GameStop Digitals

[Me-Hostage]

I've never purchased a game digitally from GameStop, so can someone tell me how that works? I assumed it would be code to download onto the PS store, or am I wrong?

[Deathbymonkeys]

It just prints a code on the receipt. Put that code in the ps store like any other it gives you the game.

[Me-Hostage]

Originally Posted by Deathbymonkeys

It just prints a code on the receipt. Put that code in the ps store like any other it gives you the game.

So the code for the game will be in the email? I just put it in the PS store then... afterwards I read it was bad to buy digitals from GameStop. :\

[Polard55]

ITs depend on your priorities, but I must say buying games physically is still much better.

[Zivouhr]

Speaking of Gamestop, unfortunately, another outlet for games disappearing being the unfortunate part, a lot of the stores in my range are closed now and have left empty shells of buildings behind.

What Gamestop did right:
Offered free, unique bonus items with pre-orders, like the Star Wars Biker Scout when you pre-ordered Star Wars Battlefront on PS2. Or even something like a free poster, a keychain, and simple stuff like that.

They often had games that were more rare to find.

They allowed you to order games to have shipped to the store so you could pick them up when they arrived.

Of course those were the days before internet really took hold with the same service of delivering to your home brand new on release day.

What they did wrong:
Give you a few cents for many games you traded in that were in great shape. Some games being 10 cents to a quarter each, then selling it for $20.

My number one reason that I stopped going to Gamestop? I got there a week after release day and said, do you have this new game in stock? Yeah, sure. They then would start to ring up the game disc on the register after pulling it out from a drawer and then finding the case on the shelf, each opened, and then attempting to charge me full price for a used game. I stopped them each time and said this is going to be a gift for someone, you don't have a brand new sealed copy? No, sorry, this is it. Goodbye.

I rarely ever went after too many of those experiences. Don't sell me used games that were just released brand new, and then charge full price when they're giving me 10 cents for my older used games. If they said, "Hey, since this is opened, we'll take $10 off", or even $5 off would've helped. I asked the guy one time, since that's already opened and played, can you take off $5 at least? Oh no, I can't do that. I walked away and found a Target, Walmart or other store that had it in stock sealed and brand new.

Their excuse always was, Oh, that's the display for the game on the shelf, the game is brand new.

[heyadol]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

My number one reason that I stopped going to Gamestop? I got there a week after release day and said, do you have this new game in stock? Yeah, sure. They then would start to ring up the game disc on the register after pulling it out from a drawer and then finding the case on the shelf, each opened, and then attempting to charge me full price for a used game. I stopped them each time and said this is going to be a gift for someone, you don't have a brand new sealed copy? No, sorry, this is it. Goodbye.

This is my number one reason as well, they even do that on release day (maybe not if you pre-order).

The number two reason I stopped is they are officially a pawn shop in my state. I wanted to trade some games and they required finger prints and two forms of ID. Seemed like a lot for the $1 they were offering for those old games, I ended up donating them to Salvation Army instead.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by heyadol

This is my number one reason as well, they even do that on release day (maybe not if you pre-order).

The number two reason I stopped is they are officially a pawn shop in my state. I wanted to trade some games and they required finger prints and two forms of ID. Seemed like a lot for the $1 they were offering for those old games, I ended up donating them to Salvation Army instead.

That is something that they put you through all that nonsense just to trade games. Good for you to donate them versus Gamestop's corruption.

Thanks, yeah, the whole charging full price for an opened game they took from the shelf box that was supposed to be brand new sealed was ridiculous. It's good to just walk out and find it elsewhere. They lost plenty of sales over the years from that nonsense.

[MOONPHASE]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

Speaking of Gamestop, unfortunately, another outlet for games disappearing being the unfortunate part, a lot of the stores in my range are closed now and have left empty shells of buildings behind.

What Gamestop did right:
Offered free, unique bonus items with pre-orders, like the Star Wars Biker Scout when you pre-ordered Star Wars Battlefront on PS2. Or even something like a free poster, a keychain, and simple stuff like that.

They often had games that were more rare to find.

They allowed you to order games to have shipped to the store so you could pick them up when they arrived.

Of course those were the days before internet really took hold with the same service of delivering to your home brand new on release day.

What they did wrong:
Give you a few cents for many games you traded in that were in great shape. Some games being 10 cents to a quarter each, then selling it for $20.

My number one reason that I stopped going to Gamestop? I got there a week after release day and said, do you have this new game in stock? Yeah, sure. They then would start to ring up the game disc on the register after pulling it out from a drawer and then finding the case on the shelf, each opened, and then attempting to charge me full price for a used game. I stopped them each time and said this is going to be a gift for someone, you don't have a brand new sealed copy? No, sorry, this is it. Goodbye.

I rarely ever went after too many of those experiences. Don't sell me used games that were just released brand new, and then charge full price when they're giving me 10 cents for my older used games. If they said, "Hey, since this is opened, we'll take $10 off", or even $5 off would've helped. I asked the guy one time, since that's already opened and played, can you take off $5 at least? Oh no, I can't do that. I walked away and found a Target, Walmart or other store that had it in stock sealed and brand new.

Their excuse always was, Oh, that's the display for the game on the shelf, the game is brand new.

Well it really isn’t “Used” if no-one used it. They open up the case to stick the disc in the drawer so no-one steals the disc and then display the case just to let you know the game is in stock. No gameplay from anyone has been done on the disc unless it is in the Used section. So if people didn’t steal then they wouldn’t have to do that. I’ve seen people taking 1 of the cases off the shelf and then dashing out of the store only to find out that there is no disc and that they just stole an empty case. Then they try to go like Um my disc is not inside so then the Cashier asks for a receipt and it is like uh I don’t have one. So yeah theft on videogames in retail stores has always been a problem so GameStop came up with a way to prevent it. No theft means no GameStop trying to prevent theft.

They have specific prices for the New and Used sections. Plus their system knows how many copies they have of both the Used and New so they can’t mess with that system by altering a New to be Used.

As for Trade-Ins, as more people trade a particular game in and have too much of or if the Used copies of the game are not selling then the value decreases. So it can be best condition and not matter. So basically over time the game will only decrease in value unless it is like a really rare game. But anything that is common to find in most GameStop stores is worthless or only worth something after it has came out. There’s many games even for like PS4, Xbox One and Switch that they won’t even accept anymore if the value has dropped down too low no matter what the condition of the game is like.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by MOONPHASE

Well it really isn’t “Used” if no-one used it. They open up the case to stick the disc in the drawer so no-one steals the disc and then display the case just to let you know the game is in stock. No gameplay from anyone has been done on the disc unless it is in the Used section. So if people didn’t steal then they wouldn’t have to do that. I’ve seen people taking 1 of the cases off the shelf and then dashing out of the store only to find out that there is no disc and that they just stole an empty case. Then they try to go like Um my disc is not inside so then the Cashier asks for a receipt and it is like uh I don’t have one. So yeah theft on videogames in retail stores has always been a problem so GameStop came up with a way to prevent it. No theft means no GameStop trying to prevent theft.

They have specific prices for the New and Used sections. Plus their system knows how many copies they have of both the Used and New so they can’t mess with that system by altering a New to be Used.

As for Trade-Ins, as more people trade a particular game in and have too much of or if the Used copies of the game are not selling then the value decreases. So it can be best condition and not matter. So basically over time the game will only decrease in value unless it is like a really rare game. But anything that is common to find in most GameStop stores is worthless or only worth something after it has came out. There’s many games even for like PS4, Xbox One and Switch that they won’t even accept anymore if the value has dropped down too low no matter what the condition of the game is like.

I hear what you're saying Moonphase. I totally understand and have no problem with the concept of having a blank case on the shelf with all the detailed information on it. What they can do is make a deal with Gamestop HQ to order an extra game case just for display purposes only.

I also heard a Gamestop employee talking to another employee one time saying they play the new games in the back room to see what it's like before having to buy it. How can it be proven they didn't play the disc in the back room?

Plus it's also absolutely true that the case is covered front to back with greasy fingerprints and germs from possibly hundreds or thousands of people as it goes from shelf to register and back to the shelf. Hold it at an angle to the light and I saw it a few times while in the store, wondering if they'd offer me the display copy again. It can be cleaned but that's extra work for the customer when he/she can walk next door to another store and buy it brand new and sealed, with no germs all over it.

I've seen some people use the public bathroom stalls and walk right out without washing their potentially germ ridden hands. Then they probably go visit Gamestop to look at the new game cases, and then go touching all the door handles at food restaurants. It sounds unlikely, but it's very possible.

Bottom line is, if a regular retailer like Target, Walmart, Best Buy or Amazon started selling games where the shrink wrap cellophane was missing, people would not want to pay full price for it, so Gamestop, if they insist on selling their important display copy, should either reduce the price by $5 or more for the game, or not sell their display copy.

[MOONPHASE]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

I hear what you're saying Moonphase. I totally understand and have no problem with the concept of having a blank case on the shelf with all the detailed information on it. What they can do is make a deal with Gamestop HQ to order an extra game case just for display purposes only.

I also heard a Gamestop employee talking to another employee one time saying they play the new games in the back room to see what it's like before having to buy it. How can it be proven they didn't play the disc in the back room?

Plus it's also absolutely true that the case is covered front to back with greasy fingerprints and germs from possibly hundreds or thousands of people as it goes from shelf to register and back to the shelf. Hold it at an angle to the light and I saw it a few times while in the store, wondering if they'd offer me the display copy again. It can be cleaned but that's extra work for the customer when he/she can walk next door to another store and buy it brand new and sealed, with no germs all over it.

I've seen some people use the public bathroom stalls and walk right out without washing their potentially germ ridden hands. Then they probably go visit Gamestop to look at the new game cases, and then go touching all the door handles at food restaurants. It sounds unlikely, but it's very possible.

Bottom line is, if a regular retailer like Target, Walmart, Best Buy or Amazon started selling games where the shrink wrap cellophane was missing, people would not want to pay full price for it, so Gamestop, if they insist on selling their important display copy, should either reduce the price by $5 or more for the game, or not sell their display copy.

If you couldn’t tell by my post, I used to work for Gamestop many years ago so I know all of the dark secrets with them including things I was not proud of doing despite working there for quite a bit of time until I was laid off(about 5 and a half years).

But the whole trying out a game thing on a New copy, yeah my boss would have never allowed me or any of the employees at my location to do that with a New copy. The rule at least at my location was could only do that on a Used copy if there is more than 1 copy available otherwise my boss would have sent me packing. So there was no doing that with a New copy only if at least 2 people traded the game in. I personally only did it with a few titles since I was already getting 25% used games between the Employee Discount and the GameStop Pro Membership which gives you the 10% off discount on Used games and Extra Credit on Trade-Ins.

GameStop will only do a discount on a damaged copy. Places like Wal-Mart do the putting the games in a glass case that only an employee can unlock which many people hate for not being able to really look at the game while deciding to purchase it or not which makes it frustrating to the Employee as well. Some places like Best Buy do the putting each copy of a game in an individual security case which is mostly more annoying for the employees. It’s hard to please people on this besides just having the game on the shelf with no protection and hope for the best that someone isn’t dumb enough to steal it.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by MOONPHASE

If you couldn’t tell by my post, I used to work for Gamestop many years ago so I know all of the dark secrets with them including things I was not proud of doing despite working there for quite a bit of time until I was laid off(about 5 and a half years).

But the whole trying out a game thing on a New copy, yeah my boss would have never allowed me or any of the employees at my location to do that with a New copy. The rule at least at my location was could only do that on a Used copy if there is more than 1 copy available otherwise my boss would have sent me packing. So there was no doing that with a New copy only if at least 2 people traded the game in. I personally only did it with a few titles since I was already getting 25% used games between the Employee Discount and the GameStop Pro Membership which gives you the 10% off discount on Used games and Extra Credit on Trade-Ins.

GameStop will only do a discount on a damaged copy. Places like Wal-Mart do the putting the games in a glass case that only an employee can unlock which many people hate for not being able to really look at the game while deciding to purchase it or not which makes it frustrating to the Employee as well. Some places like Best Buy do the putting each copy of a game in an individual security case which is mostly more annoying for the employees. It’s hard to please people on this besides just having the game on the shelf with no protection and hope for the best that someone isn’t dumb enough to steal it.

I didn't know, thanks MOONPHASE for letting me know you used to work there. I felt that you liked Gamestop, but wasn't aware that you were an employee. That's cool your store didn't allow playing of new games like that store I was at where the employees were talking about it quietly but not quiet enough. I think because their boss was part of that is why they allowed it there.

Here's an interesting video on the history of GameStop, formerly Babbages years earlier and Software Etc. At 11:30 or so, it even talks about how some employees played the game first, then sold it as new at the full price.
But that's good you had good experiences there and thanks for those details.

The Story of Gamestop - YouTube

[MOONPHASE]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

I didn't know, thanks MOONPHASE for letting me know you used to work there. I felt that you liked Gamestop, but wasn't aware that you were an employee. That's cool your store didn't allow playing of new games like that store I was at where the employees were talking about it quietly but not quiet enough. I think because their boss was part of that is why they allowed it there.

Here's an interesting video on the history of GameStop, formerly Babbages years earlier and Software Etc. At 11:30 or so, it even talks about how some employees played the game first, then sold it as new at the full price.
But that's good you had good experiences there and thanks for those details.

The Story of Gamestop - YouTube

As with all retail store companies, it all depends on who is managing the store since each store is a different experience. While it is true that Corporations always do have some questionable policies but sometimes people find loopholes to a different Policy to take advantage of while others play by the book.

My Manager for instance didn’t allow it because not only would it mess up the system in the Computer like if it is the last copy and I have it borrowed then can’t sell a copy that the system says is available. Also if I borrow a disc there is really nothing stopping me from just keeping it for myself or trading it in to another Gamestop, eBay or some other retailer that sells Used videogames except for well my job.

Though in my final couple of years or so my pay was getting worse and worse because of being reduced down to 1 day a week for 4 hours but made it so that I would be the 1st person they call if someone else couldn’t do their shift or a nearby location needs an available person to help out for a day. So yeah in those final years I was practically sitting next to the phone everyday waiting for that phone call. Then in the final few months I had weeks without being scheduled at all.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

I didn't know, thanks MOONPHASE for letting me know you used to work there. I felt that you liked Gamestop, but wasn't aware that you were an employee. That's cool your store didn't allow playing of new games like that store I was at where the employees were talking about it quietly but not quiet enough. I think because their boss was part of that is why they allowed it there.

Here's an interesting video on the history of GameStop, formerly Babbages years earlier and Software Etc. At 11:30 or so, it even talks about how some employees played the game first, then sold it as new at the full price.
But that's good you had good experiences there and thanks for those details.

The Story of Gamestop - YouTube

I used to be a store manager for Electronics Boutique years ago before they were bought by Babbages. When the company was family owned, they were amazing to work for. Every individual store was like it's own "mom and pop" shop. We all knew our customers. We all knew what they liked. And they loved shopping with us! The customer/employee relationship was very symbiotic and it was a lot of fun and we were successful! However once the company went public, all that changed and it became this oppressive, draconian company that only cared about numbers and meeting specific goals that forced employees into high pressure sales tactics that we really didn't want to practice. It went from being a place where the #1 goal was to make the customer happy to the goal being to make the shareholder happy. It got so stressful, it really started affecting my health. I gained a lot of weight. I was depressed and dreaded going to work every day. The day I left there was one of the happiest of my life! It was like a huge anvil had been lifted off of me! However the experience was so negative on me, I didn't want touch, look at, talk about, or even think about videogames. It took about 2-3 years before I got back into gaming after that. I also vowed after that to never work for a publicly traded company ever again and to this day I've managed to keep that vow.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

I used to be a store manager for Electronics Boutique years ago before they were bought by Babbages. When the company was family owned, they were amazing to work for. Every individual store was like it's own "mom and pop" shop. We all knew our customers. We all knew what they liked. And they loved shopping with us! The customer/employee relationship was very symbiotic and it was a lot of fun and we were successful! However once the company went public, all that changed and it became this oppressive, draconian company that only cared about numbers and meeting specific goals that forced employees into high pressure sales tactics that we really didn't want to practice. It went from being a place where the #1 goal was to make the customer happy to the goal being to make the shareholder happy. It got so stressful, it really started affecting my health. I gained a lot of weight. I was depressed and dreaded going to work every day. The day I left there was one of the happiest of my life! It was like a huge anvil had been lifted off of me! However the experience was so negative on me, I didn't want touch, look at, talk about, or even think about videogames. It took about 2-3 years before I got back into gaming after that. I also vowed after that to never work for a publicly traded company ever again and to this day I've managed to keep that vow.

Thanks for the details on that situation after Gamestop became public for trading on the stock market, which I agree, is not good news for a place that I used to go to all the time for my games when it was Babbages, Electronics Boutique and Software Etc. Those were great stores IMO. That's cool you were a manager there too.

And I hear what you're saying about them forcing employees to practice those upsell tactics. I'm personally very difficult to convince when I'm shopping so they almost never had luck getting me to upgrade to anything, but I can imagine as an employee, having to repeat the same lines over and over could get aggravating and frustrating after enough days of doing it.

But yes, I remember the days I'd go into EB Games and they'd ask what games I like to play. That was an awesome question! Not only did it show they cared but it was always fun to talk about my favorite types of games and why I enjoyed them. It made me glad to shop there, I agree. That's cool you and your employees had that same positive attitude towards your customers back then.

I'm sorry to hear it eventually all went downhill with the corporate mood taking over the stores. I agree, those were not good changes for those stores compared to the Mom & Pop Shop set up before. Glad you were able to feel tremendous relief after leaving there for good. I can imagine you helped a lot of gamers as a manager in your day, making a positive difference for a good while there. Nice work, Steelmaker. Thanks for sharing that story.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

Thanks for the details on that situation after Gamestop became public for trading on the stock market, which I agree, is not good news for a place that I used to go to all the time for my games when it was Babbages, Electronics Boutique and Software Etc. Those were great stores IMO. That's cool you were a manager there too.

And I hear what you're saying about them forcing employees to practice those upsell tactics. I'm personally very difficult to convince when I'm shopping so they almost never had luck getting me to upgrade to anything, but I can imagine as an employee, having to repeat the same lines over and over could get aggravating and frustrating after enough days of doing it.

But yes, I remember the days I'd go into EB Games and they'd ask what games I like to play. That was an awesome question! Not only did it show they cared but it was always fun to talk about my favorite types of games and why I enjoyed them. It made me glad to shop there, I agree. That's cool you and your employees had that same positive attitude towards your customers back then.

I'm sorry to hear it eventually all went downhill with the corporate mood taking over the stores. I agree, those were not good changes for those stores compared to the Mom & Pop Shop set up before. Glad you were able to feel tremendous relief after leaving there for good. I can imagine you helped a lot of gamers as a manager in your day, making a positive difference for a good while there. Nice work, Steelmaker. Thanks for sharing that story.

Thanks. It actually felt good to talk about it again. I haven't really spoken about that time in my life in a very long time.

I want to weigh in on the issue of selling open box games as new. Looking back on it now, I can see that it probably wasn't a great idea and was a bit deceitful. However at the time, I honestly didn't really see it that way. It's not like we tried to hide it either. We kept our shrink wrap machine right there at the counter and if a customer happened to be buying the last copy of a game, we'd simply pull the case from the shelf, grab the disk from the drawer behind the counter, snap it into the jewel case and then re-shrink wrap it for the customer. What's funny is I can't recall a single customer complaining about it. Every once in a while a customer would ask what we were doing and we'd just explain "this is the last copy in the store and it's box is the one we use for shelf display (at the time we had no other choice, as companies did not send us display boxes for our shelves)." Nobody to my memory ever complained about that. Once it was explained to the customer, it was always met with "oh ok, cool." It really wasn't until the advent of social media when this became such a widely complained about topic.

Regarding employee game check outs, yes that practice went on in my store as well. It was a company approved policy that employees could check out a game and play it at home for 48 hours, so long as we had plenty of copies in stock and they made SURE it was kept in pristine condition. We also cleaned the disks and re shrink-wrapped them when they were returned. At the time, this was justified by the rationalization that it was important that employees familiarized themselves with as many games as possible in order to pass that knowledge on to the customer if asked.

Also, nobody at the time had a more fair return policy than we did on games. At that time we had a 10 day return policy on opened games (yes, opened). As long as you had your receipt, the game and case were still in "like new" condition, and it was within that 10 day window, you could get a full refund. We thought that was a fair trade-off for possibly buying a copy that had been opened and returned or checked out by an employee, in that such a generous return policy was extended to the customer. Again, looking back now I acknowledge that it wasn't a good policy to sell games at new prices that weren't in fact new. But at the time, we just didn't see it that way. The disks were kept in pristine condition, the cases were re shrink-wrapped, and nobody ever could tell the difference. No harm/no foul. But yes, this was WRONG and should've never been done! In hindsight, the right thing to do would've been to mark those games as "demo" copies or "Employee Played" and discounted them by 10% or something to that effect. However once we became a publicly traded company, that policy completely changed and we were no longer allowed to give refunds on opened games. Once the game was opened, it was yours unless you traded it in for pre-owned credit.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Thanks. It actually felt good to talk about it again. I haven't really spoken about that time in my life in a very long time.

I want to weigh in on the issue of selling open box games as new. Looking back on it now, I can see that it probably wasn't a great idea and was a bit deceitful. However at the time, I honestly didn't really see it that way. It's not like we tried to hide it either. We kept our shrink wrap machine right there at the counter and if a customer happened to be buying the last copy of a game, we'd simply pull the case from the shelf, grab the disk from the drawer behind the counter, snap it into the jewel case and then re-shrink wrap it for the customer. What's funny is I can't recall a single customer complaining about it. Every once in a while a customer would ask what we were doing and we'd just explain "this is the last copy in the store and it's box is the one we use for shelf display (at the time we had no other choice, as companies did not send us display boxes for our shelves)." Nobody to my memory ever complained about that. Once it was explained to the customer, it was always met with "oh ok, cool." It really wasn't until the advent of social media when this became such a widely complained about topic.

Regarding employee game check outs, yes that practice went on in my store as well. It was a company approved policy that employees could check out a game and play it at home for 48 hours, so long as we had plenty of copies in stock and they made SURE it was kept in pristine condition. We also cleaned the disks and re shrink-wrapped them when they were returned. At the time, this was justified by the rationalization that it was important that employees familiarized themselves with as many games as possible in order to pass that knowledge on to the customer if asked.

Also, nobody at the time had a more fair return policy than we did on games. At that time we had a 10 day return policy on opened games (yes, opened). As long as you had your receipt, the game and case were still in "like new" condition, and it was within that 10 day window, you could get a full refund. We thought that was a fair trade-off for possibly buying a copy that had been opened and returned or checked out by an employee, in that such a generous return policy was extended to the customer. Again, looking back now I acknowledge that it wasn't a good policy to sell games at new prices that weren't in fact new. But at the time, we just didn't see it that way. The disks were kept in pristine condition, the cases were re shrink-wrapped, and nobody ever could tell the difference. No harm/no foul. But yes, this was WRONG and should've never been done! In hindsight, the right thing to do would've been to mark those games as "demo" copies or "Employee Played" and discounted them by 10% or something to that effect. However once we became a publicly traded company, that policy completely changed and we were no longer allowed to give refunds on opened games. Once the game was opened, it was yours unless you traded it in for pre-owned credit.

Thanks for those extra details on opened games. I see your point of view and can understand it. That's pretty good they had that 10 day return policy on new games. That's true, almost nobody allows that these days for a full refund. That would be like playing a game, completing it and then getting your money back if you said you didn't like the game. That was probably smart they stopped doing that.

When they were offering me the display case with lots of fingerprints all over it, I asked for a discount for an opened game case but they said it's a new game. I said it's going to be a gift, and had to walk next door to the other game store to buy it brand new and sealed. The guy didn't offer to shrink wrap it even. That could've made the difference, yes.

Sounds like your store definitely had better customer service than the Gamestop stores I visited.

But yeah, Electroniques Boutique I remember seeing for the first time in the mall way back in the 1980s as a tiny kid. Back then, it was just a walk up counter, with no interior to walk into the store. It was so unusual but kind of cool. You'd ask to see a game and they'd have to keep a careful eye on people so they didn't walk off I can imagine when it got busier. All the games were stacked on the shelves behind them, but stacked like book ends so you couldn't see the cover art. That's how many games they had so you sort of had to ask "What game is that? Can I see that one?"

I bought BC's Quest for Tires for the Colecovision. That was the only store that ever had that game and it was great. That was the first game I ever bought at an EB store, of many more games bought there after that.

Soon they became an interior, full games store which was better since you could go in and look at the games sealed in the boxes back then. Eventually they started the display copies and I remember thinking "That's weird, but I guess people were stealing them so that makes sense".

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

Thanks for those extra details on opened games. I see your point of view and can understand it. That's pretty good they had that 10 day return policy on new games. That's true, almost nobody allows that these days for a full refund. That would be like playing a game, completing it and then getting your money back if you said you didn't like the game. That was probably smart they stopped doing that.

When they were offering me the display case with lots of fingerprints all over it, I asked for a discount for an opened game case but they said it's a new game. I said it's going to be a gift, and had to walk next door to the other game store to buy it brand new and sealed. The guy didn't offer to shrink wrap it even. That could've made the difference, yes.

Sounds like your store definitely had better customer service than the Gamestop stores I visited.

But yeah, Electroniques Boutique I remember seeing for the first time in the mall way back in the 1980s as a tiny kid. Back then, it was just a walk up counter, with no interior to walk into the store. It was so unusual but kind of cool. You'd ask to see a game and they'd have to keep a careful eye on people so they didn't walk off I can imagine when it got busier. All the games were stacked on the shelves behind them, but stacked like book ends so you couldn't see the cover art. That's how many games they had so you sort of had to ask "What game is that? Can I see that one?"

I bought BC's Quest for Tires for the Colecovision. That was the only store that ever had that game and it was great. That was the first game I ever bought at an EB store, of many more games bought there after that.

Soon they became an interior, full games store which was better since you could go in and look at the games sealed in the boxes back then. Eventually they started the display copies and I remember thinking "That's weird, but I guess people were stealing them so that makes sense".

Oh that absolutely went on! We had customers that abused the policy for sure. But EB's philosophy at the time was the vast majority of customers were actually honest and respected the policy and didn't abuse it. It was more important to keep them happy and just tolerate the knuckleheads that wanted to treat us like a free rental store. It was looked at as a necessary "loss leader" to continue to gain more loyal repeat customers who DIDN'T abuse the policy. I happened to agree with that philosophy and honestly, it was way less stressful as you didn't have to deal with nearly as many tense situations where you had to tell a customer no. Once the company went public and new upper management took over, all that changed!

Wow that's really cool that you got to see EB at that early stage. I always knew they started out with kiosks in the middle of the mall but we didn't have EB at our mall until they had already converted to a full fledged walk in store. I started working part time for them in the early 90's when I was in college at the peak of the 16 bit, Genesis/SNES era. In the 80's during the Atari/Coleco/Commodore 64 era I usually had to get my games at places like Sears, K-Mart, or Hills Department Store. Man, that was a long time ago! LOL!

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Oh that absolutely went on! We had customers that abused the policy for sure. But EB's philosophy at the time was the vast majority of customers were actually honest and respected the policy and didn't abuse it. It was more important to keep them happy and just tolerate the knuckleheads that wanted to treat us like a free rental store. It was looked at as a necessary "loss leader" to continue to gain more loyal repeat customers who DIDN'T abuse the policy. I happened to agree with that philosophy and honestly, it was way less stressful as you didn't have to deal with nearly as many tense situations where you had to tell a customer no. Once the company went public and new upper management took over, all that changed!

Wow that's really cool that you got to see EB at that early stage. I always knew they started out with kiosks in the middle of the mall but we didn't have EB at our mall until they had already converted to a full fledged walk in store. I started working part time for them in the early 90's when I was in college at the peak of the 16 bit, Genesis/SNES era. In the 80's during the Atari/Coleco/Commodore 64 era I usually had to get my games at places like Sears, K-Mart, or Hills Department Store. Man, that was a long time ago! LOL!

Thanks.

Sorry to hear there were a number of customers who would abuse that generous policy to return games for a full refund in 10 days. With the eventual option to resell games, that at least helped out with things down the road. Customer confrontations are not fun to deal with, so that's cool for awhile there EB didn't have an issue with it.

I can imagine the repeaters walking back in with the next game and saying something like, "Yeah, this one I didn't like either, but I'd like to try that new game and test that one out too."

Every now and then I'll buy a game that seems promising, but might not be what I was hoping for, yet keep it anyway, knowing the trade in value isn't worth selling it for.

I can still visualize that first Electronics Boutique. It was on the first floor of the mall on the right side when I first saw it.

I pieced together a quick Photoshop image of how I remember it back in the early 80s as a small kid, that image imprinted into my memory all these years. This is close to what it looked like with some exceptions like the games especially being 80s games instead of modern games. But PC games yes, Atari, Colecovision, Intellivision, etc. Mostly PC games though back then. But that would be built inside the wall of the mall, so you'd just walk up to the counter and that was it. No interior or anything.

ElectronicsBoutique1980sMall.jpg

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

Thanks.

Sorry to hear there were a number of customers who would abuse that generous policy to return games for a full refund in 10 days. With the eventual option to resell games, that at least helped out with things down the road. Customer confrontations are not fun to deal with, so that's cool for awhile there EB didn't have an issue with it.

I can imagine the repeaters walking back in with the next game and saying something like, "Yeah, this one I didn't like either, but I'd like to try that new game and test that one out too."

Every now and then I'll buy a game that seems promising, but might not be what I was hoping for, yet keep it anyway, knowing the trade in value isn't worth selling it for.

I can still visualize that first Electronics Boutique. It was on the first floor of the mall on the right side when I first saw it.

I pieced together a quick Photoshop image of how I remember it back in the early 80s as a small kid, that image imprinted into my memory all these years. This is close to what it looked like with some exceptions like the games especially being 80s games instead of modern games. But PC games yes, Atari, Colecovision, Intellivision, etc. Mostly PC games though back then. But that would be built inside the wall of the mall, so you'd just walk up to the counter and that was it. No interior or anything.

Attachment 262764

Ha! Yeah when I first started with them, that was what our sign looked like in front of the store. It had that drab, blue and grey color scheme and our store was dark and not very well lit. A few years later they adopted more of a red, white, and black color scheme with the giant "EB" in front of the store. That was much better. The store was much brighter and better lit.

[Zivouhr]

Agreed that the new logo was definitely more eye-catching for video games, rather than more like a computer store logo back in the 80s. Thanks.

Back before internet, EB was great because they had access to games I'd never see in big retail stores. Bought a lot of more rare games thanks to EB. Eventually other stores like Best Buy had access to some of the more rare games, and then once Amazon and Gamestop online offered more game choices than their stores, that resulted in needing to rely on the stores less that didn't always have the game in stock.

At one point, I could just walk into EB Games on release day of a new game like R.A.D. (on PS2) and they'd be like, yeah, we have that one in stock. I didn't even pre-order it, as I knew they specialized in rare games which was awesome. They only got a few in but I was lucky enough to be there for that rare game. That's where I bought all my games for most of the 80s, 90s through 2010. After that, I might pre-order a big game like GTA there, but visited it much less since.

At one point, they had a display case with consoles that were allowing free gameplay of the demos on display, which I thought was an awesome idea. I guess they stopped because the controllers were always getting busted by rough players.