Game Stores Selling Opened Games as "New"

[Akisa]

I went back to the gamestop store with the last copy game which were opened by them.


I spent like an hour complaining that it was sold like that before being asked to leave.



I tried the next day, but I was promptly removed again. It wasn't until I tried another Gamestop that I was able to exchange the game.

So your problem appears to be with that one particular store?

And you've found a substitute store?

You should look up the word "problem". It doesn't mean what you think it does.

Actually it is the definition of problem.

prob·lem   [prob-luhm] Show IPA
noun
1.
any question or matter involving doubt, uncertainty, or difficulty.
2.
a question proposed for solution or discussion.
3.
Mathematics . a statement requiring a solution, usually by means of a mathematical operation or geometric construction.

The situation should have never happened, it's one of the reasons I stopped going to gamestop chain. (For future reference the lack of PC games being sold is another factor)

Reference: Problem definition by dictionary.com Retrieved from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/problem?s=t

 

[skywolfblue]

Bought my bro Dead Island for Christmas, the serial key had been used and the box opened. Clearly someone had played it. After contacting Steam support, we got it back, they were very professional and helpful, but still, not a very great present.

And herein lies the point.


If you go to gamestop, buy something that's new that has been devalued for an actual reason rather than your insane paranoia, GET IT REPLACED.

Or, just get a sealed game and avoid the hassle alltogether. Ta-da.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Bought my bro Dead Island for Christmas, the serial key had been used and the box opened. Clearly someone had played it. After contacting Steam support, we got it back, they were very professional and helpful, but still, not a very great present.

And herein lies the point.


If you go to gamestop, buy something that's new that has been devalued for an actual reason rather than your insane paranoia, GET IT REPLACED.

Or, just get a sealed game and avoid the hassle alltogether. Ta-da.

I got a sealed game from Ozgameshop a few weeks ago. Max Payne 3. It had a scratch on the second disk that made it impossible to install.

So yeah, it really depends on your luck with the distributor, but the simple act of taking a disk out of a jewel case and putting it into a sleeve has zero effect on the value of software.

 

[Baby Tea]

Or go into a Best Buy and try to buy a TV that has been used as a display unit. In both cases, the open item is going to cost a lot less.

The example isn't correct.
The display TVs HAVE been used. Turned on, people grubbing fingers all over them, looking at them, using them. I used to work at an EB Games (Or Gamestop, if you prefer), and we would open boxes of new games in the back that ere to go on the shelf. We would then immediately seal both the disc and the box separately, to ensure both the quality of the disc, and the quality of the box and it's contents. This is strictly an anti-theft measure.

Someone pointed out that Walmart sells them used: that's because they have locked display cases. You can't look at the game box at all, unless you find and get a store employee to get the keys, and open the case, and stand there while you look. That would take a ridiculous amount of manpower and wasted time in a setting like a EB Games. Flat out: It wouldn't work.

The game itself is not 'used', as it hasn't been 'used'. It's open, no question. But not 'used'. 'used' implies, well, use. As well as previous ownership. None of those things have happened. It's been opened, and it's been resealed. Not used.

However, I 100% 'get' why people want a sealed game. I really, really do. I prefer it, myself. So then just refuse the game. Go buy it somewhere else. Online? Walmart? Another store? If it's not sealed, nobody is forcing you to go ahead with the purchase. Just get it somewhere else. The business practice isn't illegal, it's not unethical, and it's not unreasonable. Is it the best solution? Probably not. But it's what they are using, and you as a consumer have the right to say 'I'll take my business elsewhere'. Because unless shoplifting suddenly totally stops for some reason, it's not likely going away.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Or go into a Best Buy and try to buy a TV that has been used as a display unit. In both cases, the open item is going to cost a lot less.

The example isn't correct.
The display TVs HAVE been used. Turned on, people grubbing fingers all over them, looking at them, using them. I used to work at an EB Games (Or Gamestop, if you prefer), and we would open boxes of new games in the back that ere to go on the shelf. We would then immediately seal both the disc and the box separately, to ensure both the quality of the disc, and the quality of the box and it's contents. This is strictly an anti-theft measure.

Someone pointed out that Walmart sells them used: that's because they have locked display cases. You can't look at the game box at all, unless you find and get a store employee to get the keys, and open the case, and stand there while you look. That would take a ridiculous amount of manpower and wasted time in a setting like a EB Games. Flat out: It wouldn't work.

The game itself is not 'used', as it hasn't been 'used'. It's open, no question. But not 'used'. 'used' implies, well, use. As well as previous ownership. None of those things have happened. It's been opened, and it's been resealed. Not used.

However, I 100% 'get' why people want a sealed game. I really, really do. I prefer it, myself. So then just refuse the game. Go buy it somewhere else. Online? Walmart? Another store? If it's not sealed, nobody is forcing you to go ahead with the purchase. Just get it somewhere else. The business practice isn't illegal, it's not unethical, and it's not unreasonable. Is it the best solution? Probably not. But it's what they are using, and you as a consumer have the right to say 'I'll take my business elsewhere'. Because unless shoplifting suddenly totally stops for some reason, it's not likely going away.

TVs in Best Buy? Sure, they've actually been turned on. But what about display units of other things, like turn tables and stereo receivers? Or what about lawn mowers, grills, and power tools at hardware stores? In those cases there is absolutely no difference in the usability and expected life of the actual product, but you still get a discount, because they've been opened. Heck, check the clearance racks. Every now and then you'll see an item that they've taped back up after someone returned it. These range from big items to very small ones, and they're all discounted.

 

[Baby Tea]

TVs in Best Buy? Sure, they've actually been turned on. But what about display units of other things, like turn tables and stereo receivers? Or what about lawn mowers, grills, and power tools at hardware stores? In those cases there is absolutely no difference in the usability and expected life of the actual product, but you still get a discount, because they've been opened. Heck, check the clearance racks. Every now and then you'll see an item that they've taped back up after someone returned it. These range from big items to very small ones, and they're all discounted.

In all of those examples, the products themselves have been handled. People pushing buttons, turning knobs, lifting lids, moved around, assembled, etc. You don't get a discount for those products because they are opened, you get the discount because they are, in fact, 'used'.

The product of the game, the disc, is unused, resealed, and certainly not fondled by the public while sitting for hours upon hours in a busy store. And the part of the product that is handled by the public, the box, is also resealed.

Again: I 'get' the issue you have. 100%. But the solution is easy: Turn it down, and go to another store.

 

[Judgedread]

Retailers take the disks out of the case to protect from theft. Its a fact. A retailer would have to be collosal morons to place sealed coppies on the shelf.

I worked in an Australian game shop for 2 years and it is common practice. Every game retailer in Australia does this and you know what? Never once did I have a customer complain about getting an opened copy.

If you pre-order or reserve a copy, sure I would want a sealed copy too. But if you grab one off the shelf, don't expect a retailer to pull a sealed copy out of their ass, particularly if its an older game which doesn't warrant having display coppies on the shelf.

Here's the thing that gets me. You DON'T NEED TO DO IT TO ALL GAMES. You need to 'gut' two to three copies MAX to put on the shelf and you can keep the rest of the game behind the counter, or out the back. I used to work at JB Hi-Fi this was the system we employed, yet places like EB will gut their ENTIRE stock and chuck 30 empty cases of COD onto the shelves. It's not unreasonable to expect a sealed copy of a game, it's not unreasonable to expect that when you buy something that is brand new that it is actually brand new.

The reason people don't complain is because 90% of them are ignorant, I've complained about it many-a-time and have forced disgruntled EB employees to go out the back and search for that one sealed copy - or just walked out and bought it somewhere else.

Here is the thing you don't understand, yeah? Think about it, if a store has 50 coppies of CoD when the game first releases. Which many of them do, and 10 or so of other new releases and 2-3 coppies of other games which have come out in the last few years... where do they all go. That would require a back room bigger than the store itself if you want to display only 3 coppies of every game and keep the rest sealed. Floorspace costs a huge ammount for most stores so they can't afford to double their rent getting a bigger store and not seeing any extra profit from it so that they can placate people like you.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Retailers take the disks out of the case to protect from theft. Its a fact. A retailer would have to be collosal morons to place sealed coppies on the shelf.

I worked in an Australian game shop for 2 years and it is common practice. Every game retailer in Australia does this and you know what? Never once did I have a customer complain about getting an opened copy.

If you pre-order or reserve a copy, sure I would want a sealed copy too. But if you grab one off the shelf, don't expect a retailer to pull a sealed copy out of their ass, particularly if its an older game which doesn't warrant having display coppies on the shelf.

Here's the thing that gets me. You DON'T NEED TO DO IT TO ALL GAMES. You need to 'gut' two to three copies MAX to put on the shelf and you can keep the rest of the game behind the counter, or out the back. I used to work at JB Hi-Fi this was the system we employed, yet places like EB will gut their ENTIRE stock and chuck 30 empty cases of COD onto the shelves. It's not unreasonable to expect a sealed copy of a game, it's not unreasonable to expect that when you buy something that is brand new that it is actually brand new.

The reason people don't complain is because 90% of them are ignorant, I've complained about it many-a-time and have forced disgruntled EB employees to go out the back and search for that one sealed copy - or just walked out and bought it somewhere else.

Here is the thing you don't understand, yeah? Think about it, if a store has 50 coppies of CoD when the game first releases. Which many of them do, and 10 or so of other new releases and 2-3 coppies of other games which have come out in the last few years... where do they all go. That would require a back room bigger than the store itself if you want to display only 3 coppies of every game and keep the rest sealed. Floorspace costs a huge ammount for most stores so they can't afford to double their rent getting a bigger store and not seeing any extra profit from it so that they can placate people like you.

Or they could have wall to wall glass cabinets, or they could put the games in plastic cases the way record shops and big box stores do it, or they could install a freakin' security scanner that goes off when someone tries to walk off with a game without paying for it (you know, like the ones in literally every other store that sells expensive but small items?) Face it, Gamestop is doing this because they're cheap and they can get away with it, not because they have to. It's not poor defenseless gamestop. It's poor stupid customers for believing them.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Or they could have wall to wall glass cabinets, or they could put the games in plastic cases the way record shops and big box stores do it

But then people wouldn't be able to come in, browse at their leisure, take a box off the wall to look at it, read the back, decide if they want it without having an employee have to stand there and make sure they don't run off it it, right through

a freakin' security scanner that goes off when someone tries to walk off with a game without paying for it (you know, like the ones in literally every other store that sells expensive but small items?)

Yeah, you know, like the ones that don't actually PREVENT theft, but are just there to try and DETER theft. Because it's not like they automatically lock the doors and call the police when someone sets it off.

Face it, Gamestop is doing this because they're cheap and they can get away with it, not because they have to. It's not poor defenseless gamestop. It's poor stupid customers for believing them.

Face it, Gamestop is doing this because they have to, so they can get away without having everything locked away from undecided customers, without having to have a dozen employees so they can stand around waiting for those customers to make up their minds, and so they can use their limited space for displaying games rather than storage of games.

A couple of things: first of all, most Gamestops are in malls. A set of security scanners would be /completely/ sufficient on their own in that situation, because they'd alert the mall security. Even for the ones in strip malls, I've never seen a Gamestop with so few employees that they only have enough to man the registers. How hard is it to have at least one employee a few steps away from the door? Especially as small as those stores tend to be. Finally, what about those plastic cases? They don't hurt anything, and they don't cost all that much -- otherwise Gamestop wouldn't be unique in their "gutting" solution. I can guarantee you FYE has less room in the budget for shrink, what with the fact that they primarily sell easily pirated CDs and DVDs, yet they do just fine without opening the cases. Even their used discs sit in the actual case on the actual shelf.

Edit: By the way, you absolutely can pull a game in one of those external cases off the shelf and look at it. They're designed to be impossible to open without A.)a specialized tool, or B.)ruining the game inside, making stealing the thing pointless, but they don't actually prevent the game from being picked up and looked at, case and all.

 

[Diminished Capacity]

This seems to be generating a clash of diametrically opposite viewpoints, with a surprising amount of vitriol.

OT: I'm not a big fan of the gutting practice, so I stopped buying games from chain stores, and largely shop online.

I have (had) a bigger problem with a retailer providing a crummy replacement case. See example listed below. Or not.

EXAMPLE: I went out to buy a new copy of MGS4 some years ago. The Gamestop clerk said they had it in stock, and went to go get it for me. He came back with a new MGS4 disc in a (what I refer to as) "The original case of this game has been lost or stolen, so here's a really shitty looking generic Gamestop replacement" case. Being a bit neurotic about the condition of my games, (and their cases, I HATE STICKERS) I said no thanks.

I guess the moral of the story is: If you don't like the practice, shop elsewhere. The retailer is not likely to change their policies.

 

[Ranylyn]

Face it, Gamestop is doing this because they have to, so they can get away without having everything locked away from undecided customers, without having to have a dozen employees so they can stand around waiting for those customers to make up their minds, and so they can use their limited space for displaying games rather than storage of games.

"Have to?" Selling an opened product as new is fraud, and opening customer orders (they've done this to me repeatedly) is just as illegal as opening their mail. So they NEED to break criminal law to stay afloat? Then let them go under. If they were even half-worthy of being recognized as a reputable business, they wouldn't often try to sell used games as new (and I DID once recognize a lightly dented case I traded in once with a "new" sticker on it 3 days later because the disc was in good condition since I treat my games well.)

 

[ResonanceSD]

"Have to?" Selling an opened product as new is fraud, and opening customer orders (they've done this to me repeatedly) is just as illegal as opening their mail. So they NEED to break criminal law to stay afloat? Then let them go under.

Fraud? Breaking the law?



Enough of that. If you're going to go ahead with calling them lawbreakers, please, be my guest and take them to court. I think you'll find that you're ... wait for it


You'd be better off being careful. What you've just said could be construed as libel.

You know, an actual law that exists.

 

[Austin Howe]

Just to let the good people know: I work at Gamestop. There is a benefit of working at Gamestop that you may open a brand new game, and keep it practically as long as you'd like, but just one game at a time. When you're done, that copy is still sold at the new price if you opened a new game.

No, I'm not particularly comfortable with the practice, and no, I don't think I exactly deserve to be able to play whatever games I want for free. (Doesn't mean I don't do it. Let's be real. Think I was gonna pay full price to see if the new Tales game was good? Fuck no.)

I'd have to imagine it evolved from a practice wherein people could take used copies home, and then was morphed by some moral argument about people who work release days for gargantuan titles like Modern Warfare 3 or Skyrim getting to have a copy of the games they themselves sell. But frankly, that's a blind guess.

When you see a display box labeled "new" at gamestop, it is ALWAYS gutted (Ie it is open, and there is no disc, and often no manual in the box). This is because it is far too difficult to insure in real time that unwrapped boxes with full titles aren't stolen. This is perfectly fair, considering when new titles are sold we still have sealed copies we keep in the back so that people can't steal them.

To be fair though (I''m saying this more to defend the people I work with than myself),
A) Considering the hipsterish tastes of people that go so far as to work in game stores, such as people like myself, this usually means that someone is holding on to a copy of ICO HD or Tales of Graces f that no one wants anyway, which will, theoretically, at some point be sold at new price when it is returned, which is unlikely. Why let games go unplayed?
B) When it's brand new games, most employees rent out very short titles, such as Max Payne 3 that can be promptly returned, resulting in none to very minimal disc damage. Thus, that very lightly used copy of the brand new title will not be damaged. If it's a big game like say, Diablo III, that's a game that people want to own a copy of anyway. It's also likely considering titles like that that one employee pre-ordered it from another to improve their sales numbers.
C) And this is most important: We (by which I mean my location) are very conscious of what copies have and have not been opened by our staff. If at all possible, we sell a fully wrapped version of the game, and we keep far more full wrapped games than we ever gut.

Anyways, I just wanted to clear up the facts of the practice. I will not be further responding to this thread.

Short version: 98% of the time when you buy new at Gamestop, you're getting a sealed copy. I really can promise that.

 

[GAunderrated]

Every gamestop thread always makes me go back to watching this video.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6wnow_zero-originality-episode-1_videogames

 

[ThePenguinKnight]

So long as it's complete and in perfect condition I'm happy.