Reduced Price Guide Thread XIV (FAQ in 2nd Post)

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The Reduced Price Guide FAQ/OP has been moved to the SECOND post. Read this first!
[customspoiler="Disclaimer"]
All credit goes to IAmTheCheapestGamer, floormat, and guinaevere. They ran this thread for years, and I can safely say we would not have penny guides here without them. Thanks for your work!
[/customspoiler]

Private message me if there is something incorrect or needs to be changed in the non-wiki pages.
Below is two years or so of guide drop info. If you want to see the full list, please refer to the third post of the Reduced Price Guide Thread XIV that can be found HERE.​

Note that date may be of confirmation, and not of drop.

CE/SE/LE=HARDCOVER GUIDE
Red=Gamestop drop
Blue=Best Buy drop
Pink=Toys R Us drop

 

Recent Drops (Last Six Months)

Dropped 3.23.16 at GameStop

Game Stop 1 Cent

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate CE

Just Cause 3

Halo 5 CE



Dropped on 3.26.14
 

Gamestop

Battlefield 4

Disney Infinity

Grand Theft Auto V

Remember Me

Super Mario 3D World

Dropped on 2.26.14

Gamestop 

Assassin's Creed IV: CE

Battlefield 4 CE
Grand Theft Auto CE

Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds CE

Skylanders Swap Force CE

Wonderful 101

Dropped on 2.14.14

Toys'R Us

Rage
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Mass Effect 3

Star Wars The Force Unleashed II

Dropped on 10.31.13

Gamestop 
 
Animal Crossing
Assassin's Creed 3
Borderlands 2 LE
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Cheat Code Overload: Winter 2013
Codes & Cheats Vol. 1 2013
Dead Island Riptide
Diablo III

Disgaea D2

Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Legendary
Epic Mickey 2
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Halo 4
Hitman Absolution
Injustice: Gods Among Us

Injustice: Gods Among Us LE
Last of Us

Last of Us LE
Lego City Undercover
Madden 25
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Ni No Kuni
Pokemon Black & White 2 Pokedex
Resident Evil 6 LE
Resident Evil Revelations

Wind Waker LE
Dropped on 9.25.13

Gamestop
Army of Two The Devils Cartel
Dead Space 3
Metal Gear Rising Revengence
Star Trek
Super Mario Bros. Wii U
Epic Mickey 2 Limited Ed
Halo 4 Limited Ed
Hitman Absolution Limited Ed

Dropped on 9.04.13

Gamestop
 
Call of Duty Black Ops II CE
DMC: Devil May Cry
Dishonored
Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider CE       
 
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[quote name='Tsel']Didn't Fallout: New Vegas penny a long time ago though?[/QUOTE]
Not exactly. The SKU was deleted. There was something interesting I noticed a while back. All of the guides that had their SKUs deleted were put back into the system a few weeks later at a price of $13. Fallout New Vegas and Dragon Age II were two guides that I saw that happen to.
 
[quote name='phogoodness']Tried to pick up skyrim ce but they didn't ring up a penny. System said they were not for sale. Couldn't find any of the other guides[/QUOTE]


Did they scan both UPCs too?
 
[quote name='phogoodness']Tried to pick up skyrim ce but they didn't ring up a penny. System said they were not for sale. Couldn't find any of the other guides[/QUOTE]

death of penny guides at best buy is upon us! sucks that i joined the bandwagon too late... only got 3 guides from BBY for last 8 months or so. oh well.
 
No luck at my store with the three guides I found (Skyward Sword, Syndicate, and MK,) the manager said they pulled them all earlier. I guess I've bought my last penny guides. :(
 
[quote name='Fukurou']Not exactly. The SKU was deleted. There was something interesting I noticed a while back. All of the guides that had their SKUs deleted were put back into the system a few weeks later at a price of $13. Fallout New Vegas and Dragon Age II were two guides that I saw that happen to.[/QUOTE]

That's really weird. About 3+ weeks ago, when BB had the B2G1 on 3DS games, a friend and I found a NV guide that had a sticker that said it was a penny. It rang up the $13 price, but we showed them the penny sticker and they honored it.
 
Yeah they're all out of system. The employees seem confused to say the least but don't expect them to sell you anything. That includes New Vegas.
 
I can confirm syndicate was taken out of the system entirely. RSS shows it as one cent, but cashiers registers won't allow it to be scanned or typed in for sale.
 
Tried today for FONV, Syndicate, Sims3: Pets, and UFC3. All rang up as "ISBN is not recognized" or "Item is not available for sale." However......

The BB employees I was working with seemed unaware of what to do, so they checked and checked again and again. They looked online, and then in ETK, etc. Eventually I gave them a nickel and they let me walk out. One employee was able to find that the actual "price" of the items (he did a SKU check and searched for these guides by SKU only then) is listed as $.01. However, they simply can't be sold through any logical means.

Last thing they tried is a "SKU not found" lookup, where the number is manually typed in. This worked for one guide only: Sim3: Pets. After all of this it had been about 15 minutes and they just let me pay and leave.

Flame shield: I never ASKED for any of this. I simply waited and let the process go where it went. So the bottom line is this: penny guides may still be possible, but it's an uphill battle. Hope this helps someone - I'd go for the CE guides if you're going to try.
 
[quote name='kramer0731']Tried today for FONV, Syndicate, Sims3: Pets, and UFC3. All rang up as "ISBN is not recognized" or "Item is not available for sale." However......

The BB employees I was working with seemed unaware of what to do, so they checked and checked again and again. They looked online, and then in ETK, etc. Eventually I gave them a nickel and they let me walk out. One employee was able to find that the actual "price" of the items (he did a SKU check and searched for these guides by SKU only then) is listed as $.01. However, they simply can't be sold through any logical means.

Last thing they tried is a "SKU not found" lookup, where the number is manually typed in. This worked for one guide only: Sim3: Pets. After all of this it had been about 15 minutes and they just let me pay and leave.

Flame shield: I never ASKED for any of this. I simply waited and let the process go where it went. So the bottom line is this: penny guides may still be possible, but it's an uphill battle. Hope this helps someone - I'd go for the CE guides if you're going to try.[/QUOTE]

Same thing happened to me, cashier couldn't sell them to me, we called over a manager who checked in RSS?, and eventually just gave them to me.
 
No go for me. Tried Fallout and Mortal Kombat. They were informed with the procedure and wouldn't give or sell them to me.
 
[quote name='loxthefox']Heads up everyone: There be a drop at Best Buy today!

Codes And CHeats Vol. 2 2012
Disney Universe
Dragon Age II
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim CE
Fallout New Vegas
Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D
Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword CE
Madden NFL 12
Mario Party 9
Mortal Kombat
Pokemon Black & White Vol. 1
Pokemon Black & White Vol. 2 Pokedex
Sims 3 box set
Sims 3 Pets
Syndicate
UFC Undisputed 3
WWE 12[/QUOTE]
Interesting. The Skyrim CE would likely be the only one I'd pick up out of all of those, since I think I already have a softcover and hardcover FO NV from GS.

But I don't recall seeing ANY of those earlier this week when I was at BB to pick up Mass Effect 3 and renew my GCU. So I think I'm SOL on even finding the Skyrim one. Oh well. Not like I've actually played much of Skyrim in the first place.:whistle2:# If it were a third person RPG I'd probably be more interested in it. But otherwise I got kinda bored with it after 3-4 hours.
 
Well, a little bit of excitement to not let the BB drop/PULL! get me down..when I went to pick up the Dark Souls guide for $5 I used P/U in-Store for, the guy actually held the SC V guide for me as well (even though at noon, he said he'd only hold for an hour..(which, they almost lost my Blops 2 pre-order b/c of that)) and I was stoked to see that it was a hardcover! that may have been made clear in some post, but I missed it. Plus, when the guy scanned my PowerUp card, it reduced each one by .50 cents.

I casually asked the guy if any others were $5 and he said CoD:MW3 was, GeoW 3 and that was about it. Sure that is old news, not sure if that was the MW3 hardcover or not, and I don't think GeoW 3 had but a paperback..
 
I was denied The Sims 3 box set at my local store today. Computer gave the "item is not for sale" message. It even had a .01 price tag on it but it was still a no go.
 
somebody mentioned gamestop may have their futurepress guides for $4.99. i inquired about the kingdoms of amalur guide at the store and it is still $26.99. but i still need to buy the SC5 guide to bundle with my unopened game on craigslist.
 
[quote name='tribalnoise']somebody mentioned gamestop may have their futurepress guides for $4.99. i inquired about the kingdoms of amalur guide at the store and it is still $26.99. but i still need to buy the SC5 guide to bundle with my unopened game on craigslist.[/QUOTE]
Did the hardcover soul calibur 5 drop to $4.99? Or is it still $10?
 
It's too bad. The Best Buys I have near me have most of these.

Codes And Cheats Vol. 2 2012
Disney Universe
Dragon Age II
Fallout New Vegas
Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D
Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword CE
Madden NFL 12
Mario Party 9
Mortal Kombat
Pokemon Black & White Vol. 1
Pokemon Black & White Vol. 2 Pokedex
Sims 3 Pets
Syndicate
UFC Undisputed 3
WWE 12

All of these are available. But the Codes and Cheats one wasn't pennied when I checked.
 
[quote name='kramer0731']Tried today for FONV, Syndicate, Sims3: Pets, and UFC3. All rang up as "ISBN is not recognized" or "Item is not available for sale." However......

The BB employees I was working with seemed unaware of what to do, so they checked and checked again and again. They looked online, and then in ETK, etc. Eventually I gave them a nickel and they let me walk out. One employee was able to find that the actual "price" of the items (he did a SKU check and searched for these guides by SKU only then) is listed as $.01. However, they simply can't be sold through any logical means.

Last thing they tried is a "SKU not found" lookup, where the number is manually typed in. This worked for one guide only: Sim3: Pets. After all of this it had been about 15 minutes and they just let me pay and leave.

Flame shield: I never ASKED for any of this. I simply waited and let the process go where it went. So the bottom line is this: penny guides may still be possible, but it's an uphill battle. Hope this helps someone - I'd go for the CE guides if you're going to try.[/QUOTE]

This is one of the most level-headed, informative, and defensible posts I've ever seen in one of the PG threads; cheers!

I wish I weren't afflicted with can't-be-arsed-itis so I could try this. Although the potential payoff of combining this and a possible TRU price match into one expedition might be a remedy...
 
[quote name='PublikDefender']Did the hardcover soul calibur 5 drop to $4.99? Or is it still $10?[/QUOTE]yes it is now $4.99, confirmed by multiple CAGs. looking back i see Romeo already said the Amalur guide did not drop in price. sorry i overlooked that.
 
Looks like my local BB did a pre-pull.

Will these guides work with the SKU swap trick, and does anyone have the SKUs for these?
 
[quote name='tribalnoise']somebody mentioned gamestop may have their futurepress guides for $4.99. i inquired about the kingdoms of amalur guide at the store and it is still $26.99. but i still need to buy the SC5 guide to bundle with my unopened game on craigslist.[/QUOTE]


That was me. I stated what you did, all but Reckoning are $5.


[quote name='PublikDefender']Did the hardcover soul calibur 5 drop to $4.99? Or is it still $10?[/QUOTE]


It's $5 now.
 
Grabbed 2 copies of Dragon Age Origins Guide (sealed) at Toy R Us for a penny each.

Not sure if guys know about this, but this guide has a high resale value if new/sealed.
 
[quote name='Romeo']That was me. I stated what you did, all but Reckoning are $5.





It's $5 now.[/QUOTE]
Thanks. Are the hardcover Future Press guides like Soul Calibur shrinkwrapped? I'd like to get them as mint as possible but I'm not sure if I should pass and keep looking at a different store if I come across one that isn't shrinkwrapped.
 
[quote name='PublikDefender']Thanks. Are the hardcover Future Press guides like Soul Calibur shrinkwrapped? I'd like to get them as mint as possible but I'm not sure if I should pass and keep looking at a different store if I come across one that isn't shrinkwrapped.[/QUOTE]


Going off memory I believe they always are shrinkwrapped. My Reckoning guide is still sealed.
 
[quote name='dfg']This is one of the most level-headed, informative, and defensible posts I've ever seen in one of the PG threads; cheers!

I wish I weren't afflicted with can't-be-arsed-itis so I could try this. Although the potential payoff of combining this and a possible TRU price match into one expedition might be a remedy...[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that comment. My experience just goes to show that sometimes being patient and/or nice pays off. I like to think of it this way - you can always play the asshole card at any time, but once you open that door, there's no easy way to shut it.

Hope some other folks have good luck finding guides - cheers.
 
[quote name='PublikDefender']Does anyone know if there are any other recent Future Press guides besides these?

Kingdoms of Amalur
Dark Souls
Deus Ex
Soul Calibur V

I did find Amazon's list http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_1...rowse-bin:Future+Press&ie=UTF8&qid=1349554771
So I guess that's everything. Seems like there were a couple of other ones though.[/QUOTE]They also did the guides for Portal 2 (fantastic) and Bayonetta, though the latter is incredibly rare/expensive now.
 
[quote name='Vigilante']They also did the guides for Portal 2 (fantastic) and Bayonetta, though the latter is incredibly rare/expensive now.[/QUOTE]
Thanks. I just got soul calibur v for $5 but amalur reckoning rang up $26.99.
 
[quote name='Romeo']Going off memory I believe they always are shrinkwrapped. My Reckoning guide is still sealed.[/QUOTE]

I grabbed Dark Souls and Soul Calibur V. It was probably just GS not caring, but the DS guide was sealed and the SCV was not.
 
[quote name='PublikDefender']Thanks. I just got soul calibur v for $5 but amalur reckoning rang up $26.99.[/QUOTE]

Reckoning $27 for me as well. I checked the hardcover guide. Is there a softcover that might explain the discrepancy?
 
[quote name='hellmutt']Reckoning $27 for me as well. I checked the hardcover guide. Is there a softcover that might explain the discrepancy?[/QUOTE]There is no softcover guide for KoA:R.
 
[quote name='Vigilante']There is no softcover guide for KoA:R.[/QUOTE]

Hmm, not sure how people got it for $5 then. Like someone else, I also priced it out at $27 yesterday. If someone has a clue, please let me know!
 
[quote name='Mikocouch']I couldn't find any guides.

Thanks cheapest.[/QUOTE]

lol, I see what you did there. I don't get penny guides anymore either.
 
[quote name='PublikDefender']Does anyone know if there are any other recent Future Press guides besides these?

Kingdoms of Amalur
Dark Souls
Deus Ex
Soul Calibur V

I did find Amazon's list http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_1...rowse-bin:Future+Press&ie=UTF8&qid=1349554771
So I guess that's everything. Seems like there were a couple of other ones though.[/QUOTE]There's hardcover versions of the Killzone 2 and Killzone 3 guides that FP put out, as well as Portal 2, all of which were Europe only. Plus, as others have said, some of the guides, such as Bayonetta, were only hardcover guides and only in Europe.
 
[quote name='Vigilante']They also did the guides for Portal 2 (fantastic) and Bayonetta, though the latter is incredibly rare/expensive now.[/QUOTE]

Are you talking about the Portal 2 Hardcover guide? Should I buy one soon in case they go up in value? On Amazon the hardcover is only slightly more than an unused regular edition.
 
[quote name='SonictheHedgehog1337']Are you talking about the Portal 2 Hardcover guide? Should I buy one soon in case they go up in value? On Amazon the hardcover is only slightly more than an unused regular edition.[/QUOTE]No, the "rare" one I meant was the Bayonetta guide ("latter" means the second of two things :razz:).
 
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