Gamestop's incredibly awful points program

[Cthulhu]

Hoo boy... I mean, I know I shouldn't expect too much out of them... this is Gamestop, after all... but their points program is _awful_. I don't even want to think about how much crap you have to buy to get even marginal rewards stuff. 20000 points or something asinine to get a 360 messaging controller add on?

Yech.

[BulletMagnet]

Considering how little they fork out for most trade-ins it shouldn't surprise anyone that "point rewards" don't come easily either (then again, is there ANY similar system that comes remotely close to giving you something resembling value for your money? Remember the deformed plastic comb you could get with 55,000 tickets at your old arcade?), but considering that the company previously offered no bonus whatsoever for purchases one can't get too peeved, since even if it isn't much it's more than you'd get before.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Gamestop is incredibly awful in every possible way.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Internet is full of brief statements, isn't it?

[Udderdude]

In before Gamestop sucks haiku.

[BryanM]

(then again, is there ANY similar system that comes remotely close to giving you something resembling value for your money?)

BRE Software used to give you a free game if you bought two of them, two free games if you bought three of them.

It was so goddamn wonderful that never again will humanity ever see the like of it again. The world is dying, after all.

okay maybe for the next eight seconds some places might do something like that. Still on life support though.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Although theres no K-mart in the UK so it doesnt affect me. But i heard theyre giving $25 vouchers with every full priced game ($15 for DS) which can be used on the next game you buy which in turn gets you another voucher.

[Jockel]

All this bashing against gamestop... try opening a videogame store and see for yourself how long you can stay in business.
Their service and clueless employees still suck, though

[Lordstar]

reward schemes are just ways to try and keep you loyal. I shop around and which ever is cheapest i go with them. I wont use play.com though they are in my exprience just a complete waste of time. Be it items arriving a week affte release despite preordering weeks in advance, Not giving me the free gift or DLC code with games and broken damaged games and then disputing my claims time and time again. Amazon.co.uk have been great there other user based stores are fucking incredible often getting items to me with massive discounts but with the same great service amazon.co.uk use. I know a lot of people dont like amazon but they have never done me wrong over the long time ive been using them. items dont turn up they just send out another no quibble. For me knocking off a couple of pennies here is not that important or a reward scheme which requires me to buy lots of get something of worth later holds little to no intrest for me. But good service and items delivred in a timley manner with fair prices is.

[honorless]

I've got nothing against GameStop as a whole, but this points program leaves a sour taste in my mouth because my genius fiancé bought into the "pay-for" tier during the midnight New Vegas launch...when I wasn't there to point out that it wasn't worth it, and apparently he wasn't awake enough to do the math. Ugh.

...Oh, well! I hadn't gotten around to looking at the redemption details at all, so it's nice to know that the rewards we won't be spending enough to earn are pretty pathetic.

[louisg]

All this bashing against gamestop... try opening a videogame store and see for yourself how long you can stay in business.
Their service and clueless employees still suck, though

Every independent game store I have ever visited was better than GameStop. Of course they're all out of business now; foided shortly after GameStops sprang up like weeds.

FunCoLand was better too. I liked that I used to be able to browse for retro systems.

[Jockel]

Every independent game store I have ever visited was better than GameStop. Of course they're all out of business now.

My point entirely, really.
They're just able to survive because they pay their employees a shitty wage and because of used game sales.
The profit margin on new games is rather low, and that's assuming that you're able to sell every single game you buy at full price.
Add costs for your shop, employees, etc. and you're damn lucky if you break even at the end of the month.

[louisg]

Every independent game store I have ever visited was better than GameStop. Of course they're all out of business now.

My point entirely, really.
They're just able to survive because they pay their employees a shitty wage and because of used game sales.
The profit margin on new games is rather low, and that's assuming that you're able to sell every single game you buy at full price.
Add costs for your shop, employees, etc. and you're damn lucky if you break even at the end of the month.

I'm not really sure independents went out of business because the profit margin was slim.. I think they just couldn't compete when there were several GameStops in the same town. I'd be surprised even if GameStop isn't in Starbucks' position of competing with itself (should I go to this GameStop, or this other one across the street?). The game industry really is pretty huge, so I'd be surprised if an independent store would be having all that much trouble if there were fewer game stores to visit overall (and if Internet sites like Amazon weren't taking a toll). In at least one case, I saw a successful smaller store bought out by GameStop.

It's kind of interesting, because at least when small booksellers were driven out of business, it was because the bigger stores could afford to offer insane discounts (and coffee bars, etc). On the other hand, GameStop is always priced retail as far as I can tell and their policies suck. I still go there, but I have to ask myself why.

This is all going to be academic in about a decade anyway; I will be shocked if game companies don't entirely move to online distribution (assuming the internet keeps getting faster and storage sizes keep increasing at the rate that they have been).

[Lordstar]

I would be intrested to know just how much gamestop pay every year on sdvertising. I am in the UK and have never been to one of there stores but i still get bombed with advertisements via youtube/kotaku and other sites of the like.

[Ganelon]

I think the GameStop website is improving its services. They sometimes choose better shipping material nowadays and have actually began handing out pre-order bonuses more reliably (which was one of the biggest reasons I hated when they had pre-order bonuses).

They also have good deals on games as well (25% off any game was amazing while it lasted) but you have to be vigilant in looking for them and taking advantage before they expire.

One problem is that their email services are still woefully inadequate (almost Play-Asia level) and while their phone line always has a long hold, the reps are helpful. And when I requested that they add back the filter to show games with pre-order items, they agreed and did so surprisingly quickly (and kudos to Amazon for doing the same after I asked them).

As for this new rewards system, the points are laughable but if the card works online and the Pro's 10% discount on all games (not just used like the old pay card) can be stacked on top of other coupons, then this would easily be well worth it. I don't count on that happening though.

Whatever the case, we now live in an era where many game retailers are offering discounts on new releases (Amazon, GameStop, and K-Mart all offering $20 coupons at times) so something is going on. And we the consumers will be benefiting from this competition.

[antron]

Don't worry guys. They will all be gone once the producers start banning used video game sales using the Autodesk ruling (in the US at least).

If you hadn't heard, if the fine print says the transfer of the software to you is a license, and not a sale, then you cannot trasfer it to someone else without their permission.

[Specineff]

When I was working at Macy's, they had a program in which they gave you points for whatever you spent. The more you spent, the higher your level, and the more points per dollar spent would be awarded...

Until I realized that you'd need to spend about 2500 bucks to get twenty-freaking-five dollars in gift certificates.

But hey, people would take lead grain to put in their soup if you gave it away with a game purchase.

EDIT: This feels geared more towards the average gamer that buys the FPS/Sports/Wrestling game of the week and trades it in quite soon, towards the purchase of another game. (IE, 80% of Lamestop's clientele)

[undamned]

I see it as bonus, not incentive. I'm not going to buy crap at gamestop "'cause I get points!" but if I do happen to buy something there, it's nice to get something extra. I have a friend that does nothing but game/system sales/trades locally and he dumps certain items at Gamestop and then uses credit to buy stuff he can actually sell easily for cash (which works out pretty good if you keep your ear to the ground on their stackable trade deals). I have a feeling that if there's anything good that can come of this points system, he'll be the one to capitalize on it.
-ud

[Matsunaga]

The new points system is better than the old one. You used to get 10% off used games and a bonus 10% for trade ins. I don't often buy used games from them, because they put stickers all over the cases, and often try to not give you the manual. I also never trade in games to them, they give you about 10% of what you could sell your games for on ebay or amazon. At least now you can get a $5 or $10 coupon for anything in the store, and you don't have to buy too many games to get enough points for them. Plus, you get the Game Informer subscription, which is good for reading in the bathroom, I guess. Bottom line is, it's better than it used to be.

[Ed Oscuro]

OK, I know you guys don't like the points program, but come on, let's be reasonable about it

[antron]

[louisg]

OK, I know you guys don't like the points program, but come on, let's be reasonable about it

Whoa.. and he was holed up in a videogame store too. Awesome.

[KindGrind]

Every new game they sell is 5$ more expensive than the other shops around here, and they consistenly give less than competitors for trade-ins.

People will start doing the math someday; I did a while ago.

...I mean EVERYBODY ELSE sells the new games cheaper than them. Is GS so overconfident?

[antron]

Every new game they sell is 5$ more expensive than the other shops around here, and they consistenly give less than competitors for trade-ins.

People will start doing the math someday; I did a while ago.

...I mean EVERYBODY ELSE sells the new games cheaper than them. Is GS so overconfident?

that is a service charge for unwrapping the game and testing at home to make sure it works.

[KindGrind]

Yes, of course.

Then they sell the game as "new" although it's opened and the box was on display, already smudged and nicked.

"But it's our last one..."

Screw you.

[undamned]

People will start doing the math someday

No, they won't. The existence of GS today is a testament of the stupidity of American gamers.
-ud

[Cthulhu]

Yes, of course.

Then they sell the game as "new" although it's opened and the box was on display, already smudged and nicked.

"But it's our last one..."

Screw you.

Exactly. Anytime they don't have a non-gutted one I won't buy it, no matter how many excuses they make.

Back when I worked at Electronics Boutique (10 years ago now? yech, I feel old) we would only gut one copy of a game. Now it seems like they make dozens of shelf copies. Bleh.