**UPDATE** Check the bottom of this post for additional information just added.
This isn't so much a secret as it is something very fucked up. A lot of people already know this but for those of you who don't I thought it would be a good little tidbit of information to know while you're out shopping at GameStop. Let me start with the scenario.
GameStop's company policy is to always throw away old manuals, cases, inserts, etc. for old games for the PS2 and such (of the few they still actually keep) and even some old games for the 360/PS3/Wii.. Why do they do this? Well, I will tell you why.
They're forced to.
The distributor for GameStop, the one that supplies them with all of their Games for Xbox 360/PS3/Wii/etc. demands that they throw away the cases, manuals, inserts and everything else except the disc itself. How can they make this demand? Why does GameStop do it?
The distributor supplies them with Games at a price they can afford for all of their thousands of stores, and to get this price and maintain an uninterrupted supply of Games, they must meet whatever demands their supplier has. The real fucked up part is the reason why the distributor makes them do that in the first place.
The distributor believes that by not giving the consumers entire cased-games of the old PS2 and other systems that it will entice buyers to overlook those loose-disc games and buy the new ones, which will mean GameStop would have to buy more new ones from them and thus increasing their profits.
I, personally, think that logic is flawed on many levels. I do not shop for games and think "Oh, well, I was going to buy $100 worth of PS2 games but since they're just discs I think I'll instead buy $100 worth of Xbox360/PS3 games." That is just stupid.
**UPDATE**
I have been getting messages from people who are claiming to be Managers and Employees of GameStop. They are saying that the information in this post is untrue. To those who dispute this I have to say that what you do on a daily basis isn't necessarily in accordance with company policies.
I obtained this information from several individuals, some of them were simply regular Employees and Store Managers, but I was able to confirm this information from a very close friend of mine who was hired as a Regional Director. I saw the E-Mail he received informing him of this information as well. This information is 100% accurate and true, but if you don't believe me than so be it, that is your choice.
This is so wrong of them. I shop amazon, and there is always someone, somewhere willing to sell used with the manuals.
ReplyDeleteIn a digital age, who really uses manuals? Boxes and their contents just collect dust. Ever consider that maybe its to reduce shipping and storage costs? Now if you're a collector, while this may be an abhorrent practice, it only ups the value/rarity of what you appreciate.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so this has nothing to do with reducing shipping and storage costs? I can't even remember the last time I whipped out an instruction manual. In a digital age, where games have built in tutorials and help thats generally more thorough than your 16 page half-ass manual, why is it such a sin to dump it? If you're a collector just go ebay. Your vintage collection will only increase in value with this practice.
ReplyDeleteNo this has nothing to do with shipping/storage costs, because there are no shipping costs with someone selling their old PS2 games to GameStop. I know this for a fact because I know many people who actually work at GameStop, including Managers and District Managers, and I've seen the memo's the supplier's send to corporate.
ReplyDeleteI work at Game Stop, and I've never once been told to throw away cases and/or manuals. We do however accept trade in's from customers that only have the disc of the game they wish to trade in.
ReplyDeleteI'm not calling you a liar, but have you ever considered that maybe Game Stop works with multiple distributor's? You mentioned that your close source was a DISTRICT manager, perhaps you live in an area where Game Stop is forced to work with a distributor they don't in other areas. I'm not here to defend the company, cause their is a lot of stupid stuff that goes on there IMO. However, I just wanted to say from experience, Game Stop has very different rules, regulations, prices, inventory, and even deals from region to region. Hell sometimes things are run differently depending on the store, whether it's in the same district or not.
I've spoken to District Managers, but my "source" is my friend who's a Regional Director, a higher-up position. Whether or not each individual GameStop follows the rules of the distributor is unknown, because with so many thousands of stores it's not easy to verify each store is following the set rules the higher-ups are told.
DeleteFrom what the RD told me, this was a Company-wide rule, not just a Regional rule, but I will admit it is possible that he misunderstood what he was told. Though I did see the memo and it didn't explicitly say anything about it being a Company-wide policy, just that it was the Distributor's policy. I assume this is a policy that is intended to be enforced nationwide.
Looks like your RD friend is going to get fired soon. You put him on blast.
DeleteNobody knows who I am or who he is, so no, we're fine.
DeleteActually, since your article falls under "defamation" and your only credible source is "a secret friend", if Gamestop so chooses to pursue litigation, they will not only find out who both you and the supposed RD manager are but will bankrupt you both for life. And don't think for a second your ISP and domain provider won't sell you out in a second when the warrant comes through.
ReplyDeleteActually I use a 2048-Bit Encrypted VPN along with other forms of Anonymous Data Connection including spoofing.
DeleteFor some reason you seem to despise/hate me for some reason (probably because you have sand in your vagina) but I honestly could not care any less.
Sand in your vagina... Haha been a minute since I've heard that one. Gonna have to use that in casual conversation soon.
Delete