Hello, My Name is Fred Sanford [DP Store]

[digitalpress]

Trade-ins began the moment I opened and never let up until 5 minutes before I closed, neither of which is a particularly good thing. First, the good news.Wii No More Heroes (complete, about 10 minutes...

More... (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=16146264&blogID=363967035)

[TonyTheTiger]

Look on the bright side. Those people come to you instead of heading to the Gamestop that's what? A quarter of a mile away?

[digitalpress]

Look on the bright side. Those people come to you instead of heading to the Gamestop that's what? A quarter of a mile away?

Well not really.

I mean, GameStop doesn't take in Genesis, SNES, NES, etc so they're not really competition in that area. As for the scratched, loose, poor conditioned "current gen" games my customers would be doing both myself and themselves a favor by bringing them to GameStop. I pay well for stuff that's in good condition and/or complete, I'm sure GameStop offers more for everything else.

[TonyTheTiger]

That's true. If you're paying for stuff that's just going to collect dust for 10 years that's money out the door. Would you consider just outright turning stuff away unless they take store credit?

Like a standards chart or something.

Great Condition = Good Money / Good Credit
Good Condition = Decent Money / Good Credit
Average Condition = Decent Money / Decent Credit
Poor Condition = Credit Only

[cyberfluxor]

Stores around here have a place for poor condition crap, it's called the "Free Bin." A few stores have adopted it. Other than that, it's not worth bringing down the quality of your store by accepting junk. As for the box 'o goodies at opening and closing, that's just lame. I do that stuff later in the afternoon if possible, also a better chance of new trade-ins to pick up.

[digitalpress]

"Free Bin"?

I don't know how that works but if it works like "Free Halloween Candy" did in my store that means that the first 2 or 3 kids that find out about it attempt to take all of it for themselves!

[Press_Start]

Your day sounds more like the game store that's near me. Most of the time they have classic games for a good price, however it's littered with so many broken systems and unwanted games. It's a miracle the guy is still in business. He even has a broken Wii system! (Oh the humanity!) :bawling:

[DreamTR]

That's one great thing about GameStop, they take loose PS2/XBOX/GCN discs no matter what kind of condition they are in. Me personally, I would not even mess with those unless I had a commercial style resurfacer like Sean Kelly does...

[digitalpress]

That's one great thing about GameStop, they take loose PS2/XBOX/GCN discs no matter what kind of condition they are in. Me personally, I would not even mess with those unless I had a commercial style resurfacer like Sean Kelly does...

Oh, I've got a commercial style resurfacer, but it takes TIME - the most precious resource in the world. I'll be damned if a loose "WCW In Your House" or umpteenth copy of "Gran Turismo 3" is worth the time it takes to resurface it.

GameStop can have 'em.

[RadiantSvgun]

Do you ever reject stuff because its too junky? I used to work at a store that only took in stuff if it was complete. We would only take in incomplete stuff if it was of high value. Your post reminds me why I don't miss working at game stores.

[Diatribal Deity]

Interesting dilemma...Running a vg store for years, albeit not owned by me, I made the managerial decision to take in almost anything in any condition. When I arrived store was bringing in 900k/year with average profit margin of 12%. Years later, when I left store was bringing in 2.4 mil/year with avergage profit margin between 32-38%. Of course in the later years I was able to send back discs to be resurfaced and systems to be refurbished. Orchestrating inventory was a pain but also an interesting curiosity sifting through numerous accessories. Bottom line, I believe that because we took in almost anything sure we got some junk, but ultimately we became a destination for trade-ins. Ironically, repeat traders who abused games conditionwise we were gradually able to "persuade" to take better care of their games due to the fact we saw them on a regular basis. The junk tended to become less and less over the years.

Customers that I remembered giving $3 for their yellowed nintendo toaster which always smelled like weed or worse with taped wires and rattling controllers were coming back trading in their triple AAA ps2 and xbox titles in excellent condition shortly after they beat them. Just when I thought we had accumulated so much "junk" we would never get rid of it all, Christmas would approach and everything would go. Bundle a GAME DR. with some scratched used games - SOLD! (Did I mention we had quota's to meet...but I digress.) I did have to "field destroy" a few items now and again and as new stores began popping up everywhere much of the "junk" was re-distributed.

Joe, I do understand it may ultimately hit your bottom line a bit more (or significantly more depending on the frequency as I've heard stories of the second store in the basement), but even giving "something" now may enable you to reap future rewards.

[Mianrtcv]

I like the person who hit the store at opening to trade in. The only way it would be better is if his lot was one of the crustier you took in during the day. If only for the fact you could walk around saying "I love he smell of mildew in the morning."

After reading the blog entry I take it my 27 toaster NES's, beat up controllers, 11 crusty sega genesis and related paraphernalia should not be traded in when you open tomorrow? Maybe wait a day or 2. Kidding. My stuff is clean. Also my game room is manifest destiny....

[GarrettCRW]

Your challenge, if you choose to accept it:

Put the face of Joe and the DP admin of your choice into this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsyT3FuKMpk&feature=related

[thetoxicone]

"Free Bin"?

I don't know how that works but if it works like "Free Halloween Candy" did in my store that means that the first 2 or 3 kids that find out about it attempt to take all of it for themselves!


Maybe a "one free beat to hell game with purchase bin"

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Oh, I've got a commercial style resurfacer, but it takes TIME - the most precious resource in the world. I'll be damned if a loose "WCW In Your House" or umpteenth copy of "Gran Turismo 3" is worth the time it takes to resurface it.

GameStop can have 'em.

WCW In Your House?

Hmmmm ... that would have to be worth a LOT (loose or otherwise) based on it's rarity! :p

[Sniderman]

Another thing. What is it with people who have ginormous trade-ins as soon as I open? Am I supposed to start with five hundred dollars in my register first thing in the morning?
Even though I worked at a Babbage's from one Christmas season, this was back before they sold used games and took trade-ins, so I can't comment.

But...

I managed a Dairy Mart convenience store for 5 years in college. We used to get the folks who would bring in their scratch-off tickets for cash redemption or - worse - a 4 or 5 out of 6 winner on the Super Lotto. These tickets could be worth anywhere from $500 to $1,500. And they wanted their money NOW. I'd get them when the doors first opened. They couldn't go elsewhere because they were neighborhood folk without a car. Of course, the register NEVER had that kind of scratch. And the clerks cannot get into the change safe. But the clerks CAN push a button on the change safe, get $50 in loose $10s, $5s and $1s. The safe resets and the clerk must wait 20 minutes before they can get more money. So, the only way we could cash that $500 winner was if you were willing to wait in the store for 20 x 10 = 200 minutes (3+ hours) while we punched the button every 20 minutes and slowly built up you winnings. :frustrated:

And - yes - they would wait.

My suggestion: Have a trade-in schedule. Trade-ins accepted two hours after opening to one hour before closing. Maybe all day on the weekends (if you get extra cash when you open). That way you can build up cash from sales and you don't have to price 25 games at 5 'til close.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[digitalpress]

Bah! What happened to this video! www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5-G04FCR5E

It's a bunch of kids trading in some old, scratched, loose games and they get a whopping $4 in store credit and act all upset.

Moved:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oikzRDbH51k

[JerseyDevil65]

My suggestion: Have a trade-in schedule. Trade-ins accepted two hours after opening to one hour before closing. Maybe all day on the weekends (if you get extra cash when you open). That way you can build up cash from sales and you don't have to price 25 games at 5 'til close.

Yeah but how many good trade-ins would Joe miss out on if he did that? People don't always have time to come back later if they are turned away.

[kainemaxwell]

Sounds like a typical day I would have at FYE sometimes. We open, start getting trade-in's soon as we lift open the gate. We tell them to either come back in a couple hours when we have cash in the register or get store cred. Majority of the time they're nice about it and actually take the store cred, but least a couple times a week we have some guy or girl who "demands" we do his trade-in because its store policy.

[Sniderman]

....but least a couple times a week we have some guy or girl who "demands" we do his trade-in because its store policy.
"We don't have the cash on-hand. Can you come back later?"

"No, I demand immediate service."

"OK then." And pay them immediately using rolled coins - nickles preferable.

[Mianrtcv]

"We don't have the cash on-hand. Can you come back later?"

"No, I demand immediate service."

"OK then." And pay them immediately using rolled coins - nickles preferable.

If they demand so vehemently, you should give them socks as convenient transport for said coins. Then to ensure proper service beat them with the coins that are now placed in the socks.

[kainemaxwell]

"We don't have the cash on-hand. Can you come back later?"

"No, I demand immediate service."

"OK then." And pay them immediately using rolled coins - nickels preferable.

Actually we have done that, LOL!!

[Flack]

I never thought about an independent store running out of money early in the day. I have never traded in any games or systems, but if I did, I'd probably do it first thing in the morning too. From a customer's point of view:

- Early in the morning, the store is less likely to be busy. That means the trade will go easier and quicker for both parties.

- Showing up early means you're the first guy trading in stuff. I would think you have a better chance of trading in the first Xbox of the day than trading in the 10th.

- If the store has done a bunch of trade ins, late in the day they might be paying less, or not accepting trade ins or buying stuff.

- If I trade in something during the day, that gives the employees time to clean it up/price it/sell it during the day, instead of having to deal with that after hours.

I don't know if any of those are real concerns, but that's what I'd think about if I were trading in a game.

[TonyTheTiger]

Actually we have done that, LOL!!

That's happened in reverse for me. A friend of mine went to Burger King and tried paying in pennies. Just imagine the cashier's face when my friend threw ten dollars worth of pennies on the counter.

[Pantechnicon]

What is it with people who have ginormous trade-ins as soon as I open? Am I supposed to start with five hundred dollars in my register first thing in the morning?

It's most likely the people who don't have jobs with regular hours - or no jobs at all - who need the cash and come and see you after the SNES that's been languishing in their basement since 1996 gets nixed by the pawn shop. As Sniderman alluded to, these are the people who need money now. This model doesn't account for everybody clamoring for a big early morning trade, but may still explain a good number of them.

Trade-in hours, also per Sniderman's suggestion, are probably a good idea, especially if you run with a small staff on hand. Perhaps you could only take trade-ins until 1:00pm or so, giving you time in the afternoon lull to get the stuff out on the shelves. Alternately, you could take trades only up until 1 hour before closing (we have a local bookstore that runs like this), which then frees up your staff to concentrate on closing chores.

I don't know enough about small business operations to know what would be best here, but those are a couple of ideas worth considering.

[TonyTheTiger]

I do know that my schedule isn't particularly standard. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, for instance, I leave for school at noon and don't get home until around 10pm. That means if I'm going to drop by the store I have to do it within the first hour of opening. If other people have similar schedules, that might account for the odd first in the morning deal.

[Gapporin]

- If the store has done a bunch of trade ins, late in the day they might be paying less, or not accepting trade ins or buying stuff.

I know that a local music store here in town has a set policy where only $x is alloted for the day for buying used stuff, and when that $x amount runs out, they can only give out store credit for the rest of the day. If the store has run out of that amount and you want cash and not store credit, you have to bring in your stuff the next day. That would be another reason why someone would visit early to make a trade in.

[TonyTheTiger]

But like was said before, the problem with any of those conditional trade-in policies, you're bound to have a situation where someone walks in with sealed Panzer Dragoon Sagas mixed in with loads of other crap and when he's given a hard time over some seemingly superfluous store policy he's more likely to walk out and go to Ebay just out of spite.

[kaedesdisciple]

The other danger to worry about is if Joe feels that he has to keep that much cash on hand at all times. If word gets around that he has relatively easy access to that much cash, well, we all know that the human mind does work in evil ways, and I would fear for his and his employees' safety.

Passing up that really off-chance Panzer Dragoon Saga may be worth the reduced risk of losing a large chunk of cash, or worse. There's always a risk of getting robbed, of course, but why make yourself into a larger target?

[JerseyDevil65]

Trade-in hours, also per Sniderman's suggestion, are probably a good idea, especially if you run with a small staff on hand. Perhaps you could only take trade-ins until 1:00pm or so, giving you time in the afternoon lull to get the stuff out on the shelves.

The point is to bring in more trades not less. If you limit the amount of time that people can trade stuff in, then you are guaranteed to have less trade-ins. Trade-ins are the life blood of a store like DP.

[TonyTheTiger]

There has to be some kind of balance. It's very easy to see what kind of cash Ebay brings in for whatever it is you want to unload. But to get that kind of money, you more than likely have to go to Ebay because there's just a larger collection of potential buyers.

Just take a look at Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 (PS2) on Ebay. They go for roughly $70-$80. Gamestop, I believe, charges $70. I'm not sure but I'd imagine Joe would charge something similar. That being said, obviously no store is going to give $70 in trade-in value if that's what they're going to sell it for. There has to be a profit in there somewhere. So people need a reason above just cold hard cash to trade the game in at a store rather than cut out the middle man and reap 100% of the rewards. Convenience is probably at the top of the list but loyalty can be a strong influence. If customers feel like they have a reason to be loyal to a store then they may be more willing to not care so much about the extra $10-$20 they could get off of Ebay. Complicated trade-in policies and inconvenient customer service can strain that relationship.

Obviously that old mantra "the customer is always right" is a load of crap. If someone walks in with a beat up copy of Devil May Cry 2 and expects to trade it for a brand new Devil May Cry 4 and flips out when reality hits, screw 'em. But I just get the feeling that if a store makes a habit out of turning away viable trade-ins just because of the time of day then one day that's going to bite the owner in the ass.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I would just like to go on the record and say that if Joe decides to play the theme song from Sanford and Son on an endless loop in-store that I wouldn't mind it one bit.

Well ... actually, if he could throw the theme from What's Happenning!! in once and a while, that would be cool too.

[outofkeyslightly]

First of all, I must admit I've never worked at a video game store or operated my own business. I think that's important.

I think it's a bad idea to limit game trade in hours. If for no other reason then the very people you're trying to keep from coming in at such oddball hours aren't going to be affected by the policy. They're not regulars to begin with, so they're not going to know. At most I would implement a soft rule of no trade-in's a half an hour after opening/before close, and then just give people a hard time. Eventually regulars will be aware enough of the rule to steer clear out of respect or not wanting to be given shit, and that should at least ease the tension on the occasional onslaught of dump and run's.

As for scratched discs, I would display a poster board with maybe four or five discs in various stages of ruin. Say the first one's perfect, A, full value. The second one's a little beat up, B, -$1-5. The third's nearly shit, but probably still playable on a Gamecube or something, C, -$10-20. And then for the absolute crap that no one's going to want to buy, D, $0.25-$1. Establish the fact ahead of time that regardless of the rarity of the title, the fact that the box and manual somehow made it in tact,etc... this game is basically garbage and I only agree to pay a dollar or less for it. Then sell it separately at a severely discounted price, with a bright sticker promising a no return guarantee... I think that's fair, as you can always point to the sign/sticker when people complain, it's not like it wasn't posted.

And as for encouraging store credit, the only thing I could think of is maybe creating a (long) list of games that give you X% more in store credit than usual. This would encourage people who do trade in Panzer Dragoon Saga to walk off with three crap ps2 games instead of cash, and retain larger profits from more expensive games...

And speaking of Sanford and Son, I heard the theme today at work because it's on somebody's mix cd. I work at a vegetarian restaurant that I'd like to think isn't ghetto...

-Chris

[kainemaxwell]

It's most likely the people who don't have jobs with regular hours - or no jobs at all - who need the cash and come and see you after the SNES that's been languishing in their basement since 1996 gets nixed by the pawn shop. As Sniderman alluded to, these are the people who need money now. This model doesn't account for everybody clamoring for a big early morning trade, but may still explain a good number of them.


Sadly at my FYE with our location in the mall and the surrounding area most of the early trade-ins were either: parents with kids out of school for the day for whatever reason, kids cutting school, people looking for quick cash for drugs, other legit citizens.

[Drexel923]

Sounds like 90% of the trade-ins at my store.

[Steve W]

"The Customer Is Always Right" has screwed up the retail industry for decades. The customer isn't always right, most of the time they're uninformed, antagonistic 'tards who demand that they be given preferential treatment over everyone else because they're deeply self-centered people. In my opinion (as a retail worker for longer than I care to admit) there needs to be a special day set aside for disgruntled employees who are fed up with the attitudes of assholes. We can call it "Tazer A Customer Day".

[RARusk]

""The Customer Is Always Right" has screwed up the retail industry for decades. The customer isn't always right, most of the time they're uninformed, antagonistic 'tards who demand that they be given preferential treatment over everyone else because they're deeply self-centered people. In my opinion (as a retail worker for longer than I care to admit) there needs to be a special day set aside for disgruntled employees who are fed up with the attitudes of assholes. We can call it "Tazer A Customer Day"."

I think Steve W needs to run for President.....

[kainemaxwell]

"The Customer Is Always Right" has screwed up the retail industry for decades. The customer isn't always right, most of the time they're uninformed, antagonistic 'tards who demand that they be given preferential treatment over everyone else because they're deeply self-centered people. In my opinion (as a retail worker for longer than I care to admit) there needs to be a special day set aside for disgruntled employees who are fed up with the attitudes of assholes. We can call it "Tazer A Customer Day".

Agreed. Who was it or said "The customer is always an assh*le,"?

[outofkeyslightly]

Ben Affleck in Mallrats...

[dave2236]

Sounds like 90% of the trade-ins at my store.


Me too.

[Chunky]

ah see now i understand you there Joe, I understand completely

[SnowKitty]

"The Customer Is Always Right" has screwed up the retail industry for decades. The customer isn't always right, most of the time they're uninformed, antagonistic 'tards who demand that they be given preferential treatment over everyone else because they're deeply self-centered people. In my opinion (as a retail worker for longer than I care to admit) there needs to be a special day set aside for disgruntled employees who are fed up with the attitudes of assholes. We can call it "Tazer A Customer Day".

don't taze me bro!

[Slate]

don't taze me bro!

Wasn't that guy overreacting? But thats off topic. Carry on!