Price stickers on games

[tiamaxwell]

I know this has to have been talked about before but I need to vent. I just got back from a pawn shop that actually had Atari games and other carts. On every cart the stickers were placed on the sticker. Even on the SNES were there is way more cart than label! Two game shops I know of do this too. When I see it i just walk away. Why do they keep doing this!

The other pawn shop I went to today actually didn't have stickers on the labels but the prices were hyper inflated. They had a retrocon 5 there for $170. I know you can get it online for $140 with free shipping. All games had at least a $5 price hike. They most price their games off of Ebay and include shipping to reach those prices. They had 5 black label FF7 games priced at $55 each! I was thinking of buying an Atari Jaguar that was a decent price but I decided to leave because the cops came in and were questioning a guy who came in with a stolen guitar.

[TDIRunner]

I would tell the pawn shops about the sticker issue.  A game store should know better, but a pawn shop really might not know how bad an idea it is to do that.  As far as the prices go, ALL pawn shop prices are negotiable.  Offer them what you think is a fair price and if they say no, you can walk away.  I've never paid asking price at a pawn shop or flea market, especially if you are buying a lot of stuff.  Most of those guys don't buy that stuff unless they get it for pennies.  Therefore, there is plenty of room to wiggle on price.  Some guys don't want to deal.  They won't be in business long. 

[mojoeskateco]

EB Games is the worst for this.

I bought 3 used games on Boxing Day and each one had a sticker on the front, back, spine, manual, and also a circular sticker on the front urging me to "trade my games in!"  

Then they put another sticker where you open the game as well.

3 games 15 stickers

[tiamaxwell]

I would tell the pawn shops about the sticker issue.  A game store should know better, but a pawn shop really might not know how bad an idea it is to do that.  As far as the prices go, ALL pawn shop prices are negotiable.  Offer them what you think is a fair price and if they say no, you can walk away.  I've never paid asking price at a pawn shop or flea market, especially if you are buying a lot of stuff.  Most of those guys don't buy that stuff unless they get it for pennies.  Therefore, there is plenty of room to wiggle on price.  Some guys don't want to deal.  They won't be in business long. 

I would have told them but it was way to busy and smelled bad.
At the second pawn shop I was going to pick up and negotiate but didn't feel safe anymore. I assume they are pricing them $5 more to compensate for haggling then... didn't think of it that way before.

[TDIRunner]

I would tell the pawn shops about the sticker issue.  A game store should know better, but a pawn shop really might not know how bad an idea it is to do that.  As far as the prices go, ALL pawn shop prices are negotiable.  Offer them what you think is a fair price and if they say no, you can walk away.  I've never paid asking price at a pawn shop or flea market, especially if you are buying a lot of stuff.  Most of those guys don't buy that stuff unless they get it for pennies.  Therefore, there is plenty of room to wiggle on price.  Some guys don't want to deal.  They won't be in business long. 

I would have told them but it was way to busy and smelled bad.
At the second pawn shop I was going to pick up and negotiate but didn't feel safe anymore. I assume they are pricing them $5 more to compensate for haggling then... didn't think of it that way before.

You have to be careful.  All of the pawn shops and flea markets that I know about are in parts of town that are not the best.  I'm confident enough to go there by myself, but I would never take my family to any of those places.  It doesn't hurt to go with another friend.

It's also worth mentioning that you don't want to walk into one of those places dressed in your best church clothes.  If you walk in looking like you have a lot of cash to blow, they might not come down as much on the price.  I tend to dress the way I would if I was out working in the yard or working on a car.

[wiggy]

I'm more of a Pepsi guy, but thanks for the offer.

[madrocsz]

Yes, a shirt with Beyonce smelling the stank finger...

[tiamaxwell]

EB Games is the worst for this.

I bought 3 used games on Boxing Day and each one had a sticker on the front, back, spine, manual, and also a circular sticker on the front urging me to "trade my games in!"  

Then they put another sticker where you open the game as well.

3 games 15 stickers

Just got back from Gamestop. Bought their last copy of "The Last Story." When checking out I saw the woman going to put that circle sticker on that holds it shut. I asked her to please not put that on. She said she had too, company policy. New games have to be sealed.... Then don't unseal them in the first place. She put the sticker on. I pay then get handed the game. I know it sounds petty, cause it is, but I took the sticker off right there and asked her to throw it out for me. My reasoning is that it wouldn't leave a residue if I removed it imitatively and now she can't get in trouble for not following protocol.

[FritzWhite]

I don't buy 'new' games from them for this very reason. The original wrapper is what makes a game sealed. If it doesn't have the wrapper then it's not really new.

[oatmeal flavor]

I love the attitude some employees give when I refuse to take one of their so called "new games" or really any transaction I have there ever.

[mojoeskateco]

EB Games is the worst for this.

I bought 3 used games on Boxing Day and each one had a sticker on the front, back, spine, manual, and also a circular sticker on the front urging me to "trade my games in!"  

Then they put another sticker where you open the game as well.

3 games 15 stickers

Just got back from Gamestop. Bought their last copy of "The Last Story." When checking out I saw the woman going to put that circle sticker on that holds it shut. I asked her to please not put that on. She said she had too, company policy. New games have to be sealed.... Then don't unseal them in the first place. She put the sticker on. I pay then get handed the game. I know it sounds petty, cause it is, but I took the sticker off right there and asked her to throw it out for me. My reasoning is that it wouldn't leave a residue if I removed it imitatively and now she can't get in trouble for not following protocol.

I've had this exact same conversation several times.  I don't get why they have to do it with used games. 

[BadChad]

Well I work at EB Games and I can verify that it is our policy to seal everything that goes out the door, new and used. As a collector I totally don't agree with stickers either (never have), but from a business stand point it makes sense. However, we do not put stickers on the spines or manuals anymore. (I remember manuals being a big issue years ago with a few PS2 games in my collection that still have stickers on the manual) Now it's just the front and back stickers, and one to seal it up.

One thing I can say though, (at least for my store) is the stickers we use now vs. the ones used years ago is that they can all be easily removed with very little effort and patients with absolutely no residue left over. Still wish I didn't have to do it when I buy something used or get the last new copy, but at least it's no longer an issue. The old tags and seal stickers were damn near impossible to remove without tearing and residue. That's no longer the case.

[TDIRunner]

I just wish they would use stickers that are easily removable.  Vintage Stock is really good at using these types of stickers.  I know that they are not nation wide, but they do have stores outside of the St. Louis area so other have probably heard of them.

[palmer6strings]

I just wish they would use stickers that are easily removable.  Vintage Stock is really good at using these types of stickers.  I know that they are not nation wide, but they do have stores outside of the St. Louis area so other have probably heard of them.

They may use easy to remove stickers at vintage stock, but over in the KC area, the employees (even managers) are a bunch of pricks and are worse than gamestop when it comes to them knowing what the hell they are talking about. I've seen some games prices jacked up $10-15 even $50 more than what they go for online. I saw a broken $10 SNES game on their shelf once so I turned it in to the manager on duty and asked him what they were going to do with it. He said, "I am going to throw it away", so I said "Oh, well if your going to throw it away, may I get it from you?" He responded "I'll give you $1 off the asking price for it." I thought to myself, really, $1 off, after you told me you were going to pitch it? So I shot him $5 since the damage was only cosmetic, he declined. So I told him, "fine, throw it away then."
On top of that, one of the employees in the background said he wanted to take it in the back and smash it since it was already broken... I was pissed. Even worse I had enough stuff in my hands that I was going to purchase to pay for at least the of their employees daily wages.

[hoverboots]

I just wish they would use stickers that are easily removable.  Vintage Stock is really good at using these types of stickers.  I know that they are not nation wide, but they do have stores outside of the St. Louis area so other have probably heard of them.

They may use easy to remove stickers at vintage stock, but over in the KC area, the employees (even managers) are a bunch of pricks and are worse than gamestop when it comes to them knowing what the hell they are talking about. I've seen some games prices jacked up $10-15 even $50 more than what they go for online. I saw a broken $10 SNES game on their shelf once so I turned it in to the manager on duty and asked him what they were going to do with it. He said, "I am going to throw it away", so I said "Oh, well if your going to throw it away, may I get it from you?" He responded "I'll give you $1 off the asking price for it." I thought to myself, really, $1 off, after you told me you were going to pitch it? So I shot him $5 since the damage was only cosmetic, he declined. So I told him, "fine, throw it away then."
On top of that, one of the employees in the background said he wanted to take it in the back and smash it since it was already broken... I was pissed. Even worse I had enough stuff in my hands that I was going to purchase to pay for at least the of their employees daily wages.

This is awful. I used to work at Gamestop, and it's this same lack of respect and general asshole-ery that made me quit. It had been a dream of mine to work at a video game store, and sadly it left a horrible taste in my mouth, to the point where I will only go into Gamestop to see my friends who work there.