I can't understand the hate for Gamestop and their retro program ... They are no different then any other store out there selling retro stuff.
Other stores don't toss boxes and old games for space. Other stores price accoridng to condition and completeness, it's not a total roll of the dice every time you buy from them. Other stores know how to spot and don't sell bootlegs like Gamestop does because their reputation is on the line (although GS has little to lose).
I think anything that gets games out of the wild and into somewhere easy to buy is good in some sense, so I certainly don't hate Gamestop's retro stuff. But it's easy to see why people don't like it.
Maybe I'll get a part time job at game stop then... Scoop up all the extras they're gonna toss
I asked an employee about getting a display unit once as Gamestop was phasing them out, and the employee told me that employees are not alowed to get anything that is headed for the out of the store. He told me that my best bet would be digging in the dumpster for it when I noticed that it was no longer in the store.
He said they weren't trading in for anything normally but with A current trade-in Promotion for pokemon you'd get an additional 40% store credit.
Sorry, 1 more question, lol. I just called one of the Stores in Fort Wayne as I was about the head up, and the girl on the phone told me that the 40% extra is not live in their computer yet. I thought that was a bit weird. Are you located close to Fort Wayne(I saw your in Indiana)
He said they weren't trading in for anything normally but with A current trade-in Promotion for pokemon you'd get an additional 40% store credit.
Sorry, 1 more question, lol. I just called one of the Stores in Fort Wayne as I was about the head up, and the girl on the phone told me that the 40% extra is not live in their computer yet. I thought that was a bit weird. Are you located close to Fort Wayne(I saw your in Indiana)
What the heck, Im about an hour away from you... It only applies to pokemon preorder promotion I believe. My buddy who also did this lives in Florida
He said they weren't trading in for anything normally but with A current trade-in Promotion for pokemon you'd get an additional 40% store credit.
Sorry, 1 more question, lol. I just called one of the Stores in Fort Wayne as I was about the head up, and the girl on the phone told me that the 40% extra is not live in their computer yet. I thought that was a bit weird. Are you located close to Fort Wayne(I saw your in Indiana)
What the heck, Im about an hour away from you... It only applies to pokemon preorder promotion I believe. My buddy who also did this lives in Florida
Maybe its over?
The 40% offer is still showing on the Gamestop site. I never really trade in stuff to them and I don't really want the Pokemon game. Is it easy to cancel a pre-order or whats the best strategy do be able to use the credit for something else?
I can't even count the number of people I've seen already that have said they are going to go buy aliexpress games and print labels and put them on cart games and trade them in to screw over Gamestop. No wonder they are not taking the chance on giving decent trade for those $100+ games.
I don't care if it's a big corporation. Those guys are scamming not only Game Stop but innocent buyers that purchase through the website. I believe there were reports last year that a guy bought a fake game on the website and returned it to the store for credit, then a second guy got the same identical fake cart later and posted it on reddit.
The Gamestop people are incompetent (well some are, not all), and like I said anyone scamming Gamestop by trading in fakes will only be passed down to their customers. That's just sick.
What the heck, Im about an hour away from you... It only applies to pokemon preorder promotion I believe. My buddy who also did this lives in Florida
Maybe its over?
I called the store again, and got another guy, and after looking for about 5 minutes he told me they could do it. I took a NES, N64, Gamecube, Dreamcast, and some games up. It was their first retro trade ever, so they picked everything apart with a fine toothed comb. I got $85 for the NES, Gamecube, and Dreamcast. there was a slight nick in the N64 controller cord so they passed on it. The games were all turned down except Goldeneye($18) the Zelda duplicate I was going to trade had the slightest nick in the back label so they shot it down. The rest of the games had McVans stickers, so they shot them down. I'm going to take afew more systems up on Saturday, I have so many N64's from garage sales and there is no way im getting $35 out of them after fees on ebay, and noone on Craigslist seems to want them except people looking to sell online.
Originally posted by: BenG76
The 40% offer is still showing on the Gamestop site. I never really trade in stuff to them and I don't really want the Pokemon game. Is it easy to cancel a pre-order or whats the best strategy do be able to use the credit for something else?
I ended up getting it then, I do not want the games either, but anytime you do not pickup a preorder you can just get the credit transfered to another purchase. I'm going to be going through my duplicates tonight to see which ones I can get baller credit for and take them back up Saturday. The only Issue I found was that the store I went to demanded the games be in mint condition. Any stickers, marker, ect... They would not accept them as a trade.
What the heck, Im about an hour away from you... It only applies to pokemon preorder promotion I believe. My buddy who also did this lives in Florida
Maybe its over?
I called the store again, and got another guy, and after looking for about 5 minutes he told me they could do it. I took a NES, N64, Gamecube, Dreamcast, and some games up. It was their first retro trade ever, so they picked everything apart with a fine toothed comb. I got $85 for the NES, Gamecube, and Dreamcast. there was a slight nick in the N64 controller cord so they passed on it. The games were all turned down except Goldeneye($18) the Zelda duplicate I was going to trade had the slightest nick in the back label so they shot it down.The rest of the games had McVans stickers, so they shot them down. I'm going to take afew more systems up on Saturday, I have so many N64's from garage sales and there is no way im getting $35 out of them after fees on ebay, and noone on Craigslist seems to want them except people looking to sell online.
Originally posted by: BenG76
The 40% offer is still showing on the Gamestop site. I never really trade in stuff to them and I don't really want the Pokemon game. Is it easy to cancel a pre-order or whats the best strategy do be able to use the credit for something else?
I ended up getting it then, I do not want the games either, but anytime you do not pickup a preorder you can just get the credit transfered to another purchase. I'm going to be going through my duplicates tonight to see which ones I can get baller credit for and take them back up Saturday. The only Issue I found was that the store I went to demanded the games be in mint condition. Any stickers, marker, ect... They would not accept them as a trade.
Considering the condition of some of the games people have received after ordering online, I'm sure this isn't a company wide policy. Or maybe they are cracking down to avoid excessive returns from customers...
I can't even count the number of people I've seen already that have said they are going to go buy aliexpress games and print labels and put them on cart games and trade them in to screw over Gamestop. No wonder they are not taking the chance on giving decent trade for those $100+ games.
I don't care if it's a big corporation. Those guys are scamming not only Game Stop but innocent buyers that purchase through the website. I believe there were reports last year that a guy bought a fake game on the website and returned it to the store for credit, then a second guy got the same identical fake cart later and posted it on reddit.
The Gamestop people are incompetent (well some are, not all), and like I said anyone scamming Gamestop by trading in fakes will only be passed down to their customers. That's just sick.
I agree, I'm so sick of the fake games on the market. I could really care less if they were marked as reproductions, but I see so many obvious fakes on ebay where sellers have sold 30copies and have 20 instock. Take Metal Warriors for example. When I got my copy it was going for $250+ but there are so many fakes out there now that it is down to $200 or less. I'm glad that I got my copy for dirt cheap at a resale store, but for people that actually spent the $250 to get a legit copy it sucks.
And like you said, I feel bad for Gamestop because people are trying to screw them over with fake games, but on the same note, they are pieces of crap for reselling pirated games that were returned.
What the heck, Im about an hour away from you... It only applies to pokemon preorder promotion I believe. My buddy who also did this lives in Florida
Maybe its over?
I called the store again, and got another guy, and after looking for about 5 minutes he told me they could do it. I took a NES, N64, Gamecube, Dreamcast, and some games up. It was their first retro trade ever, so they picked everything apart with a fine toothed comb. I got $85 for the NES, Gamecube, and Dreamcast. there was a slight nick in the N64 controller cord so they passed on it. The games were all turned down except Goldeneye($18) the Zelda duplicate I was going to trade had the slightest nick in the back label so they shot it down.The rest of the games had McVans stickers, so they shot them down. I'm going to take afew more systems up on Saturday, I have so many N64's from garage sales and there is no way im getting $35 out of them after fees on ebay, and noone on Craigslist seems to want them except people looking to sell online.
Originally posted by: BenG76
The 40% offer is still showing on the Gamestop site. I never really trade in stuff to them and I don't really want the Pokemon game. Is it easy to cancel a pre-order or whats the best strategy do be able to use the credit for something else?
I ended up getting it then, I do not want the games either, but anytime you do not pickup a preorder you can just get the credit transfered to another purchase. I'm going to be going through my duplicates tonight to see which ones I can get baller credit for and take them back up Saturday. The only Issue I found was that the store I went to demanded the games be in mint condition. Any stickers, marker, ect... They would not accept them as a trade.
Considering the condition of some of the games people have received after ordering online, I'm sure this isn't a company wide policy. Or maybe they are cracking down to avoid excessive returns from customers...
They had a printed out sheet that showed what they were allowed to take vs. not take. My guess is that the average Gamestop employee just does not look at the sheet. As we were going through the sheet, I noticed that they offer the same trade on the Toaster as the Toploader, but offer a different trade amount for the Genesis 1/2, and the Genesis 3. I thought that was weird.
Question: do they test the games they get in for trade? And if not, do they take down your name + number or something (like pawn shops do to protect themselves)?
I ask because what's stopping a guy with stacks and stacks of Aliexpress repros from walking into a Gamestop and cleaning up if nothing is checked and/or they don't take down a person's information in case it turns out to be nothing but fake stuff...?
I can't even count the number of people I've seen already that have said they are going to go buy aliexpress games and print labels and put them on cart games and trade them in to screw over Gamestop. No wonder they are not taking the chance on giving decent trade for those $100+ games.
I don't care if it's a big corporation. Those guys are scamming not only Game Stop but innocent buyers that purchase through the website. I believe there were reports last year that a guy bought a fake game on the website and returned it to the store for credit, then a second guy got the same identical fake cart later and posted it on reddit.
The Gamestop people are incompetent (well some are, not all), and like I said anyone scamming Gamestop by trading in fakes will only be passed down to their customers. That's just sick.
Whenever I read these kinds of "reports" from people "claiming" to be scammed I often wonder: how many were legitimately scammed and how many ordered a game and got a legit copy, then subsequently claimed the copy they got was a fake and requested a refund and sent a fake copy back and kept the legit one for themselves?
It's not just the people ordering games from the store that could try the scam, especially if it's wildly known Gamestop doesn't open or test sh**. I'd wager a bet my scenario happens a lot more then people may realize. This is the hobby nowadays, full of the kind of cut-throat people that'd make Gabriel Gecko proud.
Question: do they test the games they get in for trade? And if not, do they take down your name + number or something (like pawn shops do to protect themselves)?
I ask because what's stopping a guy with stacks and stacks of Aliexpress repros from walking into a Gamestop and cleaning up if nothing is checked and/or they don't take down a person's information in case it turns out to be nothing but fake stuff...?
They take photo ID for any trade ins, however I have no idea if they adequately test games at the distribution center or inspect high dollar items for evidence of fakes. Even if they do have testing facilities in place, I'm not sure if they can even 100% trace it back to the Gamestop location that sent it in let alone the PRO Rewards account of the customer that supplied them.
Fraud is a serious offense so I can't see how it would be worth the risk of trading in fakes when you gotta flash your photo ID and tie the credit to your Rewards account, but there is imperical evidence that plenty of users have cheated out Gamestop and the customers who purchase from them. Depending on the amount of "credit" they stole, amounts totalling $500 or more are felonies in many states. Also there is the burden of proof that the customer knowingly deceived the store by supplying fake games. I could easily see a defendant playing the ignorance card in court and getting off easy.
Anyhow I don't see how it would be worth the risk of getting caught but there's a lot of scumbag scammers out there trying to make a fast buck anywhere they can. I can certainly see someone who's just gotten their eBay and Paypal accounts suspended for selling Aliexpress fakes online pulling the same BS with their local Gamestop. If they hit many different stores in a regional area, the employees or company headquarters may not catch on for a while.
Whenever I read these kinds of "reports" from people "claiming" to be scammed I often wonder: how many were legitimately scammed and how many ordered a game and got a legit copy, then subsequently claimed the copy they got was a fake and requested a refund and sent a fake copy back and kept the legit one for themselves?
It's not just the people ordering games from the store that could try the scam, especially if it's wildly known Gamestop doesn't open or test sh**. I'd wager a bet my scenario happens a lot more then people may realize. This is the hobby nowadays, full of the kind of cut-throat people that'd make Gabriel Gecko proud.
While it's not unfathomable that the buyer might scam the company as well, this requires a significant investment on their part.
A ten dollar fake purchased on Aliexpress that equates to a $100 trade in credit, is a pretty good steal with a low likelyhood of getting caught, and it is a repeatable offense that can easily be repeated multiple times with the same result.
In order for the buyer to pull off the switcheroo requires a substantial investment even if they get most of it back from the refund. I could definitely see a frustrated collector who has already been burned with a fake game buying another copy, then stuck with the ethical delimma of recouping their loss by returning the fake.
This opportunistic scam can be pulled off once or twice, but a pattern of serial returns is easily traceable and the customer can be barred from future returns. The buyer runs the risk of returning the item once too many only to find he has been blacklisted. Serial returners are a huge problem for many retailers, but such pattern of abusive behavior can be detected easily.
Trading in fakes doesn't require a substantial purchase and the fact that games are tested at a distribution center rather than the back of the store vastly descreases the likelyhood of the customer getting caught, especially if they hit multiple stores instead of the same place every time. If a customer were dumb enough for instance to trade in the same five high dollar games every week to the same store, ie a Little Samson, Bubble Bobble 2, Panic Restaurant, Bonk's, and Flinstones 2, the employees would quickly catch on. If they distributed the loot across stores all over the region, not so much.
I've recently traded a bunch of games no locals wanted -
Currently have a ps4 pro paid off
Btw - gameboy advance systems they give ya like 22 bucks a pop
Nice, I saw that they are giving $12 for regular GB's. I have around 10 of them. I'm going to see which ones work and take some in this weekend if trade is still that high. There are none on thier website, so hopefully they bump the price up. lol
Quick question, what are your feelings on selling gamestop NES systems that need new pins? I have several that I could trade but they all need some fine tuned jiggling for the games to work.
Man, IDK. On the one hand, I'd hate to see NES system get trashed because they don't load game carts on the first attempt. On the other hand, cash for busted systems? Yes please!
Oh yeah, you could also buy BLWs for them and sell them on eBay as refurbed loading trays with 100% money back guarantee...
I went to GS today to see if they really did accept trade in's and the guy said "select" vintage games are being accepted.
I also went because I wanted to test some theories.
1. How much do they give for popular/well known/wanted games?
2. Can they spot fakes?
So I tested the theories. They give you very little for "good" games (knew that but the amount of money they offered was shockingly low) and they can't spot obvious fakes.
If I was going to buy from GS I would not buy vintage games right now. Unless they teach these people how to spot fakes or at least open up the games...it's not worth the risk.
And no I didn't sell the fake games...I'm not that evil lol.
I went to GS today to see if they really did accept trade in's and the guy said "select" vintage games are being accepted.
I also went because I wanted to test some theories.
1. How much do they give for popular/well known/wanted games?
2. Can they spot fakes?
So I tested the theories. They give you very little for "good" games (knew that but the amount of money they offered was shockingly low) and they can't spot obvious fakes.
If I was going to buy from GS I would not buy vintage games right now. Unless they teach these people how to spot fakes or at least open up the games...it's not worth the risk.
And no I didn't sell the fake games...I'm not that evil lol.
I went to GS today to see if they really did accept trade in's and the guy said "select" vintage games are being accepted.
I also went because I wanted to test some theories.
1. How much do they give for popular/well known/wanted games?
2. Can they spot fakes?
So I tested the theories. They give you very little for "good" games (knew that but the amount of money they offered was shockingly low) and they can't spot obvious fakes.
If I was going to buy from GS I would not buy vintage games right now. Unless they teach these people how to spot fakes or at least open up the games...it's not worth the risk.
And no I didn't sell the fake games...I'm not that evil lol.
what games did you fake?
I didn't fake them, I bought them...before I knew how to spot fakes sadly. And they were some Pokemon games.
I went to GS today to see if they really did accept trade in's and the guy said "select" vintage games are being accepted.
I also went because I wanted to test some theories.
1. How much do they give for popular/well known/wanted games?
2. Can they spot fakes?
So I tested the theories. They give you very little for "good" games (knew that but the amount of money they offered was shockingly low) and they can't spot obvious fakes.
If I was going to buy from GS I would not buy vintage games right now. Unless they teach these people how to spot fakes or at least open up the games...it's not worth the risk.
And no I didn't sell the fake games...I'm not that evil lol.
You know, this isn't new. Their pre-owned GBA shelf was full of pirate counterfeits even when the GBA was still current. Every single store I checked in 2003/2004 had more than one fake and it was everything from licensed Nickelodeon/Disney crap to Pokemon and Mario. Flea markets and pawn shops too. People simply didn't know how rampant they were (pretty much any new game sold on eBay).
I went to GS today to see if they really did accept trade in's and the guy said "select" vintage games are being accepted.
I also went because I wanted to test some theories.
1. How much do they give for popular/well known/wanted games?
2. Can they spot fakes?
So I tested the theories. They give you very little for "good" games (knew that but the amount of money they offered was shockingly low) and they can't spot obvious fakes.
If I was going to buy from GS I would not buy vintage games right now. Unless they teach these people how to spot fakes or at least open up the games...it's not worth the risk.
And no I didn't sell the fake games...I'm not that evil lol.
You know, this isn't new. Their pre-owned GBA shelf was full of pirate counterfeits even when the GBA was still current. Every single store I checked in 2003/2004 had more than one fake and it was everything from licensed Nickelodeon/Disney crap to Pokemon and Mario. Flea markets and pawn shops too. People simply didn't know how rampant they were (pretty much any new game sold on eBay).
Really? Hm...guess I don't remember that far back lol. Memory is getting foggy lately, and I'm only 25...
I went to GS today to see if they really did accept trade in's and the guy said "select" vintage games are being accepted.
I also went because I wanted to test some theories.
1. How much do they give for popular/well known/wanted games?
2. Can they spot fakes?
So I tested the theories. They give you very little for "good" games (knew that but the amount of money they offered was shockingly low) and they can't spot obvious fakes.
If I was going to buy from GS I would not buy vintage games right now. Unless they teach these people how to spot fakes or at least open up the games...it's not worth the risk.
And no I didn't sell the fake games...I'm not that evil lol.
You know, this isn't new. Their pre-owned GBA shelf was full of pirate counterfeits even when the GBA was still current. Every single store I checked in 2003/2004 had more than one fake and it was everything from licensed Nickelodeon/Disney crap to Pokemon and Mario. Flea markets and pawn shops too. People simply didn't know how rampant they were (pretty much any new game sold on eBay).
Really? Hm...guess I don't remember that far back lol. Memory is getting foggy lately, and I'm only 25...
Very few people ever realized it to remember. I never personally met any player or employee who knew before I pointed it out. I myself was blissfully unaware until I tried to import Super Mario Advance 2 Super Mario World ahead of the USA release date. It had an SRAM battery inside despite this specific title using EEPROM for save progress. The shrink wrap was sharp and easy to cut yourself on. You could tell the image was a second-generation copy when I compared similar elements to my original import of F-Zero for Game Boy Advance (F-Zero Maximum Velocity when it launched here). The stamp on the cardboard insert was actually better defined than a real one (a bit too sharp). Some pages in the manual were upside down and showed a completely different game. The arch for removing the game pak was not quite as smooth. The label was slightly too small and, thus, alignment was not as good. Some don't even bother with a triwing screw, though most did after that was quickly used to determine fakes.
These days the only new fakes are typically valuable games like Pokemon, but the old fakes are still in circulation.
Really? Hm...guess I don't remember that far back lol. Memory is getting foggy lately, and I'm only 25...
Very few people ever realized it to remember. I never personally met any player or employee who knew before I pointed it out. I myself was blissfully unaware until I tried to import Super Mario Advance 2 Super Mario World ahead of the USA release date. It had an SRAM battery inside despite this specific title using EEPROM for save progress. The shrink wrap was sharp and easy to cut yourself on. You could tell the image was a second-generation copy when I compared similar elements to my original import of F-Zero for Game Boy Advance (F-Zero Maximum Velocity when it launched here). The stamp on the cardboard insert was actually better defined than a real one (a bit too sharp). Some pages in the manual were upside down and showed a completely different game. The arch for removing the game pak was not quite as smooth. The label was slightly too small and, thus, alignment was not as good. Some don't even bother with a triwing screw, though most did after that was quickly used to determine fakes.
These days the only new fakes are typically valuable games like Pokemon, but the old fakes are still in circulation.
Fascinating. I guess I figured only the popular/high value games were faked as you said. Never thought people would fake other games, but I guess back in the day when all these games were new...they still fetched a bit of money...so it was worth faking them.
I actually still have a hard time spotting fakes...one of the reason why I ended up with so many of them. The only real way I can tell is looking at the label and feeling the games. If the game cart is made of cheaper/lighter plastic or has a sharp edge to it, then I figure it's a fake. But I've seen fakes that have smooth edges and feel pretty real. Which worries me...more so now that you've mentioned old fakes are still out there...so even if something looks old...it doesn't mean it's real...
I've actually wondered if I should start carrying around game bits and screwdrivers to open up the games and look at the boards...that might have saved me from buying the fake games originally...because after the fact I opened them up and took a look at them and they were obvious fakes.
Comments
I can't understand the hate for Gamestop and their retro program ... They are no different then any other store out there selling retro stuff.
Other stores don't toss boxes and old games for space. Other stores price accoridng to condition and completeness, it's not a total roll of the dice every time you buy from them. Other stores know how to spot and don't sell bootlegs like Gamestop does because their reputation is on the line (although GS has little to lose).
I think anything that gets games out of the wild and into somewhere easy to buy is good in some sense, so I certainly don't hate Gamestop's retro stuff. But it's easy to see why people don't like it.
I treat my trade-ins in the same respect as I would with my sex life where as I'm not satisfied if I don't feel great shame afterwards.
Hey, you were supposed to stop posting at 6667, you liar.
Originally posted by: ZombieGuyGeezus
I treat my trade-ins in the same respect as I would with my sex life where as I'm not satisfied if I don't feel great shame afterwards.
So you've never traded in games, eh?
Maybe I'll get a part time job at game stop then... Scoop up all the extras they're gonna toss
I asked an employee about getting a display unit once as Gamestop was phasing them out, and the employee told me that employees are not alowed to get anything that is headed for the out of the store. He told me that my best bet would be digging in the dumpster for it when I noticed that it was no longer in the store.
He said they weren't trading in for anything normally but with A current trade-in Promotion for pokemon you'd get an additional 40% store credit.
Sorry, 1 more question, lol. I just called one of the Stores in Fort Wayne as I was about the head up, and the girl on the phone told me that the 40% extra is not live in their computer yet. I thought that was a bit weird. Are you located close to Fort Wayne(I saw your in Indiana)
So you've never traded in games, eh?
Look, I traded things in once. The store was really hot too! I have the picture of
He said they weren't trading in for anything normally but with A current trade-in Promotion for pokemon you'd get an additional 40% store credit.
Sorry, 1 more question, lol. I just called one of the Stores in Fort Wayne as I was about the head up, and the girl on the phone told me that the 40% extra is not live in their computer yet. I thought that was a bit weird. Are you located close to Fort Wayne(I saw your in Indiana)
What the heck, Im about an hour away from you... It only applies to pokemon preorder promotion I believe. My buddy who also did this lives in Florida
Maybe its over?
He said they weren't trading in for anything normally but with A current trade-in Promotion for pokemon you'd get an additional 40% store credit.
Sorry, 1 more question, lol. I just called one of the Stores in Fort Wayne as I was about the head up, and the girl on the phone told me that the 40% extra is not live in their computer yet. I thought that was a bit weird. Are you located close to Fort Wayne(I saw your in Indiana)
What the heck, Im about an hour away from you... It only applies to pokemon preorder promotion I believe. My buddy who also did this lives in Florida
Maybe its over?
The 40% offer is still showing on the Gamestop site. I never really trade in stuff to them and I don't really want the Pokemon game. Is it easy to cancel a pre-order or whats the best strategy do be able to use the credit for something else?
I can't even count the number of people I've seen already that have said they are going to go buy aliexpress games and print labels and put them on cart games and trade them in to screw over Gamestop. No wonder they are not taking the chance on giving decent trade for those $100+ games.
I don't care if it's a big corporation. Those guys are scamming not only Game Stop but innocent buyers that purchase through the website. I believe there were reports last year that a guy bought a fake game on the website and returned it to the store for credit, then a second guy got the same identical fake cart later and posted it on reddit.
The Gamestop people are incompetent (well some are, not all), and like I said anyone scamming Gamestop by trading in fakes will only be passed down to their customers. That's just sick.
What the heck, Im about an hour away from you... It only applies to pokemon preorder promotion I believe. My buddy who also did this lives in Florida
Maybe its over?
I called the store again, and got another guy, and after looking for about 5 minutes he told me they could do it. I took a NES, N64, Gamecube, Dreamcast, and some games up. It was their first retro trade ever, so they picked everything apart with a fine toothed comb. I got $85 for the NES, Gamecube, and Dreamcast. there was a slight nick in the N64 controller cord so they passed on it. The games were all turned down except Goldeneye($18) the Zelda duplicate I was going to trade had the slightest nick in the back label so they shot it down. The rest of the games had McVans stickers, so they shot them down. I'm going to take afew more systems up on Saturday, I have so many N64's from garage sales and there is no way im getting $35 out of them after fees on ebay, and noone on Craigslist seems to want them except people looking to sell online.
The 40% offer is still showing on the Gamestop site. I never really trade in stuff to them and I don't really want the Pokemon game. Is it easy to cancel a pre-order or whats the best strategy do be able to use the credit for something else?
I ended up getting it then, I do not want the games either, but anytime you do not pickup a preorder you can just get the credit transfered to another purchase. I'm going to be going through my duplicates tonight to see which ones I can get baller credit for and take them back up Saturday. The only Issue I found was that the store I went to demanded the games be in mint condition. Any stickers, marker, ect... They would not accept them as a trade.
What the heck, Im about an hour away from you... It only applies to pokemon preorder promotion I believe. My buddy who also did this lives in Florida
Maybe its over?
I called the store again, and got another guy, and after looking for about 5 minutes he told me they could do it. I took a NES, N64, Gamecube, Dreamcast, and some games up. It was their first retro trade ever, so they picked everything apart with a fine toothed comb. I got $85 for the NES, Gamecube, and Dreamcast. there was a slight nick in the N64 controller cord so they passed on it. The games were all turned down except Goldeneye($18) the Zelda duplicate I was going to trade had the slightest nick in the back label so they shot it down. The rest of the games had McVans stickers, so they shot them down. I'm going to take afew more systems up on Saturday, I have so many N64's from garage sales and there is no way im getting $35 out of them after fees on ebay, and noone on Craigslist seems to want them except people looking to sell online.
The 40% offer is still showing on the Gamestop site. I never really trade in stuff to them and I don't really want the Pokemon game. Is it easy to cancel a pre-order or whats the best strategy do be able to use the credit for something else?
I ended up getting it then, I do not want the games either, but anytime you do not pickup a preorder you can just get the credit transfered to another purchase. I'm going to be going through my duplicates tonight to see which ones I can get baller credit for and take them back up Saturday. The only Issue I found was that the store I went to demanded the games be in mint condition. Any stickers, marker, ect... They would not accept them as a trade.
Considering the condition of some of the games people have received after ordering online, I'm sure this isn't a company wide policy. Or maybe they are cracking down to avoid excessive returns from customers...
I can't even count the number of people I've seen already that have said they are going to go buy aliexpress games and print labels and put them on cart games and trade them in to screw over Gamestop. No wonder they are not taking the chance on giving decent trade for those $100+ games.
I don't care if it's a big corporation. Those guys are scamming not only Game Stop but innocent buyers that purchase through the website. I believe there were reports last year that a guy bought a fake game on the website and returned it to the store for credit, then a second guy got the same identical fake cart later and posted it on reddit.
The Gamestop people are incompetent (well some are, not all), and like I said anyone scamming Gamestop by trading in fakes will only be passed down to their customers. That's just sick.
I agree, I'm so sick of the fake games on the market. I could really care less if they were marked as reproductions, but I see so many obvious fakes on ebay where sellers have sold 30copies and have 20 instock. Take Metal Warriors for example. When I got my copy it was going for $250+ but there are so many fakes out there now that it is down to $200 or less. I'm glad that I got my copy for dirt cheap at a resale store, but for people that actually spent the $250 to get a legit copy it sucks.
And like you said, I feel bad for Gamestop because people are trying to screw them over with fake games, but on the same note, they are pieces of crap for reselling pirated games that were returned.
What the heck, Im about an hour away from you... It only applies to pokemon preorder promotion I believe. My buddy who also did this lives in Florida
Maybe its over?
I called the store again, and got another guy, and after looking for about 5 minutes he told me they could do it. I took a NES, N64, Gamecube, Dreamcast, and some games up. It was their first retro trade ever, so they picked everything apart with a fine toothed comb. I got $85 for the NES, Gamecube, and Dreamcast. there was a slight nick in the N64 controller cord so they passed on it. The games were all turned down except Goldeneye($18) the Zelda duplicate I was going to trade had the slightest nick in the back label so they shot it down. The rest of the games had McVans stickers, so they shot them down. I'm going to take afew more systems up on Saturday, I have so many N64's from garage sales and there is no way im getting $35 out of them after fees on ebay, and noone on Craigslist seems to want them except people looking to sell online.
The 40% offer is still showing on the Gamestop site. I never really trade in stuff to them and I don't really want the Pokemon game. Is it easy to cancel a pre-order or whats the best strategy do be able to use the credit for something else?
I ended up getting it then, I do not want the games either, but anytime you do not pickup a preorder you can just get the credit transfered to another purchase. I'm going to be going through my duplicates tonight to see which ones I can get baller credit for and take them back up Saturday. The only Issue I found was that the store I went to demanded the games be in mint condition. Any stickers, marker, ect... They would not accept them as a trade.
Considering the condition of some of the games people have received after ordering online, I'm sure this isn't a company wide policy. Or maybe they are cracking down to avoid excessive returns from customers...
They had a printed out sheet that showed what they were allowed to take vs. not take. My guess is that the average Gamestop employee just does not look at the sheet. As we were going through the sheet, I noticed that they offer the same trade on the Toaster as the Toploader, but offer a different trade amount for the Genesis 1/2, and the Genesis 3. I thought that was weird.
Currently have a ps4 pro paid off
Btw - gameboy advance systems they give ya like 22 bucks a pop
I ask because what's stopping a guy with stacks and stacks of Aliexpress repros from walking into a Gamestop and cleaning up if nothing is checked and/or they don't take down a person's information in case it turns out to be nothing but fake stuff...?
I can't even count the number of people I've seen already that have said they are going to go buy aliexpress games and print labels and put them on cart games and trade them in to screw over Gamestop. No wonder they are not taking the chance on giving decent trade for those $100+ games.
I don't care if it's a big corporation. Those guys are scamming not only Game Stop but innocent buyers that purchase through the website. I believe there were reports last year that a guy bought a fake game on the website and returned it to the store for credit, then a second guy got the same identical fake cart later and posted it on reddit.
The Gamestop people are incompetent (well some are, not all), and like I said anyone scamming Gamestop by trading in fakes will only be passed down to their customers. That's just sick.
Whenever I read these kinds of "reports" from people "claiming" to be scammed I often wonder: how many were legitimately scammed and how many ordered a game and got a legit copy, then subsequently claimed the copy they got was a fake and requested a refund and sent a fake copy back and kept the legit one for themselves?
It's not just the people ordering games from the store that could try the scam, especially if it's wildly known Gamestop doesn't open or test sh**. I'd wager a bet my scenario happens a lot more then people may realize. This is the hobby nowadays, full of the kind of cut-throat people that'd make Gabriel Gecko proud.
Question: do they test the games they get in for trade? And if not, do they take down your name + number or something (like pawn shops do to protect themselves)?
I ask because what's stopping a guy with stacks and stacks of Aliexpress repros from walking into a Gamestop and cleaning up if nothing is checked and/or they don't take down a person's information in case it turns out to be nothing but fake stuff...?
They take photo ID for any trade ins, however I have no idea if they adequately test games at the distribution center or inspect high dollar items for evidence of fakes. Even if they do have testing facilities in place, I'm not sure if they can even 100% trace it back to the Gamestop location that sent it in let alone the PRO Rewards account of the customer that supplied them.
Fraud is a serious offense so I can't see how it would be worth the risk of trading in fakes when you gotta flash your photo ID and tie the credit to your Rewards account, but there is imperical evidence that plenty of users have cheated out Gamestop and the customers who purchase from them. Depending on the amount of "credit" they stole, amounts totalling $500 or more are felonies in many states. Also there is the burden of proof that the customer knowingly deceived the store by supplying fake games. I could easily see a defendant playing the ignorance card in court and getting off easy.
Anyhow I don't see how it would be worth the risk of getting caught but there's a lot of scumbag scammers out there trying to make a fast buck anywhere they can. I can certainly see someone who's just gotten their eBay and Paypal accounts suspended for selling Aliexpress fakes online pulling the same BS with their local Gamestop. If they hit many different stores in a regional area, the employees or company headquarters may not catch on for a while.
Whenever I read these kinds of "reports" from people "claiming" to be scammed I often wonder: how many were legitimately scammed and how many ordered a game and got a legit copy, then subsequently claimed the copy they got was a fake and requested a refund and sent a fake copy back and kept the legit one for themselves?
It's not just the people ordering games from the store that could try the scam, especially if it's wildly known Gamestop doesn't open or test sh**. I'd wager a bet my scenario happens a lot more then people may realize. This is the hobby nowadays, full of the kind of cut-throat people that'd make Gabriel Gecko proud.
While it's not unfathomable that the buyer might scam the company as well, this requires a significant investment on their part.
A ten dollar fake purchased on Aliexpress that equates to a $100 trade in credit, is a pretty good steal with a low likelyhood of getting caught, and it is a repeatable offense that can easily be repeated multiple times with the same result.
In order for the buyer to pull off the switcheroo requires a substantial investment even if they get most of it back from the refund. I could definitely see a frustrated collector who has already been burned with a fake game buying another copy, then stuck with the ethical delimma of recouping their loss by returning the fake.
This opportunistic scam can be pulled off once or twice, but a pattern of serial returns is easily traceable and the customer can be barred from future returns. The buyer runs the risk of returning the item once too many only to find he has been blacklisted. Serial returners are a huge problem for many retailers, but such pattern of abusive behavior can be detected easily.
Trading in fakes doesn't require a substantial purchase and the fact that games are tested at a distribution center rather than the back of the store vastly descreases the likelyhood of the customer getting caught, especially if they hit multiple stores instead of the same place every time. If a customer were dumb enough for instance to trade in the same five high dollar games every week to the same store, ie a Little Samson, Bubble Bobble 2, Panic Restaurant, Bonk's, and Flinstones 2, the employees would quickly catch on. If they distributed the loot across stores all over the region, not so much.
I've recently traded a bunch of games no locals wanted -
Currently have a ps4 pro paid off
Btw - gameboy advance systems they give ya like 22 bucks a pop
Nice, I saw that they are giving $12 for regular GB's. I have around 10 of them. I'm going to see which ones work and take some in this weekend if trade is still that high. There are none on thier website, so hopefully they bump the price up. lol
Oh yeah, you could also buy BLWs for them and sell them on eBay as refurbed loading trays with 100% money back guarantee...
I also went because I wanted to test some theories.
1. How much do they give for popular/well known/wanted games?
2. Can they spot fakes?
So I tested the theories. They give you very little for "good" games (knew that but the amount of money they offered was shockingly low) and they can't spot obvious fakes.
If I was going to buy from GS I would not buy vintage games right now. Unless they teach these people how to spot fakes or at least open up the games...it's not worth the risk.
And no I didn't sell the fake games...I'm not that evil lol.
I went to GS today to see if they really did accept trade in's and the guy said "select" vintage games are being accepted.
I also went because I wanted to test some theories.
1. How much do they give for popular/well known/wanted games?
2. Can they spot fakes?
So I tested the theories. They give you very little for "good" games (knew that but the amount of money they offered was shockingly low) and they can't spot obvious fakes.
If I was going to buy from GS I would not buy vintage games right now. Unless they teach these people how to spot fakes or at least open up the games...it's not worth the risk.
And no I didn't sell the fake games...I'm not that evil lol.
what games did you fake?
Originally posted by: NESking80
Originally posted by: Astor Reinhardt
I went to GS today to see if they really did accept trade in's and the guy said "select" vintage games are being accepted.
I also went because I wanted to test some theories.
1. How much do they give for popular/well known/wanted games?
2. Can they spot fakes?
So I tested the theories. They give you very little for "good" games (knew that but the amount of money they offered was shockingly low) and they can't spot obvious fakes.
If I was going to buy from GS I would not buy vintage games right now. Unless they teach these people how to spot fakes or at least open up the games...it's not worth the risk.
And no I didn't sell the fake games...I'm not that evil lol.
what games did you fake?
I didn't fake them, I bought them...before I knew how to spot fakes sadly. And they were some Pokemon games.
I went to GS today to see if they really did accept trade in's and the guy said "select" vintage games are being accepted.
I also went because I wanted to test some theories.
1. How much do they give for popular/well known/wanted games?
2. Can they spot fakes?
So I tested the theories. They give you very little for "good" games (knew that but the amount of money they offered was shockingly low) and they can't spot obvious fakes.
If I was going to buy from GS I would not buy vintage games right now. Unless they teach these people how to spot fakes or at least open up the games...it's not worth the risk.
And no I didn't sell the fake games...I'm not that evil lol.
You know, this isn't new. Their pre-owned GBA shelf was full of pirate counterfeits even when the GBA was still current. Every single store I checked in 2003/2004 had more than one fake and it was everything from licensed Nickelodeon/Disney crap to Pokemon and Mario. Flea markets and pawn shops too. People simply didn't know how rampant they were (pretty much any new game sold on eBay).
Originally posted by: CZroe
Originally posted by: Astor Reinhardt
I went to GS today to see if they really did accept trade in's and the guy said "select" vintage games are being accepted.
I also went because I wanted to test some theories.
1. How much do they give for popular/well known/wanted games?
2. Can they spot fakes?
So I tested the theories. They give you very little for "good" games (knew that but the amount of money they offered was shockingly low) and they can't spot obvious fakes.
If I was going to buy from GS I would not buy vintage games right now. Unless they teach these people how to spot fakes or at least open up the games...it's not worth the risk.
And no I didn't sell the fake games...I'm not that evil lol.
You know, this isn't new. Their pre-owned GBA shelf was full of pirate counterfeits even when the GBA was still current. Every single store I checked in 2003/2004 had more than one fake and it was everything from licensed Nickelodeon/Disney crap to Pokemon and Mario. Flea markets and pawn shops too. People simply didn't know how rampant they were (pretty much any new game sold on eBay).
Really? Hm...guess I don't remember that far back lol. Memory is getting foggy lately, and I'm only 25...
I went to GS today to see if they really did accept trade in's and the guy said "select" vintage games are being accepted.
I also went because I wanted to test some theories.
1. How much do they give for popular/well known/wanted games?
2. Can they spot fakes?
So I tested the theories. They give you very little for "good" games (knew that but the amount of money they offered was shockingly low) and they can't spot obvious fakes.
If I was going to buy from GS I would not buy vintage games right now. Unless they teach these people how to spot fakes or at least open up the games...it's not worth the risk.
And no I didn't sell the fake games...I'm not that evil lol.
You know, this isn't new. Their pre-owned GBA shelf was full of pirate counterfeits even when the GBA was still current. Every single store I checked in 2003/2004 had more than one fake and it was everything from licensed Nickelodeon/Disney crap to Pokemon and Mario. Flea markets and pawn shops too. People simply didn't know how rampant they were (pretty much any new game sold on eBay).
Really? Hm...guess I don't remember that far back lol. Memory is getting foggy lately, and I'm only 25...
Very few people ever realized it to remember. I never personally met any player or employee who knew before I pointed it out. I myself was blissfully unaware until I tried to import Super Mario Advance 2 Super Mario World ahead of the USA release date. It had an SRAM battery inside despite this specific title using EEPROM for save progress. The shrink wrap was sharp and easy to cut yourself on. You could tell the image was a second-generation copy when I compared similar elements to my original import of F-Zero for Game Boy Advance (F-Zero Maximum Velocity when it launched here). The stamp on the cardboard insert was actually better defined than a real one (a bit too sharp). Some pages in the manual were upside down and showed a completely different game. The arch for removing the game pak was not quite as smooth. The label was slightly too small and, thus, alignment was not as good. Some don't even bother with a triwing screw, though most did after that was quickly used to determine fakes.
These days the only new fakes are typically valuable games like Pokemon, but the old fakes are still in circulation.
Originally posted by: CZroe
Originally posted by: Astor Reinhardt
Really? Hm...guess I don't remember that far back lol. Memory is getting foggy lately, and I'm only 25...
Very few people ever realized it to remember. I never personally met any player or employee who knew before I pointed it out. I myself was blissfully unaware until I tried to import Super Mario Advance 2 Super Mario World ahead of the USA release date. It had an SRAM battery inside despite this specific title using EEPROM for save progress. The shrink wrap was sharp and easy to cut yourself on. You could tell the image was a second-generation copy when I compared similar elements to my original import of F-Zero for Game Boy Advance (F-Zero Maximum Velocity when it launched here). The stamp on the cardboard insert was actually better defined than a real one (a bit too sharp). Some pages in the manual were upside down and showed a completely different game. The arch for removing the game pak was not quite as smooth. The label was slightly too small and, thus, alignment was not as good. Some don't even bother with a triwing screw, though most did after that was quickly used to determine fakes.
These days the only new fakes are typically valuable games like Pokemon, but the old fakes are still in circulation.
Fascinating. I guess I figured only the popular/high value games were faked as you said. Never thought people would fake other games, but I guess back in the day when all these games were new...they still fetched a bit of money...so it was worth faking them.
I actually still have a hard time spotting fakes...one of the reason why I ended up with so many of them. The only real way I can tell is looking at the label and feeling the games. If the game cart is made of cheaper/lighter plastic or has a sharp edge to it, then I figure it's a fake. But I've seen fakes that have smooth edges and feel pretty real. Which worries me...more so now that you've mentioned old fakes are still out there...so even if something looks old...it doesn't mean it's real...
I've actually wondered if I should start carrying around game bits and screwdrivers to open up the games and look at the boards...that might have saved me from buying the fake games originally...because after the fact I opened them up and took a look at them and they were obvious fakes.