I got officially blacklisted at EB Games today!

To those of you not following the "trade 3 get $10 bonus" thread at EB Games, there have been a few loopholes found for a deal or two. I found one, and tried it out a bit the other day. It went something like this:

Buy a few cheap games ($1.99/$2.99) for about $6.27 (after 10% Edge Discount) at EB/Gamestop, then trade them later in groups of 3 at a time, and get $14.40 (w/10% Edge Bonus) in credit. Net Credit Gain: $8.13 per transaction.

I jokingly mentioned in the EB thread about doing it once a day until the deal is over, a total of 25 days for July. I would never do that, but figured I would try it out just a bit.

Here's how it went:

Day 1:
EB Games 1: Purchased 3 Powerdrome, 1 Gran Turismo3 , 2 Max Payne, 2 The Getaway.

EB Games 2: Purchased 2 Powerdrome, 4 Gran Turismo3, 1 Airblade.

Day 2:
EB Games 3: Traded in 1 set of 3
EB Games 4: Traded in 1 set of 3
EB Games 5: Traded in 1 set of 3

Yes, we have that many EB's here, and that's NOT including G-Spot locations, I stay away from them, one even literally smells like rotten eggs/sulfur 24/7...something wrong with the store, I guess. I hope the rent is cheap there. One day soon I'll be going there and asking them why their store always reeks of fart. On to Day 3, where the problems begin:

Day 3:
EB Games 4: Traded in a 2nd set of 3, no problem (diff. employees from last time.)
EB Games 2: Tried trading in a 2nd set of 3. This is where things get hairy. The employee remembered me from the day before, and says, "I'm not taking these from you, you just traded in pretty much the same thing yesterday, I think you've made enough profit from it already." I say OK, and leave nicely. No mess no fuss. I figured I've got 4 other locations, 1 of which I've never traded any sets to...

Day 4: (Today)
EB Games 1: (back to the original one, which is even in a different state than the other locations)
Trading in my FIRST set to them, he takes a look at the games and asks "What's your name?" I tell him my first name, he says hold on, grabs a binder from behind the counter, flips through a few memos and then says: "sorry, I can't take trades from you, I've been told by the District Manager not to."

Intrigued, I start asking questions: "did I reach my trade limit?", "Does it really have my name on there?", "Can I trade better/other games in?". He apologizes for the situation and says "it's vague, but it pretty much says not to take trades from you until further notice".

I almost feel honored at the overnight infamous status I've gotten, and it's even state-crossing. He mentioned it had my name (including my last name, which I never told him), in the memo, but he wouldn't let me actually read the memo. When I asked, he looked it over once more, then closed the book quickly and shoved it back behind the counter and said: "no, sorry, I can't do that".

The most ironic part of this is that it was my last set of games I was planning on trading in, and then my experiment would have been over.

Moral of the story:

1. EB Games really DOES have a blacklist (I thought CAGs were just being silly by saying that so frequently in the threads).

2. EB Games has no problem raping us with their trade-in credit prices, but when their own pants get a quick drop, they castrate you within 24 hours.

FINAL NOTE: I admit what I was doing was a bit underhanded, but nothing I did was illegal, fraudulent, or dishonest. It was a simple loophole, and I respect their decision to deny my 5th trade. Heck, I even PLAYED the games I bought before trading them in, and now I know why they're $1.99 . The only thing I don't like was how they did it. A silent memo with my name specifically blacklisted, instead of a more logical across-the-board approach to the loophole problem (perhaps pulling all 2 or 3 of the $1.99 games from the shelves until the deal is over? How could they not see that coming?)

It looks like you were only blacklisted in your district though. Try asking for the district manager's number and see if you can sort things out with him.

It seems wrong you traded in 2 sets of games u paid for a few days before whats wrong about that?? U couldve played and beat those games and wanted to trade them this isnt the same as buying cheap games elsewhere and trying to build credit you shouldve threw a fit when the original guy refused to let u trade.
They let u buy games from them but not trade them back in??? Id flat out tell them to there face ITS NOT MY PROBLEM trade my games or I report to the bbb .

If I didn't work at GS I would be doing the same thing you guys are doing. Too bad they would track my trades on the quick.

I dont know - they ask for your name, phone, address etc etc. But do they do any verification after the fact? Is there any reason you can't have a new name every time you walk into an EB, besides the fact that the clerk might remember you as someone else yesterday?

Sweet, I might walk down to EB and buy some of those games, walk across the street and trade them to Gamestop then buy some from them and trade them at EB

I think that the problem was that you tried to do multiple sets of the same games, instead of trading one set of 3 at each store, while you picked up more,1.99-2.99 games.

Tell the BBB that they have a blacklist. Why? Because it's racist. Or better yet, tell them they put you on the blacklist because of your skin color.

(Yes, I am being sarcastic.)

Now I want to do this to see if I get on the blacklist :lol:

[quote name='js1']I think that the problem was that you tried to do multiple sets of the same games, instead of trading one set of 3 at each store, while you picked up more,1.99-2.99 games.[/quote]

I know it's confusing, but I actually only traded in one set per visit, and I never mixed buying/selling during the same visit (except once when I was buying completely unrelated games for myself while trading in). I also never used duplicate titles in the same transaction: it was always: 1 Gran Turismo3, 1 Powerdrome, and 1 $2.99 game: Max Payne/Airblade/The Getaway.

AMUSING SIDENOTE: on one occasion, the clerk said he wouldn't accept The Getaway because it was too scratched up, and the $2 resurfacing fee would bring the trade-in value to Negative $1. He then said it also wouldn't count towards the $10 bonus because they have to be in working condition to qualify. I didn't bother telling him I just bought it the day before from another EB, but instead went to my car and grabbed a mint Max Payne for the 3rd game. Worked fine.

Pooky: EB falls under Pawn Shop laws here, they have to see and record valid ID for every trade they receive. (same reason why some EB's can't accept unopened games, they're not allowed to buy/resell new from off the street).

Thanks for the idea, I'll be duplicating it tomorrow!

Hold your head high Kerig, you sir are a true American hero.

I would have made a scene if they told me that they wouldn't take my trades. I would have screamed someting like this, "I've made enought profit? I've made enough profit? I trade my games that I've paid full price for and you give a few dollars for each of them and then sell them for $5 under retail? I've made enough profit? How about that when you make these ****ty little trade-in deals to get $10 extra, you drop the trade value of the games $3 or $4. I've made enough profit? **** you!" Or something along those lines, maybe not the last sentence, but I would definitely make my opinion of those stores heard.

[quote name='Skelah']It seems wrong you traded in 2 sets of games u paid for a few days before whats wrong about that?? U couldve played and beat those games and wanted to trade them this isnt the same as buying cheap games elsewhere and trying to build credit you shouldve threw a fit when the original guy refused to let u trade.
They let u buy games from them but not trade them back in??? Id flat out tell them to there face ITS NOT MY PROBLEM trade my games or I report to the bbb .[/QUOTE]


[quote name='smash bro']I would have made a scene if they told me that they wouldn't take my trades. I would have screamed someting like this, "I've made enought profit? I've made enough profit? I trade my games that I've paid full price for and you give a few dollars for each of them and then sell them for $5 under retail? I've made enough profit? How about that when you make these ****ty little trade-in deals to get $10 extra, you drop the trade value of the games $3 or $4. I've made enough profit? **** you!" Or something along those lines, maybe not the last sentence, but I would definitely make my opinion of those stores heard.[/QUOTE]

What the hell has happened to this site?

This is a crack in the system and you guys get pissed when they bust out the Spackle? Imagine that, EB hates giving away money especially when you make it really obvious that you are taking advantage of them.

"DAMN U EB IWNT TEH FREE MONEIES YOU RICK S ILL CALL TEH BBB ON U LIERS I M ONLY TRING TO EXPLETE U "

[quote name='Kerig']Day 4: (Today)
EB Games 1: (back to the original one, which is even in a different state than the other locations)
Trading in my FIRST set to them, he takes a look at the games and asks "What's your name?" I tell him my first name, he says hold on, grabs a binder from behind the counter, flips through a few memos and then says: "sorry, I can't take trades from you, I've been told by the District Manager not to."[/quote] Maybe you should have given him a different name? It's not like they have pictures of you all over their offices or something. Although that would be extreme, but funny at the same time.

The new Cag flash mob lets see how many of us could get banned. HAHHAHAHA... Really it wouldn't be that hard to do. Everyone could visit walmart grab the 3 pack for $10 from last christmas and hit every ebgames you could find. Imagine organizing that and ebgames buying 1000 copies of powerdrome in one day, talk about getting their panties in a bunch...

The whole "I'll call the BBB" routine does not work at all. The BBB does nothing and holds no power over companies. The BBB is just like bizrate, most companies don't give a what they say about them. The BBB gets so many complants per day about large corporations, its become common place.

[quote name='rodeojones903']The whole "I'll call the BBB" routine does not work at all. The BBB does nothing and holds no power over companies. The BBB is just like bizrate, most companies don't give a what they say about them. The BBB gets so many complants per day about large corporations, its become common place.[/quote]

Have to agree 100% on the BBB nowadays. Do you know they sell memberships to companies. I get cold call from them all the time about paying a $250 fee to be a member of the BBB. The fee includes a plaque, description of company, use of logo on company material, etc. They are a joke...

[quote name='kjauburn']Have to agree 100% on the BBB nowadays. Do you know they sell memberships to companies. I get cold call from them all the time about paying a $250 fee to be a member of the BBB. The fee includes a plaque, description of company, use of logo on company material, etc. They are a joke...[/QUOTE]

That's the way they've always been...

if thing doesnt work out you can always kick a magazine rack.

[quote name='rodeojones903']The whole "I'll call the BBB" routine does not work at all. The BBB does nothing and holds no power over companies. The BBB is just like bizrate, most companies don't give a what they say about them. The BBB gets so many complants per day about large corporations, its become common place.[/quote]

Its the mind game tho not everyone knows this and if your a low level employee and ur manager is out u dont wanna deal with bad thoughts like that.

[quote name='rodeojones903']The whole "I'll call the BBB" routine does not work at all. The BBB does nothing and holds no power over companies. The BBB is just like bizrate, most companies don't give a what they say about them. The BBB gets so many complants per day about large corporations, its become common place.[/QUOTE]
The BBB is a fairly respected organization by consumers. What reporting someone does (not that I'm advocating it in this case) is leave an open complaint on their record until it is resolved somehow. That means when new customer A wants to see what kind of organization EB is, they could look them up with the BBB, and now they will see an open complaint. No company wants that, so they usually just deal with it and move on.

... I think I'll stop trading in GR clearance games now. Though at least the multiple copies of games I'm trading in are still being sold for a profit.

The whole "I'll call the BBB" routine does not work at all. The BBB does nothing and holds no power over companies. The BBB is just like bizrate, most companies don't give a what they say about them. The BBB gets so many complants per day about large corporations, its become common place.

Click to expand...

While it still does require willful action on the corporations part, they usually do care. I recently complained to the BBB for a graphics card company that didn't honor my rebate cause it was "2 days late". I tend to stay away from mail in rebates because they are a scam but anyhoo. Complained to the BBB and by the end of the week I had an email from the company telling me they will honor it.

I have 2 things to says about this type of trade in.

1. I like it and if a company puts you on the blacklist when you are doing something perfectly legal, it is a joke. They set up this trade in system. If they didn't think of loopholes then screw them.

2. If to many people do this and they get screwed over to much, THEY WON'T DO THIS DEAL AGAIN!!!


#2 is more than likely to happen so why not just show some restraint and not screw it up for everyone.

Speaking of rotten eggs, i was in a g-stop in my area the other day and that is EXACTLY what it smelled like. It was amazing that people could actually be working in there.

You knew that you had a good chance of getting busted for cheating the system. You know this because you went to four different stores, one in another state. If you thought that there really wasnt anything wrong with what you are doing then you wouldn't have done that. Buisnesses make money, that is what they do. If someone is ripping them off then they have to stop doing buisness with that person. That is a very smart District Manager and you got what you had coming.

I'd have walked in the next day shitfaced and taken a slam in the bargain bin.. who knows. Just aim at the disc only copy of Oni or something

[quote name='bradtwitty']You knew that you had a good chance of getting busted for cheating the system. You know this because you went to four different stores, one in another state. If you thought that there really wasnt anything wrong with what you are doing then you wouldn't have done that. Buisnesses make money, that is what they do. If someone is ripping them off then they have to stop doing buisness with that person. That is a very smart District Manager and you got what you had coming.[/QUOTE]
I don't think he is arguing that.

For once, this is a time where GameRush actually had a better policy :shock:

Set up a minimum sale price for qualifying games or don't allow the buy back price to exceed the used price, and there's no way for people to exploit this for their profit/EB's loss.

I bought and traded some of the 2.99 games a couple times, usually just when I needed another game or two to hit the 4-game limit (before the trade 3 started). Of course, that was before the $1 minimum trade value started, so I didn't really have a chance at much of a profit.

This kind of reminds me of the trading in the Suikoden games and how people used to trade stuff like this a long time ago.

I guess EB doesn't like it when people play their own game.

Its up to EB to close the loophole and make it to where those games arent eligible for the promotion. To single the OP out is not the right way to do it.

Some peoples time is worth this.

• Gas to go to EB twice a day, or at least once.
• Time to hunt for old crappy games
• Time to plan this scheme.

This hardly seems worth the 8 bucks a day. Get a real job and make 8 bucks in an hour, and you dont have to be a douche or get blacklisted from EB.

Solution? Get a friend to do the trading, lol

[quote name='Mookyjooky']Some peoples time is worth this.[/QUOTE]
I wish someone would explain to me what they do where they get paid during their free time, otherwise this response will never hold water.

Unless I quit my job to start trading, hmm...

JUST A HINT.....there are eb games managers on this site...try PMing your master plans instead of posting....also they do have a 3 time limit on promos. I anally RAPED eb for about $2000 in credit before they changed the policy on trade in for pre order...now you cant cancel...it went like this:

Buy cheap games abour 5 bucks to 9 bucks (red hot volleyball and outlaw golf and such) trade in 4 or 5 get a PSP or PS2 or Xbox game free for a preorder...then when it comes in or before cancel it or return it and put towrds what you want....about a year back or so now....but it was insane...they had the madden deal killer 7...you name it...it was crazy....i was black listed and it was funny....the last time i went to do it they just changed the preorder rules about cancelling or returning them. This wasnt as bad as yours as i wasnt buying there games to return them right back but they hated me either way and it was pretty unfair. i did go to multiple Eb's but i am also one of there best customers as well. So in essense i give them alot of my money i just got some of it back thats all

PS- My profit was about 45 bucks on each set.....i did about 40 sets, and the time was easy a friend gave me the list of PO games (yes they pulled the PO games list off the site around the same time they stopped the cancel preorder deals) and gas...well I have 6 eb's within 5 miles of me. I made alot of ROI baby


I think the funniest part is mine was not illegal or dishonest...they wanted games, i gave them games and put them towards there deal....what would have been bad is if I took half the credit for cash, but im getting games either way so it wasnt worth it. i just find the whole thing funny and so does my friend who runs an eb.....they dont like to lose apparently

Though I don't care for retail schmucks very much, I respect the fact that you didn't throw a temper tantrum to the clerks about being blacklisted.

We have a great number of grown-up five year olds who would prefer kicking and screaming because they couldn't trade in a copy of in' "Black and Bruised" than acting like an adult. Kudos to you.

Yeah i smiled at them i knew i had it made and they hated me for it b//c they couldnt do it themselves...a couple of places were like "damn thats awesome!"

Actually, I was referring to the OP.

I stopped reading your post once I saw that "anal rape" was being used as a literary witticism, as if it were (1) creative or (2) tasteful.

You stuck it to the video game man. I salute you.

[quote name='mykevermin']Actually, I was referring to the OP.

I stopped reading your post once I saw that "anal rape" was being used as a literary witticism, as if it were (1) creative or (2) tasteful.[/QUOTE]

Sorry thats the "gamer" part of me talking...to much GRAW as of late...bahbah...either way Mr. rogers Eb got "pwned" lol

You dont have to waste gas to see whats in stock in a store, all you do is go to gamestop.com and use the store locater on the game you are looking for, it updates within an hour of each game being sold (i tested it) so its very reliable.

It sounds like they had a problem with you buying the games at ebgames and trading them in at the same chain, i traded in many multiple copies of games from the kmart sales and i have not had a problem yet, i did open my games and i did actually play some of them, i never tried to trade in something that was in shrinkwrap. This really is their fault and there must be some pretty stupid people running ebgames right now on the higher ups side of things (above the district manager) because if intelligent people were running the corporation they would have closed the obvious loophole somehow.

But congrats, you sucessfully beat the system!!!! This is for everytime ebgames sold you a game with a million stickers on it, for every time they tried to sell you a used game as new, for every time they gave you a so-called display copy of a game that the employees have either played in the store or taken home and played, for everytime they stickered up the packaging on your supposedly new game... etc. I do applaud you for not acting like a 5 year old and punching the clerks and stuff, what i think you should do is try to sort things out with the district manager, explain that this was an obvious loophole in the system and that you were not doing anything illegal, essentially you were just doing the deal legally. If they see that you are a cool, calm and rational person they might just change their mind, also if they dont, call them out on some of the above stuff, ask them why they sell games as display copies, and why they sell used games as new, you know they are doing it, so call them out on it, show them that the district manager and their employees are not perfect either, be sure to call them out on the whole "display copy" game fiasco, and state that you know the employees take the games home and play them or play them in the store on the store systems, tell them that you have bought gba games that were supposedly new that already had save data on them etc...

If you cant get hold of the district manager you can go to www.gamestopfeedback.com (i am sure you have a reciept from a recent ebgames purchase), explain the situation and request a reply from the manager.

The trade back the games you just bought things I can see being bad, but to stop you from trading games in each day is plain ridiculous

[quote name='zebbers']While it still does require willful action on the corporations part, they usually do care. I recently complained to the BBB for a graphics card company that didn't honor my rebate cause it was "2 days late". I tend to stay away from mail in rebates because they are a scam but anyhoo. Complained to the BBB and by the end of the week I had an email from the company telling me they will honor it.[/QUOTE]

I too feel that the BBB must hold some power... I used to complain though emails all the time before (didn't care to be kept on hold) and I never got replies. Then, I mentioned the BBB on two occasions (one for GS and the other to CompUSA). The DM from GS actually called me and asked me what he'd like me to do (an employee lied to me about a product). And with CompUSA, the manager emailed me back saying that she'd price match my item if I bought the receipt back to the store.

This reminds me of what I did with Blockbuster last summer...One day, I was in there right when the trade in 3 get any used game for $5 deal started, and I noticed that there were a bunch of refurbished games. Most of them weren't anything special, but there were a few God of Wars, Fight Nights, and Midnight Dub whatever it's called. They were also having the buy 2 get 1 free sale going on...so, I bought all of them, and started trading them in right away for the games...after I traded in about 3 sets, the district manager actually called my house and told me that she was going to call the police on me the next day. I calmly explained to her that this was not against the trading guidelines and she just got even angrier and told me to wait until tomorrow because I was going to be arrested for sure.

She called me the next day saying she had spoken to the loss prevention department of the company and that what I was doing was perfectly legal and ok. She apologized and told me that what I was doing was sneaky, but smart. Just to rub it in, I went back there and traded about 9 or 10 copies of each.

In the end, I ended up with a little over a thousand dollars in credit plus a bunch of good pre-owned games.

The moral of the story is, every time any store has a deal that gets exploited, the store always blames you for doing something horrible. These things are not hard for BB or GS or EB to fix. Just add a few extra conditions to the deal, and it's done with. If they don't want to get screwed, they shouldn't put themselves in the position to do so in the first place.

I tried that.. but then my GS said that the game u trade in has to be 29.99 or more in store.. THOSE FUC*ERS!

[quote name='mykevermin']Actually, I was referring to the OP.

I stopped reading your post once I saw that "anal rape" was being used as a literary witticism, as if it were (1) creative or (2) tasteful.[/quote]

best.post.ever.

[quote name='noodles']best.post.ever. [/QUOTE]

Considering youve only been on here for maybe 2 weeks thats funny

[quote name='Daddy']Considering youve only been on here for maybe 2 weeks thats funny[/quote]

You're going to set my country music award on fire?

[quote name='noodles']You're going to set my country music award on fire?[/QUOTE]


Anyway enough highjacking the thread....


Im glad to see someone else made out on Blockbuster deals as well

[quote name='Ma12kez']Maybe you should have given him a different name? It's not like they have pictures of you all over their offices or something. Although that would be extreme, but funny at the same time.[/QUOTE]


i think they need to check your drivers license?

[quote name='TUBAPRO1']
In the end, I ended up with a little over a thousand dollars in credit plus a bunch of good pre-owned games.

The moral of the story is, every time any store has a deal that gets exploited, the store always blames you for doing something horrible. These things are not hard for BB or GS or EB to fix. Just add a few extra conditions to the deal, and it's done with. If they don't want to get screwed, they shouldn't put themselves in the position to do so in the first place.[/QUOTE]

that is the moral of the story?!
lol

hum.............
according to your justification:
- if people forget to lock their doors, it is perfectly OK to take stuff away from them since " they shouldn't put themselves in the position to do so in the first place".
- if a hot chick was walking alone at night in a dark alley, you would probably rape her and your reasoning would be that it was her fault for being vulnerable in the first place.

just because there is a loophole in the policy, it doesn't justify you abusing it.