good ol EBgames.com days are gone

[googlefest1]

they no longer guarantee box and manual

bastards

- and i was putting off buying a bunch of games

now it will cost 25% more if you want to guarantee you will be getting a box and manual by going into an actual store AND dont forget gas

oh yea - no more old stuff either

man am i bummed - my cheap game source no longer exists

[Oobgarm]

they no longer guarantee box and manual

To the best of my knowledge, they never did. At least, the PSX games I got from them used didn't have anything other than the game disc.

[googlefest1]

all current gen games they did -- the older stuff they didn't - which i didnt mind - especially if i was paying 1-2$ for a game

[Oobgarm]

all current gen games they did -- the older stuff they didn't - which i didnt mind - especially if i was paying 1-2$ for a game

Ah, I see. Well, you can thank GameStop for the change in policy. :roll:

[segagamer4life]

gamestop/funcoland's policy on taking games regardless of box or manual... has help open the floodgates, to all douches, who for some RETARDED reason, choose to buy a game, and throw the box and manual away, or use it to do lines of coke, whatever.. DAMN THEM ALL... ok my rant is over. LOL

[Iron Draggon]

Yeah, it all started with Funcoland. And it's the stupidest policy ever. I actually took a bunch of games there with all the manuals to trade them in, and they said they didn't need all the manuals. So they are the stupidest of stupid. Even when the manual is available to them, they don't want it! Now why on earth would you ever refuse to accept the manual for a game? Shouldn't that increase its resale value? I made them take all the manuals anyway. Let them be the ones to just throw them away, if that's what they did with them, but I wasn't gonna throw them away myself.

[Oobgarm]

Yeah, it all started with Funcoland. And it's the stupidest policy ever. I actually took a bunch of games there with all the manuals to trade them in, and they said they didn't need all the manuals. So they are the stupidest of stupid. Even when the manual is available to them, they don't want it! Now why on earth would you ever refuse to accept the manual for a game? Shouldn't that increase its resale value? I made them take all the manuals anyway. Let them be the ones to just throw them away, if that's what they did with them, but I wasn't gonna throw them away myself.

That was all the individual store's decision. The store I worked at accepted all materials with games, and we never threw them away. The only thing I never understood is why they never gave less for incomplete titles.

[heyricochet]

Actually 25% is gone too, no more stackable coupons. You either get 15% off or free shipping, and 15% will probably be gone soon too.

[segagamer4life]

Yeah, it all started with Funcoland. And it's the stupidest policy ever. I actually took a bunch of games there with all the manuals to trade them in, and they said they didn't need all the manuals. So they are the stupidest of stupid. Even when the manual is available to them, they don't want it! Now why on earth would you ever refuse to accept the manual for a game? Shouldn't that increase its resale value? I made them take all the manuals anyway. Let them be the ones to just throw them away, if that's what they did with them, but I wasn't gonna throw them away myself.


the other side of that, is that the company as a whole, had issues of space, which is what led to the stores not carrying anything before the ps1/n64. But that doesn't explain the need to disgard manuals, and cases.. either way it sucks...

[googlefest1]

heres hopeing for a big loss in buisness so they revert back to the old way

-- yea right, that wont happen

i guess now ill have to look out for the buy 2/3 get one free sales -- what sucks about that is trying to find 3-4 games in the same price range to maximize the deal

[Beavertown]

I just noticed the changes too. It's just like Gamestop.com now.

If you're looking for an alternate. I can vouch for -

www.estarland.com

They usually ship the same day you order and you know what you're getting. Prices are comparable to EB as well, give or take.

[Retsudo]

Yeah I peeped that a couple of days ago. When I went to the site I thought I was at Gamestops website.

[unwinddesign]

Today I was in EBGames and some guy came in and wanted to trade in just the UMD for a PSP game. Seriously. The trade-in price was $8, as opposed to $10 with the box/manual. How someone throws away or loses the manual, let alone box, for a PSP game is beyond me.

[Trebuken]

I believe that most games without boxes/manuals were liekly stolen somewhere along the line. Easier to sneak the disc out of the store with not magnetic strip to beep at you at the door...

Later,
Trebuken

[googlefest1]

thats what i belive -- but so far i have heared many times over and over that people like to use cd cases to keep the games in and they throw away the rest

i still think that 75% of them are stolen

[JPeeples]

I can't believe they stopped selling older system games. At least the Gamestop.com store locator is now used here, that was one advantage of that site. I'll also miss the category-specific stuff for EB's site.

[The Manimal]

i walked into an EB Games about a week or two ago. End of last year, I went to there, and they still had a bin of SNES/NES/Genesis games and had a small rack of DC games as well as a PS1 rack. Anyways, I go in there (3 months later), and they had NO games for classic systems...no DC and surprisingly, no PS1 games either! :eek 2:

[-hellvin-]

Man, what's with you guys?

Can't you see that accepting the manual and box with a game takes up too much room for a game that will sell? I mean, why the fuck would I want to buy a game with the original box when I can grab a blue box off the shelf with it's name in marker for 2/3 of retail value? God! WTF, can't you see the master plan?

[PentiumMMX]

Oh snap...

It looks like I'll have to deal with the a**holes at Game-X-Change just to get some SNES games
:angry: x20

(BTW, After a incident concerning a Dreamcast system and a Sonic Advenure game disc I bought, I havn't been back)

[GameSlaveGaz]

As far as I know, GameStop only purposely throws out boxes and manuals for cartridge-based games. Which means only N64 and GameBoy games now that NES, SNES and Gen are no longer part of the stock. This is at least true for the 3 GameStops I've been in (Medford, Saugus and Prudential Center - those are in MA for people in other states) I think it's a corporate policy - because in the 6 years I've been in retail (4 of which were at a now shut-down Toys R Us...no I'm not bitter) I've noticed that stores do really stupid things and when I question the managers, they say they have no choiec, they were told the HAD to do it and it's all due to really stupid policies thought up by the CEOs that run the company from big swanky offices but know nothing about the stores themselves. However, some managers in certain stores (probably ones with more storage) probably keep manuals and boxes for their carts when they do come in.
If you think about it, look at how EB and GameStop display their GBA carts - in little display cases. There's hardly any room to put the manual in there too. EB could package the manual in the cardboard boxes they put the N64 games in and in that case could use the original boxes if they're turned in. GameStop just puts the loose carts on a rack (probably another stupid corporate idea). Theoretically, you could put all the manuals in an alphabetized box and just pull it when you sell the game, but that requires time and effort and storage that these small mall stores have. You don't realize it, but it takes quite some time to process and put away trade-ins in an average GameStop shift. I didn't believe it at first, but working there for the past 4 weeks is proof. Labelling, gutting, putting away the sleeves and then the box art plus having to take care of customers and keeping the salesfloor neat takes up a lot more time than you'd think for such a small store.
The good thing is that GameStop Medford has at least 5 people on the staff that will salvage boxes and manuals, three of which are me, my boyfriend and his brother. In fact, I had perfect timing one day (long before I started working there) when I went to bother my boyfriend and I had came in only minutes after a GBA trade-in - all the games w/their manuals and boxes, and they hadn't tossed them yet. So I snagged a Metroid Fusion in its box w/its manual for the same price I'd have paid for a loose cart. When I worked there for a short time in 2002, I salvaged the manuals to Dragon Warrior and Zelda II for the NES out of the trash (and a Genesis console, but that's another story).
But you box and manual lovers need not to fret knowing that in the city of Medford, Massachusetts, GBA and N64 boxes and manuals are being saved whenever possible thanks to the efforts of Wig, Gaz and Gahmstead (we got craaazy nicknames, eh?) I'll keep fighting the good fight for manuals everywhere

[Half Japanese]

Here's what I've never understood:

Why do they take games without the manual anyway? I work in a record store and we buy used CDs and DVDs all day long, but we don't even look at it unless it has the artwork and case. There can't be that many people out there willing to sacrifice the manual and artwork for a measly 5 bones can there?

Personally I don't understand it and I don't understand the mindset of those that buy games/dvds/cds without the artwork (unless of course, it's hard to find or really cheap, for that I can make an exception). Generally though you just see a bunch of generic covers with "Madden 20XX" scribbled across them. Stop supplying meth-addicts and the world will be a better place, I swear.

[SNKFan75]

I hate EB and Gamestop!! THey ruin the games by removing the manuals and cases. They think they are doing us a favor, but they are just pissing us off!


SNKFan75

[mdk]

Unfortunately everyone out there isn't like us. The fact that a certain game doesn't have a case or manual has little to no affect on the actually sales. We aren't the average consumers.

[neonesmaster]

trade in prices at eba nd gamestop are rediculous!


if you want the highest dollar for oyur trade and the largest selection of viedo games go to GAMECRAZY!

just for instance. 360 owners...

perfect dark zero regular at EB AND GAMESTOP 8 cash 10 credit

perfect dark regular at GAMECRAZY 18 + 10% more if you have an mvp card.

please tell me you guys live near a GAMECRAZY store.

condemned xbox 360 23 dollars trade eb was like 18

either way. the whole EB GAMESTOP merge makes them the largest used video game chain in the US but Gamecrazy still carries all the old gen console stuff as well. you can get better deals like zelda for SNES 4.99

mega man x2 4.99
final fantasy 2 and 3 4.99

i just scored a great find of Breath of fire one boxed, breath of fire 2 loose, lufia one with instruction manual and lufia 2 boxed sealed but open all for 20 bucks.

awesome find

[DigitalSpace]

Sad to see it go, but I knew it was coming.

On another note, I love how certain used PlayStation games that were collecting dust when they were priced at 3 bucks are now $19.99. LOL

[googlefest1]

the problem with gamecrazy is that they put labels on the case inserts -- it was ok when the label was on the out side -- it peeled off easy -- now its on the actual insert

I asked them about it and they said they have to catalog the inserts now so they put labels on them

[GuilewasNK]

I just noticed the changes too. It's just like Gamestop.com now.

If you're looking for an alternate. I can vouch for -

www.estarland.com

They usually ship the same day you order and you know what you're getting. Prices are comparable to EB as well, give or take.

I also enjoy shopping with www.videogamedepot.com

Anyway, we had a fairly large topic about the same thing on CAG. Personally I don't understand why they even changed EBGames.com to look and act just like Gamestop.com. They should have just shut EB down and absorbed all the games into Gamestop.com. The only time I even used Gamestop was for new games that EB may have been sold out of or for a pre-order bonus. That ended up being a waste of time because they never sent me my soundtrack for Atelier Iris, and they didn't have a disclaimer saying "until supplies last". Hopefully Gamestop will have the sense to change this stupid policy and guarantee boxes an manuals. If not, I'll happily shop elsewhere for used games even if it means higher cost.

[lordnikon]

In the last 2 years I have bought probobly over 70 games, spanning almost every console available at ebgames.com. You could find some real goodies there if you looked hard enough, and overall, the prices were so rediculiously cheap that risking getting a game that has been trashed was worth it.

Especially when ebgames had the free saver shipping, and 15% off pre-played.

Man, last January they had a sale where you could get buy 1, get another at equal or lesser value for half off. I sat around for about 4 hours crunching numbers to buy as many games as possible with two 25.00 gift certificates I had gotten.

I came out with something like 30 video games. One of which was a cart of Fire Shark for the genesis.

Now, those days are long gone. In the past few years there is one thing I can say for certain. Ebgames.com was 12x better than GameStop.com. Now they changed everything around, and ebgames.com is like GameStop's site. EVERY game is on backorder now, and when you go to the coming releases list, there is all types of other crap in there too. Strategy guides, controllers, and dumb nick-nack peripherals are scattered throughout the list.

Also, the prices all skyrocketed to GameStop's insane pricing system.

Hey guys, you can buy NBA 2K2 for the Dreamcast! for 37.99!!!!!!! (http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=923331) *note may not include case or manual...

To be honest, it isn't the lack of cases or manuals that are the problem. The real issue is that they do not tell you whether or not the game comes with a case or manual. Plus they don't even adjust the pricing for this either. They sell a game that has been completly trashed and doesn't come with original packaging, at the same exact price as a game that is complete.

GameStop and EBgames also will take brand new games and open them up, then sell them for more money and call them used. You guys do realise that EBGames and GameStop would throw away the boxes to Genesis and SNES games. It saved shelf space, and also saved on shipping costs. They took perfectly good artwork, cases, and manuals and would drop them right in the trash.

Basically these stores are where video games go to die. Every game I ever buy from them I have to remove all of the stickers and purge the disc and materials of dirt and food residue.

Sometimes, after cleaning the game I just got in the mail, I would feel like I saved it from the depths of hell.