Taking a trade in deal away from the store

[icarwngs55]

Ok...this is a vent topic...sorry

I was just in a store here (Cd Warehouse) they are known for outrageous prices but always have an awesome stock. SO I walked in the store after class (because they changed the window display meaning they got new stuff) and as I walked in I notice a huge stack of box sets on the counter and two guys standing there. These weren't the most up standing young gentlemen, I whole heartedly believe they were crack heads and being in the city NO BIG SURPRISE. Anyhoo, I count the box sets as I walk by...8 sets...So I pretend to look at the dvds on the wall and check out the guy's stack see what they got...Desperate Housewives, Batman Cartoon Season, Boy Meets World Season 3, House Season 1, Buffy season 7, OC season 2, One tree hill season 2, Nip Tuck Season 2. At this point I am like WTF all brand new condition...so I watch the clerks check the disc....Papers are falling out of the boxes. These were brand spankin new, plastic just off...Stolen I presume (look to my statement on the guys). So I stand there everything inside me saying tell the guys whatever they offer you I will give you $20 more, knowing CD warehouse would give them nothing. So I pace, until the clerk says (who was the manager) I can give you $83 cash...There was a split second before the guy agreed...very short but enough for me to say HOLD UP! But the shaky guy just nodded took the cash and walked down the street, stickers printed end of story.

NOW...I regret it...I should have said somthing! But in my head I was like what if the manager yells at me and bans me from the store. I am sure the crack heads would have taken the extra $20 without question. But now I am saying WHO CAES IF HE BANNED ME...the store is pricey and I hardly ever actually buy...and if I was "banned" they would eventually forget and I would go back in.

So one this is me crying and venting. Two please tell me what you think of my situation...Feel free to yell MORN, IDIOT, Etc. Third list your stories of PAIN in wantign to steal a deal from a Game or Video or CD store. I know I have seen it happen quite a few times where I wanted to steal a deal and heave yet to do it...well I did it once but my friend worked at EB and allowed me to do it. They were gonna give $5 for some sega stuff I gave $10. LET ME KNOW.

Sad and Regretful,
Mike

[goatdan]

Personally, I have been in stores while stuff that I really wanted was being traded in, and I will not under any circumstances make an offer unless the store denies them the trade in. I've become good friends with some stores thanks to this. At a GameStop that I went to a lot, when someone would bring in a NES or SNES, I would sit there and wait until it was purchased, and then immediately purchase stuff. The manager greatly thanked me for this, and after a few times he knew I was collecting, so anytime someone came in with something that they couldn't take, he would call me and ask me what I would give them, and then buy it himself to sell to me for that price. I got a bunch of stuff that way.

The store isn't offering them much, but they have to make their money somehow. If you are sitting there and trying to snatch up the best deals, it hurts them and it makes you look like a giant ass.

You did the right thing, even if it felt wrong.

[filmbucket]

I was in an eb when someone was trading in a box of NES items...I waited until he left before I went over to talk with the employees to ask if I could see what he had just traded in. Five of the games they couldn't give him any credit for and they actually let me take them which was really nice, but I wound up having to pay $6 for a copy of Battle Toads that they gave him some absurdly low amount like $0.28 in credit for which annoied me quite a bit.

[kevin_psx]

whatever they offer you I will give you $20 more, knowing CD warehouse would give them nothing.

You're not allowed to solicit on other people's property. Sucks? Yes. But that's how it is.

[norkusa]

Don't get too mad about it. All those dvd's sucked anyway. Boy Meets World wasn't bad though.

[swlovinist]

I think any time a customer vultures another possible sale of a store transaction is wrong. A store depends on making money off of trades to pay the rent of the building and utilities. I dont care if you hate the place, they pay the right to every transaction that walks into thier business(which they heavily pay for). Every time someone tries to use the store as a cheap way to expand their collection is wrong. Alot of people(including myself) have done it and I am now ashamed of it. I will never do it again, for it takes away from an honest way of expanding a collection. It does not matter if they are crackheads nor it does not matter if the place ripps people off.
The bottom line is that it is wrong any way you justify it.

[Jumpman Jr.]

I've wanted to do that a few times. This one time, I was at EB, and a mom and her son went to the counter wanting to trade in their SNES and a few games. EB said that they would give them $5 credit for all of it. I allready have enough SNES's to not know what to do with, but I would have gladly given them more than $5 for what they had.
Another time, I was with another board member (CanadianZombie) and we were at a Microplay. A guy came in and had a NES, with a few games and CanadianZombie offered him $20 for it and he accepted. $20 sounds a little steep for a NES with a few games but I think he needed a couple, plus he was giving the NES to his brother or something.

[ClubNinja]

I did this once, and I felt completely justified in doing it. I'd do it again.

This was literally about six years ago when I a) still regularly hunted for games in the wild, b) still regularly bought console games, and c) actively collected NES games. I was in the local pawn shop one afternoon, sifting through the highly priced NES carts and wondering to myself why the store owner was such an ass - he was rude to just about every person who ever came into that store, including me. Anyway, on this day, a kid about 10 years old comes in with his older sister - she was probably 18ish. In his hands, he's got a stack of NES carts (like 7 or 8) and wants to sell them to "make money for the new Pokemon". Seems reasonable enough.

Now, this guy, who I know is a total ass, takes the stack of carts, looks them over, and puts them down on the counter. I start reading the labels from where I am - all crap, except for Mega Man 5. The last Mega Man I need for the NES. Wow. Anyway, I know how these things work, so I stand quietly, pretending to be in my own little world. The guy looks down at the kid and says "25 cents each". Now, that's probably what EB gives you for NES carts today, maybe, but this was six years ago, and I know Funcoland would've coughed up about $10 for that cart back then.

The kid seems confused, looks at his sister (who looks confused), looks back at the guy and says "but they cost a lot more than that". The guy shoots back "look, nobody wants this shit and I'm doing you a favor giving you anything for it!". Woah. The sister indicates that he shouldn't be speaking that way to a young kid, and the guy tells her to mind her business.

So here I am, looking through his common NES carts (the cheapest of which being $5), hearing him speak rudely to this kid and his sister, and completely bending them over with his cash offer (which, granted, he has every right to do because it's his store). I'm not terribly thrilled about this, so I turn around to be more obvious in my paying attention. Finally, the kid says "well, I guess I need the money, so OK". He's about to accept, at best, two bucks for all his games, after being verbally abused. So, I step forward and say to the kid "hey, can I please see your games?" He hands them to me and the pawn guy begins to turn red. I pull Mega Man 5 and say "I'll give you ten bucks just for this one". Immediately, the guy yells "you can't do this in my store!" So, I say "I know, and you're right - why don't you two come outside with me?" The kid and his sister are very agreeable and follow me towards the door. Some of the other customers start noticing the scene as the guy yells "None of you are ever welcome back here!" I turn and say "That's fine, I'm not really interested in supporting a shop that treats its customers this way".

Once we get outside, the other customers who were in the store all leave as well. I give this kid his $10, he's thrilled, I made his day, his sister thanks me, and they go.

Was that technically "wrong"? Sure it was. But was it the "right thing to do"? I firmly believe so.

Edit: Oh, and the pawn went out of business.

[goatdan]

Was that technically "wrong"? Sure it was. But was it the "right thing to do"? I firmly believe so.

That is wholly and completely different.

I actually did something like this once at the GameStop that I was talking about, but it wasn't quite so simple. Some guys brought in an N64 with like 10 games, and the store told them they couldn't buy the system (it didn't have the AV cords) and they would give them a total of $5.00 for the games. The guy had said he had been down visiting a friend and he lost his wallet. He was selling the N64 because it was the only thing he had of value, and he needed to find a way to get money for gas to drive back up north.

I was standing nearby, and the guy asked me if I had any need for an N64 system. Mind you, this was the system that the store had just said that they would not purchase. I said I might be interested, but I didn't want to make a deal in the store because it was against the rules. One of the store guys said that I couldn't purchase the system because he was there to sell it to them, at which the guy said, "Okay, so how much will you give me for it?" and the guy behind the counter said, "Uh, I mean, I can't offer you money for it, but you can't sell it here."

The guy, frustrated, picks up all his stuff and leaves.

I bought my game and walked outside. The guy explained to me his situation again, and offered me everything for $25.00. I had $22.00. It was a deal. He gave me the N64 with some sweet games (both Zeldas, Mario 64, Mario Party, Rayman 2 and some sports games) and I gave him $22.00. I felt like it was a fair deal, and I don't feel like I ripped off the store since he wasn't going to sell his stuff there anyway.

That's the only time I've done it, and that one I don't have any problem with

[98PaceCar]

I had an opportunity to do this at the main vg store I frequent. A girl came in with a very large collection of classics that belonged to her deceased brother. Probably 200+ 2600, 25 5200, 20 O2, a top loader, SMS, 3 O2 systems, several ataris, ton of controllers, etc. A VERY nice load of games. The manager of the store priced everything out and made an offer $160 for all of it. The girl wanted $200 which I was more than willing to pay and even had in my wallet at the time. She accepted the $160 offer and I never even mentioned that I would have gladly given her the $200 and probably more.

Why did I do that? If I had taken the sale from the store, I would have gotten one good deal. As it was, I had first pick of everything there and got all of the best stuff that was there. Since then, I've been given several bits and pieces for free as well as frequent calls whenever something good comes in. I get to visit the back of the store at will and see if there's anything I want. So it was well worth it for me to pass up a good deal once in order to get into the good graces of the store's manager and staff.

Now if she had said she didn't want to take that offer I would have caught her outside and given her the $200 she wanted in a heartbeat. If it's outside a store, I'll do it. Once it's in the store, it's their deal first. (though I will say that I'd probably have done the same thing ClubNinja did if the place was run by pricks)..

[bazariah]

i remember last year somebody walked into a gamestation with a boxed copy of yoshi's island on the snes among others.. gamestation offered the guy £2 in trade, so i instantly pulled £5 out of my pocket, and made the offer, which he took, then he also offered me the other games in his bag including megaman x and donkey kong country 3 for the sum of £12 which i gladly accepted..... thing is the gamestation boys looked a bit angry with me doing that, but at the end of the day i was only there on business as i was selling and trading around 500 snes, nes, megadrive and master system carts if they'd said anything i would've just walked...


i wouldnt do any action like that in an independently run business which needs customers, but the big national conglomarates have other avenues of revenue (and like over 400 stores, compared to an indies 1)

i used to personally own a store, and what i used to do is that if there was anything that i wouldnt want i'd let the customer know the prices for future reference.. if a friend was in there who knew i didnt need the items (if i had a full inventory) they would offer the trade price in cash... it worked for me in a way as i didnt have to give mates discount that way, and i basically filtered out all the stuff i knew was worth dough and would sell quickly, it was never worth holding stock for too long as it just loses money that way