The local used game store is run by idiots!

[Garry Shandling]

Gary Shandling

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Gary Shandling

Fuck me, I'm out.

[GameDeals.ca]

Well, although we don't have used game stores here, we did have a little used book and cds one in my home town. I always made good deals with them when they started; sold cds for a good price, and saw them for sale some days later for a reasonable profit margin. They were doing pretty good working this way, and their business was growing considerably.

Time went by, they opened new stores...and things changed. Once they were big and established, they started paying really low prices for everything, and double the selling prices they used to practice.

While our selling prices have only gone down, I have noticed that as my business gets bigger I'm paying less for the games and I'd like to tell you why. When the store is smaller it needs the games, if you don't have a Secret of Mana in stock, you'll pay a fair price to get it, but when you have 5 of them at some point you need to start paying less. I see a lot of stores getting flooded with games so the buying price while it may seem low, is a way of managing inventory so you don't end up with 50 Gamecubes lying around.

As for the eBay comment earlier, I agree with the earlier point about re-sellers. If we sold under eBay we would sell all the good titles to re-sellers who just flip it online and be left with the crap.

I've always tried to keep my buying/selling prices fair and considering how much we've grown in 3 years I have to be doing something right.

Oh, and the cold call thing... I'm not sure what you were selling, but seriously... we business owners get a ton of cold calls all the time and it gets very frustrating when some jackass on the phone wants you to switch Credit Card providers, supply you with paper, or save you money on your phone/Internet account when you have customers lined up... it's possible you got them at a bad time. Try an email or call again, they will probably be more receptive.

[bangtango]

One of these days, a person is going to start a thread of this nature here about an "idiot" shop owner and the owner of the store will turn out to be a DP member and fire off a rebuttal.

[Cmosfm]

One of these days, a person is going to start a thread of this nature here about an "idiot" shop owner and the owner of the store will turn out to be a DP member and fire off a rebuttal.

Had that happen on another forum, turned out to be a particular higher-up employee I was bitching about and his friend directed him to the post. He admitted that he had a tendency to be a dick sometimes, apologized, and has been as nice as ever since I've been in the store after that.

[tofu]

Oh, and the cold call thing... I'm not sure what you were selling, but seriously... we business owners get a ton of cold calls all the time and it gets very frustrating when some jackass on the phone wants you to switch Credit Card providers, supply you with paper, or save you money on your phone/Internet account when you have customers lined up... it's possible you got them at a bad time. Try an email or call again, they will probably be more receptive.

Funny you say that. I'll be calling you sometime next week.

I'm Paul from Hyperkin.

[SegaAges]

Had that happen on another forum, turned out to be a particular higher-up employee I was bitching about and his friend directed him to the post. He admitted that he had a tendency to be a dick sometimes, apologized, and has been as nice as ever since I've been in the store after that.

Tell me about it. One time I was bitching about twingalaxies on here, and then Walter Day himself came on and posted.

Boy, did I feel like an ass. A little different than you, but it was very awkward for me

[emceelokey]

Almost all of the independent games stores around me have shut down other than "Game Repair". Game Repair is a scam though and is probably a facade for a money laundering rig. One store named "Game Over" opened probably about two years ago and shut down in lat 2008. Oddly enough, one of the employees of "Game Over" was a former employee of "Game Repair" and both of the stores might have actually been connected. The dude was a dick though. When I worked for Gamestop, he would trade in all the shit he couldn't sell at Game Repair and buy anime boxed sets and then try to return the anime boxed sets. Total piece of shit. I actually only went into Game Over once and saw that dude there and also saw an import of Soul Calibur II for Game Cube going for $50. SCII was already at least 3 years old, and that's for the U.S. release and they were trying to pull that BS! I was not suprised it closed down and was pretty much expecting it.

[Rev. Link]

I don't know if anyone cares anymore, but as this thread is still active I'll go ahead and post anyway.

I stopped in at Game Insane on Saturday. Didn't get to talk to either of the owners as they weren't there, but did talk to one of the employees. There's only a few people there, and I know them all. Anyway, I asked him about the Diosoth's situation. He remembered him coming in, and told me that he had asked for a few DS games, one of which wasn't even out yet. When told that they could order new copies in if he wanted, I'm told that Diosoth said that was fine. New or used was fine with him. And yes, they were upset that someone had ordered in new games and then refused to come pick them up.

Now, it may be bad internet ettiquette to basically call Diosoth out like this, but honestly, I care a lot more about sticking up for my friends and their business than I do the feelings of one random internet stranger.

[Sailorneorune]

I've got a local store that prices many of the "rare" items (anything made by Square or Atlus) right around Amazon prices - regardless of how long the inspirations have been sitting on that site unsold.

If I put up a listing for Star Ocean at $750 and it was the lowest price there, I bet they would follow suit, and the next copy would be behind the counter with a $744.95 tag on it.

[MachineGex]

What I find funny is how people on both sides have posted this on an internet board instead of taking the time to actually sit-down and talk about what happened. Obviously both sides mis-understood each other. A simple conversation could have solved the problem. I hate when a simple problem turns into this without some effort on both sides to simply figure out what happened on BOTH sides.

I am sure a store would not order a game for a customer w/o the customer wanting it. And...I am sure the customer did not think he was ordering a brand new game. Simple mistake, no need to attack people's name or character. People really need to try harder to resolve problems without jumping to conclusions.

[Flashback2012]

I had no idea about this place. I'm not too terribly far from Lawrenceburg (I'm in Colerain Twp) and wouldn't mind dropping by this place to see how it looks. What's the easiest way to get there from I-275 Rev. Link?

[Red Warrior]

I had no idea about this place. I'm not too terribly far from Lawrenceburg (I'm in Colerain Twp) and wouldn't mind dropping by this place to see how it looks. What's the easiest way to get there from I-275 Rev. Link?

Since I also live in the area and happen to be Rev. Link's friend... as well as friends with the Game Insane guys, I can answer this for you:

Just take I-275 W from Colerain about 15 miles or so to the US 50, Greendale, Lawrenceburg, Aurora exit (I think it's exit 16). Take that exit, then make a left at the first light onto US 50. Just continue going straight on that road for a few miles. You'll go past Argosy Casino, then the Dearborn Plaza, a Kroger and Lowes, then Game Insane will be on your right. It's part of a small mini-mall type strip of stores just before the Speedway (if you pass the Speedway, you've gone too far). You should see Game Insane's sign out front amongst all the others. Tell them you heard about their store on the Internet. They like hearing stuff like that.

[Rev. Link]

Since I also live in the area and happen to be Rev. Link's friend... as well as friends with the Game Insane guys, I can answer this for you:

Just take I-275 W from Colerain about 15 miles or so to the US 50, Greendale, Lawrenceburg, Aurora exit (I think it's exit 16). Take that exit, then make a left at the first light onto US 50. Just continue going straight on that road for a few miles. You'll go past Argosy Casino, then the Dearborn Plaza, a Kroger and Lowes, then Game Insane will be on your right. It's part of a small mini-mall type strip of stores just before the Speedway (if you pass the Speedway, you've gone too far). You should see Game Insane's sign out front amongst all the others. Tell them you heard about their store on the Internet. They like hearing stuff like that.

Wow, that's more detailed then what I would have posted.

[rbudrick]

Gary Shandling

Garry Shandling

-Rob

[Flashback2012]

Since I also live in the area and happen to be Rev. Link's friend... as well as friends with the Game Insane guys, I can answer this for you:

Just take I-275 W from Colerain about 15 miles or so to the US 50, Greendale, Lawrenceburg, Aurora exit (I think it's exit 16). Take that exit, then make a left at the first light onto US 50. Just continue going straight on that road for a few miles. You'll go past Argosy Casino, then the Dearborn Plaza, a Kroger and Lowes, then Game Insane will be on your right. It's part of a small mini-mall type strip of stores just before the Speedway (if you pass the Speedway, you've gone too far). You should see Game Insane's sign out front amongst all the others. Tell them you heard about their store on the Internet. They like hearing stuff like that.

Awesome, thanks for the information. I've got to finish up an a transaction with a member on this board before I go out there (and I GREATLY appreciate her patience in the matter ) but I like the accurate directions (not that getting lost is a bad thing sometimes).

Wow, that's more detailed then what I would have posted.

It's all good, I'm just glad I found out about the place. It'll be nice to have another mom n' pop to go to other than Games Galore and Game Swap. I had heard there was a Play N' Trade in that neck of the woods too but according to their site it's out in the Eastgate area. Any truth to this that there is one out that way?

[shopkins]

There's a store in Manchester, Kentucky, Game King, that has a great selection and very good customer service that I would like to support more, but I just can't.

Their prices are just too high, like $20 for a relatively common loose NES game high. I saw Dragon Warrior III there for, IIRC, nearly a hundred bucks, loose. I remember that it was more expensive than their loose Dragon Warrior IV, which was a little more than $70. I've caught a few good deals in there, but for the most part I just can't justify paying a significant amount more for a game than what I could get elsewhere. Not only on Ebay, there are other independent game stores in the area that have those same loose common NES games for $5 each. I know they're pricing around what it goes for on Ebay, but I can access Ebay and still get the stuff cheaper than buying it at their store, and I don't have to drive 40 miles to pick it up.

I know game stores have to act in their own best interest, but so do I, and if I can find it cheaper somewhere else I'll buy it cheaper. There shouldn't be an expectation that savvy customers will pay a great deal more just to support the mom and pops.

[JunkTheMagicDragon]

i'd pay a small premium (say, 10%) to local stores for the convenience of not having to wait on shipping and having a face to talk to should there be a problem, not just some random person on the other end of paypal.

unfortunately, there are no local stores.

[Press_Start]

There's a store off Route 1 in Edison, NJ called Swap Games. Overpriced, disorganized and filthy are what I used for lack of better words.

Most of their games have their shrinkwrap in tatters, cases cover in cracks/dirt and covers faded by sunlight. Shelving was horrendous. They placed rows one in front of the other making it difficult to browse through them. Even worse with the Sega Saturn/CD cases as they were wedged tightly together that you had to pushed against the shelves to jar them loose. They charge far above Ebay standards: Tobal No.1 "sealed" with tears in shrinkwrap for $50.

Shocked to hear it was their 2ND store.

[Rev. Link]

It's all good, I'm just glad I found out about the place. It'll be nice to have another mom n' pop to go to other than Games Galore and Game Swap. I had heard there was a Play N' Trade in that neck of the woods too but according to their site it's out in the Eastgate area. Any truth to this that there is one out that way?

Yeah, there's a Play n' Trade in Milford. I think there's still a Game City out there too. They're both okay stores. Last time I was out that way (which was last year, I'm afraid) Game City had a decent selection, but their prices were high. Play n' Trade had alright prices, but their entire retro section was stuffed into one little island dump bin. Not much to pick from. Still, I've wanted to get back out there and check them both out for a while now.

You know Games Galore moved, right? They're in Northgate Mall now. I grew up in that area, so I've been wanting to go check it out, but I haven't had the chance yet.