can keep a printed copy of this list in your jacket, wallet, purse whatever and when you go to any store that carries guides look for guides for games that have been out typically around six months or more and ask for a price check or better yet use a store scanner if they are available. If they are anything less than cover price write it down for us. Also please when you post the info here if it looks like it’s a temporary sale, please post that as well otherwise it will be assumed to a be a permanent price reduction. If you scan a guide and it comes up a different price that what the master lists suggests please list the day and store that you had the guide scanned. Also please list if you physically saw a self-scanner’s price, physically saw a cash registers price or vocally heard a price from the store’s staff. This might sound like a lot and of course we will take what we can get but this will go a long way to having the best master list as well as ferreting out different store practices and policy’s. All help is appreciated and thank you.




Trading: I spoke with the post office and found out that the cheapest form of mailing to the 48 contiguous states would be to use “media mail” It will take a little longer but it will also allow the least amount of money per transaction when trying to acquire guides for your collection. For an average guide weight of about 9 oz its $1.42 cents. All you need to do is put it in an envelope and ship it media mail. He mentioned no one should have a problem if you use the same envelope several times to cut down on costs. He also mentioned that when shipping Media mail that you cannot have any personal correspondence in the envelope. Only books and an invoice are acceptable. If trading is in you interest you do whatever is most comfortable for you and your trading party this was merely a FYI and a good way to keep it cheap.



Helpful links to check for reduced priced guides or guides in general. You will likely never find one cent guides here but various discounted guides and possibly some that you have been searching for.


Best Buy

Best Buy guide search


Circuit City

Circuit City guide search


EB Games

EB Games guide search


Gamestop (babages,software etc,funcoland)

Gamestop guide search


Overstock

Overstock guide search


Toys R Us (uhh best link I could find)

Toys R Us guide search


strategy-guides.net (another large site of guides)

strategy-guides.net guide search


bookpool (guides typically 45% off or so )

Book pool guide search


Looking for assistance: I am looking for some staff from Best Buy’s, EB’s, Gamestop’s and stores of the like. When EB Games or Gamestop has a price reduction their shelves can be empty in a day or two to even as little as just a few hours. EB and Gamestop have daily price changes so all depending on the store’s staff they could be all gone almost immediately. If I could get some staff that can either post here first thing any day that they have a price reduction on guides or that might be able to text message me with such price reductions so that I might be able to inform CAG’ers ASAP. Whether or not us the end user would actually be able to get them from a particular stores staff is very much an YMMV but if there is anyone who can help this would greatly increase the chance’s of CAG’ers being able to pick up guides from these locations. If anyone is interested and able to help please e-mail me at [email protected]. Thank you all for your consideration.



Thank you all for making CAG what it is and for all your contributions.


Disclaimer: This list is intended to help all guide hunters. Please feel free to print yourself a copy and get what you can find. Please do not post this list on another site. {e-mail me please if for some reason you would want to. [email protected]} Please just link to this thread, add to this list and help it grow. Thank you





all guides are now listed in the wiki please go there. thank you.
 
[quote name='6669']So does anyone know which guides BB will be dropping this month/Monday?
There's only those few that are $9.99 right now.[/QUOTE]
they might not drop any because they didnt drop any guide last year at this time.
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']wow, almost a year ago. I believe same drop as Shadow of the Colossus and Xmen legends 2? IDK, I wasn't actually able to get any from that drop, but I seem to remember being some nice big guides dropped then.[/QUOTE]

Good memory . . . here's the drop listing from the first post of this thread:

***New guides to the master list as of 1-30-06***

Best Buy .01

007 From Russia With Love
Battlefield 2 XBox
City of Heroes
Jak X
Matrix Path of Neo
NBA Live '06
Ninja Gaiden Black
Pokemon Emerald
Project Gotham Racing 3
Ratchet Deadlocked
Rainbow 6 Lockdown
Shadow of the Colossus
Soul Calibur 3
Spartan Total Warriors
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
True Crime: NYC
Ultimate Spiderman
Warriors, the
X-Men Legends II


This was a great one for me, I got to BB and none of the guides were in sight . . . then I saw this cart loaded with them . . . I snagged a pile of guides and checked out. After I put them in my car, I went back for more . . . I got most of the ones on the list . . . I think I've traded the extra SC3.
 
[quote name='62t']they might not drop any because they didnt drop any guide last year at this time.[/QUOTE]
Bummer. I want Kingdom Hearts 2, if/when it drops. My b/f found a BB outta town that had guides that had dropped earlier this year, and never pulled them. I dont think that place even knows that the guides drop, so thats my new place to get them.
 
Odd, the Tomb Raider Legend guides up and disappeared from the BB near me yesterday. They were still there earlier in the week.
 
[quote name='Nogib']Odd, the Tomb Raider Legend guides up and disappeared from the BB near me yesterday. They were still there earlier in the week.[/QUOTE]

I tested that one yesterday and it was 9.99.
 
I've found that my local BB stores tend to yank the guides 2-3 days in advance of them dropping anymore or it seems that way anyway.

Another bunch that are a possibility for Monday: Kingdom Hearts 2, Animal Crossing(this one has been out almost a year now) and Nintendogs(those lil green guides).

I mean, those 3 guides have been out a while at least, so they ARE a possibility. Just a heads up.
 
[quote name='Trevor']I tested that one yesterday and it was 9.99.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I know it's not pennied yet as it's still on their site even. My point is that they have have pulled it exceptionally early as if it might be pennied out very soon.
 
I scanned the guides for New Super Mario Bros and Mario & Luigi Partners in Time at Target both guides rang up as not in their system.
 
[quote name='CGH']I scanned the guides for New Super Mario Bros and Mario & Luigi Partners in Time at Target both guides rang up as not in their system.[/QUOTE]
did you scan the right bar code?
 
Well, Enchanted Arms and Tomb Raider are both still on the site. So are Nintendogs, NSMB, and Animal Crossing. The only thing missing as far as I can tell is the old version of the Oblivion guide, which has actually been gone from the site for a while now. I wonder if this means no penny drops today, or just that the site hasn't updated changes?
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I've found that my local BB stores tend to yank the guides 2-3 days in advance of them dropping anymore or it seems that way anyway.

Another bunch that are a possibility for Monday: Kingdom Hearts 2, Animal Crossing(this one has been out almost a year now) and Nintendogs(those lil green guides).

I mean, those 3 guides have been out a while at least, so they ARE a possibility. Just a heads up.[/QUOTE]

I noticed that at the store I go to... My only chance of grabbing a few guides was to get the store first thing in the morning when they opened or if on the site order and pick up asap. Now they seem to come up missing a few days before.
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']Well, Enchanted Arms and Tomb Raider are both still on the site. So are Nintendogs, NSMB, and Animal Crossing. The only thing missing as far as I can tell is the old version of the Oblivion guide, which has actually been gone from the site for a while now. I wonder if this means no penny drops today, or just that the site hasn't updated changes?[/QUOTE]
well last year they didnt drop any guide during December.
 
[quote name='62t']well last year they didnt drop any guide during December.[/QUOTE]

Makes sence from what I remember penny guide drops were meager to non-existent during Christmas time over the last 2 years at all stores. I'm guessing that even Best Buy won't do any penny guide drops this month.
 
Whatever you guys do, dont ask someone at BB in that section to check the price on a guide. The BB's we've done that at have been pulling them early, while the one's we didn't, still leave them out.
 
BOO! BOO I say! Came up with nuthin. I managed to get Kameo (from the last drop) but nothing new. Tried:

**WARNING, THESE ARE NOT $0.01
Oblivion (non-revised)
Lego Star Wars 2
Enchanted Arms
World of Warcraft Dungeon guide
New Super Mario Bros.
Animal Crossing DS
Tomb Raider Legends
Kingdom Hearts 2
a couple others

I pretty much grabbed all the guides I could find that were not for "brand new" games. No luck. Can't wait for Jan. drop though, should be a killer.
 
[quote name='6669']Whatever you guys do, dont ask someone at BB in that section to check the price on a guide. The BB's we've done that at have been pulling them early, while the one's we didn't, still leave them out.[/quote]
I take them up to the register and have them checked, not in the media department.
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']BOO! BOO I say! Came up with nuthin. I managed to get Kameo (from the last drop) but nothing new. Tried:

**WARNING, THESE ARE NOT $0.01
Oblivion (non-revised)
Lego Star Wars 2
Enchanted Arms
World of Warcraft Dungeon guide
New Super Mario Bros.
Animal Crossing DS
Tomb Raider Legends
Kingdom Hearts 2
a couple others

I pretty much grabbed all the guides I could find that were not for "brand new" games. No luck. Can't wait for Jan. drop though, should be a killer.[/QUOTE]
Thanks, you saved us all a trip.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']I take them up to the register and have them checked, not in the media department.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, thats exactly what we do now. My b/f will go as far as to offer the cashiers a guide, and tell them "Don't tell anyone else, or we wont be able to do this anymore." He's half smoothing them over, half flirting with them. :roll:
 
[quote name='6669']Yeah, thats exactly what we do now. My b/f will go as far as to offer the cashiers a guide, and tell them "Don't tell anyone else, or we wont be able to do this anymore." He's half smoothing them over, half flirting with them. :roll:[/quote]
Last time I did this, I brought a stack of guides, one per, up to the register and had them check the prices.

Best to do this at the ones farthest from the CS desk.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']Last time I did this, I brought a stack of guides, one per, up to the register and had them check the prices.

Best to do this at the ones farthest from the CS desk.[/QUOTE]
Yep, the cashiers dont really have any authority to pull stuff off the floor. We used to know a guy who worked at BB, in that section, that would hold 1 of each for us, but he quit earlier this year :whistle2:(
 
Hehe see the people in the game section at my best buy don't mind. They know I come in for the penny guides. I usually just ask em if I can borrow the computer to check the prices myself so i don't need to bug anyone and they log me into the system and let me check the SKU's myself.

Now i can't get any guides from gamestop or EB anymore because the stores by me got in trouble and have strict orders to dispose of em.
 
[quote name='6669']Yeah, thats exactly what we do now. My b/f will go as far as to offer the cashiers a guide, and tell them "Don't tell anyone else, or we wont be able to do this anymore." He's half smoothing them over, half flirting with them. :roll:[/quote]

I just use my charm to let them think its business as usual. Don't want them thinking something is wrong. Usually Quoneesha isn't swayed much by a Kameo guide, if she thinks something is out of the ordinary. :lol:
 
[quote name='Brian9824']Hehe see the people in the game section at my best buy don't mind. They know I come in for the penny guides. I usually just ask em if I can borrow the computer to check the prices myself so i don't need to bug anyone and they log me into the system and let me check the SKU's myself.

Now i can't get any guides from gamestop or EB anymore because the stores by me got in trouble and have strict orders to dispose of em.[/QUOTE]


There was no one who would help one day and someone left it logged on once. After I started typing security was right at me in 15-20 seconds. then all of a sudden they were more than willing to help. hahaha
 
[quote name='Pookymeister']I just use my charm to let them think its business as usual. Don't want them thinking something is wrong. Usually Quoneesha isn't swayed much by a Kameo guide, if she thinks something is out of the ordinary. :lol:[/quote]

Quoneesha? Is that supposed to be a funny racially charged joke? You clearly don't have any charm :roll:
 
[quote name='Lou-Dawg']Quoneesha? Is that supposed to be a funny racially charged joke? You clearly don't have any charm :roll:[/quote]
Nah, thats just someones name there or close to it ;p
 
[quote name='Pookymeister']I just use my charm to let them think its business as usual. Don't want them thinking something is wrong. Usually Quoneesha isn't swayed much by a Kameo guide, if she thinks something is out of the ordinary. :lol:[/QUOTE]

I don't get it. :/
 
Haha thats hilarious floormat. Personally I love my staff at best buy. They have never given me a hassle with those penny guides. Then again I have one of the few stores that actually prints up those $.01 price tags and sticks em on the guides.
 
I love one of the BB I go to, they actually put the 0.01 price tag on everything that they knew had dropped and all of it was in one section! Too bad the others don't. They seem to pull them off the floor as well, as all I could find were the surprise ones that we hadn't known about beforehand.
 
I went with my one cousin to the auto auction in Lafayette, NY last night and he let me take his car up to the Carousel Mall again(Syracuse, NY). This store had been a decent spot to get guides from in drops past, but had been woefully dry of penny guides for a while now.

Well, last night, they had 8 guides in stock(I only grabbed 2). They had
3x Mage Knight Apocalypse
3x Half Life 2: Episode One
2x Tycoon City: New York(only 2 I grabbed)

When I was checking out, the clerk who rang me up said some woman came up with a 'big Final Fantasy book' and was shocked when it came up .01. Take that as rumor of a possibly penny guide we missed or whatever, but don't take it too seriously

Also, aren't there a whole buttload of guide drops missing on the original post of this new thread? I know the last one, with the WOW Atlas, FFXI Atlas, PS2 San Andreas guide and others IS missing. Or are all drops now going into the Wiki?
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I went with my one cousin to the auto auction in Lafayette, NY last night and he let me take his car up to the Carousel Mall again(Syracuse, NY). This store had been a decent spot to get guides from in drops past, but had been woefully dry of penny guides for a while now.

Well, last night, they had 8 guides in stock(I only grabbed 2). They had
3x Mage Knight Apocalypse
3x Half Life 2: Episode One
2x Tycoon City: New York(only 2 I grabbed)

When I was checking out, the clerk who rang me up said some woman came up with a 'big Final Fantasy book' and was shocked when it came up .01. Take that as rumor of a possibly penny guide we missed or whatever, but don't take it too seriously

Also, aren't there a whole buttload of guide drops missing on the original post of this new thread? I know the last one, with the WOW Atlas, FFXI Atlas, PS2 San Andreas guide and others IS missing. Or are all drops now going into the Wiki?[/QUOTE]



they are meant to go into both. I made the wiki since we can all update it. That way when we have a drop we would have a consise list of what currrently dropped rather than checking through the last 40 post for one guide mentioned from this person and one from another. When I or whoever gets time to compile them together I will re paste them back to the master list for archival puposes. The wiki is intended to be live since we can all update it.


its just kinda hard to say hey hon can you watch the kids for the next 6 hours - 2 days while I update this guide thingy online ¿? Just doens't have the right ring to it. Know what I mean ¿? =P
 
LOL I have no kids or wife or gf, so I should've really made the new thread. Either way though, I tried once before, but didn't wanna sift through(then) 40+ pages of inane banter to find all the drop lists and had enough people complain about this and that when I MADE a thread that I abandoned that idea.

I tried again recently and had the bulk of the posts from the old thread scanned through when I deleted all my work, having remembered the bs I went through last time.

So, thanks for making the new thread Floormat and hope you keep up the good work.....
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']LOL I have no kids or wife or gf, so I should've really made the new thread. Either way though, I tried once before, but didn't wanna sift through(then) 40+ pages of inane banter to find all the drop lists and had enough people complain about this and that when I MADE a thread that I abandoned that idea.

I tried again recently and had the bulk of the posts from the old thread scanned through when I deleted all my work, having remembered the bs I went through last time.

So, thanks for making the new thread Floormat and hope you keep up the good work.....[/quote]

I wouldn't spend too much time on older guide drops - since they aren't as relevant as say the past 6 months. Farther than that the odds that you will find one still on the floor are slim to none.
 
The following were not obtained for a penny, but regardless are up for trade:
GTA Vice City
Jak II
Dark Cloud 2
Pikmin

A little off topic, but I picked up the Castlevania POR guide for my collection. Although it's a Brady guide, it's quite a stinker compared to the awesome DOS guide by DoubleJump.
 
well it looks like the World of Warcraft Atlas is back up to $29.99 at Best Buy. Went in today and saw 6 new Atlas's and had them price check. $29.99.
 
[quote name='speter79']well it looks like the World of Warcraft Atlas is back up to $29.99 at Best Buy. Went in today and saw 6 new Atlas's and had them price check. $29.99.[/QUOTE]
Was there a new UPC over the old one, or anything like that?
 
[quote name='speter79']well it looks like the World of Warcraft Atlas is back up to $29.99 at Best Buy. Went in today and saw 6 new Atlas's and had them price check. $29.99.[/quote]


That's bizarre. Wonder why they would drop it to a penny and then raise the price again. Are you sure it's the same Atlas as before? Did the one you have scanned have the bookmarks (or whatever they were) sealed inside the shrinkwrap also? Anyone know if there is a 2nd edition Atlas that has been released?
 
It *could* of been a price drop mistake on BB's part. Im sure higher ups realized that these 30 dollar hardback books were going for a penny and quickly fixed the mistake. This is my guess *shrugs*
 
almost for sure there would have to be second edition of this guide. with each expansion new lands are added to the game thus outdating the last guide. I haven't played the game so I don't know for sure but logically this makes sense.
 
It's sounding like, just like the Oblivion, Godfather and Liberty City Stories guides, any game getting released on MORE systems ends up necessitating a new version of the guide.

Like many(including myself) have said here recently, it's only a matter of time till the original Oblivion guide drops finally. Although, my local BB stores already started disappearing all copies of the original one.
 
[quote name='speter79']well it looks like the World of Warcraft Atlas is back up to $29.99 at Best Buy. Went in today and saw 6 new Atlas's and had them price check. $29.99.[/QUOTE]
Are you serious? I have like 3 of them under our bed. The thoughts that just entered my mind would get me banned from this site :oops:

[quote name='kosmos13x']It *could* of been a price drop mistake on BB's part. Im sure higher ups realized that these 30 dollar hardback books were going for a penny and quickly fixed the mistake. This is my guess *shrugs*[/QUOTE]
All my local BB's are out of them now anyway. Too little, too late.


edit. I tried typing in the SKU # on BB.com and they didnt come up.
 
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