This bothers me too, whenever I sell a disc, I always include pictures of the state of the disc. Not too long ago I wanted to buy a xbox original game, there was no picture of the back of the disc, the description said that it was as good as new, yet when I asked if there where any scratches the seller said "yes there are a lot of scratches...". Some people take advantage of buyers that don't ask these things.
@@jmogler Why would you buy a disc that's all scratched up? It probably won't work. Of course that's why you ask to see the back. So you can decide to buy it or not.
The biggest thing is people don't look up sold comps or listed to sold ratio. They just see a price and say it's that. Gotta look at sold and how long ago it sold. If there's 500 listings 2 sold in 6 months and they were $40. It's probably not worth $40@@midnightrider4ever
@@midnightrider4ever CIB - like new The plastic: sticky mess The disc - scratchy as hell The case - doesn't snap or busted The manual - not there ^ Above average pricecharting prices If I list something as like new Looks the same as the day as a I bought it
@@gallitoonbass4243 will they actually negotiate? Figured GameStop employees weren’t paid enough to care lol. (Unless you are doing this at mom and pop shops)
Remember the full quote. "The customer is always right in matter of taste." I don't care what *you* think of a game. If *I* want the game, sell it to me. When I got Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, I wanted the game because I like doing that in games. I asked a GameStop employee if they had the game in stock, and he looked at me and said "Don't bother with that game, just get New Leaf." I said I already had New Leaf, I wanted HHD. He eventually got it for me, but as he was ringing me up, told me I was wasting my money by buying 'a pointless, uninteresting game'. Dude. I just like designing things in games. Leave me alone.
I remember being in line at a GameStop counter listening to the customer in front of me talking to the guy ringing him up for Metal Gear Rising Revengeance and telling him how it's not a good game and how it doesn't live up to Metal Gear Solid. I'm just thinking, "they're not even the same genre of game, why are you telling this guy that a game he's interested in is bad just because it's not what you wanted it to be? Maybe for a Metal Gear game it's lacking, but as an action game it's actually good.". I didn't chime in and minded my own business, but that's when I realized that I kinda don't want to talk to random people about games, just ring me up without the commentary please.
Bro I thought it was just me. I had the guy in GameStop call security on me and tell me to leave because I refused to buy duke nukem 64. I kept telling the guy I already had that game and wanted final doom. I had this happen multiple time over the years at different game shops. One guy got so upset that I would not purchase what he wanted me to buy that he refused me service. That is why I started buying games online,
Yeah this is what corporate world really thinks of your opinions to. This is how it is when you go to buy something at an autoparts store or at a Comics book store. It's like they have been avidly trained to dump on all your preferences and try to sell you something bigger, newer , and mostly just the FOR SALE or CLEARANCE items.
I see the problem. The employee thought you were buying him a present. Maybe it was this mentally challenged person's birthday and he thought everyone was buying him presents. You should have said the game isn't for him.
Yes. Had a chap in a local store who seemed actively annoyed every time you went in to browse their games and hurried you into buying or leaving. Ended up never going back many years ago and they went out of business recently.
this is really common. i love used game stores and atleast 40% of the places ive been to had owners that hated customers and their jobs. nobody wants to visit your store if you got a chip on your shoulder.
@@TheKazzerscout I went to this place with a retro arcade that doubled as a retro game store. He seemed irritated by me not doing things "properly" (because how dare I NOT figure out that a blank white sticker OBVIOUSLY meant that coin slot wasn't working, apparently), and then I left out of frustration, and never went back.
Local city centre indie games store had a miserable manager - think the issue was from dealing with unsavoury customers trying to trade in stolen games & consoles.
The only time I actually approve of it is when the customer is an asshole. My bio dad went to a shop run by a friend of my BIL's, and then proceeded to actually talk smack about him in front of his friends BIL wasn't there. Well the owner is an awesome guy, and the N64 was for my birthday. He knew I despised my bio dad anyway and changed my bio dad double. Owner always gives me a discount, but when I heard that he did that I thanked him for that hilarious birthday gift. Bio dad is a huge asshole, so asshole tax is the only time I approve of such a thing.
I know of 50 states and a few federal territories where it carries jail time if it's official policy, and fines if it's a simple mistake. Next time, pay the price and report the bait and switch. You'll get a check in the mail months later with the difference in price, then take that check to an ambulance chaser attorney and tell him, you can have 40% if you think it's worth going after them.
@@SaanMigwell Yes, the details on what exactly is covered and how it works will vary a bit. Around here it's not illegal for there to be a different price, so long as it's not misleading. That's pretty much just going to cover you if somebody swaps price labels or if they're sifted through an entire pile of properly priced and labeled items for the one that's not properly priced. That being said, often times stores will honor the price anyways, just because the little bit of extra money just isn't worth the costs of losing a customer and potentially being sued.
lol. Who's going to enforce that? The police? Those guys literally only exist to protect companies. If a company steals from you, it's a civil matter. If you steal from a company, it's a criminal matter.
Many many years ago at GameStop (I think 2008, my god,) I got a new manager that insisted on pulling out the cover insert/art and sticking spine price tags DIRECTLY ON THE PAPER INSERT INSTEAD OF ON THE PLASTIC CASE. told the dude he was a war criminal.
I worked at a GameStop in Austria from Oct 08 to Sept 09 and the work conditions were on a slave level. Contract was 38.5h/week for 1280€, the first 2 months i did like 80h per week and had no day off in that time, GS has repeatedly violated every labour law that exists in my country. I soon got an Assistant Manager and 2 Temps, so it was bearable for some time, until we got a new District Manager. In September 09 the District Manager gave me a dissuasion because i wanted to take all of my 6 weeks of paid vaccation before christmas sales and I told him to go f himself. The ASM had his day of so i said I'll throw the key in the letterbox after work, take time off until 1 October and they should pay me the rest of my holiday and overtime, I'm done with this shit show. After that they tried to bent me over with my overtime, but luckily I had documented everything and copied the duty rosters. on this day i apllied to university and started to study Informatics in mid October. i sincerly hate this company.
I've had that happen too. I was trading in a ton of rare stuff on top of it and was trading it in for orher rare stuff that was priced at what their site had it for and they checked everything and changed it on me at checkout.
When they reprice games at the register that's never a good customer experience and we call that "Stepping over dollars to pickup dimes". You made an extra $10 or so but lost a customer that might spend hundreds in future trips.
My friend owns a small game shop here in Michigan. He is really good at avoiding all these issues. If a store cares about their customers, they will listen to feedback.
I can confirm that Kelsey ONE HUNDRED PERCENT honors prices on the floor. I bought a bundle from Pink Gorilla that was only priced for one of the items instead of the whole thing, and she still gave me the posted price.
Gamestop does too, or at least they used to. I bought an anime there back when they sold videos and it was a great price. The employee said "oh no, these discs were supposed to be put out individually, not in one box" but because that's how it was priced on the shelf that's what I paid.
@@happyspaceinvader508 In the UK as far as I know they store has the option to remove the item from sale at the posted price rather than selling it but they can't change the price at the till at least as far as high volume retail goes. Not sure how the rules would apply in this kind of environment.
@@chrisfortune1813 An 'invitation to treat' in the UK, if I remember my law lectures correctly. A priced item is inviting a customer to offer to buy it for that price, and the shop is free to refuse the offer and withdraw it from sale. Very useful when I worked in Our Price Records and the Hounslow locals would swap a £9.99 tape into a 99p markdown case. Cassettes? God, I'm old.
yea a lot of used shops have no warranty or even useable refund while ebay does so why would i pay ebay prices and not atleast get the protection that comes with it.
@@MetalJesusRocks More often than not the pricecharting/ebay price they give you already comes with the shipping cost. Pricecharting is very inaccurate. I say you just do your own research of what it actually costs and make them your own offer, if they have a problem with that then they're definitely idiots.
I hate going to an expo to find a vendor where none of their games are priced, they use PriceCharting, then they add $20-$30 to the cib price. That’s gross AF
It depends if it’s a several day event on the first day is when everything gets marked up they’re trying to make profit on the game itself plus they have to pay for their vendor fees they’re usually more lenient on prices the next day after
There's a game store in my area that does that. None of the games are priced and you have to ask and then they look it up online and give you a price. I went there once and have never went back.
I can agree with vendors not pricing their games with stickers just because stickers are annoying to deal with as a customer and a vendor. But to go off PriceCharting is already a bad thing and adding on top of that is a no no. If I can get the game for cheaper, why would I bother paying more for it unless it's rare and in good condition? I sell at local gaming meetups and shows occasionally and I don't use stickers on my games. Then again, those meetups are intended for people to talk and get to know one another and I'm not a business, I'm just a guy selling games to pay his bills. But as a store, if you have an inventory system, there's no reason not to price your games. Some game stores nowadays have easy to peel stickers and those are great, but also expensive.
I went to a local game store to see if they still had a copy of a DS game that I had seen a couple years before. I didn't buy it at the time because it wasn't worth it to me but after Covid prices sky rocketed. Sure enough they had the game at same price they had it at 2 years prior. Went to purchase it and they looked it up online and raised the price from $35 to $70. I told them I didn't want it at that price and walked out. The most frustrating part is that it had been sitting there for years, if it wasn't selling at $35 why would it sell at $70!
At the same time you only wanted to buy it this time because the price had gone up to $70 to get the thrill of getting a good deal. It's like she says, the owner bought it when it was cheap so he is already making a profit, so if they say $70, throw him a $50 offer and see what they say.
@@arturboy777Yes. I was going to comment the same thing. You only wanted the game because it went up in price. Only buy the game if you are a fan. Gamers like this are annoying.
We have a game store that thinks games are somehow made of gold. All the prices are insane, especially anything GameCube. He had Mario Sunshine and Double Dash over $100 each.
I recently went to a used video game store in Seattle and had a fantastic experience because: - The owner of the shop was really friendly and started up a conversation with me about 360 games. - Most of his prices were a little lower than eBay. - I bought a bunch of 360 games including Gears 1 and 2, so he threw in Gear 3 and another game for free because he had a lot in stock.
thats when you ask if its a store or museum? local gaming store has the shelves roped off. never bought anything because it just felt like a museum. this is why most street scammers put the item they are selling in your hands. 90% of the time, if you hold it, you will buy it.
Whatever the situation is with either the condition or the price, never walk out without you making your own offer. If they have a problem with that, walk out and never come back.
The giant red “Display Box Only” sticker that takes up the lower right quadrant of the box (shown at 7:30) is a relic from Hollywood Video/GameCrazy. I never knew why they put those giant stickers when they first were around. A funny coincidence is when I was working at GC shortly before they all were liquidated, they had price stickers that were blank so you could write the price on it. I wrote the price of a PS2 game one random day. Fast forward eight years later and I work at a random local retro game store as a side job. As I’m restickering recently traded games, I see a PS2 game that has my handwriting on a GameCrazy pricing sticker. Separated by eight years from when I wrote it. I bought it and took it home.
@@AmariieMaerthos the game was Project Snowblind. A not so bad action game but the coincidence of me coming across it years later was too good to pass up.
@@robotdell Project Snowblind was pretty cool back on the original Xbox. The multiplayer was never very popular but I still played it every now and then against my friends.
They put those stickers on because many people would try to steal the game by taking that box, thinking they got the game. So to try and get people to not steal the empty box, they added those stickers.
@@prodbyhajime It went like this Got a snes from ebay, no video out. Left it with a retro game shop for repair. Picked up console days later, black and white video. Noticed that the snes case had a different number than the one on the ebay photos. They said "oops, we mixed them up". They claimed that they swapped it out with the correct console. Still black and white video but the case number is correct. whatever.gif
@@BrickTamlandOfficial I had them try to do this with my PS1 about 6 years ago when it started randomly turning off after 15min of play. I assumed overheating (it's like 20yr old after all), so I took it to a game shop for repair. I took photos of the serial number and everything, wrote my initials on all the pieces in tiny sharpie on edges and stuff, hard to see if you aren't looking. Got back NOT my PS and called them out on the spot. "Ooops, our mistake." They went to get mine and said it wasn't done yet after all. I took it back without paying because no services were rendered. Found a guy working out of his garage doing tech repairs. It was fixed in two days and I made a friend.
@@BrickTamlandOfficial Wow, I can't say for sure if it was done maliciously in any way at all but....... it seems like a pretty shady repair place even in terms of negligence
You forgot one of the worst ones, when they don't clean their cases and leave all the stickers or broken cases and hand cheese on them, and still charge full price for them.
Lol it gives the games character that will be an extra charge. If it's like EB games, game crazy, block buster it's OK for me. But if it's a current store then it should be cleaned.
had a ps2 game that had a very old, smelly hollywood video sticker on it, didnt think to remove it at first, but putting it in the console made it smell real bad from the heat like it was toxic!!! removed it and scrubbed it down clean as possible with vinegar on a cloth. Annoying.
I don't mind old stickers still there, so long as it's priced accordingly. But I hate when they cover stuff. I've had stickers placed right over the description of the game on the back
A red flag for me when game shopping is when owners will talk bad about other local game stores. Like, I understand you’re in competition, but badmouthing another store in front of your customers just doesn’t sit right with me.
I feel like this is more of a, “here’s what stores shouldn’t do,” rather than, “here’s what this store did.” I think the only store called out is GameStop, and that’s for their stickers. But I feel like it’s more name-dropped for relatability than anything else.
Once was scoffed at for wanting a Gamestop subscription for their gaming magazine. Got told a girl should get a mag sub for like in touch or ppl mag. I was young enough that my dad was there at that time and he had to step in. They wouldn't let me continue the sub once it was done, so I've never stepped back into THAT specific Gamestop since like 2009-20011.
I've seen plenty of these guys lose their entire investments. The worst part is they will hold those games for years thinking "one day it will be worth sooooo much" No it won't especially after the grading scandal. Game prices will take generations to recover from that.
Im not sure how it is in the US, but in Portugal, if an item is on the shelf with a price, by law the shop has to sell it at that price even if there was a price change. (Unless the shop has plastered everywhere a sign that says prices are being changed throughout the day) If the store refuses, we have a “customer protection” entity that you can complain to and 99% of the time they charge the shop a fine because of that
It's the same in the U.S. It's against the law to change the price at the register. It's considered "bait and switch". The specific law it breaks is called the "Uniform Commercial Code", which is a set of federal guidelines that were ratified by all of the 50 states AFAIK.
One thing I found annoying recently even at a GameStop was a game that not only didn’t have a price, but it turned out to be just a pre order as well. That definitely needs to be labelled or at least marked on the shelf.
One time I went to a retro game store where they kept their more expensive games in a locked display case. They didn't include any prices and when I asked about a price on one of them one employee replied with "we don't discuss prices unless you actually plan on buying them", while the other added "it's probably too much anyway". Was said with a snobby tone. I went a few times before and they always tried to gatekeep the hobby from newer or lower budget collectors.
There's a store in my area that does this and also says they don't discuss unless you intend to buy. I got a little snippy with the guy. I said something along the lines of "I'm a video game collector in my 40s, not a teenager coming in here with allowance money. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't interested, but now I'm not."
They probably don't have anything to put in it's place in the display and so never want to sell it. You think they treat sellers any better than buyers?
this is because most gamestore owners are just losers that got sick and ttired of living in a hoarder house of useless collectibles, so decided to sell them. then they get locked into the job, dont like it, have no clue how business works, so they never turn a real profit, and on top of all those problems, most of them have no social skills at all. its a perfect storm of anti-sales conditions coming together in a sales environment. most people are too nice to call it this, but this is what it is.
"They don't want to have employees repricing stuff all the time." *Definitely* a case of 'that wouldn't fly at the grocery store'--said as someone who's weekly job at the grocery store is to go around re-pricing things, as well as hang the weekly sales tags,
That's about to happen though. Pricing at grocery stores will be dynamic, and will change between when you pick up an item and when you scan it at the register. It's just a matter of time. Walmart is leading the charge with digital price labels that can all be changed at the click of a button in real time. Others will follow.
They’ve got digital price tags in different shops and grocery stores in Toronto. Helps align prices across stores with tap of a button. Figuring out driverless trucks for food delivery to stores… Meanwhile an avocado is $2.99, and tap of a button to change for peak pricing.
@@johnedwards5575 There *are* one or two places in town with 'digital' shelf tags, notably one of the office supply places. I don't know if they're networked or *just* LCD displays, though.
I was at a thrift store and saw a gamecube with smash bros melee cib for $40 Canadian. When i asked the guy to get it out of the display case, he said "oh that must be a mistake, that's a $50 game." I just said, well, I'll buy it for the price that's on it, and he hesitantly rang me through
@@retrovisions_ I'd say yellow flag since he tried to rip him off but was too meek to follow through. Shouldn't have to be an assertive buyer to shop at a place without being taken advantage of.
@@nodak81 Pehaps. I couldnt understand the context when he said that must be a mistake. I wasnt sure if he said I need to change the price or if he was willing to sell at that price. But your right we the buyer shouldnt assertive just to buy an item. Buyers sadly always have to be aware, informed and be prepared to be assertive.
@@retrovisions_ yeah it's a place I continue to go back to, that guy wasn't there very long. I took it as though he was implying he wanted to up the price, but I was assertive enough so that he didn't feel like he could be shady lol
I absolutely hate how thrift stores behave these days. They get these things as free donations, usually pay little in location cost because the property is nearly derelict, don't clean anything, and then charge ebay prices for everything.
The price switch thing happened to me as well, dude was gonna sell me Zelda 4 swords for 40$, no joke said it was mislabeled and wanted 90$ for it. Even funnier he bumped it up to 100$ next I went in there.
I will admit that some stores will say this just to make sure they sell it to you for less than eBay price. I have been to a couple of great stores that do it this way, but they're rare.
It's the standard. Everyone uses eBay last sold at toy stores game stores and collectible stores . Any store that is selling something thats second hand and not anymore sold in retail stores they will gauge the value based on what they have actually sold for . How else are they supposed to know the market price. What you'd rather them just make up a price ?
@@MikeHunt-lz2hq Nonsense. If you run a physical store and match everything with online prices, there is zero reason for anyone to bother walking into your store. They'd rather stay home and order stuff. Most second hand stores get their inventory well under 25 cents on the dollar. 50 cents tops on high valuables. You have to give locals a reason for walking in.
@randysmith7094 I don't agree with this. Seeing a secondhand item in person is always much more accurate what the condition is than online photos. Online can also accrue shipping fees, and takes time, verses going to a store and having it now.
@@randysmith7094I beg your more gracious pardon? How are they supposed to make money as a mom/pop store? They don't just "make up their prices" NOBODY DOES. They sell it in retail value to get profit so they can get more things in their store and PAY THE RENT FOR THE LOT?! Did this NOT RING A BELL? HELLO?
All of this happens to me frequently at videogame shops, comic shops & vintage toy stores. Even once at a thrift shop. I refuse to buy if they do that with rare exceptions.
The worst part of going to a place without prices on their games is when you ask and the dude there just goes to ebay and its like.....if I wanted to pay ebay prices i'd just f**cking go to ebay!
I had this happen to me the other day. Owner didn't price a loose cart and he "looked it up in his system" and told me the price. I asked if he could do lower and he snarked "well you're already getting a good discount on those other games" (that he himself decided the sale prices on). I was spending a couple hundred dollars and he couldn't accept giving me a $7 discount. It's fine because I know where I can actually just order the game for a bit cheaper than his price.
The stores have to compete with the online stores and what the prices are going for aswell keep this in mind all places do this if you don’t see any prices on a game don’t even pick it up
Where I live, every item is supposed to be priced by law. A store can get fined for not pricing items. This worked great for me when I found one of the Spider-Man PS3 games for $30 and it had just jumped to around $80 but they had to sell it at the price that was on it.
Do you guys often get people trying to effectively steal from you by taking a price off of one item and putting it on a more expensive item? One of the stores I used to work retail at, selling shoes, had this problem consistently. It was however at least easy to know when people would do this, as part of the cardboard would come off on the stickers every time, and they'd never stick properly after tearing it off. If it wasn't much of a loss, I'd usually let them have it. Just because someone swapped tickets, doesn't mean it was that customer in particular, but I was NOT going to give the price for someone trying to get 80$ shoes with a 5$ clearance tag.
Grab a game with a $30 label. "That's an old label, its actually $60" Ok then I'm not buying it, and never coming back. If the value has gone up I guess you should have gotten off your ass and changed it instead of pulling a bait and switch.
The store where I shop is great. I found a Banjo Kazooie on their $10 shelf, took it to the counter, the store owner admitted that it didn't belong on the $10 shelf, but sold it to me anyways.
I hate the way people price older games like they're going to get rich. Used to be able to go to a game store or flea market and get games for $5, $10 $15 a piece. Now it's $50-$80 a piece if not more. There was two retro gaming stores close to where I live selling older games for way too much. They didn't stay open long.
I hate that too. I just want pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of sky, just the cartridge hell i dont even care if the sticker is all torn up but for some bizarre reason everyone on ebay wants to carge just for the cartridge, 80 to 100$. Im just wanting my childhood back and im not collecting for it or anything.
Easy solution to stores not posting prices on individual products is for them to do what funcoland did decades ago: print weekly price sheets of your inventory.
I have nostalgia for that increasingly giant “sheet” which was starting to look more like a small newspaper than a price sheet during the 16-but years. I can only imagine the modern equivalent would be the size of an old Sears Catalog from back in the day. 😂
@@MungkaeX yeah, if funcoland was still around, I feel like they would just have kiosks in the store where you could check the price by search or barcode.
My biggest annoyance in general is if I walk into a game store and the nerds working there don't say anything to anyone, but just talk to themselves. Game stores don't exactly have an edge in terms of convenience and market competitiveness, so to act like you don't want to sell your products, is the biggest offense.
I walked into a local shop yesterday that’s literally across the street from GS. They had zero customer service skill. They were all in their own little worlds busy organizing products and avoiding interacting with customers. I was there for about half an hour and left without buying anything.
No prices: I've ran into this a couple times. I ask the price for something, the employee pulls out their phone, and I immediately say "I'm no longer interested". I then leave and never go back. No thanks!
On the topic of not posting prices, while it's not at a game store, I was at Lowe's looking for an AC unit and not a single one had a price tag, either on the box or on the palettes they were stacked on. I was midway through checking their website when I was like "wait, I'm a potential customer, I shouldn't have to do something like looking up their prices online, why should I give them my money if they can't be bothered to print out price labels in the store?" So I left. Like, unless it's a store where you can haggle, there's no excuse not to have the price either on the product case or on the shelf/palette they're displayed on...
I think you can still be polite but firm in your response to bad policies. ultimately, your business is what they want. Better to focus on that than reactions
When they add a warranty without telling you and give you the total with the warranty included and tell you to pay, that's when it really kills me. Gamestop and one other shop have done this and it's absolutely horrible... Glad I usually keep track of the total before buying.
I live in BC, Canada. There was a game store in a city called Chilliwack back in 2015 and they were selling rare and/or expensive SNES carts like FF3, Chrono Trigger, EarthBound, with clearly computer printed labels. I noticed this at the counter, brought it up in a completely polite and non-accusatory manner, and the owner started screaming at me and walked me aggressively out of the store. The store shut down only about a year later, but clearly he was selling these counterfeits deliberately and felt exposed when I pointed that out. It's important to support brick-and-mortar game stores and keep them in business, but they aren't all worth your support.
Know of any good canadian retro game stores still going these days? I’m from Alberta and the same thing sort’ve happened to the game store here, around that time. Now it seems impossible to find
Many businesses don't seem to understand customer satisfaction and repeat customers, if I can get a decent deal on a more expensive game I've been wanting for a long time I'm going to keep coming back and I wont really feel bad about spending 10 bucks on an impulse buy that's market value is 5 because the store provided me with a good service and respects me as a customer
Haven't run into a game store that didn't price anything, but I did see a retro game seller at ECCC this year that was doing that. My gf was looking through the games and I noticed nothing was priced and the staff were constantly looking up prices on their phones. I pointed out what was happening, she stopped looking through their inventory, & we walked away. If as a store or a seller, you can't be bothered to price your inventory beforehand, you don't deserve to be a seller.
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The more usually reason is that they don't want to pay for the employee labor involved. Which is somewhat legit as the prices at a 2nd hand shop is a lot more variable than it would be when the stuff is new.
There's a few red flags I've experienced. When an employee acts like every small task is a world ending experience. I've had a few times like the repricing register, only I put it on hold and it's been repriced while it was on hold. I've had a few employees straight up buy things out of my hold stack. Just a few things off the top of my head.
Comic book stores do this too and I hate it! I've brought tons of books to register only for them to tell me "oh this sticker isn't ours, the ACTUAL price is...(goes on phone to look up modern market price)." I always tell them never mind when they do that.
Yeah, I've had that happen to me at Mile High Comics, telling me it's an 'old' sticker while they go on their website to look up what it says. They inflate their prices to begin with, but that particular instance is the primary reason why I don't buy from them anymore.
Just happened to me recently. Almost none of the back issues (which there were tons of) were priced. I asked about pricing, and they basically just said it's a lot of work to price everything, so they check prices whenever you bring them up to the counter for purchase. It took like 2-3 minutes for the clerk to check the ONE comic book I brought up, and it was a nothing book that sold for $3.
I was gonna say the same thing. I mean, they work in a game store, not a 7-11...I actually had better customer service at a 7-11 the other day than when I went to a game store a few days prior.
@@francishelie8658 Yeah I'm kind of floored that this is a discussion. In the UK it's illegal to display a price and try to charge an increased one at the till.
Was at a chain store that sells retro games. Had a copy of a very collectible 360 game behind the check out counter. I asked them about it and was told it was “trash” and would be thrown away. I then said well, I’ll just take the chance on it is there any way I can get it. Employee says yeah if I can I’ll just give it to you since it’s being trashed. Guy calls manager and manager says no. I then explain how collectible of a game it is (mind you it’s pretty beat up and in tough shape, water damage etc but disk is salvageable) guy says he’ll try to get it and will call me back and just give it to me to make me happy as a customer. He calls me back an hour later and says “my boss has decided to put it on the shelf for sale for $90” which was the price charting and eBay price for a clean CIB copy. Outrageous business practice! Completely turned me off. Super shady. Took a game they considered trashed and in bad shape, found out is was collectible and put it on the shelf for full going price.
Playing devil's advocate: Not supposed to tell them that prices are lower than what they should be. That got his attention, he went to eBay, took a quick glance (not at what sold, at what's active) and now it's going to sit there forever.
Seeing fakes float around in stores and the store owners not even knowing that they're fakes is also a giant red flag. Like, do you even know your product?
Not everyone who owns a game store knows the games as well as you would think they do. You can tell when you make note to them about and see how they react when you show them why. A honest business person will usually be more humble and apologetic about things if you show them proof of why the item is a fake. Instead of being arguing about it and flat out telling you your wrong even if you can show them proof. Takes all kinds I guess but not all store owners know their stuff like you the customer does
@@thatssomegoodpie I totally agree with you if your going to have a store know what your selling and buying. Ive seen many stores in many states that I think people got into the game selling scene cause it was a trend but had little to no idea what they had and what was worth money or not. But then again that's how we get all those posts online about how they scored this rare item cheap. Some store owners dont know what they have.
I once worked at a game store that had a very knowledgeable, and "somewhat" fairly paid staff. We all were collectors, and enthusiasts. We knew our games, we knew our cards. We had regulars that loved to be there. Then owner started hiring young "first job" kids, paid them less, and the old guard started getting "pushed out". I was one of the last who remained, doing inventory, price checks and updates, sticker changes, organization. I watched as less and less of our regulars came in, and we started catering more to selling copies of COD to moms with whining children. I stood by as I was told to raise prices by a percent here, a percent there... and saw our trade policy offer less and less, watched as our owners started wanting to "copy gamestop" practices, and I watched as our collectors... started taking their trades across town. It was also my job to go through the recent trades to clean them up, repair, price, and shelf. The amount of fake games and cards, or junked games and damaged cards that the new kids accepted in trade... was astonishing. But that's what you get when you make those decisions as a business. This made my job un-enjoyable, and created more work for me. I eventually left as well. My dream job was no longer my dream job.
From Quebec in Canada, we do have some annoying law here, but one that is great is that a retailer is obligated to sell you a product for the price it's marked has. And actually, if it's a price on the shelves and they don't have to price every single item, they need to match the price and discount it 10$ or give it free if under 10$.
I own a store and often people are surprised by how much I offer for trade in. I just see it as fair, but we've been conditioned for the last 25 years to expect so little.
The stores I deal with, will lower the price of the game when I bring it up to the counter if it changed, but never raise it! These brick-and-mortar shops wonder why they can't stay open. I asked one random shop to open Breath of Fire 2 and they looked at me like I was crazy. They didn't even have the tool to open it.
The only time I tolerate that is if I watch the game come in while I am browsing and it needs to be priced before I can buy it. That has happened to me on more then one occasion with a title I had been looking for for a while.
@@paulbalch9506 Yep, that's a completely legitimate reason to check the site. Most games will fluctuate a bit, but not so much that they're going to be out of pocket more than what it will sell for and the added cost of regularly repricing can eat up any additional money you could make.
That's the same with the 15 min rule for restauraunts. I can understand if they are swamped, but imagine if they never came up to you once or never even apologized for being later than expected. If that happened & I was waiting 10+ min, no tip. If I have been waiting 15+ minutes, I am out the door & good luck if you are still employed.
I can totally understand a store not wanting customers being able to unscrew a game cartridge. Losing those little screws or stripping the threads of the cart isn't hard to do.
We had a store in our area that kept games in the front window and they were all sun bleached. It was sad to see. They eventually went out of business...
This is valid for two reasons. First you know they don't care about the condition of their inventory. Second, you know their inventory isn't priced to move because it's been sitting long enough to get damaged.
The Movie Trading Company near where I used to live had their used Xbox games facing the front window. Every single game was sun bleached. They eventually moved the games away from the window, but the damage was done.
I bought several "new" games online from Gamestop and most of them arrived open and some with significant ware. I when into a store to return them and the guy explained very condescendingly how they were unused but open because they "gut" the cases. I'll never be buying from them again, in no world is an open game considered new.
Similar happened with me where I got 3 DS games from the GameStop website since I had some leftover gift cards and none of them arrived in the original case shown on the website and 2 of them didn’t work The employee I refunded it to was cool though they saw it looked dirty and immediately refunded it
"No Prices on games" This is the game shop closest to me. It bothers me so much. I don't like to grab a game and ask "How much is it." It makes me feel obligated that I have to buy it anyways. I don't. But it gives me anxiety. Like, sir, put prices. Stop looking up online to see how much it is, because you do change prices. I've heard you do it.
seems like it would be easier to put a tag on something, than have people aske over and over what the price is. but again, might not be an issue since i think its unanimous that a lot of people dont shop at those stores.
Stores that do this are losing out on so many sales. For everyone one person that tracks down the employee to ask, there are probably 10 that just don't bother.
As for the pricing, when working at Radio Shack, we were told that Policy was, if we had a lower price on the item than it was going for (failed to pull a sales tag, for example) that we would honor the lower price for the Customer. I agree the Price Charting thing gets super annoying. There is also the 'clearance' pricing, I have seen at GameStop, where the price is actually raised by 2 dollars, then dropped by 2 cents, so that it is on 'clearance' for higher than the previous marked price. I have some label peeling tools my Wife got for me, for my own game collection, which do a good job of peeling stickers one at a time from the five or six in a stack on some GS games. I've seen some crazy stuff. Thank you for the great information!
I love your closeup of the spine sticker on that copy of Whiteout. That sticker is still on the backing paper. You can just slide it right out. A lot of GameStop employees will go the extra mile to do this because they know how much people hate stickers on cases (themselves included).
True. If an item is on the shelf with a price, they have to sell for that price or lower. I got a camera several years ago from Argos, using this consumer rights regulation. I did have to stand my ground and ask to speak to the store manager to explain it to him though.
Yeah it's happening to me quite alot in supermarkets. The till price is more expensive than the sticker price. They have to give you the sticker price.
@@GarethColquhoun That is completely wrong though. Argos may have honoured the label price in order to provide better customer service, but they can simply refuse to sell it at the label price if they believe it to be wrong.
One thing I've been noticing is that rarer and higher value items will not have a price tag, forcing me to haggle like I'm buying furniture in the 1930s.
Some countries still haggle over the price. And once you get used to it, it's not that big of a deal. It just happens to be more cost effective in most cases to not have to waste time hagglign over the pricing than for the shop to just put a price on it ahead of time.
These are the differences between an owner that is just in it for the money and an actual ENTHUSIAST/COLLECTOR like Kelsey that knows how to properly take care of her inventory and customers. It's the entire reason Pink Gorilla stores are doing great. People see that attention to detail and would go out of their way to shop at a store that treats their customers and products, right. You wouldn't believe how many game stores I've been into and have asked for certain things or certain games (nothing even rare or trivial) and the OWNER is like "I've never heard of that before"....Really? How do you even have this store right now, I didn't even ask for anything extraordinary? I once asked an owner if they had any 3DO controllers and the guy had never even heard of a 3DO....I walked right back out because I already knew how the rest of the experience at that store was gonna go.
So you walked out of a store because the owner didn't have the controller (Let alone a working controller) to a console he had never heard of and was completely overshadowed by the PS1 and N64 only a few years later? And then you decided you'd have a bad experience at the store all because of that? Really?
@@moist1700 In all fairness, yes that is kind of obscure, the main reason I'd walk over that is if I was looking for more obscure things and a different shop had them. If I wanted the standard Nintendo, Atari, Sega, Sony or MS stuff, it probably wouldn't put me off if they didn't have any Phillips or Neogeo gear.
That happened to me at a CeX store in Portugal. The game was 2€ cheaper than the sticker price because it had recently droped but they hadn't changed the sticker
My local GameXchange here in north Texas is actually pretty good about that -- they will give you the lower price if it dropped, and a couple of times I remember them honoring a sticker price when it jumped. Now, if the price jumped by more than $20, I don't know if that would hold, but they have definitely honored it on minor swings.
I got off the train and it was torrential rain, so I walked into the nearest shop and bought an umbrella priced at 12 quid. The till rang it up as 4 quid. Bonus!
There's a store near me that hits one of my worst red flags: They NEVER test their stuff. The one positive is they are honest if you ask, but they lie when you go in cause it says they have a "guarantee" that everything works Don't trust this, especially if you're shopping hardware or CD based games! Make sure your game clerk says it's tested!
I used to run a used game store. Let me tell you, it's virtually impossible to test every game that gets traded in. There's just not enough time in the day to do that. We tested systems and controllers, and would test some games if they looked rough, but if a game was clean we couldn't take the time to test it. Certain games, like Pokémon, we would always test, because people often tried to trade in ones with bad batteries that wouldn't save. And if a disc game was scratched we would test it after resurfacing. But we did have systems in the store to play on, so if a customer wanted to make sure the copy of Earthbound he was buying worked we could fire it up for him. We also had a guarantee like the one you mentioned. The guarantee was that the games would work in the condition that we sold them in, or you could return them and get your money back. That way, if someone traded in a very clean copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 that we didn't have time to test, and it wound up not working, the customer that bought it could bring it back. Sorry for the long post. I miss my time at the game store.
@@RevLink "if a customer wanted to make sure the copy of Earthbound he was buying worked we could fire it up for him" Yeah, perhaps one part of the disc reads fine...a bootup test isn't very useful. A lot of games won't read further into the data, and may only appear after a person has 20 hours into the game. Full disc integrity scans in a PC (or ISO rips in some cases such as the gamecube/wii versus using a slow, compatible PC drive such as a 8161) is the only way to know for certain. I fully scan every game I purchase specifically because of this problem with optical media. This made me think of this - if a game shop does this: shops that try to resurface bluray discs. I've seen them on the shelf, and I doubt any worked.
@@RevLink Yep, as a practical matter, that's about the best you're going to do. That's especially true of disc based systems where there might well be an unreadable sector that doesn't get access until you're midway through the game. No store is going to have the resources to playthrough every game that comes in.
@@masejoer That's one of the reasons that I hate that games went to discs. I've rarely had issues with ancient carts going bad, but sometimes the discs will and it's a lot harder to check.
I find it annoying when sellers use stock photos online. That doesn't really show you if you are truly buying the full game or just the disc or cartridge. As for game stores it's kinda frustrating when a gamestore can't find the game you want despite having the case out on the floor or when they give you the wrong game in the wrong case. And don't even get me started on selling consoles to gamestop
My local game store lowered the price for me considerably on a 3DS game that had gone down. I didn't even ask for anything like that. They are awesome. Opening game cartridges when the store is full is not practical. They can open it for you but it takes up time so you need to be patient as well. People can be pretty annoying and waste everyone's time. I've seen customers that are ridiculously frustrating to the store owner.
Another annoying thing I've seen is when shops still have old price stickers from previous shops that it was sold or from when their own shop priced the item lower. Like scribble out the price or remove the stickers, it's not hard to price things clearly.
What’s really annoying is when the store uses the highest price from recent sales on pricecharting when they sell their games and the lowest price on recent sales for trade ins. I get it but I’m just not coming back when they pull that shit. Just keep the number the same throughout and then do your calculations for trade in values.
I have a lesser annoyance: when I go to any brick and mortar store, to try and throw money into the community and whatnot, and they're CLOSED. Check the hours, yep, not supposed to be closed, but here we are.
Yes, this! I went to The Retro Game Cave in Ridgefield, NJ and nothing had a price tag. There were TONS of hidden gems but when I brought them up to counter the owner just checked eBay on his phone for each individual game and added another $10. Then, when I turned down the games, he insulted me basically saying I need to spend more money if I want a decent collection. Took my business elsewhere.
That sort of thing gives me flashbacks to going into a little convenience store when I was a kid and nothing was priced. I asked what the price of a pack of gum was and was accused of trying to get it for less than the asking price. I don't think I ever went in there again and the store did eventually close, although that may have been due to the retirement of the owner.
Another thing for me is employees with bad attitudes. Like the least personable people who want you out. Why hire them? I had one guy just nag me out of a store, another guy look like i pissed him off for asking him to test a game.
Stickers are one of the biggest pet peeves for me as a collector since they make my collection look less pristine on my shelf’s. Here’s a tip. Boil some water and hold it over the steam to melt the glue and the sticker will peal off easily as long as you go slowly. You can also use a heat gun or space heater if you have one of those handy. Basically you can use any kind of heat source that’s not an open flame. Although I’ve never tried this method on cardboard, it works great on cases with plastic sleeves. Regardless, hope that helps 🙂
Do NOT use steam from boiled water. You'll get moisture damage to some of the paper even if it has a moisture barrier. And if the game is a cartridge, moisture can degrade the metals. Using a heat gun, hair dryer, etc. is not a bad option. For tougher stickers, consider Bestine or Goo Gone.
yeah i agree at 7:50 I walked out of store once for putting stickers right on the covers underneath the plastic cause it just Loooks ugly and the stickers are difficult enough to get off the plastic but when its on the cover your 2 choices are: rip the cover or be forever reminded where you bought this junk from or even go on ebay and buy a replacement cover which is always annoying
Worked at local game store, and the owner insisted on ordering dirt cheap repros of Pokemon games and selling them at full price. I was always sure to tell customers but he definitely didn't. Like half of them came back with weird bugs or non-working saves, but it was still "worth it" despite bothering most of the actual collectors in the area.
You know in the short term that'll work out. People would not be a wiser. But, later on they would be. And in the long run the store would fail. 481 develop a reputation of dishonesty. And people talk. I know I don't run a game store, but if I did, I would have the rule no 9 genuine games being sold. I don't know if I would give them away for free. That I can't say for sure. But I would know I would not sell them or accept them.
some business owners don't seems to understand the importance of repeat customers. most customers that have a bad experience don't complain, they just don't come back.
I had a bad experience with a game shop in Hammonton NJ. I actually bought from this guy when it was in the corner of the antique shop next door. I went into shop a few years later and wanted to buy some handhelds. I had to confirm with my wife to make sure they weren’t the same ones we already had. After talking with the person at the counter I took some pictures of the products and sent them to her when I hear the owner of the store chime in over a PA. “Don’t film my cases”. Now if there was a sign posted in front of the store then fine. However there wasn’t one posted and the person working the counter did not tell me about taking pictures. This store not only lost out on a big sale but lost my business forever. If you’re that concerned about your inventory than be at the store to enforce your policies in person instead of behind a security monitor.
@@V-max97 yeah the guy was grumpy as shit. Also refused to purchase my snes repros Japan translated English rpgs. Then about a month later I go in and he all the sudden is selling repros lol.
in case you are unaware for sticker removal, using a heat gun or hair dryer to warm up the sticker/glue can often allow it to be peeled off in one piece. small retail tip there as most ppl seem unaware of this trick. (doesnt always work but always worth trying)
@@SmallSpoonBrigade i used to have to do this to get stickers off of shrink wrapped packaging heh. i would realize i was heating it too much if the shrink wrap started shrinking more or developing holes
Grumpy Bobs hits most of these red flags and easily the worst shopping experience I've ever had. They attempt to defend their bad business practices by guilt tripping you into they are a “small business”.
I sell games on ebay. I always take photos of the back of the disc and I'm brutally honest about condition. It hasn't compromised my ability to sell; folks still buy off me.
My worst experience was this overly talkative employee who gave his overly dramatic and negative opinion on everything I said and looked at. He asked me what I was playing, I said FF7, he said that one "fu@#$ng sucks". I said I was going to play FF9 on my Switch next, he insisted I didn't know what was talking about because he didn't believe me that the game existed on Switch. I eventually grabbed a single 360 game to buy, he read the label while ringing me up and said "__, huh? I've never played this. Probably because it's fu@#$ng stupid". I have never gone back.
@@gabrielgoldwoulfe2277 This seems like sarcasm, but I'll bite. There's a time and place, but it also depends on how you say it. It doesn't make much sense to trash the interests of the person about to give you money. I'm not one of those people that think salespeople shouldn't express opinions to customers, especially when it comes to video games. It can lead to interesting conversation, recommendations (for you or the customer) and other things, but it's important to be respectful of someone else's tastes, even if they're not your own, especially if they're giving you money.
I was at a store in Florida on my vacation recently and they had a copy of a game that was 229.99 and it looked like the sticker was put on there in 2022. The game goes for $85 to 100 maybe $120 tops. Places need to check inventory and adjust prices regularly, thats a pet peeve of mine.
For online shopping... online listings of disc based games and the seller refuses to take pictures of the back of the disc. Unbelievable.
We always ask before we purchase online. 😊
This bothers me too, whenever I sell a disc, I always include pictures of the state of the disc. Not too long ago I wanted to buy a xbox original game, there was no picture of the back of the disc, the description said that it was as good as new, yet when I asked if there where any scratches the seller said "yes there are a lot of scratches...". Some people take advantage of buyers that don't ask these things.
Why you need to see the back of the disc for? You want to see all the scratches and then not buy it? I think not.
@@jmogler Haha got em!
@@jmogler Why would you buy a disc that's all scratched up? It probably won't work. Of course that's why you ask to see the back. So you can decide to buy it or not.
4 words you never want to hear when buying something Let Me Check Ebay.
It happens...and is incredibly annoying. 😡
I never use eBay to price items unless it's absolutely a last resort. eBay sellers are nutty on their ideas of value.
Bruh.. 🥶💀
The biggest thing is people don't look up sold comps or listed to sold ratio. They just see a price and say it's that. Gotta look at sold and how long ago it sold. If there's 500 listings 2 sold in 6 months and they were $40. It's probably not worth $40@@midnightrider4ever
@@midnightrider4ever CIB - like new
The plastic: sticky mess
The disc - scratchy as hell
The case - doesn't snap or busted
The manual - not there
^ Above average pricecharting prices
If I list something as like new
Looks the same as the day as a I bought it
I hate when GameStop sells me a new game but its already open.
I've refused to buy stuff like that before, on principle alone.
Came here to say the same thing. Oh that’s my last copy…. Welp it’s not new then….. I f**king hate it.
I make it a big deal and negotiate the price. I've walked out before
@@gallitoonbass4243 will they actually negotiate? Figured GameStop employees weren’t paid enough to care lol. (Unless you are doing this at mom and pop shops)
@@PSXHistorian they will not 95% of the time, if you find one that does, they aren't supposed to
Remember the full quote. "The customer is always right in matter of taste." I don't care what *you* think of a game. If *I* want the game, sell it to me. When I got Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, I wanted the game because I like doing that in games. I asked a GameStop employee if they had the game in stock, and he looked at me and said "Don't bother with that game, just get New Leaf." I said I already had New Leaf, I wanted HHD. He eventually got it for me, but as he was ringing me up, told me I was wasting my money by buying 'a pointless, uninteresting game'. Dude. I just like designing things in games. Leave me alone.
I remember being in line at a GameStop counter listening to the customer in front of me talking to the guy ringing him up for Metal Gear Rising Revengeance and telling him how it's not a good game and how it doesn't live up to Metal Gear Solid. I'm just thinking, "they're not even the same genre of game, why are you telling this guy that a game he's interested in is bad just because it's not what you wanted it to be? Maybe for a Metal Gear game it's lacking, but as an action game it's actually good.". I didn't chime in and minded my own business, but that's when I realized that I kinda don't want to talk to random people about games, just ring me up without the commentary please.
Bro I thought it was just me. I had the guy in GameStop call security on me and tell me to leave because I refused to buy duke nukem 64. I kept telling the guy I already had that game and wanted final doom. I had this happen multiple time over the years at different game shops. One guy got so upset that I would not purchase what he wanted me to buy that he refused me service. That is why I started buying games online,
your gonna cry
Yeah this is what corporate world really thinks of your opinions to. This is how it is when you go to buy something at an autoparts store or at a Comics book store. It's like they have been avidly trained to dump on all your preferences and try to sell you something bigger, newer , and mostly just the FOR SALE or CLEARANCE items.
I see the problem. The employee thought you were buying him a present. Maybe it was this mentally challenged person's birthday and he thought everyone was buying him presents. You should have said the game isn't for him.
Biggest red flag is store owners/managers who hate their job and are always annoyed. It's a very stressy and unpleasant experience.
That's also very common among game store owners, and old men who used to own video rental stores in the 90s.
Yes. Had a chap in a local store who seemed actively annoyed every time you went in to browse their games and hurried you into buying or leaving. Ended up never going back many years ago and they went out of business recently.
this is really common. i love used game stores and atleast 40% of the places ive been to had owners that hated customers and their jobs. nobody wants to visit your store if you got a chip on your shoulder.
@@TheKazzerscout I went to this place with a retro arcade that doubled as a retro game store. He seemed irritated by me not doing things "properly" (because how dare I NOT figure out that a blank white sticker OBVIOUSLY meant that coin slot wasn't working, apparently), and then I left out of frustration, and never went back.
Local city centre indie games store had a miserable manager - think the issue was from dealing with unsavoury customers trying to trade in stolen games & consoles.
Changing prices 'at the register' is against the law in some places.
The only time I actually approve of it is when the customer is an asshole. My bio dad went to a shop run by a friend of my BIL's, and then proceeded to actually talk smack about him in front of his friends BIL wasn't there. Well the owner is an awesome guy, and the N64 was for my birthday. He knew I despised my bio dad anyway and changed my bio dad double. Owner always gives me a discount, but when I heard that he did that I thanked him for that hilarious birthday gift. Bio dad is a huge asshole, so asshole tax is the only time I approve of such a thing.
I know of 50 states and a few federal territories where it carries jail time if it's official policy, and fines if it's a simple mistake. Next time, pay the price and report the bait and switch. You'll get a check in the mail months later with the difference in price, then take that check to an ambulance chaser attorney and tell him, you can have 40% if you think it's worth going after them.
It is illegal in the US, it's against consumer protection laws.
@@SaanMigwell Yes, the details on what exactly is covered and how it works will vary a bit. Around here it's not illegal for there to be a different price, so long as it's not misleading. That's pretty much just going to cover you if somebody swaps price labels or if they're sifted through an entire pile of properly priced and labeled items for the one that's not properly priced.
That being said, often times stores will honor the price anyways, just because the little bit of extra money just isn't worth the costs of losing a customer and potentially being sued.
lol. Who's going to enforce that? The police? Those guys literally only exist to protect companies. If a company steals from you, it's a civil matter. If you steal from a company, it's a criminal matter.
Many many years ago at GameStop (I think 2008, my god,) I got a new manager that insisted on pulling out the cover insert/art and sticking spine price tags DIRECTLY ON THE PAPER INSERT INSTEAD OF ON THE PLASTIC CASE. told the dude he was a war criminal.
I worked at a GameStop in Austria from Oct 08 to Sept 09 and the work conditions were on a slave level. Contract was 38.5h/week for 1280€, the first 2 months i did like 80h per week and had no day off in that time, GS has repeatedly violated every labour law that exists in my country. I soon got an Assistant Manager and 2 Temps, so it was bearable for some time, until we got a new District Manager. In September 09 the District Manager gave me a dissuasion because i wanted to take all of my 6 weeks of paid vaccation before christmas sales and I told him to go f himself. The ASM had his day of so i said I'll throw the key in the letterbox after work, take time off until 1 October and they should pay me the rest of my holiday and overtime, I'm done with this shit show. After that they tried to bent me over with my overtime, but luckily I had documented everything and copied the duty rosters. on this day i apllied to university and started to study Informatics in mid October. i sincerly hate this company.
THAT'S DISGUSTING
WHO DOES THAT?!
I have a game like this from gamestop and I hate whomever thought this was a good idea.
"War criminal" that's crazy
My local game store has changed the price on me at the checkout quite a few times, but ALWAYS cheaper. I really like them.
I've had that happen too. I was trading in a ton of rare stuff on top of it and was trading it in for orher rare stuff that was priced at what their site had it for and they checked everything and changed it on me at checkout.
When they reprice games at the register that's never a good customer experience and we call that "Stepping over dollars to pickup dimes". You made an extra $10 or so but lost a customer that might spend hundreds in future trips.
feels like "let me pre-judge what you will pay for it, and set the price accordingly"
It is illegal to do so in the E.U..
True
This is illegal in Australia as well and I personally would not put up with it at all.
@@dad7275How is that not illegal in the US
My friend owns a small game shop here in Michigan. He is really good at avoiding all these issues. If a store cares about their customers, they will listen to feedback.
Where at in Michigan
What store? Ill have to check it out
@@1slosport Retro Replayed in Burton. About an hour north of Detroit.
@@TheMetalGaia oh shit I'm right in Davison so I'm literally 5-10 miles away lol
@@1slosport hell yeah! Definitely go check him out. Prices are always reasonable. He's in Chicago this weekend but the store is open!
I can confirm that Kelsey ONE HUNDRED PERCENT honors prices on the floor.
I bought a bundle from Pink Gorilla that was only priced for one of the items instead of the whole thing, and she still gave me the posted price.
Gamestop does too, or at least they used to. I bought an anime there back when they sold videos and it was a great price. The employee said "oh no, these discs were supposed to be put out individually, not in one box" but because that's how it was priced on the shelf that's what I paid.
In countries with decent consumer protection laws, this is a legal requirement, and if the store made a mistake, that’s totally on them.
@@happyspaceinvader508 In the UK as far as I know they store has the option to remove the item from sale at the posted price rather than selling it but they can't change the price at the till at least as far as high volume retail goes. Not sure how the rules would apply in this kind of environment.
so she isn't a hypocrite, that's the bare minimum honestly.
@@chrisfortune1813 An 'invitation to treat' in the UK, if I remember my law lectures correctly. A priced item is inviting a customer to offer to buy it for that price, and the shop is free to refuse the offer and withdraw it from sale. Very useful when I worked in Our Price Records and the Hounslow locals would swap a £9.99 tape into a 99p markdown case. Cassettes? God, I'm old.
my local game store shrinks wraps its games but still puts its price stickers DIRECTLY ON THE GAME CASE 😠
I hate places that do this
@@GhostieToasterStrudel Meanwhile at Gamestop: Building the leaning tower of prices with their stickers.
Def had the ‘let me look up the eBay asking price’ happen right in front of me. I walked out. Said I’d buy on eBay instead
I mean, you do have the opportunity to inspect the game right there and not pay shipping costs...but it's still annoying.
That's the amount only one random dude in Kansas was willing to pay. He's not coming into your store and he's already got a copy of that game.
yea a lot of used shops have no warranty or even useable refund while ebay does so why would i pay ebay prices and not atleast get the protection that comes with it.
@@MetalJesusRocks More often than not the pricecharting/ebay price they give you already comes with the shipping cost. Pricecharting is very inaccurate. I say you just do your own research of what it actually costs and make them your own offer, if they have a problem with that then they're definitely idiots.
@@MetalJesusRocks But Ebay has a buyer protection, and always sides with the buyer no matter what. Lots of game stores don't even accept returns now.
I hate going to an expo to find a vendor where none of their games are priced, they use PriceCharting, then they add $20-$30 to the cib price. That’s gross AF
I couldkind of understand that. They have to make up for other expenses.
Yeah super annoying
It depends if it’s a several day event on the first day is when everything gets marked up they’re trying to make profit on the game itself plus they have to pay for their vendor fees they’re usually more lenient on prices the next day after
There's a game store in my area that does that. None of the games are priced and you have to ask and then they look it up online and give you a price. I went there once and have never went back.
I can agree with vendors not pricing their games with stickers just because stickers are annoying to deal with as a customer and a vendor. But to go off PriceCharting is already a bad thing and adding on top of that is a no no. If I can get the game for cheaper, why would I bother paying more for it unless it's rare and in good condition?
I sell at local gaming meetups and shows occasionally and I don't use stickers on my games. Then again, those meetups are intended for people to talk and get to know one another and I'm not a business, I'm just a guy selling games to pay his bills. But as a store, if you have an inventory system, there's no reason not to price your games.
Some game stores nowadays have easy to peel stickers and those are great, but also expensive.
I went to a local game store to see if they still had a copy of a DS game that I had seen a couple years before. I didn't buy it at the time because it wasn't worth it to me but after Covid prices sky rocketed. Sure enough they had the game at same price they had it at 2 years prior. Went to purchase it and they looked it up online and raised the price from $35 to $70. I told them I didn't want it at that price and walked out. The most frustrating part is that it had been sitting there for years, if it wasn't selling at $35 why would it sell at $70!
At the same time you only wanted to buy it this time because the price had gone up to $70 to get the thrill of getting a good deal. It's like she says, the owner bought it when it was cheap so he is already making a profit, so if they say $70, throw him a $50 offer and see what they say.
@@arturboy777Yes. I was going to comment the same thing. You only wanted the game because it went up in price. Only buy the game if you are a fan. Gamers like this are annoying.
places like that need to be called out or reported to the better business bureau which is easy.
Don't know about the laws where you live, but in Canada, changing prices is illegal. You get the item for the price that is on it.
@@alexmendez3681 He said the game wasn't worth it for them back then though, he didn't say if he was a fan with the game or not.
We have a game store that thinks games are somehow made of gold. All the prices are insane, especially anything GameCube. He had Mario Sunshine and Double Dash over $100 each.
To be fair though, if they had been made of gold, that would be a huge deal. $100 wouldn't even get you a pair of earrings.
I recently went to a used video game store in Seattle and had a fantastic experience because:
- The owner of the shop was really friendly and started up a conversation with me about 360 games.
- Most of his prices were a little lower than eBay.
- I bought a bunch of 360 games including Gears 1 and 2, so he threw in Gear 3 and another game for free because he had a lot in stock.
Share the store's name
@@kevincruz2233 I think it was Game Gurus on Aurora Ave
I'm in Seattle too. Would love to hear the store name! Thanks!
gee did they have a giant fluffy girl gorilla by chance?
@@kevincruz2233 I think it was Game Gurus on Aurora Ave.
As soon as I go into a store there no prices I walk right back out.
100% agree.
thats when you ask if its a store or museum?
local gaming store has the shelves roped off. never bought anything because it just felt like a museum.
this is why most street scammers put the item they are selling in your hands. 90% of the time, if you hold it, you will buy it.
Whatever the situation is with either the condition or the price, never walk out without you making your own offer. If they have a problem with that, walk out and never come back.
Might as well stick a label saying "look up on eBay, then add 10% on top" Because that is what happens at the till.
"Too low to show and too high to buy!"
The giant red “Display Box Only” sticker that takes up the lower right quadrant of the box (shown at 7:30) is a relic from Hollywood Video/GameCrazy. I never knew why they put those giant stickers when they first were around.
A funny coincidence is when I was working at GC shortly before they all were liquidated, they had price stickers that were blank so you could write the price on it. I wrote the price of a PS2 game one random day. Fast forward eight years later and I work at a random local retro game store as a side job. As I’m restickering recently traded games, I see a PS2 game that has my handwriting on a GameCrazy pricing sticker. Separated by eight years from when I wrote it. I bought it and took it home.
That is actually wholesome as fuck. What game was it?
God bless y’all
@@AmariieMaerthos the game was Project Snowblind. A not so bad action game but the coincidence of me coming across it years later was too good to pass up.
@@robotdell Project Snowblind was pretty cool back on the original Xbox. The multiplayer was never very popular but I still played it every now and then against my friends.
They put those stickers on because many people would try to steal the game by taking that box, thinking they got the game. So to try and get people to not steal the empty box, they added those stickers.
Usually when they have a sign that says “GAME STOP” I do as instructed and stop walking. I don’t enter.
what a game hater,if it's the only game store you have in the city/satte then your being fucking stupid
GameStop is gonna go out of business one of these days, I just know it.
Bad joke dude
tbf ive gotten great deals at gamestop before, ive also been quoted stupid numbers, just depends on what you want and when you go.
@@bored588yep
When you go in to get your console repaired and they "accidentally gave me a different console back" hmmmm
WHAT!? 😬
Wait……. Please explain 😅
@@prodbyhajime It went like this
Got a snes from ebay, no video out.
Left it with a retro game shop for repair.
Picked up console days later, black and white video.
Noticed that the snes case had a different number than the one on the ebay photos.
They said "oops, we mixed them up".
They claimed that they swapped it out with the correct console.
Still black and white video but the case number is correct.
whatever.gif
@@BrickTamlandOfficial I had them try to do this with my PS1 about 6 years ago when it started randomly turning off after 15min of play. I assumed overheating (it's like 20yr old after all), so I took it to a game shop for repair. I took photos of the serial number and everything, wrote my initials on all the pieces in tiny sharpie on edges and stuff, hard to see if you aren't looking. Got back NOT my PS and called them out on the spot. "Ooops, our mistake." They went to get mine and said it wasn't done yet after all. I took it back without paying because no services were rendered. Found a guy working out of his garage doing tech repairs. It was fixed in two days and I made a friend.
@@BrickTamlandOfficial Wow, I can't say for sure if it was done maliciously in any way at all but....... it seems like a pretty shady repair place even in terms of negligence
You forgot one of the worst ones, when they don't clean their cases and leave all the stickers or broken cases and hand cheese on them, and still charge full price for them.
Lol it gives the games character that will be an extra charge. If it's like EB games, game crazy, block buster it's OK for me. But if it's a current store then it should be cleaned.
had a ps2 game that had a very old, smelly hollywood video sticker on it, didnt think to remove it at first, but putting it in the console made it smell real bad from the heat like it was toxic!!! removed it and scrubbed it down clean as possible with vinegar on a cloth. Annoying.
My local CEX has a lot of cracked, scratched, and dirty cases.
Not to mention, scratched discs.
Same price?
YUP! No discount.
🤢🤮😵💫😵
I don't mind old stickers still there, so long as it's priced accordingly. But I hate when they cover stuff. I've had stickers placed right over the description of the game on the back
A red flag for me when game shopping is when owners will talk bad about other local game stores. Like, I understand you’re in competition, but badmouthing another store in front of your customers just doesn’t sit right with me.
Said the person watching a video where an owner is badmouthing other stores.
Also, if a genuinely sucks, you don't want to be warned about it?
@@mattpace1026 No one is naming the store in this video.
@@mattpace1026 found a store owner who’s had all these complaints against them before
I feel like this is more of a, “here’s what stores shouldn’t do,” rather than, “here’s what this store did.”
I think the only store called out is GameStop, and that’s for their stickers. But I feel like it’s more name-dropped for relatability than anything else.
@@mattpace1026 Being informed is one thing, but there’s a difference between a warning and just talking bad to talk bad. It’s all about intent
Once was scoffed at for wanting a Gamestop subscription for their gaming magazine. Got told a girl should get a mag sub for like in touch or ppl mag. I was young enough that my dad was there at that time and he had to step in. They wouldn't let me continue the sub once it was done, so I've never stepped back into THAT specific Gamestop since like 2009-20011.
Not going in there for 18,000 years is truly commitment.
@@backstromforsberg Like that Doom II label at 9:42.
What’s really annoying is when you find a cool cheap local game shop and resellers buy up everything so they can jack up the prices.
I've seen plenty of these guys lose their entire investments. The worst part is they will hold those games for years thinking "one day it will be worth sooooo much" No it won't especially after the grading scandal. Game prices will take generations to recover from that.
@@SaanMigwell you know who’s doing it right? It’s the grading companies biggest scam in the world
havent even seen a game store for decades
some things are worth grading.
Extremely frustrating. Scalpers can ruin pretty much anything.
Im not sure how it is in the US, but in Portugal, if an item is on the shelf with a price, by law the shop has to sell it at that price even if there was a price change. (Unless the shop has plastered everywhere a sign that says prices are being changed throughout the day) If the store refuses, we have a “customer protection” entity that you can complain to and 99% of the time they charge the shop a fine because of that
It's the same in the U.S. It's against the law to change the price at the register. It's considered "bait and switch". The specific law it breaks is called the "Uniform Commercial Code", which is a set of federal guidelines that were ratified by all of the 50 states AFAIK.
I believe that law is present across the whole European Union. It is a thing in Poland as well.
Ahh, I love Portugal. Great country, people, food, architecture, etc.
@@cyrollan that’s lovely of you! It’s a shame about the economics though
One thing I found annoying recently even at a GameStop was a game that not only didn’t have a price, but it turned out to be just a pre order as well. That definitely needs to be labelled or at least marked on the shelf.
One time I went to a retro game store where they kept their more expensive games in a locked display case. They didn't include any prices and when I asked about a price on one of them one employee replied with "we don't discuss prices unless you actually plan on buying them", while the other added "it's probably too much anyway". Was said with a snobby tone. I went a few times before and they always tried to gatekeep the hobby from newer or lower budget collectors.
There's a store in my area that does this and also says they don't discuss unless you intend to buy. I got a little snippy with the guy. I said something along the lines of "I'm a video game collector in my 40s, not a teenager coming in here with allowance money. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't interested, but now I'm not."
@@chaospoet It's a great way to alienate potential customers isnt it?
My reply would be ''So you admit you overprice your stock?"
They probably don't have anything to put in it's place in the display and so never want to sell it. You think they treat sellers any better than buyers?
this is because most gamestore owners are just losers that got sick and ttired of living in a hoarder house of useless collectibles, so decided to sell them. then they get locked into the job, dont like it, have no clue how business works, so they never turn a real profit, and on top of all those problems, most of them have no social skills at all.
its a perfect storm of anti-sales conditions coming together in a sales environment.
most people are too nice to call it this, but this is what it is.
"They don't want to have employees repricing stuff all the time." *Definitely* a case of 'that wouldn't fly at the grocery store'--said as someone who's weekly job at the grocery store is to go around re-pricing things, as well as hang the weekly sales tags,
That's about to happen though. Pricing at grocery stores will be dynamic, and will change between when you pick up an item and when you scan it at the register. It's just a matter of time.
Walmart is leading the charge with digital price labels that can all be changed at the click of a button in real time. Others will follow.
@@darksci15 SHEEEEP! thats exactly what the goverment wants you to think. keep it up bud!
They’ve got digital price tags in different shops and grocery stores in Toronto. Helps align prices across stores with tap of a button. Figuring out driverless trucks for food delivery to stores… Meanwhile an avocado is $2.99, and tap of a button to change for peak pricing.
@@johnedwards5575 There *are* one or two places in town with 'digital' shelf tags, notably one of the office supply places. I don't know if they're networked or *just* LCD displays, though.
I was at a thrift store and saw a gamecube with smash bros melee cib for $40 Canadian. When i asked the guy to get it out of the display case, he said "oh that must be a mistake, that's a $50 game." I just said, well, I'll buy it for the price that's on it, and he hesitantly rang me through
Least he honored the price. That would be a green flag to return again
@@retrovisions_ I'd say yellow flag since he tried to rip him off but was too meek to follow through. Shouldn't have to be an assertive buyer to shop at a place without being taken advantage of.
@@nodak81 Pehaps. I couldnt understand the context when he said that must be a mistake. I wasnt sure if he said I need to change the price or if he was willing to sell at that price. But your right we the buyer shouldnt assertive just to buy an item. Buyers sadly always have to be aware, informed and be prepared to be assertive.
@@retrovisions_ yeah it's a place I continue to go back to, that guy wasn't there very long. I took it as though he was implying he wanted to up the price, but I was assertive enough so that he didn't feel like he could be shady lol
I absolutely hate how thrift stores behave these days. They get these things as free donations, usually pay little in location cost because the property is nearly derelict, don't clean anything, and then charge ebay prices for everything.
I like how you did not make Kelsey stand on a box for this video, yet this time you got on your knees this time!
THIS 👆 😂
This 😂😂😂
Or wear his wife's boots
The price switch thing happened to me as well, dude was gonna sell me Zelda 4 swords for 40$, no joke said it was mislabeled and wanted 90$ for it. Even funnier he bumped it up to 100$ next I went in there.
That's the first thought that came to my mind! Was MJR sitting down? Ah, the blessing of being tall!!
"Let me check the price online..."
- OK, you go do that while I walk out the door.
I will admit that some stores will say this just to make sure they sell it to you for less than eBay price. I have been to a couple of great stores that do it this way, but they're rare.
It's the standard. Everyone uses eBay last sold at toy stores game stores and collectible stores . Any store that is selling something thats second hand and not anymore sold in retail stores they will gauge the value based on what they have actually sold for . How else are they supposed to know the market price. What you'd rather them just make up a price ?
@@MikeHunt-lz2hq Nonsense. If you run a physical store and match everything with online prices, there is zero reason for anyone to bother walking into your store. They'd rather stay home and order stuff. Most second hand stores get their inventory well under 25 cents on the dollar. 50 cents tops on high valuables. You have to give locals a reason for walking in.
@randysmith7094 I don't agree with this. Seeing a secondhand item in person is always much more accurate what the condition is than online photos. Online can also accrue shipping fees, and takes time, verses going to a store and having it now.
@@randysmith7094I beg your more gracious pardon? How are they supposed to make money as a mom/pop store?
They don't just "make up their prices" NOBODY DOES.
They sell it in retail value to get profit so they can get more things in their store and PAY THE RENT FOR THE LOT?!
Did this NOT RING A BELL? HELLO?
All of this happens to me frequently at videogame shops, comic shops & vintage toy stores. Even once at a thrift shop. I refuse to buy if they do that with rare exceptions.
Happens SO MUCH in certain comic shops.
Jeeze . Just noticed you are almost at a million subs . Remember when you had a few thousand. Great job brother .
Thanks 👍
The worst part of going to a place without prices on their games is when you ask and the dude there just goes to ebay and its like.....if I wanted to pay ebay prices i'd just f**cking go to ebay!
Ebay is a good choice.i heard about whatknot is bad
I had this happen to me the other day. Owner didn't price a loose cart and he "looked it up in his system" and told me the price. I asked if he could do lower and he snarked "well you're already getting a good discount on those other games" (that he himself decided the sale prices on). I was spending a couple hundred dollars and he couldn't accept giving me a $7 discount. It's fine because I know where I can actually just order the game for a bit cheaper than his price.
Exactly! I actually have bought off eBay in front of an owner that did that to me before.
The stores have to compete with the online stores and what the prices are going for aswell keep this in mind all places do this if you don’t see any prices on a game don’t even pick it up
Where I live, every item is supposed to be priced by law. A store can get fined for not pricing items. This worked great for me when I found one of the Spider-Man PS3 games for $30 and it had just jumped to around $80 but they had to sell it at the price that was on it.
Man you gotta love a Kelsey guest episode!
Stick around cuz we filmed two videos that day. The next one is something people have asked for YEARS 👍
@@MetalJesusRocks Awesome!
The stickers in the cover paper drives me nuts.
@@MetalJesusRocks the address to her only fans?
@@MikeG82Cateyegluckgluck
Do you guys often get people trying to effectively steal from you by taking a price off of one item and putting it on a more expensive item? One of the stores I used to work retail at, selling shoes, had this problem consistently. It was however at least easy to know when people would do this, as part of the cardboard would come off on the stickers every time, and they'd never stick properly after tearing it off. If it wasn't much of a loss, I'd usually let them have it. Just because someone swapped tickets, doesn't mean it was that customer in particular, but I was NOT going to give the price for someone trying to get 80$ shoes with a 5$ clearance tag.
That's why it's nice to have price stickers that say what the item is on it
Grab a game with a $30 label.
"That's an old label, its actually $60"
Ok then I'm not buying it, and never coming back. If the value has gone up I guess you should have gotten off your ass and changed it instead of pulling a bait and switch.
Yep.
Never happened to us in UK
@@NSG_UK liar
@@ivanramos1809 it's against the law to do bait and switch in UK in retailing. DOH 😣
The store where I shop is great. I found a Banjo Kazooie on their $10 shelf, took it to the counter, the store owner admitted that it didn't belong on the $10 shelf, but sold it to me anyways.
I hate the way people price older games like they're going to get rich. Used to be able to go to a game store or flea market and get games for $5, $10 $15 a piece. Now it's $50-$80 a piece if not more. There was two retro gaming stores close to where I live selling older games for way too much. They didn't stay open long.
This is why I like buying xbox one games.. they're affordable.
It’s because all the resellers that don’t even play the games took over
@@b4rs629some original xbox games
I hate that too. I just want pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of sky, just the cartridge hell i dont even care if the sticker is all torn up but for some bizarre reason everyone on ebay wants to carge just for the cartridge, 80 to 100$. Im just wanting my childhood back and im not collecting for it or anything.
Well everybody wants them so they're gonna go up. And people are dumb enough to pay that price so they keep going up.
Easy solution to stores not posting prices on individual products is for them to do what funcoland did decades ago: print weekly price sheets of your inventory.
Yes, exactly!
I f'ing miss Funcoland
I have nostalgia for that increasingly giant “sheet” which was starting to look more like a small newspaper than a price sheet during the 16-but years. I can only imagine the modern equivalent would be the size of an old Sears Catalog from back in the day. 😂
@@MungkaeX yeah, if funcoland was still around, I feel like they would just have kiosks in the store where you could check the price by search or barcode.
@@depafeo which wouldn’t be any easier than just pulling it up on your phone.🤮
My biggest annoyance in general is if I walk into a game store and the nerds working there don't say anything to anyone, but just talk to themselves. Game stores don't exactly have an edge in terms of convenience and market competitiveness, so to act like you don't want to sell your products, is the biggest offense.
A lot of them do that!
I walked into a local shop yesterday that’s literally across the street from GS. They had zero customer service skill. They were all in their own little worlds busy organizing products and avoiding interacting with customers. I was there for about half an hour and left without buying anything.
Dude it’s insane not even a simple hello. Like at target they pushed us to do that and when I was in fast good
No prices: I've ran into this a couple times. I ask the price for something, the employee pulls out their phone, and I immediately say "I'm no longer interested". I then leave and never go back. No thanks!
On the topic of not posting prices, while it's not at a game store, I was at Lowe's looking for an AC unit and not a single one had a price tag, either on the box or on the palettes they were stacked on. I was midway through checking their website when I was like "wait, I'm a potential customer, I shouldn't have to do something like looking up their prices online, why should I give them my money if they can't be bothered to print out price labels in the store?" So I left. Like, unless it's a store where you can haggle, there's no excuse not to have the price either on the product case or on the shelf/palette they're displayed on...
Here's the thing: You don't get "annoyed" with red flags. You get MAD. Especially the sticker thing.
@ch-yq5yn This is about buying at a retro game store, not playing a game
the STICKERS drive me insane anymore. Comics, Games, you name it that stupid sticker tag won't come off ruins the plastic its awful.
I think you can still be polite but firm in your response to bad policies. ultimately, your business is what they want. Better to focus on that than reactions
I don't get annoyed or mad. I get offended, and that's why I wouldn't go back.
No, I get annoyed, actually
When they add a warranty without telling you and give you the total with the warranty included and tell you to pay, that's when it really kills me. Gamestop and one other shop have done this and it's absolutely horrible... Glad I usually keep track of the total before buying.
I live in BC, Canada. There was a game store in a city called Chilliwack back in 2015 and they were selling rare and/or expensive SNES carts like FF3, Chrono Trigger, EarthBound, with clearly computer printed labels. I noticed this at the counter, brought it up in a completely polite and non-accusatory manner, and the owner started screaming at me and walked me aggressively out of the store. The store shut down only about a year later, but clearly he was selling these counterfeits deliberately and felt exposed when I pointed that out. It's important to support brick-and-mortar game stores and keep them in business, but they aren't all worth your support.
Know of any good canadian retro game stores still going these days? I’m from Alberta and the same thing sort’ve happened to the game store here, around that time. Now it seems impossible to find
Many businesses don't seem to understand customer satisfaction and repeat customers, if I can get a decent deal on a more expensive game I've been wanting for a long time I'm going to keep coming back and I wont really feel bad about spending 10 bucks on an impulse buy that's market value is 5 because the store provided me with a good service and respects me as a customer
I agree. If the item in store is a little bit more but I have a great experience. I am more likely to return.
Haven't run into a game store that didn't price anything, but I did see a retro game seller at ECCC this year that was doing that. My gf was looking through the games and I noticed nothing was priced and the staff were constantly looking up prices on their phones. I pointed out what was happening, she stopped looking through their inventory, & we walked away. If as a store or a seller, you can't be bothered to price your inventory beforehand, you don't deserve to be a seller.
What the fuck is that?
I can't blame you for not wanting to deal with people that don't do their job right, specially if you are a customer.
I've seen your videos every so often over the years, and I'll watch a few at a time since I enjoy you quite a bit! I just now noticed how close you are to 1M subscribers, so I immediately clicked the "subscribe" button. Hope to see you hit 1M soon!!
"We don't put prices on our games because we don't want our employees to have to do their jobs." Is such an insane take.
The more usually reason is that they don't want to pay for the employee labor involved. Which is somewhat legit as the prices at a 2nd hand shop is a lot more variable than it would be when the stuff is new.
There's a few red flags I've experienced.
When an employee acts like every small task is a world ending experience.
I've had a few times like the repricing register, only I put it on hold and it's been repriced while it was on hold.
I've had a few employees straight up buy things out of my hold stack.
Just a few things off the top of my head.
Comic book stores do this too and I hate it! I've brought tons of books to register only for them to tell me "oh this sticker isn't ours, the ACTUAL price is...(goes on phone to look up modern market price)." I always tell them never mind when they do that.
Pretty king👑 move because they gotta put all those books back where you found them lol
Yeah, I've had that happen to me at Mile High Comics, telling me it's an 'old' sticker while they go on their website to look up what it says.
They inflate their prices to begin with, but that particular instance is the primary reason why I don't buy from them anymore.
Just happened to me recently. Almost none of the back issues (which there were tons of) were priced. I asked about pricing, and they basically just said it's a lot of work to price everything, so they check prices whenever you bring them up to the counter for purchase. It took like 2-3 minutes for the clerk to check the ONE comic book I brought up, and it was a nothing book that sold for $3.
It's annoying when the shop isn't busy, and the staff can't be bothered to say hello or be friendly to the customers coming in.
I was gonna say the same thing. I mean, they work in a game store, not a 7-11...I actually had better customer service at a 7-11 the other day than when I went to a game store a few days prior.
I walked out over a single euro, I would never accept a price change mid transaction.
Too right, it's about the principle. I'd do the same
Where I am it wouldn’t be legal to change the displayed price.
I believe a price change like that is even illegal in France, and in many other countries as well I'm sure.
@@francishelie8658 Yeah I'm kind of floored that this is a discussion. In the UK it's illegal to display a price and try to charge an increased one at the till.
Was at a chain store that sells retro games. Had a copy of a very collectible 360 game behind the check out counter. I asked them about it and was told it was “trash” and would be thrown away. I then said well, I’ll just take the chance on it is there any way I can get it. Employee says yeah if I can I’ll just give it to you since it’s being trashed. Guy calls manager and manager says no. I then explain how collectible of a game it is (mind you it’s pretty beat up and in tough shape, water damage etc but disk is salvageable) guy says he’ll try to get it and will call me back and just give it to me to make me happy as a customer. He calls me back an hour later and says “my boss has decided to put it on the shelf for sale for $90” which was the price charting and eBay price for a clean CIB copy. Outrageous business practice! Completely turned me off. Super shady. Took a game they considered trashed and in bad shape, found out is was collectible and put it on the shelf for full going price.
Ah yeah, a game that looked like it survived the end of the world, totally worth $90!
Sounds like GameStop
I don't understand why the employee would call the manager, this whole scenario makes no sense to me.
I hope you learned your lesson about not to blab how much their trash is another man's treasure and you got left with nothing in the end.
Playing devil's advocate: Not supposed to tell them that prices are lower than what they should be. That got his attention, he went to eBay, took a quick glance (not at what sold, at what's active) and now it's going to sit there forever.
Seeing fakes float around in stores and the store owners not even knowing that they're fakes is also a giant red flag. Like, do you even know your product?
Not everyone who owns a game store knows the games as well as you would think they do. You can tell when you make note to them about and see how they react when you show them why. A honest business person will usually be more humble and apologetic about things if you show them proof of why the item is a fake. Instead of being arguing about it and flat out telling you your wrong even if you can show them proof. Takes all kinds I guess but not all store owners know their stuff like you the customer does
@@retrovisions_ If you're a retro game store owner you should be an expert on what you sell and recognize fake products. That's my take.
@@thatssomegoodpie I totally agree with you if your going to have a store know what your selling and buying. Ive seen many stores in many states that I think people got into the game selling scene cause it was a trend but had little to no idea what they had and what was worth money or not. But then again that's how we get all those posts online about how they scored this rare item cheap. Some store owners dont know what they have.
I once worked at a game store that had a very knowledgeable, and "somewhat" fairly paid staff. We all were collectors, and enthusiasts. We knew our games, we knew our cards. We had regulars that loved to be there. Then owner started hiring young "first job" kids, paid them less, and the old guard started getting "pushed out". I was one of the last who remained, doing inventory, price checks and updates, sticker changes, organization. I watched as less and less of our regulars came in, and we started catering more to selling copies of COD to moms with whining children. I stood by as I was told to raise prices by a percent here, a percent there... and saw our trade policy offer less and less, watched as our owners started wanting to "copy gamestop" practices, and I watched as our collectors... started taking their trades across town. It was also my job to go through the recent trades to clean them up, repair, price, and shelf. The amount of fake games and cards, or junked games and damaged cards that the new kids accepted in trade... was astonishing. But that's what you get when you make those decisions as a business. This made my job un-enjoyable, and created more work for me. I eventually left as well. My dream job was no longer my dream job.
Some of them know, they're just hoping you don't.
From Quebec in Canada, we do have some annoying law here, but one that is great is that a retailer is obligated to sell you a product for the price it's marked has. And actually, if it's a price on the shelves and they don't have to price every single item, they need to match the price and discount it 10$ or give it free if under 10$.
I own a store and often people are surprised by how much I offer for trade in. I just see it as fair, but we've been conditioned for the last 25 years to expect so little.
The stores I deal with, will lower the price of the game when I bring it up to the counter if it changed, but never raise it! These brick-and-mortar shops wonder why they can't stay open. I asked one random shop to open Breath of Fire 2 and they looked at me like I was crazy. They didn't even have the tool to open it.
Not having tools to open carts tells me they don't test and clean them correctly.
Bet they did have the tool, but knew the game was a fake and lied
They lower the price at the counter to make you feel like you're getting a deal. It's just a tactic.
@@davidhendew6632 I ended up buying it. It was real.
Not having the drivers to open carts is a HUGE red flag. That just tells me THEY didnt even open it to check.
If a store says “let me check price charting” I say never mind walk out and never come back.
The only time I tolerate that is if I watch the game come in while I am browsing and it needs to be priced before I can buy it. That has happened to me on more then one occasion with a title I had been looking for for a while.
@@paulbalch9506 Yep, that's a completely legitimate reason to check the site. Most games will fluctuate a bit, but not so much that they're going to be out of pocket more than what it will sell for and the added cost of regularly repricing can eat up any additional money you could make.
That's the same with the 15 min rule for restauraunts. I can understand if they are swamped, but imagine if they never came up to you once or never even apologized for being later than expected.
If that happened & I was waiting 10+ min, no tip. If I have been waiting 15+ minutes, I am out the door & good luck if you are still employed.
I can totally understand a store not wanting customers being able to unscrew a game cartridge. Losing those little screws or stripping the threads of the cart isn't hard to do.
The store by me will say “I’m not gonna let you open it but I will open it and you can check it out”. There problem solved
Also you shouldn't handle the internals.
Yeah I don't want a cart that random people have been opening up and messing with.
Or a store where every slip cover is sun bleached
We had a store in our area that kept games in the front window and they were all sun bleached. It was sad to see. They eventually went out of business...
I drove two hours to a store…to see greatest hits ps2 games looking orange. Cover those windows!
Game popular with this...CEX uses photo copied either in colour or black and white.
This is valid for two reasons. First you know they don't care about the condition of their inventory. Second, you know their inventory isn't priced to move because it's been sitting long enough to get damaged.
The Movie Trading Company near where I used to live had their used Xbox games facing the front window. Every single game was sun bleached. They eventually moved the games away from the window, but the damage was done.
I bought several "new" games online from Gamestop and most of them arrived open and some with significant ware. I when into a store to return them and the guy explained very condescendingly how they were unused but open because they "gut" the cases. I'll never be buying from them again, in no world is an open game considered new.
Similar happened with me where I got 3 DS games from the GameStop website since I had some leftover gift cards and none of them arrived in the original case shown on the website and 2 of them didn’t work
The employee I refunded it to was cool though they saw it looked dirty and immediately refunded it
GS is getting into selling retro games now too. Can you imagine how many repros they're gonna sell as legit? They're scummy af.
ah yes, that happened to me last year as well. i did a chargeback when they refused to refund and never shopped there again.
Thank goodness GS changed to fake case and sealed real years aho
"No Prices on games" This is the game shop closest to me. It bothers me so much. I don't like to grab a game and ask "How much is it." It makes me feel obligated that I have to buy it anyways. I don't. But it gives me anxiety. Like, sir, put prices. Stop looking up online to see how much it is, because you do change prices. I've heard you do it.
seems like it would be easier to put a tag on something, than have people aske over and over what the price is.
but again, might not be an issue since i think its unanimous that a lot of people dont shop at those stores.
Take 20 games to the counter and ask them how much they are. After they've looked them all up, tell them "thanks, now I know" and walk away.
Stores that do this are losing out on so many sales. For everyone one person that tracks down the employee to ask, there are probably 10 that just don't bother.
As for the pricing, when working at Radio Shack, we were told that Policy was, if we had a lower price on the item than it was going for (failed to pull a sales tag, for example) that we would honor the lower price for the Customer. I agree the Price Charting thing gets super annoying. There is also the 'clearance' pricing, I have seen at GameStop, where the price is actually raised by 2 dollars, then dropped by 2 cents, so that it is on 'clearance' for higher than the previous marked price. I have some label peeling tools my Wife got for me, for my own game collection, which do a good job of peeling stickers one at a time from the five or six in a stack on some GS games. I've seen some crazy stuff. Thank you for the great information!
I love your closeup of the spine sticker on that copy of Whiteout. That sticker is still on the backing paper. You can just slide it right out. A lot of GameStop employees will go the extra mile to do this because they know how much people hate stickers on cases (themselves included).
In UK raising the price at the till is illegal. They either honour the price or remove from sale for 24 hours
True. If an item is on the shelf with a price, they have to sell for that price or lower. I got a camera several years ago from Argos, using this consumer rights regulation. I did have to stand my ground and ask to speak to the store manager to explain it to him though.
@@GarethColquhoun absolutely I've had to argue it as a customer before
Yeah it's happening to me quite alot in supermarkets. The till price is more expensive than the sticker price. They have to give you the sticker price.
It’s illegal in the US as well. Doesn’t mean it never happens.
@@GarethColquhoun That is completely wrong though. Argos may have honoured the label price in order to provide better customer service, but they can simply refuse to sell it at the label price if they believe it to be wrong.
One thing I've been noticing is that rarer and higher value items will not have a price tag, forcing me to haggle like I'm buying furniture in the 1930s.
If it doesn't have a price... assume it's highly overpriced in worse condition.
When I encounter some items without the price tag, I normaly say out loud "Oh noice, it's free" xD
Some countries still haggle over the price. And once you get used to it, it's not that big of a deal. It just happens to be more cost effective in most cases to not have to waste time hagglign over the pricing than for the shop to just put a price on it ahead of time.
@@SmallSpoonBrigade Yeah okay if I'm buying a copy of "2500-in-1 Real Marios Games" for the NES while vacationing in Greece I'll keep this mind.
@@mynie 700 games is the biggest ive seen with 10 different moded versions of each game...but it was back in the 90s in my remote town renting place
If people have a smile like Kelsey you know they love what they do, keep up the good work!!
These are the differences between an owner that is just in it for the money and an actual ENTHUSIAST/COLLECTOR like Kelsey that knows how to properly take care of her inventory and customers. It's the entire reason Pink Gorilla stores are doing great. People see that attention to detail and would go out of their way to shop at a store that treats their customers and products, right. You wouldn't believe how many game stores I've been into and have asked for certain things or certain games (nothing even rare or trivial) and the OWNER is like "I've never heard of that before"....Really? How do you even have this store right now, I didn't even ask for anything extraordinary? I once asked an owner if they had any 3DO controllers and the guy had never even heard of a 3DO....I walked right back out because I already knew how the rest of the experience at that store was gonna go.
So you walked out of a store because the owner didn't have the controller (Let alone a working controller) to a console he had never heard of and was completely overshadowed by the PS1 and N64 only a few years later? And then you decided you'd have a bad experience at the store all because of that? Really?
@@moist1700 In all fairness, yes that is kind of obscure, the main reason I'd walk over that is if I was looking for more obscure things and a different shop had them. If I wanted the standard Nintendo, Atari, Sega, Sony or MS stuff, it probably wouldn't put me off if they didn't have any Phillips or Neogeo gear.
I can tell you this; I've never had anyone lower the price at the register. Funny how that works.
That happened to me at a CeX store in Portugal. The game was 2€ cheaper than the sticker price because it had recently droped but they hadn't changed the sticker
I’ve had this happen to me a few times. shout out to Play-It in Hilliard, OH.
My local GameXchange here in north Texas is actually pretty good about that -- they will give you the lower price if it dropped, and a couple of times I remember them honoring a sticker price when it jumped. Now, if the price jumped by more than $20, I don't know if that would hold, but they have definitely honored it on minor swings.
@@baronhausenpheffer Game Xchange was the exact place I was thinking of when making this post. In my area they are the worst.
I got off the train and it was torrential rain, so I walked into the nearest shop and bought an umbrella priced at 12 quid. The till rang it up as 4 quid. Bonus!
There's a store near me that hits one of my worst red flags: They NEVER test their stuff. The one positive is they are honest if you ask, but they lie when you go in cause it says they have a "guarantee" that everything works
Don't trust this, especially if you're shopping hardware or CD based games! Make sure your game clerk says it's tested!
OMG Electronics Boutique in Hemel in the UK was horrendous for this - the amount of games we had to take back ...
I used to run a used game store. Let me tell you, it's virtually impossible to test every game that gets traded in. There's just not enough time in the day to do that. We tested systems and controllers, and would test some games if they looked rough, but if a game was clean we couldn't take the time to test it. Certain games, like Pokémon, we would always test, because people often tried to trade in ones with bad batteries that wouldn't save. And if a disc game was scratched we would test it after resurfacing. But we did have systems in the store to play on, so if a customer wanted to make sure the copy of Earthbound he was buying worked we could fire it up for him.
We also had a guarantee like the one you mentioned. The guarantee was that the games would work in the condition that we sold them in, or you could return them and get your money back. That way, if someone traded in a very clean copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 that we didn't have time to test, and it wound up not working, the customer that bought it could bring it back.
Sorry for the long post. I miss my time at the game store.
@@RevLink "if a customer wanted to make sure the copy of Earthbound he was buying worked we could fire it up for him"
Yeah, perhaps one part of the disc reads fine...a bootup test isn't very useful. A lot of games won't read further into the data, and may only appear after a person has 20 hours into the game. Full disc integrity scans in a PC (or ISO rips in some cases such as the gamecube/wii versus using a slow, compatible PC drive such as a 8161) is the only way to know for certain. I fully scan every game I purchase specifically because of this problem with optical media.
This made me think of this - if a game shop does this: shops that try to resurface bluray discs. I've seen them on the shelf, and I doubt any worked.
@@RevLink Yep, as a practical matter, that's about the best you're going to do. That's especially true of disc based systems where there might well be an unreadable sector that doesn't get access until you're midway through the game. No store is going to have the resources to playthrough every game that comes in.
@@masejoer That's one of the reasons that I hate that games went to discs. I've rarely had issues with ancient carts going bad, but sometimes the discs will and it's a lot harder to check.
This was very helpful thank you for making this video!
I find it annoying when sellers use stock photos online. That doesn't really show you if you are truly buying the full game or just the disc or cartridge. As for game stores it's kinda frustrating when a gamestore can't find the game you want despite having the case out on the floor or when they give you the wrong game in the wrong case. And don't even get me started on selling consoles to gamestop
I agree... If there isn't a picture of the actual item I don't even bother with it.
@gabrielgoldwoulfe2277 if it's from goodwill then I may go for it
My local game store lowered the price for me considerably on a 3DS game that had gone down. I didn't even ask for anything like that. They are awesome.
Opening game cartridges when the store is full is not practical. They can open it for you but it takes up time so you need to be patient as well. People can be pretty annoying and waste everyone's time. I've seen customers that are ridiculously frustrating to the store owner.
Nice video and thanks for having Kelsey here as a guest in this video too!
Another annoying thing I've seen is when shops still have old price stickers from previous shops that it was sold or from when their own shop priced the item lower. Like scribble out the price or remove the stickers, it's not hard to price things clearly.
DK Oldies should take notes 😅
Most definitely.
Hate that place 😂 Real criminals !
What's bad about them?
@@MRkriegs there's a million YT videos to explain why. TL;DR they are up to bull💩
Deadass
What’s really annoying is when the store uses the highest price from recent sales on pricecharting when they sell their games and the lowest price on recent sales for trade ins. I get it but I’m just not coming back when they pull that shit. Just keep the number the same throughout and then do your calculations for trade in values.
Taking a game's case to the register, and finding they don't have any copies of that game in stock.
That's annoying. I'm guessing that somebody stole a copy out of the back if that happened.
I have a lesser annoyance: when I go to any brick and mortar store, to try and throw money into the community and whatnot, and they're CLOSED. Check the hours, yep, not supposed to be closed, but here we are.
Yes, this! I went to The Retro Game Cave in Ridgefield, NJ and nothing had a price tag. There were TONS of hidden gems but when I brought them up to counter the owner just checked eBay on his phone for each individual game and added another $10. Then, when I turned down the games, he insulted me basically saying I need to spend more money if I want a decent collection. Took my business elsewhere.
If I don't see prices on games, I'm not even going to ask them how much. One store near me does this, and they always ask 2x as much as Ebay prices...
If I walk into a store like that, I just walk right back out and never come back; very unprofessional.
That sort of thing gives me flashbacks to going into a little convenience store when I was a kid and nothing was priced. I asked what the price of a pack of gum was and was accused of trying to get it for less than the asking price. I don't think I ever went in there again and the store did eventually close, although that may have been due to the retirement of the owner.
Another thing for me is employees with bad attitudes. Like the least personable people who want you out. Why hire them? I had one guy just nag me out of a store, another guy look like i pissed him off for asking him to test a game.
Not having prices labeled is always annoying, no matter the product. I hate stores that pull that s**t!
Stickers are one of the biggest pet peeves for me as a collector since they make my collection look less pristine on my shelf’s. Here’s a tip. Boil some water and hold it over the steam to melt the glue and the sticker will peal off easily as long as you go slowly. You can also use a heat gun or space heater if you have one of those handy. Basically you can use any kind of heat source that’s not an open flame. Although I’ve never tried this method on cardboard, it works great on cases with plastic sleeves. Regardless, hope that helps 🙂
Peanut butter removes glue residue, if on plastic
Do NOT use steam from boiled water. You'll get moisture damage to some of the paper even if it has a moisture barrier. And if the game is a cartridge, moisture can degrade the metals. Using a heat gun, hair dryer, etc. is not a bad option. For tougher stickers, consider Bestine or Goo Gone.
@@The5hark Absolutely, never use that method on cartridges. I meant more modern cases. That was my bad lol
Hair dryer should help soften the glue
Waaahh my excite bike has a sticker on it waaahhh..... first world 🌎 problems 😂😂😂😂
The stickers have to be my number 1 pet peeve like just do them right
Right! Stickers are the bane of my existence! I’ve probably got cancer from all the goo-gone I’ve used
Stickers
Gamestop cases, but want full price.
yeah i agree at 7:50 I walked out of store once for putting stickers right on the covers underneath the plastic cause it just Loooks ugly and the stickers are difficult enough to get off the plastic but when its on the cover your 2 choices are: rip the cover or be forever reminded where you bought this junk from or even go on ebay and buy a replacement cover which is always annoying
The helicopter salesman is what makes me leave the fastest. You can be attentive without hovering and pestering
Worked at local game store, and the owner insisted on ordering dirt cheap repros of Pokemon games and selling them at full price. I was always sure to tell customers but he definitely didn't. Like half of them came back with weird bugs or non-working saves, but it was still "worth it" despite bothering most of the actual collectors in the area.
You know in the short term that'll work out. People would not be a wiser. But, later on they would be. And in the long run the store would fail. 481 develop a reputation of dishonesty. And people talk. I know I don't run a game store, but if I did, I would have the rule no 9 genuine games being sold. I don't know if I would give them away for free. That I can't say for sure. But I would know I would not sell them or accept them.
...he was selling counterfeit Pokemon games at full price? Wow,
some business owners don't seems to understand the importance of repeat customers. most customers that have a bad experience don't complain, they just don't come back.
In Japan the game stores put a protective plastic sheet around the games and then puts the stickers on that
Yeah I love that, stops them getting more dirty on the shelves as well. Loved visiting game stores when I went to Japan!
Japan understands the assignment best when it comes to used tech stores. Everyone else needs to take note
I love seeing that y’all still associate and make videos together.
I had a bad experience with a game shop in Hammonton NJ. I actually bought from this guy when it was in the corner of the antique shop next door. I went into shop a few years later and wanted to buy some handhelds. I had to confirm with my wife to make sure they weren’t the same ones we already had. After talking with the person at the counter I took some pictures of the products and sent them to her when I hear the owner of the store chime in over a PA. “Don’t film my cases”.
Now if there was a sign posted in front of the store then fine. However there wasn’t one posted and the person working the counter did not tell me about taking pictures. This store not only lost out on a big sale but lost my business forever. If you’re that concerned about your inventory than be at the store to enforce your policies in person instead of behind a security monitor.
You know that's the kind of boss sitting infront of the monitors noting every little thing their employee does
I know what store you are talking about lol
@@TheRealPapaChico you had a bad experience too?
@@V-max97 yeah the guy was grumpy as shit. Also refused to purchase my snes repros Japan translated English rpgs. Then about a month later I go in and he all the sudden is selling repros lol.
in case you are unaware for sticker removal, using a heat gun or hair dryer to warm up the sticker/glue can often allow it to be peeled off in one piece. small retail tip there as most ppl seem unaware of this trick. (doesnt always work but always worth trying)
Yes, you just have to be a bit careful when doing that. But,t he adhesive should start to soften before the plastic does.
@@SmallSpoonBrigade i used to have to do this to get stickers off of shrink wrapped packaging heh. i would realize i was heating it too much if the shrink wrap started shrinking more or developing holes
Grumpy Bobs hits most of these red flags and easily the worst shopping experience I've ever had. They attempt to defend their bad business practices by guilt tripping you into they are a “small business”.
If they keep that crap up they're gonna go from a small business to a no business.
Grumpy bob and Barbara. There’s a shop near me that the wife is the bummer. Bob ain’t so bad
I sell games on ebay.
I always take photos of the back of the disc and I'm brutally honest about condition.
It hasn't compromised my ability to sell; folks still buy off me.
My worst experience was this overly talkative employee who gave his overly dramatic and negative opinion on everything I said and looked at. He asked me what I was playing, I said FF7, he said that one "fu@#$ng sucks". I said I was going to play FF9 on my Switch next, he insisted I didn't know what was talking about because he didn't believe me that the game existed on Switch. I eventually grabbed a single 360 game to buy, he read the label while ringing me up and said "__, huh? I've never played this. Probably because it's fu@#$ng stupid".
I have never gone back.
Well I like that guys attitude and open mindedness and how he clearly speaks his mind.
@@gabrielgoldwoulfe2277 yes because its great to tell customers in your store that their interests are stupid.
Definitely out of business
@@gabrielgoldwoulfe2277 This seems like sarcasm, but I'll bite. There's a time and place, but it also depends on how you say it. It doesn't make much sense to trash the interests of the person about to give you money. I'm not one of those people that think salespeople shouldn't express opinions to customers, especially when it comes to video games. It can lead to interesting conversation, recommendations (for you or the customer) and other things, but it's important to be respectful of someone else's tastes, even if they're not your own, especially if they're giving you money.
@@richardsinclair7661 Your BS detector seems to work... Yes of course it's sarcasm.
If I get a deal at a certain store I’m definitely going back to spend more money. If I see everything is overpriced I’m never going back.
I was at a store in Florida on my vacation recently and they had a copy of a game that was 229.99 and it looked like the sticker was put on there in 2022. The game goes for $85 to 100 maybe $120 tops. Places need to check inventory and adjust prices regularly, thats a pet peeve of mine.
There are shops in my area that pretty much do all of these things and I just stopped going in years ago. Stinks.