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='Zmonkay']Almost NEVER bring more than a couple of any one guide up. I always bring one for me, and one, maybe two for high demand ones, of any others. I also make sure to ALWAYS leave at least one of each guide (unless there is only one to begin with of course) behind, both for other people to grab, and also so a curious employee doesn't walk over and see it cleaned out right after I leave. Nothing kills deals like this at stores like hoarding.[/quote]

Hoarding? Who said hoarding? And why is everyone looking at me all of a sudden?

Actually, I plan on hitting up 2 local BB's and TRU's tomorrow sometime, but I know the closest TRU to me was a total bust last time, unless you count getting guides with their back covers ripped off a good thing.

Of course, I wish the Wiki were already updated because I'm feeling too lazy to thumb through 5-6 pages to find the lists of the guides. Could someone actually RE-list them on this page for us?
 
[quote name='Brainwave0']This is not a sale. It is a permanent price change to $0.01 with no new stock being ordered.[/quote]

Somebody didn't get my silly question as a joke.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Hoarding? Who said hoarding? And why is everyone looking at me all of a sudden?

Actually, I plan on hitting up 2 local BB's and TRU's tomorrow sometime, but I know the closest TRU to me was a total bust last time, unless you count getting guides with their back covers ripped off a good thing.

Of course, I wish the Wiki were already updated because I'm feeling too lazy to thumb through 5-6 pages to find the lists of the guides. Could someone actually RE-list them on this page for us? [/quote]

Best Buy's

Bully (8113551)
Call of Duty 3 (8142716)
Dead Rising (7955509)
Elder Scross IV: Oblivion (7763413)-one that dropped before!!!
F.E.A.R. (8160624)
Final Fantasy V (8162338)
Guitar Hero 2 (8120339)
Kingdom Hearts II (7739218)
Pokemon Ranger (8124399)
Red Steel (8181362)
Resistence (8162383
Saints Row (7934453)
Sims 2: Pets (8100707 & 8113383)
Socom: Combined Assault (8142672)
Yoshi's Island (8202688 & 8116424)
 
Thanks m0dem for re-posting the Best Buy list. I just hope I can find at least the guides for Bully and maybe KH II tomorrow. I know both of my local BB's have been ordered not to sell more than one copy of each guide now. I guess maybe my hoarding days locally screwed my chances of getting more recent guides now.

What makes me laugh though, is how long guides for Mage Knight Apocalypse and other PC guides sat on the shelves, even with this recent crackdown.
 
Oh god I know, I see the Mage Knights guide whereever I go. I only picked up one copy though, looks like a horrible game. I'm pumped for tomorrow.

PUMPED
 
I found the TRU list for tomorrow, figured I'd post it on this page, so other CAGs will have both lists for the drop today.

TRU penny drops for Monday March 5-possibly incomplete

Animal Crossing DS-Nintendo
Battlefield Modern Combat-Prima
Codes and Cheats Spring 06-Prima
DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 2-Prima
Final Fantasy IV-Nintendo
Ghost Recon 3-Prima
Greatest Hits Codebook-Prima
Mario and Luigi Partners in Time-Nintendo
Metroid Prime Hunters-Nintendo
NBA Live 06-Prima
NBA Live 07-Prima
NCAA Football 2007-Prima
Need for Speed Most Wanted-Prima
New Super Mario Bros DS-Nintendo
Perfect Dark Zero-Prima
Pokemon XD-Nintendo
Pups Nintendogs Companion-Nintendo
SOCOM 3-Prima
Tomb Raider Legend-Prima
and most of the old issues of Nintendo Power
 
Has TRU been confirmed that those guides will drop or is it still speculation. Don't know if we have an insider in TRU like Vahn does for BB.
 
[quote name='Brian9824']Has TRU been confirmed that those guides will drop or is it still speculation. Don't know if we have an insider in TRU like Vahn does for BB.[/quote]benboxer is a TRU insider, so, I'd take it as fact if he's posting the list.
 
Ahh cool, didnt know he worked there. Guess i'll swing by TRU too since its next to BB even though they basically refuse to sell guides now.
 
Well, people of CAG, have a good day hunting for the guides, I myself will not be able to head out until I get out of work at around 4ish. So I wish the best of luck to everyone.
 
Yeah but don't you ummm work at bestbuy, so wouldnt that make it easy to snag the guides there?

I personally cant go till about 3pm because of work so I know the feeling.
 
I'll definitely hit up BB tonight, it probably won't be until 6pm or so and there's a chance the guides might be there. I hid some before and it worked so I did the same over the weekend, just in case the shelves are bare.

I won't even try TRU, the only time (out of 10 or so) I've succeeded with penny guides was when I loaded up on TRU clearance games and snuck a few guides in.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Hoarding? Who said hoarding? And why is everyone looking at me all of a sudden?

Actually, I plan on hitting up 2 local BB's and TRU's tomorrow sometime, but I know the closest TRU to me was a total bust last time, unless you count getting guides with their back covers ripped off a good thing.

Of course, I wish the Wiki were already updated because I'm feeling too lazy to thumb through 5-6 pages to find the lists of the guides. Could someone actually RE-list them on this page for us? [/QUOTE]

LOL. Don't worry man, I got your back. You don't really hoard any more. You learned your lesson, that guides after a short while are completely worthless. Pick up a couple for you and trade, that's it. I was referring to asshats who haven't learned, and buy every guide in the store. I pitty that guy, actually, cuz he bought mainly PC guides...which we all know have NO demand.
 
[quote name='Brian9824']Yeah but don't you ummm work at bestbuy, so wouldnt that make it easy to snag the guides there?

I personally cant go till about 3pm because of work so I know the feeling.[/quote]

I do, but my store unfortunately didn't have all the guides from the drop, and barely had any copies, so I go out and collect a bunch, usually end up giving one of each to a few friends, and then the few I have left I keep for trading.
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']LOL. Don't worry man, I got your back. You don't really hoard any more. You learned your lesson, that guides after a short while are completely worthless. Pick up a couple for you and trade, that's it. I was referring to asshats who haven't learned, and buy every guide in the store. I pitty that guy, actually, cuz he bought mainly PC guides...which we all know have NO demand.[/QUOTE]


I dont hoard guides myself and still have tons of worthless guides after a while... it is crazy... all my outlets nearby for dumping off guides have dried up... I only pick up one apiece now, and 2 if I have a friend with that game... any I dont plan on ever getting I leave there... I have a 3 ft high pile of duplicate guides still
 
Generally, one can stockpile or hoard all the guides s/he wants but the only guides tradeable with any predictability are RPG guides or guides for brand-new games (less than 3 months).

I think we all have our share of worthless guides *cough*Warhammer40k*cough*, even if it's just one or two of any particular guide.

As for getting rid of excessive guides, I usually slip one or two with every trade if its addition doesn't bump the current total above the 15 oz. mark.
 
Just at my Local Best Buy at the 10 AM opening and the Guides were cleaned and not a .01 guide in site. Im not to happy. This was the list I really wanted to get some guides from. Damn that really sucks. Well I think im retiring looking for .01 guides now cause they caught on to me coming and getting them cause they were to lazy to pull them when they were supposed to. Oh well I did my best. So long .01 guiders.
 
[quote name='Caliburn']Generally, one can stockpile or hoard all the guides s/he wants but the only guides tradeable with any predictability are RPG guides or guides for brand-new games (less than 3 months).

I think we all have our share of worthless guides *cough*Warhammer40k*cough*, even if it's just one or two of any particular guide.

As for getting rid of excessive guides, I usually slip one or two with every trade if its addition doesn't bump the current total above the 15 oz. mark.[/quote]
And that's the real issue, because most RPG guides don't penny out that often, or when they do, they're long-since gone for being easy to find. Also, the guides for new games never penny out in the first three months, unless the game's a real turd.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']And that's the real issue, because most RPG guides don't penny out that often, or when they do, they're long-since gone for being easy to find. Also, the guides for new games never penny out in the first three months, unless the game's a real turd.[/quote]
Yeap. This BB drop, I'm sure lots of folks will be gunning for Kingdom Hearts II, FFV Advance, maybe Bully/Yoshi's Island DS.

Still, we're bound to see some Sims 2: Pets collecting dust on some TL's here. Maybe a Guitar Hero II guide too (why does this even exist?...) :)

Good look with finding the good guides, everyone!
 
Already set up for disappointment... FFV shows unavailable at my store (but still available at the other five stores) when it was there yesterday. Maybe I'll get lucky at lunch, but it's doubtful. And no chance to hit up another store tonight.
 
[quote name='Ribbercage']Just at my Local Best Buy at the 10 AM opening and the Guides were cleaned and not a .01 guide in site. Im not to happy. This was the list I really wanted to get some guides from. Damn that really sucks. Well I think im retiring looking for .01 guides now cause they caught on to me coming and getting them cause they were to lazy to pull them when they were supposed to. Oh well I did my best. So long .01 guiders.[/quote]

Unlike other BB guide drops, this one was well posted for media associates to get the message to pull the guides, thus it was a really good idea if you went out and hid whatever you wanted.
 
Well i was at best buy at 1005 : they had the 01 penny guides yesterday 5 or 6 of them and they were all gone save for bully. It even had a .01 price tag on it person had no problem selling it to me for that price. I also picked up Need for Speed and Perfect Dark Zero at TOys r us. They were pulling the guides when i got their at 1020am. I asked if i could get any that they already pulled and they told me no but anything left on shelf was fair game.

I went to another best buy this afternoon and struck gold. I got Red Steel, Yoshi's Island , call of Duty 3, Fear and Kingdom Hearts and Dead Rising
 
Pokemon Ranger rang up 16.99. the one i got is Prima. I told the cashier that theres a sticker price that says 0.01. he went over tehre and took the SKU down. maybe the penny one is the NP version?
 
[quote name='trunks982']Pokemon Ranger rang up 16.99. the one i got is Prima. I told the cashier that theres a sticker price that says 0.01. he went over tehre and took the SKU down. maybe the penny one is the NP version?[/QUOTE]
I think someone mention it is the nintendo power version
 
Dadeland Best Buy in Miami was a bust.

I was mainly looking for Dead Rising, but all they had for 360 was FEAR.
 
Good find at Southfield, MI (not great, more on that in a minute):

Call Of Duty 3
Dead Rising
F.E.A.R.
Final Fantasy v
Guitar Hero II
Pokemon Ranger
The Sims 2: Pets
Yoshi's Island DS (Thin Prima)

Now why wouldn't I call this haul great?
Mostly, I was looking for Bully and KHII, but to no avail. They freakin' had them last week!

So I think I'll be doing some trading...
 
[quote name='freshzen']glokant probably because brian9824 was already there :p[/quote]

no biggie. i'll just hit up the other 2 Best Buys.

if nothing, then i'll just use a net guide. not really dying for this..
 
I don't know if this has been clarified at all, but I had the cashier scan both the Knights of the Nine and non-KotN Oblivion guides and only the non-KotN guide was a penny. The other was still $19.99.
 
Well, my most local BB pulled everything by the time i got there at opening.
Everything they saw =]

I was able to get the
Kh2, saints row, Guitar Hero 2, Bully, Red Steel and Dead Rising guides i *stashed* earlier.
*stashed* = putting them in between those WoW: BC folders spine facing in. Good camoflauge. Gonna head out to another BB at lunch to get some trade fodder and hopefully Resistance.
 
[quote name='glockant']no biggie. i'll just hit up the other 2 Best Buys.

if nothing, then i'll just use a net guide. not really dying for this..[/quote]

Which 3 do you hit? Dadeland, Kendall, and Bird?
 
[quote name='glockant']no biggie. i'll just hit up the other 2 Best Buys.

if nothing, then i'll just use a net guide. not really dying for this..[/quote]

Which 3 do you hit? Dadeland, Kendall, and Bird?

I'm really hoping to find KH2, Dead Rising, and FFV, others are just icing on the cake.
 
[quote name='Pookymeister']Well, my most local BB pulled everything by the time i got there at opening.
Everything they saw =]

I was able to get the
Kh2, saints row, Guitar Hero 2, Bully, Red Steel and Dead Rising guides i *stashed* earlier.
*stashed* = putting them in between those WoW: BC folders spine facing in. Good camoflauge. Gonna head out to another BB at lunch to get some trade fodder and hopefully Resistance.[/QUOTE]

That's awesome I did the same thing with the WoW books. Gonna see if it worked in 30 minutes.
 
[quote name='Brian9824']Which 3 do you hit? Dadeland, Kendall, and Bird?

I'm really hoping to find KH2, Dead Rising, and FFV, others are just icing on the cake.[/quote]

i got to the Dadeland BB at 10am.

i saw some FF, FEAR, Scarface, and some other mumbo jumbo.

couldn't find Dead Rising. that's really the only one i'm looking for..

i think i'm going to hit up the Bird Rd BB at lunch and if nothing, the Kendall one after work.
 
I ended up with Kingdom Hearts II (x2)*, Bully, FEAR, Guitar Hero II, Sims 2 Pets (WHOO-HOO?), and Saints Row. I hid 6 others that were on the list but I guess someone found em. =(

*Don't worry I left 2 or 3 copies there. If anyone is still looking, they were at the Best Buy in Deptford, NJ.

I then hit up the Toys R Us in Deptford, nothing there. (surprise surprise)

And finally headed over to CC and got some pretty sick deals:
DQ: Rocket Slime $16.96
Saw 2: $3.99
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Guide: $2.96 (The Master List says it's $3.96 - I PMed you OP concerning this)
The Legend of Zelda: 4 Swords Adventures Guide : $1.58
Final Fantasy 1 & 2: Dawn of Souls Guide: $1.58

$28 later -- Not a bad day.
 
My local TRU had only a single copy of Final Fantasy IV guide left on the shelves. As I was going through the register, I saw a cart chock full of guides sitting behind it, and the guy scanned my guide and accused me of taking it out of the cart. "No, I got it off the shelves next to the XBox games. You've been at the register ever since I walked into view...am I a ninja? Did I teleport back there and grab this one guide?" "Well, I'm going to have to ask the manager." The manager said I could buy that one guide and only that one guide. :p

At Best Buy I did a bit better...got every guide I wanted except Final Fantasy V.
 
Score! I bought Final Fantasy V Advance, Kingdom Hearts 2, Pokemon Ranger, Guitar Hero 2, Yoshi's Island DS I brought four guides to the register after successfully buying them I went back for a few extras but the second time around the cashier gave me a don't push your luck look I was thinking about going back for Call of Duty 3, Bully and Socom I decided against doing so I will go back later in the week if they still have the guides I will buy them. Afterwards I made a beeline for tru they had pulled most of the guides on the list but I found a stack of Final Fantasy IV Advance guides I brought two to the register when the cashier saw the price she told me I could have one I said thank you and bought it. She turned to a coworker and asked where another employee was she said he was supposed to have pulled the guides. Total spent $0.14 thanks CAG!:)
 
I met up with Floormat and we got pretty much everything we wanted from the Northcrest BB, except for the Oblivion guide.

I picked up: Bully, Dead Rising, Fear, Final Fantasy V, Guitar Hero 2, and Kingdom Hearts 2.

I checked TRU after hitting up BB, but they were all pulled. I wasn't really expecting them to have them.
 
[quote name='supaet']Searched google cache and all guides show up gray in my area when checking availability, should I even try?[/quote]

I think so. That thing can be pretty inaccurate a lot of the times. It'll show as no availability at my stores, then I go up there, and BAM, there it is. It's worth a shot, imho.
 
Dang, they really are pulling these hardcore at BB once again.

Store that usually never pulls them had them all pulled when I got there at open. Went to another store that I know has always pulled in the past but I had tucked a big stash away there on Sat. Sure enough, everything was pulled off the shelves. At least my stash was intact. Grabbed it and made a beeline for the registers before anyone in the game section noticed me.
 
[quote name='supaet']Searched google cache and all guides show up gray in my area when checking availability, should I even try?[/QUOTE]

Yes, because I saw the same thing, and the stores had some anyway. It's hit or miss, usually, but the store locator thing is wrong quite often. In addition, it's usually wrong in the customer's favor, I've found. Meaning, the site shows out-of-stock, when it really is there. I've never seen the other way around, so it's definitely worth a shot.
 
I believe "unavailable" in the stock locator means they have less than 3 of the item. So they might have zero, but maybe not. I'm just pretty sure my store will be cleaned out unless they happened to miss one or two. Otherwise stock wouldn't have changed since yesterday.
 
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