Reduced Price Game Guides: Thread Nine

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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(KEEP ALL TRADE REQUESTS HERE OR IN PM'S)
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(KEEP ALL DISCUSSION NOT RELATED TO GUIDE DROPS HERE!!!)
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169252

Guide Lists(master drop lists and recent drops):

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

Recent Guide Drops(by date,also check the second post in this thread):
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
Guide Eight:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167157

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
Barnes&Noble
BestBuy
BookPool
CircuitCity
Gamestop
Overstock
StrategyGuides.net
ToysRUs

Thanks to floormat, Guinavere and anyone else who has created and maintained the guide thread before, as well as to all of those who find out either advance information on drops or provide a list of which ones dropped when we do have a drop.

The post below this one contains a list going back at LEAST six months of the more current guide drops, which stores they occured at and which ones dropped. Note that sometimes(Oblivion guide, Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)there are multiple versions of a guide, be it that there are Prima versions, Brady versions and the occasional Nintendo and Doublejump guides.

Please specify WHICH version has dropped when mentioning possible guide drops. Thank you.


 
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Bought a reduced price game guide today, and saw a couple of other markdowns. That was after spending 10+ minutes in the aisle with my phone, scrolling through all the crap in just the last page of this thread about who said what to whom at the cashier and what other people think of them for that. I was just trying to find out what other CAGs checked/bought today since I left home this morning, and thus see if there were any suspected drops that I could confirm. I gave up.

I look forward to when people who just must share their stories start posting in a separate discussion thread and leave this thread for drop discoveries/confirmations/contradictions - or the when the mods are willing and able to purge this thread to accomplish the same result. Then it will be usable again, and I'll be happy to post the details of my findings.
 
[quote name='gantt']Bought a reduced price game guide today, and saw a couple of other markdowns. That was after spending 10+ minutes in the aisle with my phone, scrolling through all the crap in just the last page of this thread about who said what to whom at the cashier and what other people think of them for that. I was just trying to find out what other CAGs checked/bought today since I left home this morning, and thus see if there were any suspected drops that I could confirm. I gave up.

I look forward to when people who just must share their stories start posting in a separate discussion thread and leave this thread for drop discoveries/confirmations/contradictions - or the when the mods are willing and able to purge this thread to accomplish the same result. Then it will be usable again, and I'll be happy to post the details of my findings.[/quote]
I take it you don't have anything to add but a story then? ;)
 
Got two guides, one guide was overridden to 14.99 while the other stayed at .01. Got to return the 14.99 one sometime
 
[quote name='darkslime']I'm in Tucson, so none of those. The best place I have found to get cheap guides and sell penny guides to is bookman's, but usually they're used so the posters are pulled out and stuff.[/quote]

i heart bookmans...my grandparents live out in phoenix AZ and i ALWAYS go to all three bookmans (phoenix, mesa, flagstaff) when i go to visit..gotten some pretty awesome and rare guides there too for very cheap ;-D
 
[quote name='GrilledWitOnions']I take it you don't have anything to add but a story then? ;)[/quote]

This. Verifying all the CC drops and non-drops, too. One thing: The Pokedex that is pennied is the black one with Diaglia and Palkia on the cover. I saw one at the only CC to give me trouble; they kept me waiting for 15 minutes before the assistant manager came over to give me an attitude and refused the sale, so I called corporate. If they weren't going to sell them, they shouldn't have had 20+ pennied guides out on the floor.
 
[quote name='Link927']:bouncy: No more need to memorize Bulletin board code *smacks head* I wonder if I disabled it when I first signed up, havent touched my options in ages. [/quote]Awesome, I'm so glad for ya! I had the same thing for years. I had memorized all the vbb codes and was for ever typing out [ q u o t e ] and [ b ] and all that, and someone finally mentioned the buttons and I'm looking at my screen, the exact same as you last night, saying, "There is no spoon" "There are no buttons."

[quote name='io']ps - Gwen, I had no idea that interface dealie existed :oops:. Oh well, I'm kind of old-school anyway so I don't mind coding the tags for text formatting...[/quote]We're hard core; we know how to do the real formatting. ;)

[quote name='MightySlacker']This person knowingly broke the law by lying in order to deceive me into paying quite a bit more money than I should have.[/quote]Then call the cops.

Why be mean over some stinkin' penny guides? Retail is a crappy business. CC stores are short on manpower because corporate gives them X amount of budget for staff. That equals lack of staff to do crap like pull the penny guides. She sells penny guides, she gets in trouble with corporate, she gives you a hard time, she gets in trouble with the customer. Lose Lose situation. Sure, it's her choice to work there, but it doesn't mean you gotta make it worse.

Seems like you're gonna rationalize your behavior no matter what. Me, I see things far differently. We're all in this together, life is tough, I'd never want to make it worse for anyone. So someone lies to me about penny guides. It's happened before, and it irritates me, but it is what it is. If you find one and they let you buy it, hoorah. If not, aw well. But there's never any need for such hostility over a video game guide, that's just crazy.

[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']That's why I suggested that those with drop info color code their info something that'll stick out from the rest of the posts.[/quote]Seeing it in action, it's a great idea.

If you do get in touch with her Gwen, tell her she is missed here and thanks for the work she put in on the Wiki. :)
Click to expand...
Will do!


Okay back to drops. Have we determined that the CC penny drop of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is the old red/blue one, and not the new one? Because the new one rang up at $19.99
 
In face of all these stories of managerial blockage, I'd like to offer a story to the contrary. I stopped in at the local CC this morning, with a hand-written list of recent price drops in hand. Looking through the guides, I found a ton that were on the list. I grabbed a handful of them, and asked an employee wandering by the game section to scan three of them and check the price.
He looked bewildered, when they each came up for a penny, and went to go consult the game-section guy (or manager, I don't know). I overheard them from where I was. The game guy just kept telling him "If they ring up for a penny, sell them for a penny." So, asked to buy those guides, plus the two I was holding (which had penny stickers on them, so I didn't see a need to price check).
When he scanned the ones I was holding, though, they weren't in the computer. He asked the manager person again, and he said "If it doesn't ring up, just give it to him for a penny."
Ah, that's just the kind of thing you want to hear from a CC manager :)
I payed with a nickel, thanked him and left.

I got:
Super Paper Mario
S.T.A.L.K.E.R
Yoshi's Island DS
Splinter Cell: Double Agent X2


EDIT: Oh, and this was my first time getting penny guides, too. Thanks, CAG :D
 
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Thats whats happened to me to. When it doesnt come up in the system I just say well it should be a penny. And after some fiddling with the computer thats what he sets the price to. The ONLY problem Ive had is with the guides that are supposed to be sold as a package with the game. But that depends on the cashier. One day I didnt get the double agent guides and the next day I got them at the same cc with a different cashier. When he said I needed to buy the game as well I told him they didnt sell it new anymore because it was so old. So he just sold them to me anyway.
 
[quote name='KABUKISTAR']In face of all these stories of managerial blockage, I'd like to offer a story to the contrary. I stopped in at the local CC this morning, with a hand-written list of recent price drops in hand. Looking through the guides, I found a ton that were on the list. I grabbed a handful of them, and asked an employee wandering by the game section to scan three of them and check the price.
He looked bewildered, when they each came up for a penny, and went to go consult the game-section guy (or manager, I don't know). I overheard them from where I was. The game guy just kept telling him "If they ring up for a penny, sell them for a penny." So, asked to buy those guides, plus the two I was holding (which had penny stickers on them, so I didn't see a need to price check).
When he scanned the ones I was holding, though, they weren't in the computer. He asked the manager person again, and he said "If it doesn't ring up, just give it to him for a penny."
Ah, that's just the kind of thing you want to hear from a CC manager :)
I payed with a nickel, thanked him and left.

I got:
Super Paper Mario
S.T.A.L.K.E.R
Yoshi's Island DS
Splinter Cell: Double Agent X2[/quote]

As they say: "It's always better to be lucky than good."
 
[quote name='guinaevere']Okay back to drops. Have we determined that the CC penny drop of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is the old red/blue one, and not the new one? Because the new one rang up at $19.99[/quote]

Yes, it's the Red/Blue Nintendo Power guide. On the spine it just says "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon." Best of luck everyone.
 
Went to a CC close to work and found the Rogue Galaxy guide, brought it up to the cashier and she rung it several times. Then she says its $21.XX (guide on back marked as $19.99), then I say "Is there something wrong earlier" and she says "yea" and goes to the back to find someone I guess. She came back and said $12.99. I just paid and left....to tired to deal with it. I will probably return it later, but on the receipt, it says "Service Labor &..." I believe I'm gonna have a fun time returning this someday or should I just keep it and let it be....hmm...
 
[quote name='ZerotypeX']Went to a CC close to work and found the Rogue Galaxy guide, brought it up to the cashier and she rung it several times. Then she says its $21.XX (guide on back marked as $19.99), then I say "Is there something wrong earlier" and she says "yea" and goes to the back to find someone I guess. She came back and said $12.99. I just paid and left....to tired to deal with it. I will probably return it later, but on the receipt, it says "Service Labor &..." I believe I'm gonna have a fun time returning this someday or should I just keep it and let it be....hmm...[/quote]

You know, I'd return it just to see what happens, and then get whoever price swapped you involved.
 
Went to cc today. They had the tomb raider guide and Army of 2. They could not get the army of 2 guide to ring up. The tomb raider guide must have rang up at a penny because the first girl said it does not have the "right price". Then she got her manager and she told me the tomb raider guide is 19.99 (or whatever it is marked on back). I said no thanks and left. (I know they had several of the other penny guides, so I may try again during the week when different staff is there.
 
Went back to CC yesterday. They still had Army Of Two, Rogue Galaxy, SC double agent and a couple of other old ones I can't remember. None of those would ring up last time. They got army of two to ring up, and two employees wanted one each so I let them get those and got 4, and my friend got 4 more.

Rogue Galaxy and the others all rang up for a penny, but the manager came over and said that he couldn't sell me those because they were a package deal and he would have to send them back to corporate. I didn't make a fuss because I had already gotten 50 guides from them, and he let me buy eight more army of two guides.

Today, I go to Bookman's, and they have all of the guides that the manager refused to sell to me. What a fat fucking asshole.
 
[quote name='io']Hey, I'm heading to Tucson in a few days and was considering bringing some extra guides (old ones no one here wants) to trade in to Bookman's. They still take them then? The last time I tried about 2 years ago they said they couldn't take any more.

[/quote] I go to Bookman's on Speedway and they'll take pretty much any guide as long as there's not too many in stock and its not to an old sports game or something that'll never sell.

If they don't buy them the first time try bringing them in the next day when a different guy is buying the video games and they'll sometimes buy them. Also, always bargain with them for more credit when they make an offer to you for them.
 
Thanks to everyone who posted I just got some penny guides at CC for the first time in a few years (the last penny guides I got there were, if I recall correctly, the old NP guides for Donkey Kong Country, F-Zero GX, and Battalion Wars).

Anyway, for those still keeping score:

Scanned for a penny at the register with no problem:

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Pokemon: National Pokedex (NP)
Super Paper Mario (NP)

Kept giving the cashier trouble when she scanned, so she just gave it to me for free:

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
 
Went back again, today. The same game-section guy was there. While I was looking though the guides, with my list in hand, he said "by the way, all the ones on the bottom shelf are a penny." :D This is the best CC employee ever. Got:

Sims 2: Open for Business
Sims 2: Nightlife
Zelda PH (Premiere)
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
Pokemon Pokedex
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Rise of Legends
Age of Empires III: War Chiefs

And IATCG, there's a typo on the second post. You put "Rise of Nations: Rise of Nations" instead of "Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends"
 
Clackamas CC sucks. They had Zelda and Metroid Prime 3 (the ones I wanted) plus some other guides but the manager looking fuck was a fucking LIAR. He said they rang up $1, $2, $15 and some random dollar amounts that he pulled from his ass. Like the other CAG, I should have told him in his face he was a fucking liar. They put the pile in the back room as I left.
 
[quote name='eau']Clackamas CC sucks. They had Zelda and Metroid Prime 3 (the ones I wanted) plus some other guides but the manager looking fuck was a fucking LIAR. He said they rang up $1, $2, $15 and some random dollar amounts that he pulled from his ass. Like the other CAG, I should have told him in his face he was a fucking liar. They put the pile in the back room as I left.[/QUOTE]

You passed on getting a guider for $2?
 
[quote name='KABUKISTAR']Went back again, today. The same game-section guy was there. While I was looking though the guides, with my list in hand, he said "by the way, all the ones on the bottom shelf are a penny." :D This is the best CC employee ever. Got:

Sims 2: Open for Business
Sims 2: Nightlife
Zelda PH (Premiere)
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
Pokemon Pokedex
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Rise of Legends
Age of Empires III: War Chiefs

And IATCG, there's a typo on the second post. You put "Rise of Nations: Rise of Nations" instead of "Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends"[/quote]

I figured it was supposed to be Rise Of Legends, but I believe I simply cut and pasted the guides others had listed and that's how someone listed it, so I left it that way. Fixed it now, thanks for the heads up, but that's why I ask for verification on guides usually.
 
[quote name='62t']You passed on getting a guider for $2?[/quote]
Those were least desired guides like the old Pokemon ones that I don't really care about. He wanted $15 each for the Zelda and MP 3.
 
[quote name='eugaet']Well, yeah! That's a 200% price markup! ;)[/QUOTE]

Did you fail math class

That's a 2,000% markup
emotdownskl9.gif
 
[quote name='Xizer']Did you fail math class

That's a 2,000% markup
emotdownskl9.gif
[/quote]Ha, yeah, I was thinking 200x markup, not %.

[quote name='Rave Child']Try 20,000% ;)[/quote]Looks like you didn't do so well in math class, either, Xizer. ;)
 
Ok, so I went to CC to try and get my first penny guide. I picked up SPM and Zelda TP but the TP guide (Premiere Edition with the white cover, for the Wii) rang up as $20. SPM went through no problem though.
 
[quote name='Vinny']Ok, so I went to CC to try and get my first penny guide. I picked up SPM and Zelda TP but the TP guide (Premiere Edition with the white cover, for the Wii) rang up as $20. SPM went through no problem though.[/quote]

Think it was just the Phantom Hourglass guide that was a penny?
 
The Twilight Princess guide is the one from Nintendo. This is shown by the NP (for Nintendo Power) by the side. It has the game artwork on the cover.
 
[quote name='punkmaggit']Anyone checking BB today? Probably a moot point at best, but it is Monday...[/quote]
Waiting for a report myself.
 
On the BB side, I see this in Post 2.
Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess(Nintendo Power, Wii version)

That isn't the hardcover, right? The hardcover is still full price there?
 
[quote name='guinaevere']On the BB side, I see this in Post 2.
Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess(Nintendo Power, Wii version)

That isn't the hardcover, right? The hardcover is still full price there?
[/quote]Correct, not the HC version. Saw it priced @ $14.99 last night. Cheaper but not pennied.
 
[quote name='Torrwin']Checked most of the guides at BB over lunch, no new pennied out that I could find.[/quote]

Thanks for checking. Would you mind letting me know if you were able to check any of the below? It would save me a trip then, because the others at my BB I know aren't pennied:

Pirates of the Burning Sea
Orange Box
Crysis
Condemned 2
 
[quote name='GuardianE']Thanks for checking. Would you mind letting me know if you were able to check any of the below? It would save me a trip then, because the others at my BB I know aren't pennied:

Pirates of the Burning Sea
Orange Box
Crysis
Condemned 2[/quote]

Condemned 2: either $9.99 or $14.99, i forget which
Crysis: $9.99
Orange Box: $4.99
Pirates: Didn't have any at my store

I also checked Army of Two, Call of Duty 4, and New Super Mario Bros which aren't on the website anymore either.
 
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[quote name='Torrwin']Condemned 2: either $9.99 or $14.99, i forget which
Crysis: $9.99
Orange Box: $4.99
Pirates: Didn't have any at my store

I also checked Army of Two, Call of Duty 4, and New Super Mario Bros which aren't on the website anymore either.[/quote]


Thanks, Torrwin. Saved me a trip. I still might stop in to check Pirates, but I don't even know if it's worth it.
 
[quote name='Xizer']Did you fail math class

That's a 2,000% markup[/quote]

[quote name='Rave Child']Try 20,000% ;)[/quote]

[quote name='eugaet']Looks like you didn't do so well in math class, either, Xizer. ;)[/quote]

If they were selling for $.02 it would be a 100% markup, $.03 would be a 200% markup.

So $2 would be a 19,990% markup.

I can't believe I took the time to do that.
 
[quote name='Link927']You know, I'd return it just to see what happens, and then get whoever price swapped you involved.[/quote]

Went and returned the Rogue Galaxy guide. No problems at all returning it.
 
[quote name='MC Hampster']If they were selling for $.02 it would be a 100% markup, $.03 would be a 200% markup.

So $2 would be a 19,990% markup.

I can't believe I took the time to do that.[/QUOTE]

How do you figure? .01 * 20,000% (or 200) = $2
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']How do you figure? .01 * 20,000% (or 200) = $2[/quote]

*ahem*

100% of $0.01 is $0.01. So... 200% of $0.01 is $0.02 (twice the value). If you bought something for $2.00, it'd be 20,000% of $0.01.

I believe the problem is with the word "markup," which indeed would mean if someone marked up an item 100%, you'd essentially be paying double. ...and with that, I'm done.
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']How do you figure? .01 * 20,000% (or 200) = $2[/quote]

You're both saying that $2 is 20,000% of .01. The difference is in the wording. He said "markup," implying that this percentage is however much not included in the original price.

And in that case, It would actually be 19900%, not 19990% markup.

.01*199 = $1.99 = price above .01 that would have been paid.
 
[quote name='GuardianE']You're both saying that $2 is 20,000% of .01. The difference is in the wording. He said "markup," implying that this percentage is however much not included in the original price.

And in that case, It would actually be 19900%, not 19990% markup.

.01*199 = $1.99 = price above .01 that would have been paid.[/quote]

Right, what he said.

Just start small like I did. If something normally costs $.01 and now it costs $.02, you would say they are selling it at a "100% markup" since it is 100% over the original price. If it was $.01 and now it's $.03, it has a "200% markup" since it has 200% of the original cost added on.

The term markup denotes over the original price. You can't include the original $.01 in the "markup" percentage. Hence my 19900% markup.

We really need to stop.

Edit to add: I just realized my 19990% mistake. Had one too many 9's.
 
Went to Circuit City today in Crystal Lake, IL. and snagged a Tomb Raider Anniv. guide. Brought it up and it rang up for a .01. The girl then tried to scan 3 or 4 more times and it still kept on coming up as 01. So she told me if that's what it rings up for, then that is the price. They had a bunch of Phantom Hourglass guides which I forgot were pennied out too. Think I'll stop back by tomorrow.
 
I just picked up 10 Halo 3 guides for $.01,


I also got those Ninja Gaiden II Wall Grafix for $1.


edit: trading don't belong in this thread.
 
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[quote name='punkmaggit']*ahem*

100% of $0.01 is $0.01. So... 200% of $0.01 is $0.02 (twice the value). If you bought something for $2.00, it'd be 20,000% of $0.01.

I believe the problem is with the word "markup," which indeed would mean if someone marked up an item 100%, you'd essentially be paying double. ...and with that, I'm done.[/QUOTE]

You are forgetting the original amount of $0.01. The jump from $0.01 to $0.02 is a 100% markup.

That is what causes the end total to be 19,900%
 
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