EB Games is a ripoff!

[Skyline969]

Alright, so I went to EB Games this weekend on my little trip, and I asked the woman there if she could appraise a few things I was willing to sell - a PSP3000, two games, a movie for it, a 4 GB memory stick, and a DS Phat. According to her, EB Games (everywhere, not that particular store) only pays out $100 for a brand-new PSP3000 with only 30 hours put into it! Star Ocean: First Departure would pay out well - $30 in mint condition, which mine is. Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters? $5-$10, she said. The memory stick... I don't remember what she said. The movie, National Treasure: Book of Secrets would only net me around $5. The DS Phat? $50 or less. Now, according to her, for the stuff I paid over $500 for, I would only get about $200 back. I can understand the DS Phat, but the PSP3000 should be a bit more than that. In fact, you'd think that for the PSP3000 and the other stuff for it, it'd be a good deal alone for a DSi.

Oh well, DSi is over-rated anyways.

I'm not gonna trade in that much stuff for one when I can trade some kid in town here for a DSi for just the PSP alone.

So has anyone else felt that games stores like this kinda rip off people when it comes to trade-ins?

 

[myuusmeow]

I never got why people always thought places like this are ripoffs or not fair. They need to make a profit and your paying for not having to sell it yourself. Just go sell your stuff to a friend or on Craigslist.

 

[Awdofgum]

I kind of agree. A freshly released 360 title (depending on which one) gets you $20-$30.
But that's the way it works, it's been that way for a while now.

 

[Sstew]

They've always been like that. EBGames, Gamestop, Planet X, all owned by the same company, all are trying to make a profit.

You can buy a 60$ 360 game. Walk outside, open it, walk back in and get 30-40$

 

[Lily]

A PSP-3000 is only $169 in Canada. Assuming you live in Ontario, that's $190 after tax. So they're giving you back more than half what it would cost to buy new, which is actually pretty reasonable for the EB Games of the world. You'd be lucky to get $50 for a DS Phat model - they aren't in demand, so it's a dead weight for the store to take on.

As for games and movies, the value fluctuates, and their trade-in program has always sucked for the consumer. However, for the most part, you're almost guaranteed to get rid of almost any games you want for cash in hand. You could get more selling on your own, but you have to figure whether your time is worth it.

 

[robochrono09]

its better to sell it to someone you know or ebay

 

[W.I.C.K.E.D.]

Gamestop IS A RIPOFF and I advise no one to shop there. I know many people who work there. Some earlier said they make money for selling your games. Ok, you bring the game to the store, you take a loss on it by selling it, they put a sticker on it and make what you made. Basically, this is what happens, they give you $20 bucks for a game, they turn around and sell it for $40-45 dollars. Now that involves only them putting a print out sticker on it and placing it on the shelves after scanning it to computer(about 1 minute of actual work) and in the end this saves them because they have no out of pocket cost for shipping the game. How is a most likely multibillion dollar company going to offer you some whack ass card that saves you 10% on used games and accessories? Meanwhile sadly, circuit city, before they went out of business, had a card that cost twice gamestops, 20 dollars for it, and you would save 10% on new games and accessories. With the edge card you'd have to buy about 30 or more used games to pay for it, meanwhile at circuit city buying 4 brand new games would pay for the card. Gamestop is a scam artist. I don't have a problem with making money, but they got their hand all in the cookie jar on this one.

 

[purplesludge]

Trading in games is a ripoff generally but they usually carry games that other stores will only have in stock one time. At the one near where I live the employees are very helpful in locating something. The edge card is actually a good deal if you buy used games or trade in games. You only need to buy about 10 used games to pay for it and it comes with a years subscription to game informer. The only advantage to gamestop is if a game doesn't work you can return it. My harvest moon for psp didn't work and I returned it for a full refund without a problem and they helped me find another location that had the game. When you buy it from another person it may not work and they may not give your money back.

Short Version

Gamestop is a business that has some perks for buying from but not really for trading games in.

 

[W.I.C.K.E.D.]

THEY'RE A RIP OFF. Thats how they blew up into the game distribution scene they basically own now and companies like Babbages and EB fell off right. THEY'RE A RIP OFF. Helpfull employees or not. The employees don't set the policies. THEY'RE A RIP OFF. "is there an echo in here?"



I don't care if they got fuckin mrs. pacman, THEY ARE A RIP OFF

 

[purplesludge]

Apparently you didn't read my first sentence. Trading in games is a ripoff however Babbages and EB were never any better so I don't see the need for all caps. I am simply saying they are a legitamate business that is similar to pawnshops but instead of anything they specifically deal in games and game accessories. Considering selling online or to friends isn't an option for everybody gamestop is a useful alternative if someone really needs cash to buy new games or any other reason. Ripping people off will not put you at the top of game distribution, in fact it will do the opposite. Selling large libraries of games and offer more services than retail stores will.

 

[michaelf]

That's a rip off!? I wouldn't give you the time of day for National Treasure on UMD and there's no way you'd get $50 for the old DS selling it yourself. EB does not exist to help you break even on purchases you're no longer happy with.

 

[Awdofgum]

Sure they profit off of the trade-ins but they are also always willing to take any game you offer, that's convenient for a lot of people. Craigslist and Ebay aren't always the quickest solutions.


Personally, I like to collect games so I rarely ever sell my stuff. The current gen is the retro gen of tomorrow.

 

[GameSoul]

Trading in my games has to be the worst thing I have ever done. I was trying to get some money back with old games I never play. I TRADED IN MELEE AND A TONF OF GAMECUBE GAMES! and I have regretted it ever since. I woke up one day, and looked at my Gamecube and felt like i was gonna cry. This was about 5 or 6 years ago.

 

[cupajoe]

I never got why people always thought places like this are ripoffs or not fair. They need to make a profit and your paying for not having to sell it yourself. Just go sell your stuff to a friend or on Craigslist.

Because it's a blatant rip off, and they sell some used games only shaving off 5 dollars (like a $60 game being sold for $55). They make money, not deals.

 

[Awdofgum]

But in the end doesn't everyone want to profit?
Plus no one is forcing you to spend any money...

 

[DarkSpace]

Sadly Last I heard, the whole chain has a debt burden of about 100 mil to their parent company Barnes and Noble. THey need the cash.

"After borrowing $100 million from their parent company (Barnes & Noble) by putting all of their retail chain stores up as collatoral in order to purchase their biggest competitor at the time (EB Games), the company was given a deadline of 2011 to pay off their debt. Regardless Gamestop has continued expansion into Europe and Mexico."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamestop for more info

 

[Morganti]

The only people Gamestop truly rips off, are the Game Devs.

If you were truly looking for deals, you wouldn't be shopping there in the first place, you would be scouring the net, watching ebay, amazon, and craigs list. but thats more like work, so most people settle for the convenience of Gamestop, to buy, >or< sell. Its fast, instant, and guaranteed. They are a middle man convenience.

~D~

 

[Uruha]

^hey i get all my 360 games off ebay! lol u summarized me

 

[War]

The PSP is really the only thing that was low-balled. Everything else sounds reasonable to me.

 

[jumpman17]

It's better then textbooks from the college bookstore.

My first semester of college:
Start of semester: $600 for 5 books?!?! And this is the used price?
End of semester: You'll buy back all my books for $32 total? And then sell them for the $600 again?

My first and only semester of buying and selling books to the college bookstore.