Someone dumber than Gamestop employees - Gamestop customers

[quote name='Haggar']Sharper Image has about 180 stores. Gamestop has over 5,000. That's like saying "OMGZ! McDonald's gift cardz are teh worthlass becuse in my town a hardware store closeded!"

Try again.[/quote]

You took his example too literally. In principle, it's accurate. Cash can be used anywhere. Credit can only be used at the store printed on the card. Cash trumps credit, always.
 
[quote name='neocisco']You took his example too literally. In principle, it's accurate. Cash can be used anywhere. Credit can only be used at the store printed on the card. Cash trumps credit, always.[/quote]

Thing is, the other poster was using the example Sharper Image, as if every company goes into bankruptcy and is going to not honor their giftcards/credit. GameStop is not in financial trouble, so there is no reason to believe that credit won't be good for a long time (not to mention he may have planned on using that credit very soon, so the point would be rendered mute, anyway). So, even though cash is better than credit, the Sharper Image example is skewing the issue.
 
The SI argument is valid but only to a point, I'll concede that. Credit, though, still limits you to that store, regardless of their financial situation. What if the guy got hungry an hour later or needed to buy gas? You're correct, in that if he was going to turn around and use it all it wouldn't matter; however, he didn't use it all, he just left the store. It really shouldn't matter much to any of us. When his stomach starts rumbling or his car sputters to a stop he'll be the one regretting it.:)
 
[quote name='neocisco']Credit, though, still limits you to that store, regardless of their financial situation. What if the guy got hungry an hour later or needed to buy gas? You're correct, in that if he was going to turn around and use it all it wouldn't matter; however, he didn't use it all, he just left the store.[/QUOTE]

This is true. Someone should have followed the guy and blogged about his daily activities. Only after figuring out how long it took him to spend the credit, and on what, and if tax was charged, and during that time if he was hungry and/or required gas could we accurately determine if he was stupid or not.
 
[quote name='Haggar']Sharper Image has about 180 stores. Gamestop has over 5,000. That's like saying "OMGZ! McDonald's gift cardz are teh worthlass becuse in my town a hardware store closeded!"

Try again.[/quote]
That's all you got? They had less stores? What about about Jamesway? Or Caldor? Ames? How about any of the other national and regional chains that went belly up leaving people with worthless gift cards?
If you think you have a valid argument and you agree that credit beats cash there is no hope for you.
 
Nonetheless, GameStop is not in financial trouble, so there is no reason to compare credit there to places that fell on hard times. There is a difference.
 
How do you know, are you the CFO of Gamestop? None of the other stores were in trouble until they were. Gamestop is fairly reviled by a large percentage of gamers on this board, so what's to stop that from broadening? To argue any place of business is above collapse is foolish at best.
 
How do you know, are you the CFO of Gamestop?
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It's called business news. You don't need to work for a company to know what shape it is in, especially a large one opened to public trading. GameStop's stock is over $45 a share, and they put together a record year financially in 2007. The stock is down currently, but that can easily be contributed to slow winter months for the industry. Their stock last year at this time was under $30, so they are in great shape.

None of the other stores were in trouble until they were.
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Rarely do businesses simply get into trouble. That would mean there was gross incompetence at some link in the chain. You can easily track the financial downfall of most companies. Find me the indicator that GS is in any way, shape, or form heading towards any issues.

Gamestop is fairly reviled by a large percentage of gamers on this board, so what's to stop that from broadening?
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Hate to break to you, but the attitudes of a message board geared towards "cheap gaming" does not dictate the market's attitude. GameStop has been the blunt of hatred on the internet for years. They still posted five billion dollars in revenue last year. The average gamer and non-gamers who need to buy gaming stuff shop at GameStop...and a lot.

To argue any place of business is above collapse is foolish at best.
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This is called a straw man argument. You're distorting what I said and trying to argue against a point I never made. I never said any business is above collapse. Businesses can be, though, fairly secured against such things. When you post record numbers the previous year and see your stock trading at $45 a share, you're in pretty good shape. The Sharper Image, on the other hand, posted huge losses the last couple of years.
 
The arguement doesn't depend on whether or not Gamestop is in financial trouble or not (which i haven't seen any figures for/against, so i can't say for certain myself).

it's about the fact that you're handing your cash over to a store that will turn it into credit, essentially giving up your control of that cash or credit. it's like a fucked up ATM, except it's a very real possibility that one day you're going to walk back to that atm and NOBODY'S GOING TO BE THERE (or, if you will, a wile coyote-esque sillohette of smoke). Or they can tell you that they turned your credit into some other kind of credit, so it's not really credit anymore per se but a new kind of credit. Or the credit is subject to their approval/validation.

point being, the logical thing to do is to hold o to legal tender rather than store credit, especially considering that the ammount of legal tender offered was MORE than the offered credit.
 
There are alot of counterfeit scams out there (IE where scammers prowl parking lots looking to pawn off a bogus $100 bill in exchange for five legit twenties).

While I wouldn't expect to have it to happen when buying a Wii, can't blame a guy for being too careful...
 
[quote name='camoor']There are alot of counterfeit scams out there (IE where scammers prowl parking lots looking to pawn off a bogus $100 bill in exchange for five legit twenties).

While I wouldn't expect to have it to happen when buying a Wii, can't blame a guy for being too careful...[/quote]

Exactly. I think this is the point everyone is overlooking. You're all arguing about the virtues of cash, as if this is an argument of getting credit from GameStop or getting cash from another legitimate source. How does the guy trading in the Wii know that the TC was a decent person? He has absolutely no idea at all. It was much, much, much safer for him to get his $160 in credit from GS and walk away. Unlike some random guy off the streets, GS is a legitimate company. The way some of you are talking, you're likening it to some three-card monte dealer on a city street corner.

Are there mobs of people out there looking to scam or rob people? Obviously not, but why exactly should he have risked it?
 
[quote name='pulsar0510']How do you know, are you the CFO of Gamestop? None of the other stores were in trouble until they were. Gamestop is fairly reviled by a large percentage of gamers on this board, so what's to stop that from broadening? To argue any place of business is above collapse is foolish at best.[/QUOTE]

CAG might be an large online community... but we are still an minority in the world of retail customers.
 
Im not calling the guy an idiot at all but I would rather save $10 and be safe. If it was 180 or more on the other hand....
 
Gamestop gives you much more on credit than they will pay outright in cash for one reason: it's worth less. That's why Gamestop does it.
The safety argument is almost as silly: what Gamestop are you going to that has grifters and bandits running amok?
 
Gamestop gives you much more on credit than they will pay outright in cash for one reason: it's worth less. That's why Gamestop does it.
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This simply doesn't make any sense...at all. Worthless entails it has...no worth. Amazingly enough, people have take GameStop credit and purchased goods at a GameStop with it. Unless GameStop had originally planned on giving away that merchandise, the credit was not worthless.

The safety argument is almost as silly: what Gamestop are you going to that has grifters and bandits running amok?
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Again...another straw man argument. That's fine. As I said before, how does the guy know who the TC was? He has no clue. Why should he chance it for another $10 in cash? Obviously, having cash was not that important to him. Even though he didn't use the credit right then and there, he more than likely planned on using it eventually. So, anyone calling him stupid for making a decision that clearly was a good one for him is being silly.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']IPlus, the guy probably thought you might try to pass him some fake bills or something, which is why perhaps he denied your offer.[/QUOTE]
That's probably the best guess at what happened. Otherwise there's really no good reason to turn down an extra $10 and help someone out in the process (unless that no-tax credit thing is true).

That doesn't make him an idiot, though. We shouldn't jump to silly conclusions. And I agree with what others said -- an extra $10 is not really that big of a deal. If the guy really wanted to maximize his profit, he would have sold it on eBay instead of trading it in.
 
But the whole $10 extra thing is bogus. GameStop offered him $170. The trade in price was $160 and with the bonus going on the trade in was $170.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']This simply doesn't make any sense...at all. Worthless entails it has...no worth. Amazingly enough, people have take GameStop credit and purchased goods at a GameStop with it. Unless GameStop had originally planned on giving away that merchandise, the credit was not worthless.[/quote]
I think you have misunderstood "worthless" and "worth less." I do not believe that he was saying that it had no worth, but rather that the reason gamestop gives store credit is because it is worth less than cash.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']This simply doesn't make any sense...at all. Worthless entails it has...no worth. Amazingly enough, people have take GameStop credit and purchased goods at a GameStop with it. Unless GameStop had originally planned on giving away that merchandise, the credit was not worthless. [/quote]

He didn't say it was worthless, he said it was worth less, holding less value, not no value. Hence the space in the words.
 
Ah, my bad, if that was the case and simply not a typo. Well, if you want to buy video games, it isn't worth less, either, as long as GameStop has what you want to buy. It's worth the same as cash. If you want to buy a $60 game, you'll either pay $60 cash or $60 in credit. The only way it is worth less is if the person doesn't have use for GameStop credit. But in that case, he shouldn't have taken to th GS, anyway.
 
I can't even believe that had to be explained.
As was said in the initial post: the store was cool with him doing the deal. The man with the Wii had the kneejerk reaction that somehow he was losing by selling it to a person rather than the store. I have seen it happen in Gamestop before.Cons are generally set up in advance, so unless he thought the store was in on it he had nothing to lose to wait 5 minutes for a trip to the ATM. The chances of it being some kind of set up for a mugging are about as likely....as Gamestop going out of business before he coudl redeem the credit.
He didn't think it through and therefore is an idiot. Well within his right to be so, but no less idiotic.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']Ah, my bad, if that was the case and simply not a typo. Well, if you want to buy video games, it isn't worth less, either, as long as GameStop has what you want to buy. It's worth the same as cash. If you want to buy a $60 game, you'll either pay $60 cash or $60 in credit. The only way it is worth less is if the person doesn't have use for GameStop credit. But in that case, he shouldn't have taken to th GS, anyway.[/QUOTE]
or you take your $60 cash over to the Target/eBay/local CL seller who has the game for $40 and treat youself to a nice lunch for not being an idiot and tying your money up with an overpriced retail store.
 
The chances of it being some kind of set up for a mugging are about as likely....as Gamestop going out of business before he coudl redeem the credit.
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People get mugged and conned everyday. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere or the perfect suburban setting, that is the reality. The chances of GameStop going out of business within, say, the next year are zero. Flatout. You can make up probabilities all you want, but that it is the reality. A company that had a record year financially the year before is not going to close up completely in the next year. So, he will be able to redeem the credit, unless he simply doesn't buy much video game related stuff. And in that case, he's an idiot for trading it to GameStop...period.

He didn't think it through and therefore is an idiot. Well within his right to be so, but no less idiotic.
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He didn't have much time to think it through. He probably didn't want to stand there for ten minutes like a moron and think about it. Some people have lives to lead. He thought about for a moment, probably took into the consideration the scum that is out there, and figured $10 is not the end of the world.
 
[quote name='schuerm26']Your not supposed to so that be your fault for not fighting it, though I couldn't tell you if this varies by state[/QUOTE]

It is definitely a state thing - there's no "your not supposed to" in general terms. I've never NOT paid tax when I've bought stuff out of state (here in OR there is no sales tax so I don't even think about it most of the time). But on those rare times when I've bought things with my Edge card or Blockbuster value card (both store credit from trade-ins) I have most definitely paid sales tax - in GA, MD, VA, and a few other places at least.
 
[quote name='pulsar0510']I can't even believe that had to be explained.
As was said in the initial post: the store was cool with him doing the deal. The man with the Wii had the kneejerk reaction that somehow he was losing by selling it to a person rather than the store. I have seen it happen in Gamestop before.Cons are generally set up in advance, so unless he thought the store was in on it he had nothing to lose to wait 5 minutes for a trip to the ATM. The chances of it being some kind of set up for a mugging are about as likely....as Gamestop going out of business before he coudl redeem the credit.
He didn't think it through and therefore is an idiot. Well within his right to be so, but no less idiotic.[/quote]

And how does this situation NOT look like a three card monte or pawn shop inner circle setup? Stores don't normally let customers haggle and solicit inside the premises or even outside of it without a ban/arrest so obviously he knew that they were friendly. Not only that but then he had the ATM story.

As it is, the real fool was the OP for offering $170 for some random bloke's system, especially one brought into Gamestop.
 
Where were you that you could get $170 out of an Atm? I've only ever been able to get 20s out of them. Anyway, your offer wasn't that good and I probably would have taken the credit too if I was planning on buying more games. Maybe he thought you were a scalper and were going to try and flip it on ebay or something.

Obviously you aren't that close with the employees that work at the store or you would already have a Wii. They would hold one for you.
 
[quote name='davo1224']And how does this situation NOT look like a three card monte or pawn shop inner circle setup? Stores don't normally let customers haggle and solicit inside the premises or even outside of it without a ban/arrest so obviously he knew that they were friendly. Not only that but then he had the ATM story.

As it is, the real fool was the OP for offering $170 for some random bloke's system, especially one brought into Gamestop.[/quote]

[quote name='mrlokievil']Where were you that you could get $170 out of an Atm? I've only ever been able to get 20s out of them. Anyway, your offer wasn't that good and I probably would have taken the credit too if I was planning on buying more games. Maybe he thought you were a scalper and were going to try and flip it on ebay or something.

Obviously you aren't that close with the employees that work at the store or you would already have a Wii. They would hold one for you.[/quote]

Ineed, on both accounts.
 
[quote name='mrlokievil']Where were you that you could get $170 out of an Atm? I've only ever been able to get 20s out of them. Anyway, your offer wasn't that good and I probably would have taken the credit too if I was planning on buying more games. Maybe he thought you were a scalper and were going to try and flip it on ebay or something.

Obviously you aren't that close with the employees that work at the store or you would already have a Wii. They would hold one for you.[/quote]


I had a ten in my wallet, so that answers that question. As to the employess, I've no intention of asking them to hold a system for me. Buying leftover penny guides and getting the occasional abondoned preorder items are one thing, but I'm not going to ask them to hold a system in high demand and potentially get yelled at by someone else who wants one, or get a complaint levied on them. They do me enough favors as it is.
 
[quote name='daminion']In Ohio you pay tax even on purchases made with credit.[/quote]No, you don't. As long as the full purchase is made with credit there's no sales tax.
 
[quote name='Visc']I had a ten in my wallet, so that answers that question. As to the employess, I've no intention of asking them to hold a system for me. Buying leftover penny guides and getting the occasional abondoned preorder items are one thing, but I'm not going to ask them to hold a system in high demand and potentially get yelled at by someone else who wants one, or get a complaint levied on them. They do me enough favors as it is.[/quote]

I was just kidding about the atm but you could have offered $180. Having them hold one system is not a big deal. My local gamestop did it for me at launch and I don't feel bad in the least. I give a lot of business to that gamestop and they repay me with stuff like that. Besides most of the people I have seen buy a wii at gamestops don't even buy a game with it. If you really want a Wii and a close enough to the employees that they would do it for you, go for it. It's not like the Wii is a life or death item. Noone is going to die if they hold one for you.
 
[quote name='Visc']I'm not going to ask them to hold a system in high demand and potentially get yelled at by someone else who wants one, or get a complaint levied on them. They do me enough favors as it is.[/QUOTE]

. . .

But in your first post you say your Wii has been "backordered" for 4 months.
 
[quote name='Haggar']. . .

But in your first post you say your Wii has been "backordered" for 4 months.[/quote]

Yeah. Not through GS though.
 
I haven't read this massive thread.

the wii-trader is not an idiot. Sell to some random or take 10 bucks less and safely do it with GS. No tax on credit. Could have massive credit and wants a 360 or something. I could see myself saying no, because I want a 360 or something, and I know that when I get cash and have more options I tend to not buy what I was intending, and more often than not, regret it.
 
[quote name='io']It is definitely a state thing - there's no "your not supposed to" in general terms. I've never NOT paid tax when I've bought stuff out of state (here in OR there is no sales tax so I don't even think about it most of the time). But on those rare times when I've bought things with my Edge card or Blockbuster value card (both store credit from trade-ins) I have most definitely paid sales tax - in GA, MD, VA, and a few other places at least.[/QUOTE]

i am going to call you out on the sales tax on STORE CREDIT in va. i can not say for sure about the entire state, but i have about 7 gamestops within driving distance of me and not a single one has ever charged me tax on store credit. there is a difference between the credit they give you for a trade in and the money you put down on a reserve. the money you put on a reserve still has tax on it.

also, to the person saying that the cash was better because he "might get hungry," i am sorry to say this, but that statement means nothing. he obviously had to have some money to first of all, buy a wii and second not take the time or effort to list it on craigslist or ebay since he could have easily made a lot more off of the system alone. you think $10 means that much to this person if he is doing that? if you still do after what i just said, than there is no chance of me getting through to you.

another thing about the people saying "but it is still $10 more in cash which is good anywhere." he obviously had plans on using the money at gamestop ahead of time, so why would "cash being good anywhere" have anything to do with this? sure, the guy may be a bit of a jerk for saying no at worst, but he is by no means an idiot just for turning down $10 that he would have had to wait for. he may have had somewhere to be and really didn't have 2-5 mins. to wait for this guy, so even if he would have been willing to do it on a normal day, it is possible he said no just because of having something other to do.
 
I work at GS and i tend to agree with the customer... a FEW times we have had some one offer cash.. but it was normaly ALOT more then what we offered.. and you know we are OK with that as long as they do it out side our store...

Some one a month ago or so was selling Persona 3 and we buy it for like.. oh 10 bux i think.. go offered him 40$ for it.. and he was like omg Sure!... and i dont blame him lol.

He came back in our store with his 40$ and bough ilke 60$ worth of stuff.....
 
ever occured that the person doesn't like strangers?????

i've had people in my house like "i'll pay you XXXX for *insert item*" and i'll easily tell them NO.

10 dollars more in cash than credit sounds great in theory....but honestly, sometimes its better to deal with what you know then to stray away and potentially make a mistake. it was his wii, his product, and honestly there could be hidden elements in the decision (i'm not sure if this has been brought up, but it could have been race related, gender related, other biases, or simply afraid of being okie doked)
 
Just to play devil's advocate with the Wii Returner...

1) Perhaps he knew his Wii was nice and busted and had no difficulties in selling it to GS nice and broken as opposed to some other gamer. ;)

2) If he was in an extreme rush and needed to get of there as fast as possible. Waiting for someone to hit an ATM can be fast as all get-out but others...oh lord, no.


Otherwise...eh, depends on the person. Personally I probably would have traded it in anyway unless the offer was for $190 or so, mostly because it would be a happy medium between what EB/GS is offering and what they would sell it for.

Well, if I was returning it in-store, anyway. If I had a Wii, box and Wii Play or not, I could easily sell it to friends right now for $220, easy. And on-campus? Lord, that's $240 without an issue, and I'm still under other offers on campus by a good $60 to $85. ;)
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']People get mugged and conned everyday. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere or the perfect suburban setting, that is the reality. The chances of GameStop going out of business within, say, the next year are zero. Flatout. You can make up probabilities all you want, but that it is the reality. A company that had a record year financially the year before is not going to close up completely in the next year. So, he will be able to redeem the credit, unless he simply doesn't buy much video game related stuff. And in that case, he's an idiot for trading it to GameStop...period.

He didn't have much time to think it through. He probably didn't want to stand there for ten minutes like a moron and think about it. Some people have lives to lead. He thought about for a moment, probably took into the consideration the scum that is out there, and figured $10 is not the end of the world.[/quote]
The odds of the average person walking in to Gamestop and being the victim of an elaborate robbery are almost nonexistant. You have to know that.
 
this story is probably relevant to this thread. I was at a GS the other day, someone came in and said his son asked him to pick something up for the DS. He said the game his kid wanted was "Assassin's Creed" and he wanted to know if there was sex and violence in it. Needless to say when he saw the descriptor he was visibly shocked. At which I kinda just laughed and asked "what did you think an assassin do?" I'll give him this though, at least he care about what his kid played.
 
[quote name='pulsar0510']The odds of the average person walking in to Gamestop and being the victim of an elaborate robbery are almost nonexistant. You have to know that.[/quote]

And the odds of a company like GameStop, who enjoyed the best year in 2007, closing down and their credit becoming useless is basically zero. You have to know this. And yet, you just kept defending the idea in this topic.

Also, despite what you seem to think is a complete impossibility, people other than myself have brought up the same issue in this thread. Actually, I wasn't even the first one to mention it. I am not alone. We're all idiots, though, I assume, and you're the smart one. I hate to break to you, but guess what went through the mind of every, single person who ever got taken in a scam? Oh, that can't happen. That's impossible. It's not impossible, though. And for $10 (or not) and credit, this guy decided he would deal with the devil he knows rather than someone he doesn't. And as someone else said, the whole thing would probably look fishy to the average Joe just walking into a GameStop. It's not everyday you walk into a store and have some complete stranger offer to buy your possessions.
 
What's the "safety" argument here?

"You want to buy it off me? I'll wait here for 30 minutes - go and get the money and we'll do the trade in the store. If you aren't back in 30, I'm trading it into GS."

That is assuming they have time to wait for 30 minutes - but "safety" is such a silly argument, really.
 
That is assuming they have time to wait for 30 minutes - but "safety" is such a silly argument, really.
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And so is "Just look at what happened with the Sharper Image," and yet, that seems to have gained some validity among a few posters.

I think the only thing people were bringing up were possibilities. If anyone wants to actually argue that it is impossible to get scammed in this world, that's what I find silly. How exactly does this guy know everything is on the up and up? He doesn't. So, he passed. That doesn't make him an idiot.
 
He's not stupid, if someone offered me only $10 more, I wouldn't take it either. If you wanted it so bad, you should have offered more.. who cares if it doesn't come with Wii Sports or a box? That doesn't downgrade the value that much.

Hell, if some stranger came upto me in the store as I was trying to sell something for credit, you know, something I wanted, otherwise I wouldn't be there to trade the stuff in to begin with (;)), I wouldn't trust them, and certainly wouldn't do business with them.
 
[quote name='Visc']So you'd prefer not to get the most for your system then, good to know.[/quote]

If he were wanting the most for his system, he wouldn't have taken your offer either.

He would've went to eBay.

I can see where the guy is coming from, if you would have to leave the store to do the transaction. Even if the store employee could see you guys while outside, that wouldn't stop somebody from pulling a knife or a gun.

If it was going to be cash passed in the store, then maybe he should have taken your offer.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']And the odds of a company like GameStop, who enjoyed the best year in 2007, closing down and their credit becoming useless is basically zero. You have to know this. And yet, you just kept defending the idea in this topic.

Also, despite what you seem to think is a complete impossibility, people other than myself have brought up the same issue in this thread. Actually, I wasn't even the first one to mention it. I am not alone. We're all idiots, though, I assume, and you're the smart one. I hate to break to you, but guess what went through the mind of every, single person who ever got taken in a scam? Oh, that can't happen. That's impossible. It's not impossible, though. And for $10 (or not) and credit, this guy decided he would deal with the devil he knows rather than someone he doesn't. And as someone else said, the whole thing would probably look fishy to the average Joe just walking into a GameStop. It's not everyday you walk into a store and have some complete stranger offer to buy your possessions.[/quote]
To mention the possiblity of business collapse in the face of the argument that credit at a store is somehow an infallable resource is hardly defending it, at least not in the context you're trying to place it. Stores, corporations, dog kennels all go out of business suddenly. Some right after posting record profits. I fully concede that it's unlikely; I do not concede it's impossible.
I also concede that there is a chance of being robbed where ever you are, but as I have said: the chances are almost non-existant at your local Gamestop. If you want to celebrate someone who didn't even entertain the possibility of making his losses a little less painful by taking a chance and (*horror*) actually dealing with another human being, go right ahead. You have the same rights that guy did.
 
I can't believe this thread has devolved into this much arguing. I really doubt that the OP typed his post while banging on the keyboard and fuming with anger. It was just meant to be a funny/interesting story since someone turned down more money in favor of less money. I'm sure that if any of you walked up to a man on the street and offered him a twenty dollar bill in exchange for a ten dollar bill, you'd consider it strange if he declined and probably tell it as a funny story. That's all the OP was trying to do and I'm not sure why everyone is getting so worked up over it.
 
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