Gamestop looking to get back into retro games

[The 1 2 P]

This is going to become an experiment by them until they realize that they simply cannot make enough profit on it to really be worth their while, and then they'll drop it quietly.

This is how I see it too. It will be no different than when Best Buy, Walmart and a few other places started selling used games only to realize they weren't making any money off of it and quietly let it die. Best Buy actually starting selling used games again(this is ttheir second go-around) but they aren't really making much money off of it. They use it more as a trade-in tactic for selling new games.

[NayusDante]

Best Buy is in dire straits right now, and they don't have a solid plan to get out. The founder is trying to buy back the company through stock acquisition at something like 150% market value. The automated used game kiosk idea they touted a while back would make more work to sort and inspect trades, but that's the OPPOSITE of what the company needs to do. I'm all for job creation, but Best Buy needs to trim the fat and focus on fewer products and services. Best Buy Mobile is a good model of that strategy.

GameStop is in a similar situation. I keep seeing existing stores getting bigger and renting out adjacent mall units to create a double-wide store. For the past few years, they've been testing all sorts of new products. First it was music CDs with a top-10 album spinner on the checkout. Now it's iOS devices. They're desperate to stay relevant in a world that's threatening their business model. None of these things stay for long. Both companies are attempting to hold their bottom line with more when they should just stick to what they're good at.

If they do a retro program, expect to see maybe a dozen titles, and expect them to be cart/disc-only. Anything more is going to be more trouble than it's worth to test, stock, and store.

[BetaWolf47]

If this means they won't be tossing out games, I'll support it. Donate a game to Goodwill, there's a chance it might just be thrown in the trash. I'd just like to know if they're going to gut games.

[Collector_Gaming]

Yeah I do once they started ebay checking at the register.

There is literally no point in going to there store if thats there normal policy over ordering over ebay, its a shitty business practice and one that almost every store selling retro games seems to do now. I understand why they do it but its still a shitty to price bumb at the register and turns me off of whatever I was going to buy.

wait wait wait..... back that up.....

So your telling me as an a example... They mark a game for 3 dollars (or 2.99 to make it sound more business style).... and you go to purchase the game and they just hop on ebay immediately like they had a second change in heart and check the price and change it on you?

[substantial_snake]

wait wait wait..... back that up.....

So your telling me as an a example... They mark a game for 3 dollars (or 2.99 to make it sound more business style).... and you go to purchase the game and they just hop on ebay immediately like they had a second change in heart and check the price and change it on you?

Yes, that's what I mean by ebay checking. I don't care if a retro store prices their items by ebay but changing prices at the register as an "oh sorry, its really X much" is bullshit.

We just had a thread on this a relatively short while ago where someone else was complaining about the same thing and its something I've only ever seen the small mom and pop shops do.

[Collector_Gaming]

Yes, that's what I mean by ebay checking. I don't care if a retro store prices their items by ebay but changing prices at the register as an "oh sorry, its really X much" is bullshit.

We just had a thread on this a relatively short while ago where someone else was complaining about the same thing and its something I've only ever seen the small mom and pop shops do.

Well if thats the case then fuck them and walk out the door and tell them have fun looking for a new job cause your business model is gonna run you into the ground.

[Greg2600]

I had a final thought on this, which I posted on AtariAge as well......

How do they restock? Are we now going to be bidding against GS buyers on ebay? Will GS start taking trade-ins at local stores? That I feel will be very painful to the few retro game stores out there, who will have their inventory sources taken away. Especially since GS is just going to put them in their mail packs back to the warehouse. I see very very little positive about this.

Now, what they could do, and may, is model the Barnes & Noble (parent company) stores which sell used books. Have you seen them? They are few and far between. You can trade in old books, although they don't take them if they have too many of that genre at the time. You don't get a ton for them. I find it very fun to browse that section though, even though the prices are usually way above Amazon. They could do this with games, but that means floor space which most GS stores don't have, they are too small.

What GS should have done years ago was to establish an ebay alternative, like the lightly used game gavel, for video games. By now, that may have had the market share over ebay. They didn't, because they're short sighted. Now they're coming running it at the last minute? Like the used BN book example, GS could make a portal for people to sell their used games and take a commission, like Amazon does, but they'd be 3rd fiddle in the game. They're only hope would be to leverage their points system somehow.

[Collector_Gaming]

That I feel will be very painful to the few retro game stores out there, who will have their inventory sources taken away. Especially since GS is just going to put them in their mail packs back to the warehouse. I see very very little positive about this.

I have a feeling Gamestop corporation gives absolutely no cares to mom and pop stores. As long as money is going in their pockets they don't care what bridges get burnt down along the way

[Robocop2]

Well if thats the case then fuck them and walk out the door and tell them have fun looking for a new job cause your business model is gonna run you into the ground.

Yes that very thing happened to me the other day. A shop here has two locations and the guy who I presume is the owner possibly told me he had a Jag and CD unit he would sell me over at their other location (inside a mall marketplace, think flea market but with AC sort of) that he would sell me for 200.00. I get over there and tell the guy running the counter and he says "that'll be 275.00" I said wait hold up I was just told 200 bucks and I get a "sorry he doesn't check prices all the time" BS. That was the only and last time I will go there.

[Tanooki]

I don't see anything good coming from this this time around from them. Gamestop has a few really obtuse corporate policies that's really going to help jam the prices up even higher. They don't believe on used games except for the current generation in keeping paper. Imagine some dumbass turning in something like say Bubble Bobble 2 complete in the box, if they don't revise that asinine policy you got one less box and manual on the market, perhaps even the little black sleeve too. The game costs too much as it is already, but what if they ended up taking in enough of the titles and just tossing the stuff out, price goes up even worse. Gamestop also in their trade-in vs priced out policies we know are pretty much bastards. They give like 5-10% on most stuff, then they go by the current market rates on games and knock like 5 bucks off the top. Do you really think you'll go into that Gamestop and again with Bubble Bobble 2 here let you get that cart they bought probably for $5 or so for $20-30? Fuck no, you'll be paying probably around $150 for the cart. They know retro is a collectors market and they'll competitively price with ebay just low enough it's easier to buy with them on a 14day warranty / return if you hate it setup vs ebay buyer protection and paying for shipping.

Gamestop getting in will likely drive up prices on the popular franchise games and the rares, the middle children is hard to say.

[kedawa]

I usually just steal from people like that.
Feels good.

[Nathander]

I'll be amazed if it helps collectors, not only in how poor Gamestop usually treats games but in the fact that they'll probably only be carrying high demand, highly published games. It could help out if you were starting a collection/had a passing interest in older games but it's unlikely they'll pick up many copies/deal in rarer older games that often. Sure there may be trade ins but who knows how poorly they're going to treat those games, along with how poor condition they might be in to begin with.

[substantial_snake]

Well if thats the case then fuck them and walk out the door and tell them have fun looking for a new job cause your business model is gonna run you into the ground.

Pretty much, I see stores that do it tend to close soon after but some of them hang on somehow year after year.

Its why I have little sympathy for mom and pop shops now. I guess you could make the argument that the industry squeezing them so hard forces their hand but I still find it inexcusable. Locally we have an alternative too in a chain that started poping up a few years ago called Disc Replay. They function like an old used Video Store from the 90's but sell pretty much any media format including games from modern to classic at usually damn good prices too. In the few around here I've seen a healthy supply of NES, SNES, Genesis, and 2600 at least in every store along with systems, controllers, etc. They usually sell their games at about 5 bucks barring a few exceptions and I have never been ebay-checked at the register when buying something

[kedawa]

Charging premium prices isn't always a bad thing, especially if you're in an area where rent is expensive, but shitty business practices are never acceptable.
Being sketchy on prices, having a dirty store and disorganized merchandise, and just having all-around lousy customer service seems to be the norm with short-lived independent game stores. I guess that applies to all kinds of unsuccessful stores, really.