Out with the old, out with the new

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

I can safely tell u from a source close to me that the average wholesale cost per unit of a new release is about 22.99-24.99 not including VAT.

So basically a videogame store Co has to have plenty of funds in order to either buy a ****load & get a good deal from the supplier or buy a ****load & make very little profit off each unit but the total profit due to the amount purchased would be high.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Where does it say there that you bought a crappy game ?
The sales of goods act states if you made a mistake, bought the wrong colour or size you are not intitled to anything.
If you bought a 360 game and it plays in your 360 its fit for purpose and works as stated

Yeah, but JohnBeaulieu returned his because it was loose in the sealed case, got scratched because of this & was faulty when he bought it, then got a sarky comment from the sales assistant & so decided to say **** it I'll have a refund & buy elsewhere.

GAME also need to sort out this removing new games from their cases malarkey. In almost all cases when they do this the game is marked either by greasy fingers or u get a line mark where the edge of the manual & disc meet. In my opinion those games are now 2nd hand because of their condition & thats why I only buy sealed games if/when I buy from GAME.

Why cant they do what Woolies do & put out dummy cases FFS!!

[Lebowski]

Why cant they do what Woolies do & put out dummy cases FFS!!

This is one of my pet peves with game to, your not getting a new game and your not getting a new box but there the most expensive place on the high street.

Gamestation are far worse at selling supposed new stuff though, they tried to sell me a scratched to death copy of starwars battlefront that they had been playing on the demo machine behind the counter, he spent a good five mins hunting for the game before he picked it up off the counter behind him the thing was scratched to death and as it was the last copy in the shop i declined the purchase and went elsewhere some poor sod proably got that game though.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Its another reason why I rarely shop at GAME.
I used to work at my local 7 I've seen staff out the back separating games & manuals while theyre chomping on doritos n choccies, so its no wonder the discs are wrecked!!

[Sabreman]

I can tell you that a high street game shop - especially an indie - makes practically nothing on new games. Certain publishers like EA have a rigid set price for their wares (the most expensive in EA's case I might add). If an indie gets forced into a price match with Asda or even GAME's deal of the week they'll essentially be selling the games at cost. Asda and it's competitors don't care as their philosophy on selling games is much like everything else they sell aside from food - it gets people into the shop and it's something surplus to pick up while you're spending the real money on your weekly food (what supermarkets make their profits on). Games are subsidised.

This is also the reason why a returned new game has to come back completely mint. Game shops simply can't afford to take the hit on putting a full-price-paid-for new title back out onto the shelves at secondhand price (they would be actually losing money), so the refusal on a return is justified if it's in any way soiled.

Our shop still employs a 10-day return. I've never been particularly happy about it but we started doing it to compete with GAME and Gamestation. In the end it hasn't been quite as bad as I'd initally imagined, but over the years we have had more than our fair share of aggravation over it. Not the same as a guarantee return I should clarify - that's pretty much essential for used games. Full refund for 'not liking' a game is wrong in my personal opinion. People should be more aware of what they're buying for a start, especially with a medium so easily abused as games, films or music. And this applies to parents out looking for presents. If games are on the agenda they'll just have to be among the 'non-surprise' presents.

As for dummy cases... you'd be surprised how few dummy sleeves publishers actually bother to supply. I'd be all for a shop filled with nothing but dummy cases with all the stock behind the counter, but it's just not going to happen (it would make stockchecking a hundred times easier for a start). For example, 505 Gamestreet isn't going to provide you with dummy cases for the 3 or 4 copies of their niche Japanese title that you're ever likely to sell.

[MikeRox]

we still have the 10 day return policy down in the south west although i dont understand how they will do this as ive never bought a game from GAME that was actually sealed

We're shoving a seal over the case when the disc and manual have been put back in. At our store at least we do try an keep as many games sealed as possible though and only have a maximum of 2 of a title opened to display on a shelf at a time, unless it's a promotion and so needs alot of cases to display.

As said, the lack of dummy cases shipped out in most games cases is the reason we don't use dummy cases. Though games such as Scarface and Pro Evo 6 we've managed to get hold of dummy cases so everyone buying it gets a sealed one (for the 360 ver of PES6 at least).

[Lebowski]

We're shoving a seal over the case when the disc and manual have been put back in. At our store at least we do try an keep as many games sealed as possible though and only have a maximum of 2 of a title opened to display on a shelf at a time, unless it's a promotion and so needs alot of cases to display.

As said, the lack of dummy cases shipped out in most games cases is the reason we don't use dummy cases. Though games such as Scarface and Pro Evo 6 we've managed to get hold of dummy cases so everyone buying it gets a sealed one (for the 360 ver of PES6 at least).

Stick a cheap colour photocopyer in every game store and the jobs a good un i bet they alrready have tons of dvd case type boxes lyeing about

[fallenangle]

Stick a cheap colour photocopyer in every game store and the jobs a good un i bet they alrready have tons of dvd case type boxes lyeing about

That's exactly what my local Woolworths seems to have been doing with it's recent sales. Unfortunately it looks crap - badly sized or cut inlays and display boxes for PS2 games where they've actually used old XBox boxes. For anybody clued up on games it makes you worry that the actual game is not going to be new but a similarly amateurishly disguised used/demo-copy too.

[Lebowski]

That's exactly what my local Woolworths seems to have been doing with it's recent sales. Unfortunately it looks crap - badly sized or cut inlays and display boxes for PS2 games where they've actually used old XBox boxes. For anybody clued up on games it makes you worry that the actual game is not going to be new but a similarly amateurishly disguised used/demo-copy too.

lol yeah my local woolys dose that in fact everything video game based is in DVD box's, and i have always wondered how they managed to fit a dual shock in a DVD case.

tis nice to get a sealed game though and i would choose the poor store display over nice mint game anyday, in fact i cant remember the last time i brought in a real shop don't get to town much these days.

[NekoFever]

Yeah, looking at the game shelves in Woolworths makes me feel like I'm looking at a car boot stall full of pirated games. It means you get it sealed but it looks really crap.

The blame for this is ultimately with the publishers who won't supply dummy cases, or even dummy inlays to throw into the countless empty DVD cases that these places have. Unless we want to move to the American model where all the games are actually in a cage and you have to get a member of staff to unlock it and hand you a copy (no mean feat from what I've heard) there's not a lot that the retailers can do about it.

On the subject of 10-day returns I can't say I have a lot of sympathy. There are so many outlets for reviews of games and most of them have demos now, meaning that it's not hard to find out whether you'll like a game or not before you buy it. Maybe it's just that I've worked in retail and got completely sick of the sanctimonious sense of entitlement that a lot of people have nowadays that leads them to act like spoiled children if their every whim isn't accomodated, but I'd get fed up of the blatant abuse that we all know the system must get from a lot of people.

[Pookmunki]

Yeah, looking at the game shelves in Woolworths makes me feel like I'm looking at a car boot stall full of pirated games. It means you get it sealed but it looks really crap.

The blame for this is ultimately with the publishers who won't supply dummy cases, or even dummy inlays to throw into the countless empty DVD cases that these places have. Unless we want to move to the American model where all the games are actually in a cage and you have to get a member of staff to unlock it and hand you a copy (no mean feat from what I've heard) there's not a lot that the retailers can do about it.

On the subject of 10-day returns I can't say I have a lot of sympathy. There are so many outlets for reviews of games and most of them have demos now, meaning that it's not hard to find out whether you'll like a game or not before you buy it. Maybe it's just that I've worked in retail and got completely sick of the sanctimonious sense of entitlement that a lot of people have nowadays that leads them to act like spoiled children if their every whim isn't accomodated, but I'd get fed up of the blatant abuse that we all know the system must get from a lot of people.

Too right! I really do my very best to make sure people are satisfied, simply because i have a passion for games thats infectious and i want people to enjoy coming to the shop. If for some reason say a 'new' game is marked or scratched, il ask if they want it a bit cheaper, 9/10 times its ok and everyones happy. People rant and rave over the smallest **** in games stores, and its only gonna get worse now xmas is on the way. i know employee's are the face of a company, but all we want to do is pay our rent, and get through uni (or whatever) like everyone else. We'll do our best for customers where possible, but we finish at around 530 pm regardless, get drunk and forget all about returns and awkward customers, and isnt THAT the real moral of the story?

[Lebowski]

I sympathise with you i really do a good friend of mine used to work in game and i remember meeting him one day from work and he had a particularly difficult customer ranting about the returns policy (red in the face foaming at the mouth spit flying everywere) the ps1 game he was trying to bring back had a coffee mug ring dead center on the instructions, and it looked like he had been using the cd as a plate for his orbital sander it was some EA Hockey game too so the coffee ring looked quite cool on the white instruction book cover quite the design feature.

but saying that try KFC that has to be the worst job Ive ever done. one sat night after the cricket in headingley this pissed bloke in a dress starts beating ten bells of **** out of another bloke for cutting the queue right in fornt of the counter, the lad getting the kicking vaults the counter and locks himself in the staff loo we had to get the police in to break the door in and he was crying his eyes out as they dragged him from the shop.

Retail is a nightmare thank god i don't work there anymore no one threatening me with knives and guns at my computer