224: Behind the Counter at GameStop

[DigitalSushi]

I have a sudden urge to buy my games from this Jason fellow!

Dead Space was developed by Visceral Games, the same studio behind The Godfather; but if my knowledge came solely from GameStop, I would think it was just EA behind both titles.

This is something that needs to be addressed ASAP, because the thinking behind consumer buying could be swayed away from the store if its an excellent game made by a third party with solid game development history, if only to not be bought on impulse buy because of the big evil publisher that market the game with their big evil publishing ways (like giving a third party lots of money to make the game, the dirtbags).... which until 18 months ago was EA.

Sometime I wonder whether I make any sense at all.

 

[ultimasupersaiyan]

I always wanted a job around video games but unfortunately I think it would water down my view on games and that's pretty bad if that happens. In Australia I'd love to have guys like Jason run EB Games store because everyone who works at the ones here need the computer to tell them everything, probably to urinate too lol.

 

[Sanaj]

An interesting read, however, I don't understand how some people can be that interested in retail.

In relation to the comments about Gamestop / EB Games giving a pittance to gamers for their used games...
It's true that I don't like the small amount given for trade ins, or the small reduction in cost for buying used games.
However, I can see how EB Games has gotten away with their rates for so long, not having any decent competition
in used sales from other retail store chains until just recently.

I will admit that I don't know what the retail situation is like in the US. (I'm Canadian)
I find that used game sales at Blockbuster, buying games online from amazon.ca,
or getting them on steam seems to be the smarter way to buy games.

 

[Midniqht]

Oh man, I know almost exactly how this guy feels. I worked at GameStop for awhile, as a seasonal hire and it was a great experience but he brings up some good points. It really does take away from your gaming time, all the while adding to your broad knowledge of games as a whole. He mentions finding out about games/series by other employees - I've experience that too. I would've never known what the hell Fatal Frame or Katamari were if my (then) manager hadn't have said, "Hey, check this out!"

Behind the scenes, when no one's in the store, it's still busy for GameStop employees... "gutting" & price tagging all of the used games, making sure that everything is in alphabetical order in their respective areas (I really hate you people who pulled a game case up to look at it just to set it down wherever is most convenient instead of putting it back where you got it). All the while, you gotta be on your feet and ready to help someone the moment they walk in the door.

While I enjoyed the rewarding experience of working at GameStop like the author, for me it was a limited time experience.

 

[Drakey]

I will try to offer some insite, and thank you for asking Eudaemonian.

To start, I appologize to anyone who may have taken the 'Schmucks' comment on a serious note, my intentions were certainly meant in a much more playful way.

To explain a little bit about my enthusiasm to work in retail, I enjoy being around people. The nice thing about Eb/GameStop, is that many of its patrons have a certain level of working cognative thinking that can be as entertaining as it is informative. This doesnt hold true for all cases, however; it makes a day go by nicely. After all, our industry is about entertainment

On the subject of Eb/GameStop as a big retailer as a whole, I dont always agree with every decision that comes down the pipe, however I do understand them. During my time with Eb/Gamestop I have learned that although a Utpic idea of its place in the world market might include Higher trade in values, or for some idealists, no pre-owned program at all, Eb/GameStop does try to be fair across the board. They have Customers on the frontline, Publishers and vendors who want thier products to be purchased and enjoyed by those customers, and shareholders who would also like thier own return on thier investments.

Its a never ending balancing act. I would have to say that I love the idea that the company is very community driven. I would gander that about 70%-85% (not fact checked) of the used games selection at an Eb/Gamestop is from the local consumer base... you (possibly) and your neighbors. Its like a hub of local gamers itching to try out the latest greatest, to the moldy oldie classics that can only be found used, as they are no longer published.

Eb/Gamestop carries Librarys upon volumes of entertainment, stories, information, hard work, and hard fun. Its mesmerizing just how much content is waiting to be enjoyed and devoured by those who want it. I see it much like a used record or book store, its a thrill because everything a gamer might be passionate about may verywell be sitting patiently for them to take home and enjoy.

I also Love the preowned program for more than just availablity of hard to find games. It offers the consumer a chance to resell a property (even if its more like an end user license) equally with others.

Thanks again for asking, and I hope this post offers some insite as to why I (and others) might find joy in working frontline retail in the Games industry

 

[Tharticus]

I'm also surprised by the lack of mention about grievances provided by a lot of gamestop employees (see Zero Originality [http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/zero%2Boriginality/video/x6wnow_zero-originality-episode-1_videogames]).

Same here. That's how I found out about the Escapist.

On a related note to this article, people signed up applications for playing games there when in fact that game retail is only there to SELL. Irregardless if any product functions decently, they are here to sell. That's why most people who go to gamestop are people who has no knowledge of gaming. At other times, GameStop employees aren't even gamers at all.

 

[Eudaemonian]

@Drakey

No offense, but that doesn't really answer my question. Why would an increase in market share cause a company to become anything but more ruthless?

I understand that a Gamestop store may collect gamers together to some extent, but I don't think we can really give the company much credit for that. It's a side effect, and not one they would much care about if it cost them a penny.

There's all this talk about the industry, and you can certainly get informed about games by working in a games store, but I think references to "the games industry" are erroneous. You are in the retail sales industry. Gamestop employees have much more in common with retail employees selling different products than they are, and indeed more in common with used car salesmen and pawnbrokers, than they do with anyone genuinely involved in "the games industry." As people have pointed out, and in my personal experience, sales skills are what are valued in a "Game Advisor" more than anything else. Game knowledge is useful if it can be presented convincingly and selectively, but BS Gaming Nonsense seemed to work just as well for the buxom Asst. Manager I worked with. Her numbers were good and no one cared that she couldn't tell Final Fantasy from Final Fight (or even put them in alphabetical order correctly).

GameStop doesn't make money by being friendly, gathering gamers together into a community, and providing useful information. It's a company. It's out to make money for its shareholders. I don't fault it for that, but I fault anyone who views it as something more favorably than a money machine. There are better stores, there are good employees, there are compassionate managers, but the machinery as a whole is designed to get people to pay money in advance for games (functionally an interest-free loan to the store), sell games for far less than they are worth (almost always in store credit), and buy used games in dubious condition for more than they could be acquired elsewhere.

It's quite good at what it does. You can't blame businesses for making money, but you can be a smart consumer and choose what's best for you, just like the business chooses what's best for itself. I couldn't put up with "choosing" to be part of a retail machine that rips off its customers as a core business model. Being encouraged to talk people into giving their games up for a pittance, buying "new" games that had been opened and oftentimes played, or fork over cash months in advance just so we would hold their game for 48 hours (maybe).

The series of videos linked at the beginning of this thread say it well (though somewhat more dramatically than I'd like to). I just don't see why employees and customers of gamestop would continue to choose that situation when there are better alternatives for all concerned (except people with gamestop stock).

 

[Teh_Doomage]

I'm sorry, but that article was....well written but it shows that he is an employee and thus can't bad mouth his job or have criticism with his company. Also, with the timing of the article and it's overall positive tone...it seems to me it most likely being used as a recruiting tool to get some more seasonal people at their stores.

 

[Mr Companion]

I think a job at a game store would be fun, to be surrounded by what you love and to be around those who understand games as a job would be good.

 

[GamerLuck]

Funny Coincidence, I am going to finalize employment at a gamestop in my area on Thursday, and just got the news today.... Weird

 

[pneuma08]

I understand that a Gamestop store may collect gamers together to some extent, but I don't think we can really give the company much credit for that. It's a side effect, and not one they would much care about if it cost them a penny.

I do have to disagree with this. Bullet point #1 in retail marketing (as I understand it) is Get People in the Store. While it is true that getting people together is a side effect of getting people in the store, getting people together gets them BACK in the store. Repeat business is hugely important, and retail chains like Gamestop pay plenty of money to accomplish this and like-minded tasks (see: tournaments).

There's all this talk about the industry, and you can certainly get informed about games by working in a games store, but I think references to "the games industry" are erroneous. You are in the retail sales industry.

While true in spirit, this does have some limitations based in semantics. Related industries are part of the industry whole; when people talk about "how well the game industry is doing" it relates to how well games sell - in which case it must undoubtedly pass through merchant hands. Merchants therefore have at least some, if not a large impact on "the industry"; the distinction is vague. Especially since store managers get perks like the conference mentioned in the article.

I do agree that Gamestop employees shouldn't get a swelled head or big ideas about being "part of the industry". They are at best fringe members.

GameStop doesn't make money by being friendly, gathering gamers together into a community, and providing useful information.

Not entirely true. If the company is known to spread misinformation, for instance, people will avoid it.

One thing people seem to misunderstand about the retail industry is that while used-car-salesman tactics may be lucrative in the short run, they are NOT sustainable. Being a big company isn't about turning a quick buck but remaining relevant and profitable over the next 10 years.

Now I'm not saying Gamestop is perfect; far from it. But a lot of the bad press it gets is blown out of proportion, conditional, or outright undeserved. If there are better alternatives, go to them. Let them drive Gamestop into the ground.

 

[Dom Camus]

I'll admit this article sounded like a recruitment advert for Gamestop.

Probably not the author's fault. I expect he had to ask approval from GameStop before submitting this piece. (And even if he didn't, I imagine he's smart enough to work out what sorts of comments would damage his career.)

 

[Eudaemonian]

One thing people seem to misunderstand about the retail industry is that while used-car-salesman tactics may be lucrative in the short run, they are NOT sustainable. Being a big company isn't about turning a quick buck but remaining relevant and profitable over the next 10 years.

Now I'm not saying Gamestop is perfect; far from it. But a lot of the bad press it gets is blown out of proportion, conditional, or outright undeserved. If there are better alternatives, go to them. Let them drive Gamestop into the ground.

Dispute, in specific terms, the veracity of the charges I have leveled against the store then, if you think they're undeserved. As long as people are not particularly price-conscious and discerning, their tactics will work indefinitely. They've been doing the same stuff for years now and yet people continue to shop there. I can't explain it via anything but ignorance and laziness, and unfortunately the gaming marketplace has plenty of both. Little kids who aren't picky about prices cause mummy's picking up the bill, people buying gifts, and (my personal favorite, while I worked there) people who didn't have a bunch of money who genuinely believed they were getting a good deal by trading and buying used games. They thought they were being responsible trading in for credit, because they just had no business sense at all.

Let them reap their profits while they can, and I suspect it will be for a good long time. But don't think that just because practices are seedy to the intelligent mind that they're a "quick buck". They've been running the same scam for quite a while, with the same criticisms being leveraged, and they still evidently have people lining up out the door to work for them, take their laughable "trade" values, and hand over their money so that Gamestop can earn interest on it.

It's completely staggering.

I'll admit this article sounded like a recruitment advert for Gamestop.

Probably not the author's fault. I expect he had to ask approval from GameStop before submitting this piece. (And even if he didn't, I imagine he's smart enough to work out what sorts of comments would damage his career.)

Then why write the post at all? I mean, the headline could read: "Guy who can't say otherwise says he likes his job" That's not really much of a story.

 

[SpaceGhost2K]

He finally has a job at a game store and there were downsides he didn't expect. Okay.

He's not writing this article as an opportunity to slam his employer. There are plenty of you, and former employees, to do that for him.

Gamestop doesn't take trade-ins from kids. So if they take them from adults, and adults agree to the offered price, how in the world can you say GameStop is ripping them off? They can't say no? They can't sell elsewhere? They can't keep them? Gamestop offers a pittance in exchange for convenience. You walk in, you walk out. No listing fees, shipping hassles, trying to get your money from the winner, etc. The difference is the price of convenience.

What sucks is that he has a bachelor's degree in journalism and STILL has to work at a game store to pay his bills. What also sucks is that he's been there for two years and he's still an assistant manager. I know a guy who's been there SEVEN years and he's still an assistant manager.

The good part is, now that he's a "published journalist", he can get into all of those events he couldn't get into as a measly game store employee. Link the E3 people to your article, and you're in. (I think you need two, actually.)

It's not what I want to do for the rest of my life, but I also enjoy working retail. I like the customers, and I like being surrounded by "the stuff." My favorite working experience is probably Black Friday at a Toys R Us. Sounds like hell, I know, but I had a blast. I was running around, getting things for people, leading them to other things, answering questions. I was like an air traffic controller for people buying toys... A couple of other employees didn't feel the same, as I found out later that two cashiers had run to the bathrooms and barfed from the stress.

 

[8-Bit Jay]

I'm just left wondering how much the Escapist was paid for this article.

I hope it was a good chunk of change.

The crowds at game conventions are already a deterrent, Add a legion of fruitcakes who work at Gamestop and it'll be like Idiocracy. They should just open up their own little convention as suggested; unless of course those meetings are really Bilderberg like conclaves where they figure out new ways of ripping off gamers. Then I can see why they wouldn't want their minimum wage grunts know how much money the company is really pulling in.

Why would they be paid? Some dude who works at GameStop and has a journalism degree checked out the site's submission guidelines, pitched them a story and they ran it. Then they paid the dude who wrote it. Bummer...

 

[pneuma08]

Dispute, in specific terms, the veracity of the charges I have leveled against the store then, if you think they're undeserved.

Well, in order for me to be more specific, you'll have to be more specific, too. For instance, you mention that they get people to "sell games for far less than they are worth" and "buy used games in dubious condition for more than they could be acquired elsewhere." How do you define how much a a game is worth, and the rate at which they can sell? Note that just because it's possible to acquire something for less in one location does not necessarily mean that it needs to sell at the same price elsewhere. For instance, I could drive over to Maryland and buy gas at 2.30/gallon, but that doesn't mean that the stores in Chicago shouldn't charge 2.70/gal.

As for pre-orders being an interest-free loan to the store, okay, I'll bite. That means that you pay ~15-16 cents for what amounts to a courtesy call for a 2 month pre-order...if you're a credit card company and would get a whopping 20% rate on whatever money you lend. If you're a regular guy and instead put that money in a 3.2% CD (apparently a good rate for a 5 year one), you paid less than 3 cents on that courtesy call. This is net as well; I have no idea how much that courtesy call costs, but I don't know if it's less than 3 cents, not to mention maintaining a database of customers, what they preordered, how much they put down, and so forth, but I wouldn't be surprised if the whole ordeal cost the company money. Instead, it's a tool that they use to help with the other parts of the business.

Were there any other points I should comment on?

 

[duchaked]

The employees tend to be great at Gamestop. It's the executives who are clueless about gaming.

I can see what you mean, but it really depends on the store
cuz it can trickle down
and some stores will just do their best to hire the most phenomenal idiots
but others GameStops will manage to retain the EB Games level
then the employees are quite helpful =)

 

[Novascatia]

I would love Gamestop a whole lot more if they actually carried more games for other platforms(Such as the PC) besides the X-Box 360. When ever I see a Gamestop, it's nearly 3/4 X-Box games. I'd just like some more variety, you know?