Reduced Price Game Guides: Thread Eight(MODS: Please lock, Thread Nine is up)

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IAmTheCheapestGamer

IAmTheCheapestGamer

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First off, let me welcome you all to the new guide thread. Second, I'd like to ask you all to please keep conversations not pertaining to guide drops or which ones you've grabbed to a minimum to avoid cluttering the thread. It's not that I don't enjoy the chit chat, but that it may stop others from locating information on the newest drops.

That being said, let me thank Cheapy for creating this site, without which I would've spent probably 10 times what I HAVE spent on games and guides. Moreover, let me thank each and every one of my fellow CAGs for continuing to contribute to making this site a great place to find out about sales and clearances of the items we as gamers use most. Without a great community, NONE of this would be possible.

Furthermore, I would like to thank our Wiki editors HeatDolphin and Rocko for updating the Wiki. Great job.

Now, with that out of the way(and before I get to rambling), let's get on to making this new thread.

Useful Information(and links):

Game Guide Trading Clearinghouse(old one, locked now):
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102021

Game Guide Trade Thread(current one):
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175548

PLEASE keep ALL trade requests in there or PM's. Thank you.

Reduced Price Guide Discussion Thread(please keep all conversation NOT related to guide drops HERE. Thanks.): http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169252

Guide Lists:

Master Drop List(by store, alphabetically):
http://wiki.cheapassgamer.com/index.php/Category:Strategy_Guides_%28master_lists%29

Recent Guide Drops(by date):
http://wiki.cheapassgamer.com/index.php/Category:Strategy_Guides_%28recent_drops%29

What is the purpose of this thread?

The purpose of this thread is to let our fellow CAGs know when a guide has dropped to a low price(it's NOT ALWAYS A PENNY), so they can go out and grab guides for themselves and for trading with other CAGs.

Anytime you have guide drops to report, post them here. Please specify at which store you found them and which guides you found and list them in alphabetical order. Thank you.

What are penny guides?

Penny guides are guides which have been on the market for a while and the publisher(or store chain) decide that the remaining stock of these guides have little to no chance of selling, so they issue an order to pull them from the shelves and destroy them. At that time, they are also marked as .01 in their inventory system, except in the case of BBV, which marks them .01 only AFTER pulling them.

Most stores have an agreement with the publisher that states that if they destroy the remaining stock of those items, they will receive a credit for their value from the publisher. This is why many stores are usually annoyed when we CAGs come in and buy the guides AT the penny price, since otherwise they would've received a full credit for those items.

According to an employee at a local BB, they also have a recycling program for the pennied stock, so as to not clutter landfill space with the guides. As to how true it is, I cannot confirm, but I would hope that the paper is at least recycled instead of just dumpstered.

Prior Reduced price game guide threads:
Guide Three:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50515&highlight=guide
Guide Four:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1496376
Guide Five:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85976
Guide Six:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116918
Guide Seven:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131717
Guide Seven and a half:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142400

Finally, below is a list of website links, each of which goes to their respective guide page. Whenever possible, I will update the links with better ones(if available).

Amazon
B&N
BestBuy
Borders
BookPool
CircuitCity
Gamestop
Overstock
StrategyGuide.net
ToysRUs

Thanks to floormat, who did threads 3,4,5 and 6 and provided me with the links to them.

Thanks to Gwen for allowing me the honor of giving something back to CAG by doing this new guide thread. I hope you all enjoy it and it isn't TOO hard to read.
 
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[quote name='62t']only the oblivion price with sticker is pennied, full price without the sticker over the upc[/quote]

What color is the .01 guide you guys are talking about? I have seen a black cover and a tan cover and neither rang up a penny. One did have the sticker over the original UPC. Is there an expansion pack or something? I am talking about BB, do I have the wrong store?
 
[quote name='62t']at best buy
black = GOTY version full price no matter what
tan = with the sticker over upc code is 1 cent[/quote]

Thanks for the help!
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Most of the info CAN be found on Gamefaqs, so WHY they continue to print these things is beyond me. But, there MUST be people buying them or they probably WOULD stop.

But, to me, if I'm in the middle of an intense gaming session and I'm hopelessly stuck, I'd rather flip open a book than traipse downstairs to my computer to look up a solution.[/quote]Yeah, I've never been big on guides with Gamefaqs around, however, they can be handy for fighting game combo lists and finding all of the packages in GTA type of games. And for a penny I'm in on that.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Most of the info CAN be found on Gamefaqs, so WHY they continue to print these things is beyond me. But, there MUST be people buying them or they probably WOULD stop.

But, to me, if I'm in the middle of an intense gaming session and I'm hopelessly stuck, I'd rather flip open a book than traipse downstairs to my computer to look up a solution.[/quote]
The people that buy these guides full retail don't know what Gamefaqs is and probably don't even think to check the internet for this sort of thing, if for anything.
 
For some RPG's, I'd pay the full retail price for the guide if it came down to it. The maps can be very helpful, among other things. I use Gamefaqs for the majority of the stuff though (unless the guide gets pennied and I have it). The last guide I bought was Persona 3 at 9.99 though.

Edit: I take it back, Shadow Hearts: From the New World for $20. That's about the only exception though. I'd never pay that much if it wasn't for that game.
 
[quote name='Slim Gatsby']Hardcover Phantom Hourglass and Twilight Princess guides are $15 at Best Buy as of the other day; that's half price, boys and girls.[/quote]BB.com site says that they're still full price, so that might be YMMV-able.
 
I was able to order Tabula Rosa and Quake Wars for in-store pickup using the kiosk at the San Carlos, CA store, and picked it up the next day. That store always pulls the guides immediately, so it's good thing they are still on the website. Thanks SpeedBrkr for the kiosk tip!
 
[quote name='tumbenhaur']I was able to order Tabula Rosa and Quake Wars for in-store pickup using the kiosk at the San Carlos, CA store, and picked it up the next day. That store always pulls the guides immediately, so it's good thing they are still on the website. Thanks SpeedBrkr for the kiosk tip![/quote]

I didn't know you could do that.....
BTW, I don't like the San Carlos store, it's by far the smallest one.
 
Quick question: Didn't the Shivering Isles expansion pack guide penny a while back? I ask because I saw one in a BB store the other day and had it PC'd at the registers. It came up full price.

EDIT: I just checked the wiki and saw that a specific SKU of it dropped, so maybe this was a different one.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Quick question: Didn't the Shivering Isles expansion pack guide penny a while back? I ask because I saw one in a BB store the other day and had it PC'd at the registers. It came up full price.[/QUOTE]

Yep. The ones with a sticker were a penny and the ones without were full price.....or the other way around. Regardless, it did, so the one you scanned must have been its evil doppleganger.
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']Yep. The ones with a sticker were a penny and the ones without were full price.....or the other way around. Regardless, it did, so the one you scanned must have been its evil doppleganger.[/quote]

This is the type of thing I've been wondering about. Do they just forget to sticker the guides or do some guides have multiple UPCs?
 
[quote name='Antic']For some RPG's, I'd pay the full retail price for the guide if it came down to it. The maps can be very helpful, among other things. I use Gamefaqs for the majority of the stuff though (unless the guide gets pennied and I have it). The last guide I bought was Persona 3 at 9.99 though.

Edit: I take it back, Shadow Hearts: From the New World for $20. That's about the only exception though. I'd never pay that much if it wasn't for that game.[/quote]

Very true. As much as I like Gamefaqs, there are and never will be photos. And it takes a long time to find specific information due to the single page format. I usually end up having to print a few pages out for use with a console game, at which point I have to ask "am I really saving money now?" :roll:

Even best case scenario when playing a PC game on the same computer I use for internet surfing, a lot of games aren't built to standby in a windowed format and crash when ctrl-alt-deleting to check an online guide.

So there. That's my brief defense of strategy guides. Now back to bashing them. :lol:
 
i am the cheapest gamer, you really are not apologetic, $11 for guides shipped, do you send vaseline with purchase or do we have to supply are own.

i like the guides just a nice addition to the collection of games. plus for a penny its a cheap addiction.
i know i will get crap over my comment to i am, but if people willing to buy more power to you
 
[quote name='camelking6969']i am the cheapest gamer, you really are not apologetic, $11 for guides shipped, do you send vaseline with purchase or do we have to supply are own.

i like the guides just a nice addition to the collection of games. plus for a penny its a cheap addiction.
i know i will get crap over my comment to i am, but if people willing to buy more power to you[/QUOTE]

Doesn't he ship 4 guides for $11?? That's less than 3 dollars per guide, which isn't unreasonable.
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']Doesn't he ship 4 guides for $11?? That's less than 3 dollars per guide, which isn't unreasonable.[/quote]

All I'm gonna say is, some people will NEVER be happy. Hell, recently I've even been sending the 4 packs of guides via Priority Mail flat rate box, so I make less than $2 in those cases.

I'll refrain from F bombs this time, but I've come CLOSE to using them before when people crossed the line between reasonable and ridiculous. But, I'm losing my patience with fielding PM's from people like that.
 
Cheapest, I don't think he was trying to be a jerk about your prices as they are, I think he just misread them or something.

Unless he really is complaining about 4/$11, in which case he deserves the f-bombs as far as I'm concerned :)
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Some people won't be happy until I'm the one bent over, all Vaselined up. I'm willing to bet that if I agreed to ship out at a loss to me and even offered up the RPG guides for sale, I'd have tons of people lining up to grab them.

Hell, even the fact that I don't take Paypal and would require people to(GASP) go out of the house to mail a letter or get a money order has caused me to lose some deals.

Some people will never be happy and that's fine because I admit I like to try and get the best deal possible when I grab stuff too. But, when that thin line between reasonable and ridiculous is crossed, it makes you wanna pull your hair out and type up a response full of F bombs and other insults.

I've digressed from doing that in MANY cases before, when people dictated to ME how much they'd be willing to pay for something shipped. You don't like my prices, fine, but don't just blurt out your own if you don't see me say 'make an offer'.

That's my piece on this, some will be happy, some won't, those that won't can go sit and spin as far as I'm concerned.[/QUOTE]

How much would it roughly cost in postage to mail 4 guides?? $4 -$5?? If you also count in the box/mailer plus a little for gas and time, that's probably another $4-$5, so you're probably only making a couple dollars of profit, anyway. Like I said, I don't think that's unreasonable. That's a good part of the reason I don't like trading guides too much online: I dread having to box them up, drive to the Post Office and wait in line and go through that process.

$11 shipped seems fair, all things considered. Now there are some people in the Clearinghouse thread that are asking too much. I'll never name names, but I think it is unreasonable to ask for some of the prices some of them are asking for. Plus, I also disagree with somebody getting a guide for a penny and then only be willing to trade it for a full priced or rare guide.

I'm not trying to defend/chastise anyone. I can understand camel's point-of-view.
 
"'I'm not trying to defend/chastise anyone. I can understand camel's point-of-view."

Well, I sure as hell can't...and I hope he just misread 4/$11 vs 1/$11
To take time, drive, hit various stores, communicate with members, wait for payment, deduct payment fees (PP is ridiculous), package them (sometimes pay for mailer), pay postage with DC and maybe drive them to the nearest Post Office .... 4/$11 is very reasonable....

down on soapbox....

I am curious how many guides camel located, found extras and offer them to members here for less than $3 each/shipped....

Thanks cheapass for helping others and saving them time, trouble and gas...:applause:
 
And, I even help on Paypal fees, since I don't take any sort of payment from Paypal. I know it's a pita for some and I've lost some possible deals because of it, but it's just a personal preference, you know. Well, that and I know I'd be saying 'add xyz amount to cover Paypal fees', so as to not be taking a loss for each deal.

As for the various stores thing, I haven't hit too many lately with gas hitting $3.25 a gallon here, but when I have I've been making my trips well worth it. Sadly, most of my stuff is stuff that pennied LONG ago with some sprinklings of current stuff, which is why I get people wanting stuff few and far between anymore. But yet, I can't bring myself to just dumpster them, since that was my justification for getting them in the first place, to avoid having them dumpstered.
 
[quote name='donut']"'I'm not trying to defend/chastise anyone. I can understand camel's point-of-view."

Well, I sure as hell can't...and I hope he just misread 4/$11 vs 1/$11
To take time, drive, hit various stores, communicate with members, wait for payment, deduct payment fees (PP is ridiculous), package them (sometimes pay for mailer), pay postage with DC and maybe drive them to the nearest Post Office .... 4/$11 is very reasonable....

down on soapbox....

I am curious how many guides camel located, found extras and offer them to members here for less than $3 each/shipped....

Thanks cheapass for helping others and saving them time, trouble and gas...:applause:[/QUOTE]

I agree with you. I just meant that I feel like his thinking is people should break even and make no profit, since they're just penny guides. I dunno. I don't intend to speak for anyone. I just want us all to get along as one, big, cheap family.
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']I agree with you. I just meant that I feel like his thinking is people should break even and make no profit, since they're just penny guides. I dunno. I don't intend to speak for anyone. I just want us all to get along as one, big, cheap family.[/quote]

Gotcha, but hopefully you see, shy of $3 delivered to your home is breaking even...
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']And, I even help on Paypal fees, since I don't take any sort of payment from Paypal. I know it's a pita for some and I've lost some possible deals because of it, but it's just a personal preference, you know. Well, that and I know I'd be saying 'add xyz amount to cover Paypal fees', so as to not be taking a loss for each deal.

As for the various stores thing, I haven't hit too many lately with gas hitting $3.25 a gallon here, but when I have I've been making my trips well worth it. Sadly, most of my stuff is stuff that pennied LONG ago with some sprinklings of current stuff, which is why I get people wanting stuff few and far between anymore. But yet, I can't bring myself to just dumpster them, since that was my justification for getting them in the first place, to avoid having them dumpstered.[/QUOTE]

I am really happy with my guides I bought from you and thought the pricing was more than fair. If I were to buy those same 4 guides on ebay i would probably have to pay at least $5 shipping PER GUIDE which pretty much kills the deal for me. I am happy people sell these guides for cheap as I like to have the guide with the game as a nice complete set. At $15-20 I won't buy a guide for any game. At $10 it would have to be an RPG guide for a game I really want to play through and discover every secret. But for an average of $3 shipped? You betcha
 
[quote name='Purkeynator']I am really happy with my guides I bought from you and thought the pricing was more than fair. If I were to buy those same 4 guides on ebay i would probably have to pay at least $5 shipping PER GUIDE which pretty much kills the deal for me. I am happy people sell these guides for cheap as I like to have the guide with the game as a nice complete set. At $15-20 I won't buy a guide for any game. At $10 it would have to be an RPG guide for a game I really want to play through and discover every secret. But for an average of $3 shipped? You betcha[/quote]

Glad to hear it. I do try to PM people who I've dealt with, to assure that they're satisfied with their guides, though sometimes I do forget to. :whistle2:#

As long as they go to someone who is going to use them and enjoy them, I don't even care if I just barely break even on selling/trading them.
 
I've got a question. I was at Best Buy the other day and I found that Prima Pokemon Diamond and Pearl pokedex, the big one. I searched the kiosk for the price and it does not exist. Would this be a penny guide?
Although I price checked and it came up retail...
 
[quote name='detectiveconan16']I've got a question. I was at Best Buy the other day and I found that Prima Pokemon Diamond and Pearl pokedex, the big one. I searched the kiosk for the price and it does not exist. Would this be a penny guide?
Although I price checked and it came up retail...[/quote]

You answered your own question.
 
I don't know why I attempted it again, but I went to TRU in Times Square to search for discounted games as mentioned in another thread.
I found Blue Dragon and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Gamecube and I tried buying them... 2nd attempt rejected!!!!
I found a lot of Twilight Princesses and I have to say, they sure are good at cleaning out games, but not good at this.
 
[quote name='detectiveconan16']I don't know why I attempted it again, but I went to TRU in Times Square to search for discounted games as mentioned in another thread.
I found Blue Dragon and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Gamecube and I tried buying them... 2nd attempt rejected!!!!
I found a lot of Twilight Princesses and I have to say, they sure are good at cleaning out games, but not good at this.[/quote]


Maybe try looking these up on the instore kiosk??..If you can find them for a penny on the instore website, then it gives you leverage to work with when you get shot down.

Is a manager telling you no, or just a cashier saying no??.. because often I try to get the happiest looking woman I can find as a cashier...they often have trouble saying no to anything and will just be like "wow, what a great deal!"
 
Picked up Viva Pinata and Tony Hawk American Wasteland guides for 2 cents at TRU Carolina. I dont even own Viva Pintata the game lol but couldnt pass that
 
i am. i applogize i didnt read 4 for 11, i thought it was one for 11 i need new glasses. please except my aplogy. and i have given alot of guides for free. i just give most away. i like getting for a penny and feel good to spread the wealth
 
[quote name='camelking6969']i am. i applogize i didnt read 4 for 11, i thought it was one for 11 i need new glasses. please except my aplogy. and i have given alot of guides for free. i just give most away. i like getting for a penny and feel good to spread the wealth[/quote]

Believe me, I wouldn't do that, charge $11 for something I paid .01 for, though I have put quite a few guides to my TRADE ONLY part of my TL.

I've given away a bunch of guides myself to a couple of my friends and I love the feeling of being able to say 'don't worry about it' when they're like 'what do I owe you?'.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Believe me, I wouldn't do that, charge $11 for something I paid .01 for, though I have put quite a few guides to my TRADE ONLY part of my TL.

I've given away a bunch of guides myself to a couple of my friends and I love the feeling of being able to say 'don't worry about it' when they're like 'what do I owe you?'.[/quote]
i agree with you, i have more fun with the chase of the guides then anything
 
Maybe try looking these up on the instore kiosk??..If you can find them for a penny on the instore website, then it gives you leverage to work with when you get shot down.

Is a manager telling you no, or just a cashier saying no??.. because often I try to get the happiest looking woman I can find as a cashier...they often have trouble saying no to anything and will just be like "wow, what a great deal!"
Click to expand...

Yeah ALL THE CASHIERS WERE EXTREMELY FIRM. I reallly wish they did a "take one free" if they're not going to do anything about it. They stick to that rule that all guides are to be returned to the publisher.
I wonder if anyone else had success.
 
[quote name='ZForce']I dunno if this was mentioned but Unreal Tournament 3 and Quake Wars are a penny at EBStop[/quote]

Thanks for the heads up. will be added to the wiki shortly upon 2nd confirmation.
 
First post updated with link to new guide trade thread, second post updated with Gamestop drop info(need confirmation on those, as well as any others which may have dropped).
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']First post updated with link to new guide trade thread, second post updated with Gamestop drop info(need confirmation on those, as well as any others which may have dropped).[/quote]

the final fantasy guide has also disappeared on gamestop website. im going to check it its 0.01
 
[quote name='white3er']the final fantasy guide has also disappeared on gamestop website. im going to check it its 0.01[/quote]


Please, is that the FF XII guide you're speaking of?
 
[quote name='yamas']Grand Theft Auto Vice City stories is .01 at BB. I reported it before but nobody listened...[/QUOTE]

Is this the same GTA:VCS guide that got pennied out at BB last year or is it a different one??
 
I think that just like the Liberty City Stories one(one was white cover, one was black cover), one version was for PSP only and the other was for PSP and PS2.
 
You know its sad how different two stores can be despite being so close...

I stopped at one Gamestop and one EB today. The first one I go to is always good to me, and today was no exception. Although I only received one guide each or Enemy Territory and Unreal Tournament 3 (the latter being sealed), I was also given a leftover Simon Belmont figure, and a leftover Silent Hill Experience. I also ended up buying a copy of Kingdom Hearts 2 for $10 from a kid trading stuff in, and let an associate buy his dreamcast he brought in for the same price, but thats another story....

The EB I mentioed is less than a quarter mile away, so I walked over to it. They had 5 or 6 guides left in the front of the store behind the glass counter. Key part being that they were still in the front of the store. I asked to buy them, as I have gotten guides here before. The kid behind the counter, being new decided he had to ask his manager, who was also new. The manager told him that he wasn't allowed to sell the guides. I mentioned that they were still in the front, I had gotten guides that very day from another store in the chain, and this very store itself has sold me penny guides in the past, but he adamantly refused. This is now a store I refer to as The Douchebag Store.

Now the question I have is, should I call corporate and levy a complaint on this jackass store with all the other factors considered? I'd certainly like to give them a dose of karma.
 
I found these for $.01 today at GS:

Ace Combat 6
Final Fantasy I (PSP)
Final Fantasy II (PSP)
Unreal Tournament III

Surprisingly, all had $.01 stickers on them.
 
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