GameStop Selling Used Games as New
Kotaku reports that GameStop is lending out new, unused games to employees and reselling them as new.
As a consumer burned by the practices of GameStop and EBGames, it's hard not to inject a personal opinion into an article about GameStop's alleged wrongful practices. However, after witnessing corporate deceitfulness and negligence on a personal level, it comes as no surprise that GameStop may be selling used games as new. Now, with it's "check-out" policy out in the open for all to see, the famous video game retail chain may find the FTC knocking at the front door in the near future.
According to Kotaku, GameStop's "check-out" policy enables store employees to play new copies of just-released games. When the employee returns the game to the store, it is re-wrapped and sold as brand new. GameStop normally takes out a few copies when the initial shipment arrives, removing (gutting) the disks and placing the boxes on display within the store. Ultimately, the display copies are still sold as new simply because they were never played, however it seems that the checked-out versions also fall into this batch, sold as new. Managers and employees usually can't tell which ones have been played.
Unfortunately, this practice may be in violation of federal law. Kotaku contacted the Federal Trade Commission and explained the "check-out" policy practiced by GameStop management and employees. The job of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection is to protect consumers against unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce; violations of FTC restrictions are a violation of federal law.
"The Federal Trade Commission protects consumers from unfair or deceptive advertising and marketing practices, and we encourage any consumer with a complaint about a company's business practices to contact us," said FTC public affairs specialist Betsy Lordan.
To further back up its claim, Kotaku added GameStop's check-out policy to the article, listing seven entries that define what and how product can be used. For instance, the first sentence reads as the following: "Associates are allowed to check out one item of store merchandise for personal use for up to four days. Merchandise checkout is a privilege, not a right, and may be revoked at any time." Another entry states that employees must "properly" check out merchandise via the store's Game Planner. On the other hand, the list states that hardware, accessories, sealed CDs or software programs that must be altered to install may not be checked out. If the provided check-out policy is indeed legitimate, then only pre-opened games can leave the store, not sealed ones; games with broken seals should be deemed as "altered."
Naturally, GameStop officials declined to comment when contacted by Kotaku, only stating that the company does not comment on corporate policies "that are competitive in nature." Then again, GameStop vice president of corporate communications Chris Olivera added that he could not provide feedback when questioned by Kotaku, as the provided questions related to "company training, operations and discounting practices." Additionally, the FTC would not offer additional input, saying that the commission could neither deny nor confirm the existence of any investigation.
If Kotaku's various, anonymous sources are correct, then GameStop may find itself in hot water. However, using the term "our sources" throughout the report makes it feel a little less legitimate, but then again, the testimonies provided by managers and employees could spark legal actions against the corporation, thus making the anonymous atmosphere understandable.
Stay tuned for additional updates, as this scandal may be around for a while.
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finally!, i hate when EB games go behind the counter and pull the dvd off their stupid paper bag and put back in the case and told me is brand new...for me brand new is even the box is not open....that is why i dont buy from them again...i rather buy it online
I used to work at a Gamestop here in San Antonio and can attest to this happening, though not often. Policy dictated that the game be used first, but this wasnt always the case.
Gee, not even cars are allowed to be sold as new once they are purchased and driven off the lot. They must be considered used. This home store new shrink wrap practice must end.
About time. They frequently open games then put stickers on the box then claiming it is new. Once it is opened, it is not new.
and why do you think our economy is so bad !!!!
corporate greed
yuppie ripoff greed like madoff
i do hate the system of capitalism at least the way capitalism is nowadays.
hope the FTC does something about this type of ripoff.
for PC games i can see this being a big problem. Its not as big an issue with some console games, but it is still dishonest. Just not dishonest AND mean.
I hope they get burned on this big time. I know the Game stop where I live does it. Because I went in to get a new PC game and asked if they had any copy's they said sure he pulls out a mangled box with no game in it grabs a white sleeve game in there used pile and hands it to me. This is suppose to be a MMORPG so of course i said no and he said why not its new.... thats when i pointed out on the package it stated the game could only be sold in a unopened state. so the game wasn't even eligible for sale they didn't seem to care and told me tough luck. I have also had friends get “new” games down there that where scratched of course game stop always insist its manufacture fault
Several times I have gone to purchase a "new game" from Gamestop and they pull a game out of a sleeve and place it into a unwrapped box. Each time this has happened I tell them I'm not going to buy it unless they give me a shrink wrapped copy or a marked USED copy. If they don't have any shrink wrapped copies I ask them to give me the used price for the "new" game. They usually do but if not I'll just head over to any other store and buy the game.
The beauty of it is that game stop is only one of many many places that sells video games. If they try to screw me over I'll just go somewhere else in buy the game and they miss out on the sale. It is called "voting with your wallet."
If they gave me a good discount I wouldn't mind but if it is not "new" as in fresh in unopened box than I don't want to pay a new software price. On that note, if your "new" car has 205 miles when you buy it..., is it still new? How many miles does it have to have to be considered used?
I worked at gamestop for many years. The policy does exist, but it was only on the ones open for display. Also they never re sealed them. There only wrong doing is that those games should be sold at an open discount.
again?
This is just coming out now? Gamestop/EBgames has been doing this for a long, long time. When I worked there I would take home PC games and console games. When I brought them back, I either put a seal on the box or went over to the ol shrinkwrap machine and sealed them up. Most customers never noticed or just didn't care.
This is just coming out now? Gamestop/EBgames has been doing this for a long, long time. When I worked there I would take home PC games and console games. When I brought them back, I either put a seal on the box or went over to the ol shrinkwrap machine and sealed them up. Most customers never noticed or just didn't care.
Well, I did care but most employees are jack-offs and still try to rip you off. I just went to buying stuff on-line. Their business ethics suck and I hope EBgames brick-and-mortar stores go down and just sell games online, then we won't have this problem.
Still, the best way for console games are to rent them from gamefly to pay a discounted price to keep the copy you have, if you choose.
If they gave me a good discount I wouldn't mind but if it is not "new" as in fresh in unopened box than I don't want to pay a new software price. On that note, if your "new" car has 205 miles when you buy it..., is it still new? How many miles does it have to have to be considered used?
What sort of discount do you want? The $5 difference between (labeled) new and used games?
UMMM they used to do this with hardware. Had a friend that worked there tell me Corp polcy was to assume all hardwas new and if it was returned because it was deffective it was a user issue and to put it back on the shelf. Face it they suck!
Even when those places mark the games as used they're only a couple bucks off the new price.
I don't buy games at either of those stores anymore.
That's why you use a PC and Steam... guaranteed new. At least if you are going to buy a game that's the way to do it. Though if you don't plan on buying your game that's a different story.
and why do you think our economy is so bad !!!!corporate greedyuppie ripoff greed like madoffi do hate the system of capitalism at least the way capitalism is nowadays.hope the FTC does something about this type of ripoff.
Corporate greed is not confined to capitalism I hate to tell you. All monetary-based economies are basically the same. Unethical and corrupt. It's really the fundamental result of money and any competition-based economy.
I was a manager at a Gamestop for 3 years, and this does happen. However playing a game is not the same thing as driving a car off the lot, playing is does not degrade the quality only scratching it would do that. That being said I used to give people 10% off if they bought the last one and if they asked for a discount. Was I supposed to do that? Probably not but they never said anything to me about it. I don't think that most managers there would have the guts to make those decisions.
I've know about this for years! That's why I hate gamestop and their practice of selling open games as new. All of their "new" games are opened and the gutted boxes placed on the shelf. I don't know about you but to me new means NOT open, not scratched, and not played! They are mostly taking advantage of kids/teens. Shame on you Gamestop!
I have to disagree with all of you people that say this practice is terrible and they should be punished for it and some other bad things should happen to them... There are NO used games!... It is SOFTWARE! It doesn't exist, it's virtual, a game installed 1000 times is just as good as one that has never been installed. Why do you think piracy is such an issue? Because you can copy and redistribute THE SAME product. It's like saying my one's and zero's don't have the same shine or don't feel new if the box was open.
Balshoy, I think you're taking this out of context. A game is labelled new when the shrink wrapping is still on and the box is unopened. One can see this, especially, with Xbox360 games, because of their little green seals. Having the store open the boxes then breaks these "seals" which counts as an opened product. If you walk into a shop and want to purchase a toaster, but the box is open, do you not think it's second hand? This has nothing to do with the disc's content but the physical packaging.
I went to GS just the other day to buy Guitar Hero: Metallica. The person behind the counter grabbed a game and asked me if I wanted the "new" game warranty. I said, "Maybe, but the game you grabbed from over there isn't sealed and therefor not "new". She grabbed me another one with the sticker over the edge of the case and shrink wrapped. I didnt buy the warranty. I would have bought it somewhere else, but this was the only place on the way to my friends.
I have to disagree with all of you people that say this practice is terrible and they should be punished for it and some other bad things should happen to them... There are NO used games!... It is SOFTWARE! It doesn't exist, it's virtual, a game installed 1000 times is just as good as one that has never been installed. Why do you think piracy is such an issue? Because you can copy and redistribute THE SAME product. It's like saying my one's and zero's don't have the same shine or don't feel new if the box was open.
i guess you never bumped your head against crap like securom ?
granted Most companies have a manner to deactivate securom now (EA is droppigns ecurome and released a deauthoriztion tool finnally) but still imagine you get a gmae that has a 5 activation limit and WHAW some ass hole employee burned one or 1-2 of those activations
you get the picture??
also it is NOT a matter of the software , it is a matter of princible. you don't sell soemthing used as a "new" item, hey ! i got an idea, how about i seel you this "new" 3 year old logitech G11 keyboard , 80 bucks and its yours !
i thought nerds would have understood what a virgin meant
Fuck GameStop. EB Games used to be great before GS bought them. This piece of shit store has almost completely ruined gaming for me.
UMMM Sry friend of mine has bought "New" Games there only to discover they were all damaged. They told him they were new and he was lying. I was there when he brought them home and yes they were shrink wrapped but no sticker.. New my ass.
This policy is garbage to me. Even if it's a used disk in the first place, letting employees take an XBOX 360 game home and play it, means it'll just get more scratches on it.
If I'm buying software of any kind, I want a disk without a single scratch on it. Otherwise, you can keep it.
EB Games and Game Stop seem to like taking the original disk out of the box before placing the "display box" on the shelf. The claim is it keeps folks from stealing it. I'm not into that.
For me, I want a sealed box from behind the counter (or in their locked case, etc). Then again, I'm a PC gamer, and CD Keys are not something I want to share with someone else who formerly played my copy...
A few time I bought a "new" game from Gamestop and it simply have no wrapper on it and it has a few scratch marks. I ended up buying new from places like Bestbuy or Fry's instead. I still buy use from them once in a while but never buy new.
They did to me once and I thought it was odd. He said it was the last game and they were using it was a display case, well this just prove that he was lying. I got them back when I sold them Shaun White snowboarding for $30 after getting it for $40 at CC closeout. What a crappy game. I prefer to get my new stuff at Frys or CC back then, but not Gamestop or BB.
Gee, not even cars are allowed to be sold as new once they are purchased and driven off the lot. They must be considered used. This home store new shrink wrap practice must end.
So a car that has been test driven on the lot and not SOLD should be sold as used? I've seen cars on the lot with close to 100 miles on them from test drives or dealer usage sold as new. This is not really any different. if the disk plays fine, and has no scratches on it, I could care less. Otherwise, they would be replacing it. Personally, unless it's a collectors edition of a game I've been really waiting on, I never buy new games. Why pay full price when you can wait a couple weeks and pay half in some cases...