Gamestop price gouging Xenoblade.

[Something Amyss]

The MSRP doesn't mean squat. It's the suggested sale price but there's nothing legally requiring anyone to sell it at that price. New/Used is also irrelavent. It's rare and hard to find which means it's going to be expensive. Even if it's a second printing, it still could be very hard to get a hold of.

I disagree, and the reason is the exact reason they're doing this.

There appears to be a hard cap on what people will pay for video games. If there wasn't, then they could merely bump the price for a new, scarce title. They've managed an end-run around this by painting it as used. Used games, rare ones, can go into the hundreds easily.

Also, to use your Action Comics example, a reprint won't be worth anywhere near as much. A second printing will only be situationally valuable, depending on whether or not it has the same scarcity as the first print, and it will never be as valuable as the first because "first" has major value in our minds and "second" rarely does.

What they're doing here would be more akin to a new printing of Action Comics #1 being sold for a million USD because "it's scarce." It's a little deceptive, even ignoring the selective way they're using the "used" monicker.

If they didn't deceive the customers, would they be able to get the same amount? No. Gamestop clearly believes this, too.

 

[Tanis]

IT's things like these that make TPB exist.

 

[lechat]

also want to add that at 100 odd bucks xenoblade has more value for money than most 60 (U.S) dollar titles

 

[Winnosh]

The problem is that the only reason they are selling the copies as "Used" is that it's the only way they can inflate the price. The New copies Have to be sold at $50.00 They have no choice in the matter, so what they did was remove the new copies allowing them to price gouge.

It's the equivalent of a comic book store chain getting exclusive rights to the print run of a highly expected book. And then burning half the copies to raise the value of the ones they have.

 

[CloudAtlas]

Unlimited space on its virtual shelves is not the only advantage of digital distribution, but that's another story, and too off-topic.

Nor is it completely a benefit. In this instance, the burdens outweigh the benefits (lack of tangible stock also preventing the decline of prices on most titles being of more burden than one or two rare titles being of benefit). People really need to learn to pick their battles, rather than doubling down on bad examples.

That's your opinion. I believe that the benefits of digital distribution outweigh its disadvantages (such as giving up the right to resell), so I'm wholeheartedly supporting it.

 

[thewaever]

If people are actually buying the game, then they're not "price gouging" anything. That's just supply & demand. Capitalism 1-O-1.

 

[JediMB]

Well... I still have unopened copies of Xenoblade Chronicles (UK) and Metroid Prime Trilogy (US).

The former because my backlog is huge, and the latter because I accidentally ordered two copies.

 

[lunavixen]

Welcome to my world, I live in Australia and I don't think it's ever dropped below $90 used here, wii games are all ridiculously expensive here and they stay that price for ages, Mario Kart wii, still $80 here (new and used), Twilight Princess, still $50 used, most of the Mario games, still over $60 used

 

[Winnosh]

If people are actually buying the game, then they're not "price gouging" anything. That's just supply & demand. Capitalism 1-O-1.

They are raising the price on something they are not supposed to be allowed to raise the price on.

 

[Winnosh]

Hell I would prefer if they started selling the new copies at 90 dollars. The thing is that as long as the game is in circulation they cannot raise the price.

 

[CloudAtlas]

If people are actually buying the game, then they're not "price gouging" anything. That's just supply & demand. Capitalism 1-O-1.

Capitalism 101 maybe, but the remaining courses you take for a degree in economics will be about all the ways free markets don't work well. From what I understand they have sort of a monopoly position, and that's generally not something we'd like to see.

 

[MetalDooley]

The problem is that the only reason they are selling the copies as "Used" is that it's the only way they can inflate the price. The New copies Have to be sold at $50.00 They have no choice in the matter, so what they did was remove the new copies allowing them to price gouge.

They are raising the price on something they are not supposed to be allowed to raise the price on.

The thing is that as long as the game is in circulation they cannot raise the price.

You do realise that MSRP stands for "Manufacturers SUGGESTED Retail Price" right?MSRP is not legally binding.It's merely the price the manufacturer recommends the item should be sold at.Seeing as new copies are going for $160 and used copies for $90 on Amazon what Gamestop are charging is not actually out of the ordinary at all

Sure it might be morally dubious but it's not illegal

 

[rob_simple]

If people are actually buying the game, then they're not "price gouging" anything. That's just supply & demand. Capitalism 1-O-1.

No, it's extortion. They're taking advantage of desperate people who have no other option, (except to not buy the game, of course, but such willpower isn't an abundant quality in most gamers).

This is why I believe there should be maximum pricing laws introduced (especially since they introduced minimum ones in the UK) to stop companies exploiting people like this, but of course no government is ever going to introduce a system than benefits the public over corporations and the tax man.

 

[roushutsu]

Well this sure is annoying. My friend has been looking for a copy for quite some time now, but hasn't had any luck finding any copies in stores. When we check on Amazon, any copies available were well over $100, some of them even over $200. We were left to assume that they stopped printing the games, thus why the high prices were set. But now all these new copies show up at Gamestop and they're still nearly $100. Needless to say, he is really furious and he's been loyal to Gamestop for years.

 

[Winnosh]

I guess nobody remembers the price of a rare Xenogears copy on Ebay before it appeared on PSN.
Hint: It sold for around $200 (used). It now sells for around $130 (used).
http://www.ebay.ca/ctg/Xenogears-Sony-PlayStation-1-1998-/3001

Also this one at $2000
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Xenogears-PS1-PSX-Playstation-NEW-SEALED-BLACK-LABEL-Y-FOLD-VGA-90-/121151668166?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item1c3533bfc6

Earlier this gen, Valkyria Chronicles was expensive until it was finally reprinted. It was rare, mostly sold out and pretty popular. If you did find a copy it was almost $100. After the reprint, the price dropped almost immediately by $30 and slowly dropped to today's levels (I usually find it at $20).

The price for Xenoblade Chronicles is about right for a rare, but popular, game. It's simple supply/ demand.
When I got my copy, it was used, for the price of a new game. But since there were only 2 copies left in my entire city (about 1 million people) I jumped on it and was not disappointed.

Also, as was mentionned - Gamestop is the reason this game was even brought to American shores. If they want to make a small profit off of the used copies of the game, more power to them.

Seriously, Gamestop isn't pure evil. They win points by virtue of having been the reason this gem was imported at all.
People need to stop jumping at shadows....

The difference is that when those games got reprinted the price went down. Gamestop is removing new copies from circulation and letting people thing that there have been no reprints in order to drive up the price of the ones that they are selling.

This would be akin to the reprints of Valkyria Chronicles still selling at 200 dollars even though there are more copies on the market.

You cannot increase the supply of a game and still try to sell it as if there were fewer copies available while you are the one hoarding them.

Ok I say you Should not. It's unethical not illegal.

 

[wintercoat]

If people are actually buying the game, then they're not "price gouging" anything. That's just supply & demand. Capitalism 1-O-1.

No, it's extortion. They're taking advantage of desperate people who have no other option, (except to not buy the game, of course, but such willpower isn't an abundant quality in most gamers).

This is why I believe there should be maximum pricing laws introduced (especially since they introduced minimum ones in the UK) to stop companies exploiting people like this, but of course no government is ever going to introduce a system than benefits the public over corporations and the tax man.

You can't exploit a consumer with a luxury good. People's lack of self control is hardly a good enough reason to call for regulation.

 

[Bluestorm83]

Guys, this is how reality simply IS. A Thing is Worth What a Person Will Pay For It. People are saying they "Can't" sell them at 90 dollars. Uh, these game copies are the property of Gamestop. They can post them for a million dollars, crush them up and eat them with a spoon, take them to the prom, whatever they want. You can't tell someone else what they may do with their own property. That's called Communism.

Does it annoy me that I can't get a copy for cheap? Yeah. But only in the same way that it annoys me that I can't get laid. I can't go and whine and force girls to make it easier for me to sleep with them, I either get better at the art of gettin' some, or I accept that I can't have what I want. Want Xenoblade Whatevers? Earn 90 dollars in some legal way, or accept that you can't have it.

And here's another thing, relating back to my first point. If nobody buys it at 90 dollars, the price will drop. If everyone does buy it at 90 dollars, they will make more copies and eventually those prices will drop. Either way, you can get what you want with either work or patience. Stomping your feet and saying "It's not fair, I wanted that cookie!" isn't what adults should be doing.

 

[Bluestorm83]

If people are actually buying the game, then they're not "price gouging" anything. That's just supply & demand. Capitalism 1-O-1.

No, it's extortion. They're taking advantage of desperate people who have no other option, (except to not buy the game, of course, but such willpower isn't an abundant quality in most gamers).

This is why I believe there should be maximum pricing laws introduced (especially since they introduced minimum ones in the UK) to stop companies exploiting people like this, but of course no government is ever going to introduce a system than benefits the public over corporations and the tax man.

Uhhh, the Public are the people who own and run businesses. All this does is further fuck the average man who's trying to earn a living. Maximum price law? Who are YOU to say how much MY property is worth to ME? All you're proposing is a sugar coated socialism.

 

[rob_simple]

If people are actually buying the game, then they're not "price gouging" anything. That's just supply & demand. Capitalism 1-O-1.

No, it's extortion. They're taking advantage of desperate people who have no other option, (except to not buy the game, of course, but such willpower isn't an abundant quality in most gamers).

This is why I believe there should be maximum pricing laws introduced (especially since they introduced minimum ones in the UK) to stop companies exploiting people like this, but of course no government is ever going to introduce a system than benefits the public over corporations and the tax man.

Uhhh, the Public are the people who own and run businesses. All this does is further fuck the average man who's trying to earn a living. Maximum price law? Who are YOU to say how much MY property is worth to ME? All you're proposing is a sugar coated socialism.

No, most corporations are owned and run by the upper 1% and they are allowed to stay there through shady bullshit like creating artificial scarcity and then driving prices up. They create monopolies that make it nigh on impossible for the 'average man' to even enter the market. Or to put it another way: how many independent game stores can you think of that exist today, not as part of a franchise, but as an actual independent store?

You want me to feel sorry for men and women who have spent decades over-charging us for all forms of media just because they could get away with it, (yeah, remember before the internet, when CD's cost £16? Or DVD's were £25? Cause I sure as shit remember,) and who are now resorting to back-handed tactics like creating fake used copies of a game in a desperate attempt to squeeze every drop of cash out the bloated carcass of an archaic retailing model before it finally collapses in on itself. I won't shed a tear.

Also what exactly is wrong with socialism? You think a corrupt capitalist society is better than one where mid-range goods have a price ceiling? Again the government, currently, is allowed to force sellers to charge more for their products, so why not less?

 

[rob_simple]

If people are actually buying the game, then they're not "price gouging" anything. That's just supply & demand. Capitalism 1-O-1.

No, it's extortion. They're taking advantage of desperate people who have no other option, (except to not buy the game, of course, but such willpower isn't an abundant quality in most gamers).

This is why I believe there should be maximum pricing laws introduced (especially since they introduced minimum ones in the UK) to stop companies exploiting people like this, but of course no government is ever going to introduce a system than benefits the public over corporations and the tax man.

You can't exploit a consumer with a luxury good. People's lack of self control is hardly a good enough reason to call for regulation.

So should we not bother regulating the sale of heroin, either? I mean, lack of self control is all that gets people addicted to that, so why not legalise it and let the chips fall where they may?

I'm exaggerating, of course, but I think, given how inclined the government is to interfere in most every other aspect of our lives, forcing companies of mid-range level luxury goods like video games (because nobody on a limited income is buying a Ferrari on a whim) to charge reasonable prices doesn't seem so unreasonable.

There is absolutely no justifiable reason on this Earth to charge $90 for any video game, other than because there are some poor saps stupid enough to pay it.