My friend once bought Mario Kart for the switch in new. And then we immediately went to GameStop to check what price they would give for a popular new game. And they only wanted to give 20€ and they offered used copies of that game for 39€ . And for 39€ you could buy it in new from any other store,
@@BfDelano last time i brought in a game to sell i got 2 bucks out of it and they was selling used for 52 dollars at the time lol They are the most scummiest business in the world even makes Walmart look like Jesus but hey its the small mall game shops that did this to us.
This is why monopolies are bad. GameStop bought out all the competition so that only they were left, and now that their greed and piss-poor business practices have finally caught up with them their closing is going to leave a massive retail hole for used physical games. Good riddance! Hopefully physical game stores can start over on a better foot after they're gone. Who knows exactly how much media GS has destroyed though!
@@blueinternet4336 Very true, but there is an insane amount of surplus stuck in GameStop's warehouses. Granted you can buy anything online, and Ma&Pa's are great, but unfortunately most gaming shops don't stick around unless they're a gaming "general store" with cards and tabletop stuff too. Even then despite being a good store they could close in relation to perhaps setting up in a bad area. I'd support them any day over corporate if they're actually decent. There's one where I live (and I worked there even) that's terrible, and almost as bad as GameStop pushing their "rewards" card.
It's not a monopoly for several reasons, but the number one being a monopoly by definition refers to an industry supplier that the government has agreed to punish their competitors in some way; for example, in many cities everyone is forced to pay some minimum charge to one water company, and in some cases it's even punished to collect rainwater. Since it's completely legal without any upcharge or tax to sell the merchandise through other sources, then they are not a monopoly. They may be the only game store in a certain region, but that's usually due to the fact that it's unprofitable to compete with them, because they're already losing money, so they simply have a monopoly on failure.
@@litigioussociety4249 I suppose they don't have control over that trade "exclusively", but they have bought out every other major video game-centric retail chain and their surplus, and now control an extremely disproportionate amount of commercial second hand video game trade. You're right that it's not a monopoly exactly, but it's damn close.
@@theobscurestash6537 But that's ultimately due to copyright and trademark laws from the government. Without that anyone could legally produce and distribute new copies of the games. This is why people don't care about physical media anymore.
I remember going into game stores and interacting with the people. It was like everybody was happy to be in there. The employees often sparked conversation and commented on new games and games coming out. I hadn't been to a game stop in years from about 2009 to 2014...Going in there was a totally different experience from before 09 til 2014. I use to love getting used games or whatever and getting a subscription to game informer. Good ol days. I remember malls at options Electronic boutique or Babbages.
Could've gone harder on used games, especially *old* used games. People who grew up with stuff like the PS2 and GameCube are at the ages now where they want to replay those games, and that generation of gaming is still pretty under-represented as far as re-releases go. GameStop already has initiatives for selling used games since they make a lot of their money on used games, so why not push harder on reselling retro games?
The retro game market already has a lot of competition, so Gamestops current reputation wouldn’t be able to sufficiently compete with it. An example being, I used to work at Gamestop in a mall and right across the hall was a retro/antique games and records store. Sold everything all the way back to N64, and maybe even more that predated it, but I don’t remember.
@@007blond if they had stuck with retro games instead of dropping it like a hot potato years and years ago, then maybe they'd have some footing. As it is now, their reputation is so bad among retro gamers and especially collectors that their attempt to bring retro games back in the last year has barely made a dent. Retro gamers remember.
OfficialSkyPiglet they might’ve had some footing, but honestly I doubt it still would’ve affected much even if they did maintain a foothold in the retro market. Gamestops reputation concerning their modern day business practices would probably be too much for them to be able to keep up with newer businesses that aren’t (yet) known for shady business practices. Besides, with the rise of online shopping (Amazon, Ebay, etc) and the ability to download games on virtually any console, it’s inevitable that Gamestop is going to go out of business. It’s honestly kind of a shame though, Gamestop was my favorite store when I was a kid lol
Gamestop is awful? No! At least not for me! The employees at my local gamestop are always courteous and helpful and they never are rude or pressuring me into buying the newest games or trading in thngs. Walmart on the other hand does have bad customer service, their employees take 20 minutes to open the glass cases the games are kept in and often I'm helped by some grumpy 50 yr old fat slob.
A good many years back I was wanting to play that dumb game Arcania (Gothic 4) on PC. Went to Game Stop and they had the game for $50 gawd**** bucks! Got it off eBay new for $3 bucks, last time I ever went in there.
Daniel Moung Daniel Moung when GameStop offers you next to nothing for your used games and consoles, and then turns around and sells them for 100x what they bought them for, that’s pretty awful
Gamestop is well known for targeting us incels. This is why the gamestop employees tend to be a hot girl and three to five ugly fat guys. Anyways the point is this makes the customers accept any offer for there item.
@@jasinbiggs7189 dammnnnn a hot girl where... every gamestop iv gone to is a big sausage fest or if there is a hot girl... its a customer shopping with her boyfriend... besides maybe in cali or some mejor city where girl gamers are hot but the ones i know still look like overweight awkwardly emo girls....
They’ve become so bloated that it impairs the customers ability to choose quality games. If they’d follow store trends and understood what their customer base really wants, it’s not random accessories and you, it’s games! Imagine if you will, a GameStop where you walk in and are greeted, as you walk along there are shelves with new games, then best sellers and then retro. Lastly some items like apparel and custom kits or something. Keeping it simple would be the answer. Instead, it’s just a generic store with no focus on the customer. It should be a game store, not a Dollar General.
A lot of stores begin to peddle knick-knacks like this when their core business is struggling. The notion is that the junk will draw in more foot traffic and potentially more paying customers. But it’s a trap because the profit these toys yield is minimal in comparison to the store’s core product; often they sell them at a loss. On top of that, the sight of all this junk tends to be off-putting to the core customers. Sales drop, but instead of focusing on the core business, the company *widens* the assortment of tchotchkes at their stores, to the detriment of their core product, thereby setting off a vicious cycle. Anybody who visited a Borders, Tower Records, The Wherehouse, etc. in their late years will know what I mean. (Amoeba Music in Hollywood is going through a similar spiral at the moment.) As for Game Stop potentially going out of business, I can’t say that I feel bad for them. They put a lot of small (and often vastly superior) game shops out of business. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. Another great video. Thanks!
Néstor Castiglione while you make some good points, you’re completely incorrect regarding margins on GameStop’s toys or knick knacks vs their core business. The margin on these items are incredibly high, compared to the margin on video games and consoles, which is incredibly thin. You can view this for yourself in their company filings if you don’t believe me.
BfDelano I think you’re projecting your own defensiveness about toys onto me. Nevertheless, since Game Stop is obviously not well these days, one must wonder what benefits, if any, owning Think Geek ultimately afforded its parent company.
NPC #1248402984 It could very well be true. My own experience first-hand with selling this sort of material has demonstrated otherwise to me. I used to work at Amoeba Music in Hollywood. Sales started sagging circa 2012 or so, when they began introducing all manner of extramusical merchandise. Over the years, the toys became a big draw. It was a Catch-22 situation, however. The hardcore customers would complain to us about how they felt more and more space was being accorded to the toys. Many reduced the frequency of their visits to the store; a few stopped coming altogether. On top of that, the margin on the toys was exceedingly thin, if not a loss. It could very well be that Game Stop, as a chain store, has negotiated a better deal on the toys than an independent record store-however famous or large-could manage on its own. But whatever their profit margins on those toys, they evidently have not helped the parent company out of its current troubles.
Game stores always flounder when new hardware isn't being released. If GameStop can hold off tille 2020 when the PS5 and Xbox Scarlett are released, that will hold them over for a while.
In 2005 a classmate told me they fired him for not closing the cash register properly. I mean he was 17 years old at that time, in charge of closing a whole store regularly.
that's no excuse whatsoever, back in high school(I got out in 00) for my first real job, I worked at a family owned gas station/deli/liquor store/electronic poker machine palace, and I often was in charge of closing the store, along with another co worker, and we rarely ever had issues. It's called learning to do a job, and doing it well, so your ass does not get FIRED!!!
I mean if he did it once or even twice then that’s pretty shitty of them, but if he did that several times then he definitely deserved to get fired lol
GameStop jokes aside; This does worry me. I don't have any used game stores in my area; Any that open up quickly fall under. I know GameStop is bad for a lot of reasons, but if the most well known game store is going out- Then that worries me for what that means for gaming retailers as a whole. And yes I get it, you can just buy games at Walmart or Amazon; But the same people who say that are the same people who complain about how they dropped 60$ on a game that wasn't worth it. I don't mind waiting to get a game used to save some money. Stores like Walmart _CLAIM_ to have a *"used selection,"* but all that ever amounts to is a handful of games on 1 shelf you would never want.
I get it, though I have been a PC gamer for a long time I did used to play with systems. Companies have hated second market since they don't make anything off that. I would say don't buy games when they first come out, they always cost too much.
Yeah I remember in the early 2000s they used to sell all the retro consoles along with retro games. Now they're gone. I'm not sure they even take them anymore.
@@SoloMarcoPolo I dont own any console newer than a PS2. I Mostly play that, dreamcast and snes. So I have no need to shop at gamestop. And I know many people only play retro games as well. They are losing major business from retro gamers.
Our gamestop is run by fantastic people. I really hope it's not on the chopping block. Same guys have been running it for pretty much this entire decade and genuinely seem to enjoy their work. They won't push the sales from my experience and they're pretty friendly.
The one I shop at also has great people working there. Seriously they are good sellers and know their products well. The store is always kept clean and they're some of the nicest people I've ever met and not just nice because they're wanting to make a sale. They really are genuinely nice people.
The one I go to is good, as well. The GM is a personal friend of mine, and she makes a point of telling the people who work under her to not push all the extraneous crap a lot of other stores do. Store is always immaculately clean, too. Not every Gamestop is terrible.
1903tx, I'm the same way and I've always taken care of my toys since kindergarten on. In 2017 I traded my WiiU + $ for a new Switch bundle. I brought the console in with all the originals (twist-tied accessories, documentation, and box.) The salesman tossed the box and documentation and put the rest in their cardboard box. Asking him why, he said it was company policy otherwise customers will insist on one with the original box. I've only used Gamestop in last minute situations because they're easy to hate for multiple reasons.
GameStop doesn't cater to collectors. Their core userbase is average people that treat games like a disposable commodity. They play it, then want to get rid of it for something new. And they don't throw away as many DS cases as you think because most are traded in without cases to begin with because, again, that's how their core uverbase treats their games. And before you say anything, yes, they do throw out cases near the end of a console's life, but most handheld games just don't come in with cases in the first place.
Yeah, I dislike GameStop and the few times I've been their I've refused to buy anything but new just to shove a fork in their business model. Don't care if used if $5 for $25 I'm buying new as I will not support the used business model. They really seem to get tilted by that as well just looking at you .. I would rather give the publisher the money (even tho they have gotten worse themselves) than reward GameStop for giving someone $12 for a new game and selling it to the next person in line for $55.
I saw a video that had a different take on why GameStop is struggling. The federal govt raised the salary requirements for overtime exemption. So most GameStop managers were now eligible for overtime, and almost every manager had to work 50+ hours to complete their work. GameStop sent out a survey to see if managers preferred having their salary raised to meet the minimum exempt requirement, or switch to hourly and be limited to 40 hours. 98% responded for a salary raise. GameStop hosted a convention for upper management to go over the change. The execs told everyone that they decided to switch everyone to hourly. However, as everyone needed OT to finish their work, everyone would receive a 20% paycut so they will earn the same amount after factoring in required OT. 1/3 of the managers walked out then and there, with another 1/3 handing in their two week notice. GameStop never recovered from the lack of experienced managers.
What business doesn't RIP off people? Yeah screw it just add it to the mile long list of brick and mortar stores closing down. Soon there will be nothing at all left other than RIP off convience stores and pizza joints. Yay
Selling opened copies of games as new will forever piss me off about Gamestop. Or the time the sales clerk wrote on a receipt on top of an Xbox 360 case and I could read his hand writing. Instantly returned it.
@@Dan-n-Duke-jr2ic I should have clarified better. He put the receipt on top of the game case, wrote on it, and it caused his hand writing to show on the case. You could see it when the light reflected off it.
@@jakebc411 I bought at Game at Gamestop last week, it was one of the opened "New" Copies. They put a piece of tape on it to show that it was new for some reason, and when I tried to take it off at home, it left a nasty glue smear all over the front of the case.
As a kid I always loved the smell of Gamestop, which is kind of worrying since it was basically the scent of hotboxed plastic. Oh well. Great video as always!
@@deadlysinner100 This aged so well. Some 3-400 stores are gonna close soon. Hours keep getting cut, and sales goals continue to be unrealist. It won't be much longer now. PS I forgot one thing. Over 100 mill in losses this past quarter.
GameStop is one of those companies that has been trying REALLY hard for a long time to tank their own stock. I have to wonder if they actually aimed to destroy the company rather than grow it. I won't attribute it to malice though, since we can clearly attribute it to stupidity. I will feel really bad though for the good employees that work there. I won't feel bad for the store manager near me. Buy anything that isn't the latest AAA title and you'll get treated with disrespect.
That's a good question actually. Is this another Sears situation where the CEO is deliberately tanking the company so he can steal its assets (land) at discount prices?
Probably, with the inventory they have, they'd probably come out with more profit through liquidation, than they would implementing a recovery plan for ultimate failure down the line (considering the current state of malls and their uncertain futures).
@@DarDarBinks1986 And North Korea, Soviet Russia is a case study in everything that is wrong with Communism and why it should never have been invented.
The last time I bought a used game from them an employee forgot to put the disc in the case. That was about 2 years ago. I was lucky I opened it in my car. If I didn’t I’d have to drive back. 🤦🏻♂️ i don’t really bother going there anymore
honestly i dont think people are buying must of there games from them anymore... you should ether buy online or at a local mom or paps games store or even just go to walmart or target but i wont sopport thoses guys anymore...
@@Lego_SML They'll get disability? I think you mean unemployment? Unemployment is temporary and will be discontinued after 16 weeks, at least I think it's 16 weeks.
They'll exit like any other retail chain, the bulk of the products including the good stuff will be purchased by distributors and wholesalers; leaving the "bottom of the barrel" for the public.
Even 10 years ago GameStop was terrible, they pushed you hard for every possible upsell, and the stores always seemed to be filled with young teenagers without credit cards buying games with change and small bills. Not to mention gutting games; this has always irked me and with the crappy exchange rate console games are near 100 dollars in Canada now, there's no way in hell I'll buy an open product for that price. I suspect the Canadian operations will follow the normal branch-plant-economy model where they get liquidated overnight to provide enough cash to keep the mothership going for a couple more quarters. Toronto has lots of great indie game stores, and since consoles are region free now a lot of them carry Japan and Hong Kong imports which Gamestop will never be able to do. At this point even Best Buy is better if you want to get a physical game without waiting.
I have to agree with you that GameStop has been terrible for all this time and I do not see why people are wanting to go to there stores when you can download these things off the internet right from the stores of the gaming system you have. As for the old games that people played when they were young. Some of the big names like Nintendo and Sony allow you to download these old games right to your game system. I rather download and play the game right away instead of getting in to my car driving to the store getting the game having to get back in the car drive home and than get the game out and put it in system. By the time I would get down with that I could have the game downloaded and be playing it. So I think downloading games is the way things are going to go from now on.
The video game market has shifted and they need to find a way to bring customers into stores and becoming an overpriced knick knack shop isn't they way. It's also very interesting that they make this announcement just after they had their national sales meeting for their store managers.
I've had so many great memories here with my brothers. My family was dead broke, but my dad would rally together all he could to get us some great games / consoles from here. The leadership at some Gamestops have been absolutely horrible. What it's turning into is quite concerning. I've got a saying when it comes to situations like this: "Did you really hate the school? Or did you just hate the people there and how they treated you?" I hope they shrink a bit and actually start caring about their teams. I def dont want to see them go.
Good Riddance - Last time I went there (2 years ago) I used a credit card that I hadn't used in over a year, Before I drove 10 miles away someone was using my credit card 1,100 miles away in Florida. Thankfully that is one of the 4 stores that have shut down in the last couple of weeks.
Regal and AMC each have their own chain specific movie pass memberships now. Saw it advertised on the “now playing” board at my local Regal theater the other day.
I quit shopping there 15 years ago. Ebay is even cheaper for new releases most of the time. And I can also sell my games there for 10x the price gamestop pays. RIP.
@@nickrustyson8124 while this is true sometimes there are reputable sellers on eBay and ways to see their customer feedback. While it may be easy to get ripped off from a small few time game seller on eBay trust me if people see that someone has a bunch of negative feedback it hurts their sales drastically and you yourself will know to stay away. It's easy to take 2 minutes and check someone's feedback to see that they are legit, eBay isn't all scams like people make it out to be.
I remember when i tried to sale 3 ds games i had just bought the day before from that same store for 60 bucks total and the guy wanted to give me 12 dollars in store credit.
I remember always thinking how weird it was that there was 2 game stops at my local mall & another game stop right across the street from the mall? It seemed so unnecessary. They closed one of the Game Stops in the mall & I assumed the only reason the other one is surviving is because I live in a border town so our mall is doing good because of all the people from Mx shopping here.
DLC for sure is hurting them BIG TIME, I really like GameStop and the employees are nice and knowledgeable. Sometimes GameStop games are cheaper than overpriced DLC games, also you save storage space on your HDD by owning the disc version (I think 🤔)
I love going to GameStop for games, consoles, and Pokemon merchandise. The employees are always super friendly and let you test something out to make sure it works before you get all the way home and find out it doesn't. They all seem to love their job Gonna miss GameStop when it goes :(
The only thing I like about GameStop is the ones in my area are next to Walmart locations, so it's convenient for me when I do the family shopping, and I want to preorder a new console coming out, and with my work I only get payed every 2 weeks, and Game Stop does not require you to pay in full upfront for the preorder, so I can save during the preorder time to release date, walk in the store, claim my console, and walkout without having wait for it to come in the mail, or risk someone in the mail system stealing, or an Amazon/Newegg/etc.. worker stealing it, and scalping it on eBay, leaving me with a brick in the box.
I missed them when they were Electronics Boutique. The staff where I went were great and knowledgeable in games, and there wasn't pressure to buy anything. When they became EB Games I hated going there. The staff climate was super toxic, the salespeople didn't know much about games at all, and customers were constantly ripped off for exchanges/store credit.
@@antoniusbritannia8217 GameStop closed their stores here forever back in March of 2017. It was the Fault of our shitty Government and it's taxes (Extortion).
Gamestop is just poorly ran by people believing that they can always maximize....always. "Cut as many corners and hope the people don't notice" type of things. Gamers for the longest time have been smart enough to know when they get screwed, and I'm not talking just about Gamestop's markup. Personally, two things killed buying anything from them unless absolutely necessary: 1. Deus Ex: Human Revolution was a game I was going to buy there until I heard about what they did opening up the boxes. (For those that don't remember, Gamestop opened up copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution to remove the free copy of the same game through OnLive's service. Their excuse at the time was they were going to come out with a competitor.....and that plain never happened) 2. The mantra they use when selling new games... me: hey do you have a new copy of X (game released about a month ago) GS: did you preorder? me: no, but even if I had....do you have one? GS: no Also the latest time I went to a gamestop, which was about a year ago, I went into a store looking for the Wipeout Totaku figurines because it's only at gamestop. A salesman was walking around and asked the usual "do you want to be helped?" and I said no just looking. He then proceeded to do a 30sec story about their current sales, which is fine. He then was asking for my gamer card, and I said "nah man, I'm just looking". He then typed something on the tablet he was carrying and was trying to hand it to me asking me to just put in my info. I stared at the tablet then him, and said "DUDE, just back off", and then another family came in and he proceeded to goto them like lightning. I told my wife we are leaving. They need to go under, NOT because the industry will die, there are plenty of demand for gaming stores out there, like you mentioned with mom 'n' pop shops. It's just time their reign of bad management, shady practices to both customers and their own employees, and sub-par branding just came to an end.
I think the key to Gametop surviving is shuttering under performing stores. The GameStop at my local mall is always packed, and the mall itself is doing well. Meanwhile there are two strip mall locations which are always empty and depressing. The sad thing that I read somewhere is that GameStop is going to be putting even more emphasis on novelties to make up for lost video game sales. They seem to be taking the same approach as FYE, so we’ll have to see how it works.
Limited edition consoles are a waste of money because scalpers buy them and resell them for ripoff prices, Capitalism doesn't work like it used to, because assholes literally use this stupid system to steal money
There's 2 gamestops near me now(used to be 3, but the mall one closed). I haven't really been in to games until middle school, but I do remember going into the gamestop near my house quite a bit. I'd be very sad to see that one go away, as it brings back a lot of memories.
Yeah GameStop has certainly made some huge mistakes. It seems like many of the closures are going to be redundancies. Looking around my area on google maps show around 4 or 5 GameStops that are within a less than a 3 minute drive from another GameStop. Heck I remember after their merger with EB Games they ended up having 2 GameStops in the same mall (although one of them did close down eventually & replaced with a mom and pop store) with another one half a minute down the street. WalMart has been thrashing them lately by slashing 10 dollars off of all their Switch games.
That mall became known as Plaza Mayor a few years ago and has since closed for good. I went there about 2-3 years ago. It was obvious they were trying to revitalize it, but it just didn't work out.
Yo! Shout out to my OKC peeps! Yeah, do Crossroads! They had one of the last 'Namco' arcades up until the early 2000s (I got to work there one Xmas!). If you decide to research that, it didn't actually have Namco in the name, but they were the parent company...
Gamestop is found in many malls across the country. Now that people buy games online, they are facing declining sales. You don't see computer/software stores anymore as you did 20 years ago. More than 3000 stores are too many as they are not a big department store.
Rest in peace brick-and-mortar stores. The days of going to the mall with my $50 & endlessly rummaging to find games like Dark Reign 2 the first 3D RTS game at Electronic Boutique. Really some of my Fondest Memories I actually bought Halo used for PC when they wete still giving out CD keys. Really some of my bestest memories ever. R.I.P. oh and by the way GameStop was far from a monopoly.
If I was the CEO the first few issues I take care of is 1: stop throwing away games and cases. 2: get rid of toys and none game material. 3: make a better employee program. 4: close stores that don’t preform well. And close stores that are to close to each other. 5: start selling older games and console. 6: price cut every item to compete with all video game markets.
I've been waiting for you do to this one. Thank You. I went to a GameStop in Plano, Texas that inside had an entrance to The Barnes and Noble store next door which can be access from the store inside
They try to sell you a warranty on games and everything else, that gets old, they treat the staff poorly and they constantly try to enroll you in things checking out. That's why I dont go back, it gets old.
Yeah, especially how I still have my "Pro Membership" card but it's status is now a "Basic Membership" and getting asked to renew it. Plus, I haven't been buying much games compared to how it was during my high school and college years. I had been hesitant to buy video games (on my own terms) even more since I quit my part-time job as a dishwasher since 2018.
I think that taking advantage of kids and doing everything possible to rip us off in every chance they get is more than enough reason .they have had more than enough time to get it together. Walmart and other companies like GameStop take advantage so to say that who does more damage to the community is futile . So let’s focus on my opinion by the way and GameStop has to go local game shops r better so keep that in mind
You’re gonna hate me for this but I prefer Walmart, because they have a bigger selection of games. And I trust them more. I feel like GameStop doesn’t take care of their stuff/games/consoles
LMAO!!! But on a serious note, and I know not many areas have them currently, but 2nd, and Charles is a good place to sale games, consoles, and acessories.
I have fond memories of Gamestop in my younger years in the early 2000's. The thing that turned me off from Gamestop was turning in at least 20 good title games in great condition. Minimal to no scratches at all. My brother and I got about $23. That was back in 2005. I bet they got their money back on the 1st sale of those games.
I will forever support mom and pop game stores, sadly the only 2 by my house closed down :( But I discovered one just a subway hop away and I could never be any happier!
Seems when a store goes through a shift, that's when they get in trouble. When I go to game stop I expect to see games, not toys and what not. Fye kind of list focus as well.
The strip mall where I live at hardly have any stores left. That's because of the new mini mall they built a few years back just a quarter a mile up the road from it. But the strip and mini mall both have a GameStop store to then. lol
I remember when I was a teenager back in the 2000s and I would take newly released ps2 and ps3 games that I completed to gamestop for a store credit I would give them 5 new games and only get around $20$25 store credit. I was young and didn't realized they ripped me off and resold those games for much higher prices.
@@itsrya6530 it's not the same but let's hope it can change. I met alot of people through the years by going to GameStop and we ended up gaming online from time to time.
Joel Sinn there’s a place in our mall but they don’t do new games. Like you can trade in old games for something new. They don’t even sell gift cards for Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo. Plus preordering net you something like a back pack for my black ops 4.
Awesome vid! Not gonna miss GameStop, they had many chances to bring value to their customers... They instead chose to focus on hard selling everyone that walked up to the register a bunch of crap they didn't want. If you're forcing your customers to have a less than average shopping experience you need to couple that with better than average prices, which they didn't do.
It used to be 20% off used stuff with the Elite membership (extremely good savings when used with the already cheap retro game prices;) But they recently cancelled that so I probably won't be buying from them anytime soon.
This is another store like toys r us they closed down because of their over pricing of the stuff they sell.all they would have to do is lower the prices of the items in the store try to compete with Walmart or Target and other places that r lower in the prices GET WITH IT GAME STOP OR U WILL BE GONE IN A BLINK OF A EYE
The thing with so many stores is that they grow too much and stretch themselves too thin making their prices have to go up to pay for all that over head. If they can bring themselves to a stable amount of stores, malls and busy areas only, they can probably survive for a bit longer. I used to be a Store Manager at Gamestop and I dont think I've really bought much there since I quit in 2012.
to be honest, we sold unopened new and used games to GameStop previously, the staffs just put new price tags which were at least double of our selling price in front of us and not even clean them, then putting back to the shelf eventually. such a ripoff... for sure we never get anything from them afterwards.
I gave up on em' years ago when they started to phase out PC games in favor of console and handheld only. In the last few years, I've gone into GameStop a few times, with money and a mood to buy, and every single time, they have had absolutely nothing I wanted to buy, and a total ton of stuff that I had no interest in. Besides all that, they have shady business policies, both with their customers as well as their employees, and they have been an EA like evil corporate monster that has devoured all the actually cool software chains, as mentioned in the video above. Let em' go the way of the dinosaurs is what I say, so they can make way for cool independent Mom n' Pop stores.
Last time I was in a GameStop, I was trading in a console. The employees, who just a couple of years before, acted totally stoked to be there, now seemed dead inside. The console I had been using not twelve hours before, I was told "won't start", so I wouldn't be getting the full price they were offering. I said, "Okay, sure, whatever." got a few used games, and haven't been there since. That was 2020. The two in my town are limping along, but the used game/gaming stores are doing more business. It's just a matter of time before they both close.
Ah yes, last time I was in a Gamestop was during the plague. I walked in and asked the clerk if they had a Nintendo Switch. The clerk said no so I walked back out and later that day just ordered one online and I got it in like 3 days...
GameStop just isn't EB Games or Funcoland. You could say that it's a shell of its former selves. I won't miss it one bit, even though there really isn't any other game stores where I live. Also, nice use of Toejam & Earl music!
boostedmaniac I don’t like games being locked to a account and Amazon has always given be bad experiences and I don’t trust them to deliver me Games day 1. It really isn’t that hard to go outside for less than 15mins to pickup a game.
I have shopped at the Prescott Gateway location (to this day) since its grand opening day. About 19 years now. I had not heard the name "Game Stop" until that visit, expecting to see an EB. Wow thank you. Their anti-thief system for new releases was a strain. You were lucky if you wanted a new releases factory sealed. It just didn't go well with me if it was supposed to be for a gift for someone. Generally I rarely purchased games there for current systems, with the exception of used DVD films. Usually I would peripheral and consoles. Walking out with a fresh PS2/PS4 in those big blue boxes were my best memories.
One of my fondest memories was my mom taking me into Babbages in a mall & telling me to go pick out a game. This was back in the 90's when cover art was really all you had to go off other than magazines. I remember picking my one of my favorite RPGs ever, Megaman Legends for the PS1. I vividly recall the shelf jutting out of the wall diagonally & seeing the game maybe slightly above eye level. I had just started getting into RPGs and had loved playing Megaman X4 at my cousins house on his PS1. Megman+RPG=LOVE
Their prices never feel competitive. Also when I buy a "new" game I want a sealed copy. Don't grab the game from a drawer and stick it in a scuffed up display case and sell it to me as "new."
Let 'em go out of business. They low ball you on any trade-ins and then their used merchandise ( especially game consoles ) are barely cheaper than new.
I feel like GameStops in malls do way better than stand alone shops on a street location. I think that when you’re out shopping going inside a GameStop is more appealing than to park a car and get out to do the same. Basically if there’s good foot traffic already, GameStop won’t be empty.
I remember them charging me full price for a game that was already open and didn’t have the plastic wrapping on it. That was a bunch of bs they weren’t even willing to give even a slight discount for it.
I was born in 01 and my whole childhood with me and my friends was spent buying Nintendo DS light, Wii original, and ps3/xbox360 games. After that I found this cool store called Disc Replay that gave me better deals and had some cool retro game consoles w/ games for cheap prices. I remember buying GTA V for PS3 when it came out there. I got excited but honestly the location near me closed up a few months after I found it but at least I got a Purple GameBoy Color for 15$ from them too. Any other alternatives to something like Disc Replay (not including Game Stop)?
Wont be missed. They treat not only employees like crap. But they also take advantage of customers.
@@OffendingTheOffendable then try to rip people off and price it at 15-35
They give 50 cents for old sports games no one wants.
Don’t act like they give that same amount for a new AAA title, and resell for $50
My friend once bought Mario Kart for the switch in new. And then we immediately went to GameStop to check what price they would give for a popular new game. And they only wanted to give 20€ and they offered used copies of that game for 39€ . And for 39€ you could buy it in new from any other store,
@@BassBastiforever It has come out that GameStop opens new games to sell as used.
@@BfDelano last time i brought in a game to sell i got 2 bucks out of it and they was selling used for 52 dollars at the time lol They are the most scummiest business in the world even makes Walmart look like Jesus but hey its the small mall game shops that did this to us.
Even the T-Shirts, Wallets and Anime Merch are Way Overprice, like its cheaper at Hot Topic.
Or Amazon
how do you misspell cheaper......................
@@henryettoit897 hOw Do YoU mIsSpElL wOrDs
Or FYE and B&N even
That seriously says something if you are more expensive than hot topic.
This is why monopolies are bad. GameStop bought out all the competition so that only they were left, and now that their greed and piss-poor business practices have finally caught up with them their closing is going to leave a massive retail hole for used physical games. Good riddance! Hopefully physical game stores can start over on a better foot after they're gone. Who knows exactly how much media GS has destroyed though!
You have the maw and paw stores
@@blueinternet4336 Very true, but there is an insane amount of surplus stuck in GameStop's warehouses. Granted you can buy anything online, and Ma&Pa's are great, but unfortunately most gaming shops don't stick around unless they're a gaming "general store" with cards and tabletop stuff too. Even then despite being a good store they could close in relation to perhaps setting up in a bad area. I'd support them any day over corporate if they're actually decent. There's one where I live (and I worked there even) that's terrible, and almost as bad as GameStop pushing their "rewards" card.
It's not a monopoly for several reasons, but the number one being a monopoly by definition refers to an industry supplier that the government has agreed to punish their competitors in some way; for example, in many cities everyone is forced to pay some minimum charge to one water company, and in some cases it's even punished to collect rainwater. Since it's completely legal without any upcharge or tax to sell the merchandise through other sources, then they are not a monopoly. They may be the only game store in a certain region, but that's usually due to the fact that it's unprofitable to compete with them, because they're already losing money, so they simply have a monopoly on failure.
@@litigioussociety4249 I suppose they don't have control over that trade "exclusively", but they have bought out every other major video game-centric retail chain and their surplus, and now control an extremely disproportionate amount of commercial second hand video game trade. You're right that it's not a monopoly exactly, but it's damn close.
@@theobscurestash6537 But that's ultimately due to copyright and trademark laws from the government. Without that anyone could legally produce and distribute new copies of the games. This is why people don't care about physical media anymore.
There’s just too many GameStops. There’s 2 McDonald’s in the city I live but 3 GameStop’s. You telling me games are outselling hamburgers? 🤔
Are you near the soon to be dead Southlake Mall?
I remember going into game stores and interacting with the people. It was like everybody was happy to be in there. The employees often sparked conversation and commented on new games and games coming out. I hadn't been to a game stop in years from about 2009 to 2014...Going in there was a totally different experience from before 09 til 2014. I use to love getting used games or whatever and getting a subscription to game informer. Good ol days. I remember malls at options Electronic boutique or Babbages.
Could've gone harder on used games, especially *old* used games. People who grew up with stuff like the PS2 and GameCube are at the ages now where they want to replay those games, and that generation of gaming is still pretty under-represented as far as re-releases go. GameStop already has initiatives for selling used games since they make a lot of their money on used games, so why not push harder on reselling retro games?
I thought it was crazy when they announced they would no longer carry retro games. They used to and it was great to walk in and see.
Always looking for old Nintendo games and they never have anything so I end up on ebay
The retro game market already has a lot of competition, so Gamestops current reputation wouldn’t be able to sufficiently compete with it. An example being, I used to work at Gamestop in a mall and right across the hall was a retro/antique games and records store. Sold everything all the way back to N64, and maybe even more that predated it, but I don’t remember.
@@007blond if they had stuck with retro games instead of dropping it like a hot potato years and years ago, then maybe they'd have some footing. As it is now, their reputation is so bad among retro gamers and especially collectors that their attempt to bring retro games back in the last year has barely made a dent. Retro gamers remember.
OfficialSkyPiglet they might’ve had some footing, but honestly I doubt it still would’ve affected much even if they did maintain a foothold in the retro market. Gamestops reputation concerning their modern day business practices would probably be too much for them to be able to keep up with newer businesses that aren’t (yet) known for shady business practices.
Besides, with the rise of online shopping (Amazon, Ebay, etc) and the ability to download games on virtually any console, it’s inevitable that Gamestop is going to go out of business.
It’s honestly kind of a shame though, Gamestop was my favorite store when I was a kid lol
Oh your company is going out of business? I'll give you $2 store credit for it.
💀dead
Gamestop is awful? No! At least not for me! The employees at my local gamestop are always courteous and helpful and they never are rude or pressuring me into buying the newest games or trading in thngs. Walmart on the other hand does have bad customer service, their employees take 20 minutes to open the glass cases the games are kept in and often I'm helped by some grumpy 50 yr old fat slob.
A good many years back I was wanting to play that dumb game Arcania (Gothic 4) on PC. Went to Game Stop and they had the game for $50 gawd**** bucks! Got it off eBay new for $3 bucks, last time I ever went in there.
@@danielmoung9098 you're a nasty little thing arent you
Daniel Moung Daniel Moung when GameStop offers you next to nothing for your used games and consoles, and then turns around and sells them for 100x what they bought them for, that’s pretty awful
They gave me $7 for my game cube when I was a teen... I sold it so I could buy a movie ticket! So sad lol I think they really cheated me
What movie?
no shit
Gamestop is well known for targeting us incels.
This is why the gamestop employees tend to be a hot girl and three to five ugly fat guys.
Anyways the point is this makes the customers accept any offer for there item.
jasin biggs wtf did this have to do w incels 😭
@@jasinbiggs7189 dammnnnn a hot girl where... every gamestop iv gone to is a big sausage fest or if there is a hot girl... its a customer shopping with her boyfriend... besides maybe in cali or some mejor city where girl gamers are hot but the ones i know still look like overweight awkwardly emo girls....
They’ve become so bloated that it impairs the customers ability to choose quality games. If they’d follow store trends and understood what their customer base really wants, it’s not random accessories and you, it’s games!
Imagine if you will, a GameStop where you walk in and are greeted, as you walk along there are shelves with new games, then best sellers and then retro. Lastly some items like apparel and custom kits or something.
Keeping it simple would be the answer. Instead, it’s just a generic store with no focus on the customer.
It should be a game store, not a Dollar General.
Yes! This and less scripted interactions. "I really recommend the disc protection..." oh do you now?
It saddens me, but I'll put it this way: I miss EB games more than I miss gamestop
Still alive in Canada as EBx
A lot of stores begin to peddle knick-knacks like this when their core business is struggling. The notion is that the junk will draw in more foot traffic and potentially more paying customers. But it’s a trap because the profit these toys yield is minimal in comparison to the store’s core product; often they sell them at a loss. On top of that, the sight of all this junk tends to be off-putting to the core customers. Sales drop, but instead of focusing on the core business, the company *widens* the assortment of tchotchkes at their stores, to the detriment of their core product, thereby setting off a vicious cycle. Anybody who visited a Borders, Tower Records, The Wherehouse, etc. in their late years will know what I mean. (Amoeba Music in Hollywood is going through a similar spiral at the moment.)
As for Game Stop potentially going out of business, I can’t say that I feel bad for them. They put a lot of small (and often vastly superior) game shops out of business. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.
Another great video. Thanks!
They own Think Geek. The toys you’re crying about are from Think Geek.
Néstor Castiglione while you make some good points, you’re completely incorrect regarding margins on GameStop’s toys or knick knacks vs their core business. The margin on these items are incredibly high, compared to the margin on video games and consoles, which is incredibly thin. You can view this for yourself in their company filings if you don’t believe me.
BfDelano I think you’re projecting your own defensiveness about toys onto me.
Nevertheless, since Game Stop is obviously not well these days, one must wonder what benefits, if any, owning Think Geek ultimately afforded its parent company.
NPC #1248402984 It could very well be true. My own experience first-hand with selling this sort of material has demonstrated otherwise to me. I used to work at Amoeba Music in Hollywood. Sales started sagging circa 2012 or so, when they began introducing all manner of extramusical merchandise. Over the years, the toys became a big draw. It was a Catch-22 situation, however. The hardcore customers would complain to us about how they felt more and more space was being accorded to the toys. Many reduced the frequency of their visits to the store; a few stopped coming altogether. On top of that, the margin on the toys was exceedingly thin, if not a loss.
It could very well be that Game Stop, as a chain store, has negotiated a better deal on the toys than an independent record store-however famous or large-could manage on its own. But whatever their profit margins on those toys, they evidently have not helped the parent company out of its current troubles.
Néstor Castiglione So stating a fact to you is projecting?
Game stores always flounder when new hardware isn't being released. If GameStop can hold off tille 2020 when the PS5 and Xbox Scarlett are released, that will hold them over for a while.
In 2005 a classmate told me they fired him for not closing the cash register properly. I mean he was 17 years old at that time, in charge of closing a whole store regularly.
that's no excuse whatsoever, back in high school(I got out in 00) for my first real job, I worked at a family owned gas station/deli/liquor store/electronic poker machine palace, and I often was in charge of closing the store, along with another co worker, and we rarely ever had issues. It's called learning to do a job, and doing it well, so your ass does not get FIRED!!!
I mean if he did it once or even twice then that’s pretty shitty of them, but if he did that several times then he definitely deserved to get fired lol
GameStop jokes aside; This does worry me.
I don't have any used game stores in my area; Any that open up quickly fall under.
I know GameStop is bad for a lot of reasons, but if the most well known game store is going out- Then that worries me for what that means for gaming retailers as a whole.
And yes I get it, you can just buy games at Walmart or Amazon; But the same people who say that are the same people who complain about how they dropped 60$ on a game that wasn't worth it. I don't mind waiting to get a game used to save some money. Stores like Walmart _CLAIM_ to have a *"used selection,"* but all that ever amounts to is a handful of games on 1 shelf you would never want.
I get it, though I have been a PC gamer for a long time I did used to play with systems. Companies have hated second market since they don't make anything off that. I would say don't buy games when they first come out, they always cost too much.
You don't have to have a "gamestop" to buy used games.
Ever heard of ebay?
All that room they used for random figures that no one will buy could’ve been used for games from older consoles
Yeah I remember in the early 2000s they used to sell all the retro consoles along with retro games. Now they're gone. I'm not sure they even take them anymore.
Dario Gomez nah they don’t anymore, according to gamestop standards those games are worthless now lol
@@SoloMarcoPolo I dont own any console newer than a PS2. I Mostly play that, dreamcast and snes. So I have no need to shop at gamestop. And I know many people only play retro games as well. They are losing major business from retro gamers.
To what end? Are you unfamiliar with Gamestop? They just would have been used games that no one wants at Full Price.
Our gamestop is run by fantastic people. I really hope it's not on the chopping block. Same guys have been running it for pretty much this entire decade and genuinely seem to enjoy their work. They won't push the sales from my experience and they're pretty friendly.
Is that bias review, or legitimate reviews, I see couple store treat customer based on skin color
Some stores better than others...
Mines really good they aren't dicks just this one dude but he's a pussy who abuses his job but besides that everyone's cool
The one I shop at also has great people working there. Seriously they are good sellers and know their products well. The store is always kept clean and they're some of the nicest people I've ever met and not just nice because they're wanting to make a sale. They really are genuinely nice people.
The one I go to is good, as well. The GM is a personal friend of mine, and she makes a point of telling the people who work under her to not push all the extraneous crap a lot of other stores do. Store is always immaculately clean, too. Not every Gamestop is terrible.
I won't buy a game unless it comes with the original case and manual. Gamestop has definitely lost a few sales to me due their throwing them away.
1903tx, I'm the same way and I've always taken care of my toys since kindergarten on. In 2017 I traded my WiiU + $ for a new Switch bundle. I brought the console in with all the originals (twist-tied accessories, documentation, and box.) The salesman tossed the box and documentation and put the rest in their cardboard box. Asking him why, he said it was company policy otherwise customers will insist on one with the original box. I've only used Gamestop in last minute situations because they're easy to hate for multiple reasons.
As a DS/3DS/2DS collector, they have done the same with me as well.
Amen!!
GameStop doesn't cater to collectors. Their core userbase is average people that treat games like a disposable commodity. They play it, then want to get rid of it for something new. And they don't throw away as many DS cases as you think because most are traded in without cases to begin with because, again, that's how their core uverbase treats their games. And before you say anything, yes, they do throw out cases near the end of a console's life, but most handheld games just don't come in with cases in the first place.
Yeah, I dislike GameStop and the few times I've been their I've refused to buy anything but new just to shove a fork in their business model. Don't care if used if $5 for $25 I'm buying new as I will not support the used business model. They really seem to get tilted by that as well just looking at you .. I would rather give the publisher the money (even tho they have gotten worse themselves) than reward GameStop for giving someone $12 for a new game and selling it to the next person in line for $55.
I saw a video that had a different take on why GameStop is struggling.
The federal govt raised the salary requirements for overtime exemption. So most GameStop managers were now eligible for overtime, and almost every manager had to work 50+ hours to complete their work. GameStop sent out a survey to see if managers preferred having their salary raised to meet the minimum exempt requirement, or switch to hourly and be limited to 40 hours. 98% responded for a salary raise.
GameStop hosted a convention for upper management to go over the change. The execs told everyone that they decided to switch everyone to hourly. However, as everyone needed OT to finish their work, everyone would receive a 20% paycut so they will earn the same amount after factoring in required OT.
1/3 of the managers walked out then and there, with another 1/3 handing in their two week notice. GameStop never recovered from the lack of experienced managers.
If that's the real reason, GameStop deserves to go out of business. That can't be allowed in a modern world.
Karen Pojar I think that is definitely a major part of their current woes, but their sluggish sales are also not helping.
@@jwb52z9 uh, why? Sounds to me like the managers were content and wanted the jobs prior to government interference.
Me: *sells $200 worth of games*
GameStop: *gives me $32.17*
Chris Molyneaux dame thing happened to my friend he gave game stop a golden 3ds which was worth $100 but only got $20
Like shit lol...they like to low-ball sellers
Sold $200 worth of games and got $32 and then game stop priced them all worth $300. Joke store.😡
Babbages was awesome in the day!
It’s always optional to sell your stuff to anybody. If you take an offer that you feel is unfair, that’s on you.
This place has been ripping people off for years.
Now its coming back to bite them in the ass ouch!! 🤣🤣🤣
I’m such an idiot I bought Mario Party 9 for 55$
What business doesn't RIP off people? Yeah screw it just add it to the mile long list of brick and mortar stores closing down. Soon there will be nothing at all left other than RIP off convience stores and pizza joints. Yay
@@KyleF841 It's alright bro just sell it on craigslist or something
Whats better to shop for gaming
Best Buy
Walmart
Target
Or Gamestop
Selling opened copies of games as new will forever piss me off about Gamestop.
Or the time the sales clerk wrote on a receipt on top of an Xbox 360 case and I could read his hand writing. Instantly returned it.
Didn't get the receipt reference, he tried to sell that as new also?
@@Dan-n-Duke-jr2ic I should have clarified better. He put the receipt on top of the game case, wrote on it, and it caused his hand writing to show on the case. You could see it when the light reflected off it.
PubeStache as a die-hard collector of physical games this pains me, even a little scratch on my cases makes me insane
Try buying, selling or trading in www.ontraga.com/ , better than gamestop, ebay or amazon,
faster, safer and more effective
@@jakebc411 I bought at Game at Gamestop last week, it was one of the opened "New" Copies. They put a piece of tape on it to show that it was new for some reason, and when I tried to take it off at home, it left a nasty glue smear all over the front of the case.
As a kid I always loved the smell of Gamestop, which is kind of worrying since it was basically the scent of hotboxed plastic. Oh well. Great video as always!
GameStop is literally just Hot Topic 2
Nah, Hot Topic has cooler stuff lol!
But with games
Hot topic 2 electronic boutiqueboo
more like Yesterday Topic.
Days are numbered. They are done. I personally, will not miss them.
If you think they are done then you'll be waiting awhile
@@deadlysinner100 This aged so well. Some 3-400 stores are gonna close soon. Hours keep getting cut, and sales goals continue to be unrealist. It won't be much longer now. PS I forgot one thing. Over 100 mill in losses this past quarter.
They’ve been ripping off gamers for years lol, good riddance
cheeres to that
Agreed
Karma
Totally!
My cousin askin me why I'm keepin all my old games? Because I ain't selling it like a crackhead.
Gamestop lost me when I realized they pressured my dad to buy their shitty rewards card when i was like 12 ! Smh
@MrSunny Plays that's says allot, seeing how bad they really are.
How about when they ask like a 13 year old too purchase it lol i think the requierment for that card was like at least 10 i believe
GameStop is one of those companies that has been trying REALLY hard for a long time to tank their own stock. I have to wonder if they actually aimed to destroy the company rather than grow it. I won't attribute it to malice though, since we can clearly attribute it to stupidity. I will feel really bad though for the good employees that work there. I won't feel bad for the store manager near me. Buy anything that isn't the latest AAA title and you'll get treated with disrespect.
That's a good question actually. Is this another Sears situation where the CEO is deliberately tanking the company so he can steal its assets (land) at discount prices?
Probably, with the inventory they have, they'd probably come out with more profit through liquidation, than they would implementing a recovery plan for ultimate failure down the line (considering the current state of malls and their uncertain futures).
Sears and GameStop are case studies in everything wrong with capitalism and why it should never have been invented.
Sometimes they are tanked on purpose so the onwer can get tax breaks
@@DarDarBinks1986 And North Korea, Soviet Russia is a case study in everything that is wrong with Communism and why it should never have been invented.
The best reminder its Friday! Hope you had a good week bud!
The last time I bought a used game from them an employee forgot to put the disc in the case. That was about 2 years ago. I was lucky I opened it in my car. If I didn’t I’d have to drive back. 🤦🏻♂️ i don’t really bother going there anymore
honestly i dont think people are buying must of there games from them anymore... you should ether buy online or at a local mom or paps games store or even just go to walmart or target but i wont sopport thoses guys anymore...
The last time l went to a game stop was about 2 or 3 years ago to pick a Copy of Pokemon ultra sun
@@danielbrinson7022 that's the last time I went there as well, I ordered Let's Go Pikachu when it came out and I preordered Sword on Amazon
I haven't been in a Game Stop in years but I feel sorry for the employees who are going to lose there jobs.
They'll get disability and be just fine
@@Lego_SML They'll get disability? I think you mean unemployment? Unemployment is temporary and will be discontinued after 16 weeks, at least I think it's 16 weeks.
@@jrlauer69 no I mean disability. You can claim disability if you have unemployment
Nobody is losing their jobs
At least when they find a new job, they can honestly say that ripping people off on a daily basis is not part of the process.
I hope they go under and someone offers them pennies on the dollar to acquire the remains.
They'll exit like any other retail chain, the bulk of the products including the good stuff will be purchased by distributors and wholesalers; leaving the "bottom of the barrel" for the public.
I'll give you 1 dollar cash or 2 dollars trade in credit for the whole company!
Even 10 years ago GameStop was terrible, they pushed you hard for every possible upsell, and the stores always seemed to be filled with young teenagers without credit cards buying games with change and small bills. Not to mention gutting games; this has always irked me and with the crappy exchange rate console games are near 100 dollars in Canada now, there's no way in hell I'll buy an open product for that price. I suspect the Canadian operations will follow the normal branch-plant-economy model where they get liquidated overnight to provide enough cash to keep the mothership going for a couple more quarters.
Toronto has lots of great indie game stores, and since consoles are region free now a lot of them carry Japan and Hong Kong imports which Gamestop will never be able to do.
At this point even Best Buy is better if you want to get a physical game without waiting.
I've never once had a bad experience at GameStop or felt like they were trying to sell me something extra
Like a&c games ;) those guys are great
Best Buy has been my go to for physical copy games for the last few years now
I have to agree with you that GameStop has been terrible for all this time and I do not see why people are wanting to go to there stores when you can download these things off the internet right from the stores of the gaming system you have. As for the old games that people played when they were young. Some of the big names like Nintendo and Sony allow you to download these old games right to your game system. I rather download and play the game right away instead of getting in to my car driving to the store getting the game having to get back in the car drive home and than get the game out and put it in system. By the time I would get down with that I could have the game downloaded and be playing it. So I think downloading games is the way things are going to go from now on.
The video game market has shifted and they need to find a way to bring customers into stores and becoming an overpriced knick knack shop isn't they way. It's also very interesting that they make this announcement just after they had their national sales meeting for their store managers.
Froggievilleus ... I read your comment. You should.
I've had so many great memories here with my brothers.
My family was dead broke, but my dad would rally together all he could to get us some great games / consoles from here.
The leadership at some Gamestops have been absolutely horrible. What it's turning into is quite concerning.
I've got a saying when it comes to situations like this:
"Did you really hate the school? Or did you just hate the people there and how they treated you?"
I hope they shrink a bit and actually start caring about their teams. I def dont want to see them go.
Good Riddance - Last time I went there (2 years ago) I used a credit card that I hadn't used in over a year, Before I drove 10 miles away someone was using my credit card 1,100 miles away in Florida. Thankfully that is one of the 4 stores that have shut down in the last couple of weeks.
Well, at least they outlived MoviePass?
Yup
Regal and AMC each have their own chain specific movie pass memberships now. Saw it advertised on the “now playing” board at my local Regal theater the other day.
I saw every movie that came out for the last 2 years thanks to movie pass..best $10 a month ever ($50 at one point)
And blockbuster
I quit shopping there 15 years ago. Ebay is even cheaper for new releases most of the time. And I can also sell my games there for 10x the price gamestop pays. RIP.
Yeah but higher chances that you will only get the Game Case with no game. Plus depending on what game you're selling it will be in your hands forever
@@nickrustyson8124 while this is true sometimes there are reputable sellers on eBay and ways to see their customer feedback. While it may be easy to get ripped off from a small few time game seller on eBay trust me if people see that someone has a bunch of negative feedback it hurts their sales drastically and you yourself will know to stay away. It's easy to take 2 minutes and check someone's feedback to see that they are legit, eBay isn't all scams like people make it out to be.
I remember when i tried to sale 3 ds games i had just bought the day before from that same store for 60 bucks total and the guy wanted to give me 12 dollars in store credit.
I remember always thinking how weird it was that there was 2 game stops at my local mall & another game stop right across the street from the mall? It seemed so unnecessary. They closed one of the Game Stops in the mall & I assumed the only reason the other one is surviving is because I live in a border town so our mall is doing good because of all the people from Mx shopping here.
DLC for sure is hurting them BIG TIME, I really like GameStop and the employees are nice and knowledgeable. Sometimes GameStop games are cheaper than overpriced DLC games, also you save storage space on your HDD by owning the disc version (I think 🤔)
Yes having the disk can save some storage but not much because it’s mostly all on the console.
I love going to GameStop for games, consoles, and Pokemon merchandise. The employees are always super friendly and let you test something out to make sure it works before you get all the way home and find out it doesn't. They all seem to love their job
Gonna miss GameStop when it goes :(
Never once had a bad experience and I've been to 10+ locations
and yeah a few of these stores aren't that busy unless it's release day for a huge game
If they do, vintage shops will blow up because they have to get rid of a massive amount of stock and inventory.
Where I live there's this place called retrofix, it's even worst prices then gamestop.
Gone after two Holidays....
Trash heap of history.
@@OffendingTheOffendable
Make or break this year?
I think the money burn will go into 2020 and the candle goes out....
We'll see.
Yours Truly,
GEG
I say they will make one last desperate attempt before closing feb 2022
The only thing I like about GameStop is the ones in my area are next to Walmart locations, so it's convenient for me when I do the family shopping, and I want to preorder a new console coming out, and with my work I only get payed every 2 weeks, and Game Stop does not require you to pay in full upfront for the preorder, so I can save during the preorder time to release date, walk in the store, claim my console, and walkout without having wait for it to come in the mail, or risk someone in the mail system stealing, or an Amazon/Newegg/etc.. worker stealing it, and scalping it on eBay, leaving me with a brick in the box.
@@fredlucero241 sooner than that
SpaceCowBoyRay hope your right how long you think
I missed them when they were Electronics Boutique. The staff where I went were great and knowledgeable in games, and there wasn't pressure to buy anything. When they became EB Games I hated going there. The staff climate was super toxic, the salespeople didn't know much about games at all, and customers were constantly ripped off for exchanges/store credit.
LOL 6:21 I thought the Yoshi plush toy was moving by itself, I said to myself maybe its animatronic hahaha.
GameStop closed forever here in Puerto Rico back in 2017.
diesaltrading ADHKKGD
Not so much closed, but rather blown away by a hurricane
@diesaltrading Really? Jealous?
@@antoniusbritannia8217 GameStop closed their stores here forever back in March of 2017. It was the Fault of our shitty Government and it's taxes (Extortion).
@diesaltrading Guess what? You ARE wrong. PERIOD! Where do you live? Just curious.
Gamestop is just poorly ran by people believing that they can always maximize....always. "Cut as many corners and hope the people don't notice" type of things. Gamers for the longest time have been smart enough to know when they get screwed, and I'm not talking just about Gamestop's markup. Personally, two things killed buying anything from them unless absolutely necessary:
1. Deus Ex: Human Revolution was a game I was going to buy there until I heard about what they did opening up the boxes. (For those that don't remember, Gamestop opened up copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution to remove the free copy of the same game through OnLive's service. Their excuse at the time was they were going to come out with a competitor.....and that plain never happened)
2. The mantra they use when selling new games...
me: hey do you have a new copy of X (game released about a month ago)
GS: did you preorder?
me: no, but even if I had....do you have one?
GS: no
Also the latest time I went to a gamestop, which was about a year ago, I went into a store looking for the Wipeout Totaku figurines because it's only at gamestop. A salesman was walking around and asked the usual "do you want to be helped?" and I said no just looking. He then proceeded to do a 30sec story about their current sales, which is fine. He then was asking for my gamer card, and I said "nah man, I'm just looking". He then typed something on the tablet he was carrying and was trying to hand it to me asking me to just put in my info. I stared at the tablet then him, and said "DUDE, just back off", and then another family came in and he proceeded to goto them like lightning. I told my wife we are leaving.
They need to go under, NOT because the industry will die, there are plenty of demand for gaming stores out there, like you mentioned with mom 'n' pop shops. It's just time their reign of bad management, shady practices to both customers and their own employees, and sub-par branding just came to an end.
I think the key to Gametop surviving is shuttering under performing stores. The GameStop at my local mall is always packed, and the mall itself is doing well. Meanwhile there are two strip mall locations which are always empty and depressing. The sad thing that I read somewhere is that GameStop is going to be putting even more emphasis on novelties to make up for lost video game sales. They seem to be taking the same approach as FYE, so we’ll have to see how it works.
Yeah they should just become a big mall store if they want to survive.
I’m right there when they go out of business!!!! I’m definitely racking up on the close out sales they’re going to have!!!
Those close out sales are still more expensive if you went somewhere else
Limited edition consoles are a waste of money because scalpers buy them and resell them for ripoff prices, Capitalism doesn't work like it used to, because assholes literally use this stupid system to steal money
Except they arent
They arent going out of business
There's 2 gamestops near me now(used to be 3, but the mall one closed). I haven't really been in to games until middle school, but I do remember going into the gamestop near my house quite a bit. I'd be very sad to see that one go away, as it brings back a lot of memories.
Yeah GameStop has certainly made some huge mistakes. It seems like many of the closures are going to be redundancies. Looking around my area on google maps show around 4 or 5 GameStops that are within a less than a 3 minute drive from another GameStop. Heck I remember after their merger with EB Games they ended up having 2 GameStops in the same mall (although one of them did close down eventually & replaced with a mom and pop store) with another one half a minute down the street.
WalMart has been thrashing them lately by slashing 10 dollars off of all their Switch games.
You should do an episode covering Crossroads Mall that’s located in OKC!
Vanilla Flare Productions YES. I live in OKC please do Crossroads Mall!!
Lexi C I’ve actually been to Crossroads when I was very little!
That mall became known as Plaza Mayor a few years ago and has since closed for good. I went there about 2-3 years ago. It was obvious they were trying to revitalize it, but it just didn't work out.
I have lots of memories of that mall! Would love a video on it
Yo! Shout out to my OKC peeps! Yeah, do Crossroads! They had one of the last 'Namco' arcades up until the early 2000s (I got to work there one Xmas!). If you decide to research that, it didn't actually have Namco in the name, but they were the parent company...
Gamestop is found in many malls across the country. Now that people buy games online, they are facing declining sales. You don't see computer/software stores anymore as you did 20 years ago. More than 3000 stores are too many as they are not a big department store.
@@JW...-oj5iw Thanks, I've gone back and edited it again
Yeah. I remember in the early 2000s game and computer stores were fun and exciting. I visited a best buy recently and it felt "dead"
Rest in peace brick-and-mortar stores. The days of going to the mall with my $50 & endlessly rummaging to find games like Dark Reign 2 the first 3D RTS game at Electronic Boutique. Really some of my Fondest Memories I actually bought Halo used for PC when they wete still giving out CD keys. Really some of my bestest memories ever. R.I.P. oh and by the way GameStop was far from a monopoly.
If I was the CEO the first few issues I take care of is
1: stop throwing away games and cases.
2: get rid of toys and none game material.
3: make a better employee program.
4: close stores that don’t preform well. And close stores that are to close to each other.
5: start selling older games and console.
6: price cut every item to compete with all video game markets.
I've been waiting for you do to this one. Thank You.
I went to a GameStop in Plano, Texas that inside had an entrance to The Barnes and Noble store next door which can be access from the store inside
Hey I've been to that one. Dudes tried to pressure me into buying some plastic zelda bow replica for $150
At this point they looks like a lower quality hot-topic, the've lost there niche.
Allie Huston their*
You have a point there
gregory grimm lol ok boomer
I was sad when they 'closed' Think Geek and told the customers to go to Gamestop. I think of games with Gamestop, not fandom specialty items.
to many of that stuff,they need to make it big
They try to sell you a warranty on games and everything else, that gets old, they treat the staff poorly and they constantly try to enroll you in things checking out.
That's why I dont go back, it gets old.
Yeah, especially how I still have my "Pro Membership" card but it's status is now a "Basic Membership" and getting asked to renew it. Plus, I haven't been buying much games compared to how it was during my high school and college years. I had been hesitant to buy video games (on my own terms) even more since I quit my part-time job as a dishwasher since 2018.
Shut them down I’ve had enough of them !!!
Please don't
No I’d much rather buy my games from GameStop than Walmart or Target all the employees are nice and I get good deals with the pro membership
👏
I think that taking advantage of kids and doing everything possible to rip us off in every chance they get is more than enough reason .they have had more than enough time to get it together. Walmart and other companies like GameStop take advantage so to say that who does more damage to the community is futile . So let’s focus on my opinion by the way and GameStop has to go local game shops r better so keep that in mind
You’re gonna hate me for this but I prefer Walmart, because they have a bigger selection of games. And I trust them more. I feel like GameStop doesn’t take care of their stuff/games/consoles
Oh no! Where will people go to sell the games and consoles they stole when they broke into people’s houses?? 😥
Big Ragu 😂
LMAO!!! But on a serious note, and I know not many areas have them currently, but 2nd, and Charles is a good place to sale games, consoles, and acessories.
They really only made $3 from a console anyways, so it will probably help
Pawnshops
Ebay
I have fond memories of Gamestop in my younger years in the early 2000's. The thing that turned me off from Gamestop was turning in at least 20 good title games in great condition. Minimal to no scratches at all. My brother and I got about $23. That was back in 2005. I bet they got their money back on the 1st sale of those games.
They are Known for ripping kids off with unfair trade ins🐀
That signage of the OLD Electronics Boutique took me back!
i miss that when ps1 came out,if u buy used game same price and u beat a week u could take it back get used game for the same price
I will forever support mom and pop game stores, sadly the only 2 by my house closed down :( But I discovered one just a subway hop away and I could never be any happier!
No price match when almost all big store do price match. SAD
now that did not know
Seems when a store goes through a shift, that's when they get in trouble. When I go to game stop I expect to see games, not toys and what not. Fye kind of list focus as well.
Mall Aholic Retail Channel FYE and GameStop are both in a race to see who can replace Toys R Us.
@@areyoujelton FYE marking up the prices on their merch doesn't help themselves much.
People thought they where going to close 2,400 over half there stores but GameStop said 200 stores but trust me after the holiday Bye Felicia 👋
Are you high on crack cocaine, Felicia?
I bet a lot of strip mall owners are in panic mode.
Nah, Asian nail salon will move in lol.
The strip mall where I live at hardly have any stores left. That's because of the new mini mall they built a few years back just a quarter a mile up the road from it.
But the strip and mini mall both have a GameStop store to then. lol
Not!
I remember when I was a teenager back in the 2000s and I would take newly released ps2 and ps3 games that I completed to gamestop for a store credit I would give them 5 new games and only get around $20$25 store credit. I was young and didn't realized they ripped me off and resold those games for much higher prices.
Rip
I never did that when i was a teen.
Being young isnt an excuse.
Im pretty sure your just stupid.
@@jasinbiggs7189 *You're
Omar T
Thanks. If hes old enough to get tried as an adult for murder then he old enough to know that you can reject any offer.
Lowballing is legal.
i did that once lol learned my lesson
This is one of the only few places i think most everyone wants gone
I actually don’t mind my gamestop
If they shut down then EB Games does too which makes me sad as a Canadian who loves EB as they are WAY better than GameStop
I don't want them to leave. GameStop is always like Christmas for me. There's no trill in looking online.
Chanda H. Da Samurai true but you can’t lie GameStop ain’t the same these days
@@itsrya6530 it's not the same but let's hope it can change. I met alot of people through the years by going to GameStop and we ended up gaming online from time to time.
Google mom and pop game stores in your area. Most places have them, and you can get better deals, and better service than Gamestop
Joel Sinn there’s a place in our mall but they don’t do new games. Like you can trade in old games for something new. They don’t even sell gift cards for Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo. Plus preordering net you something like a back pack for my black ops 4.
great video from the best channel on utube thank you keep up the good work
Digital sales are killing Gamestops used game market, that's a big profit area for them. I'll miss them. I give them another 3 years or so.
Awesome vid! Not gonna miss GameStop, they had many chances to bring value to their customers... They instead chose to focus on hard selling everyone that walked up to the register a bunch of crap they didn't want.
If you're forcing your customers to have a less than average shopping experience you need to couple that with better than average prices, which they didn't do.
They're overpriced. The membership doesn't really save you anything.
No saving really maybe a few Penny's if lucky
Lol
It used to be 20% off used stuff with the Elite membership (extremely good savings when used with the already cheap retro game prices;) But they recently cancelled that so I probably won't be buying from them anytime soon.
What a trip, I used to go to that FuncoLand when I lived in Mesquite, Tx.
I will miss GameStop, so many awesome memories I had shopping at GameStop in the early 2000s well I guess this is goodbye 😭😢
Jose Ramirez like your comment
I get it, same with Radio Shack, and CompUSA. Nothing stays the same.
This is another store like toys r us they closed down because of their over pricing of the stuff they sell.all they would have to do is lower the prices of the items in the store try to compete with Walmart or Target and other places that r lower in the prices GET WITH IT GAME STOP OR U WILL BE GONE IN A BLINK OF A EYE
LJ THE GEEK
I thought that toys r us were closing because of other stores
The thing with so many stores is that they grow too much and stretch themselves too thin making their prices have to go up to pay for all that over head. If they can bring themselves to a stable amount of stores, malls and busy areas only, they can probably survive for a bit longer. I used to be a Store Manager at Gamestop and I dont think I've really bought much there since I quit in 2012.
to be honest, we sold unopened new and used games to GameStop previously, the staffs just put new price tags which were at least double of our selling price in front of us and not even clean them, then putting back to the shelf eventually. such a ripoff... for sure we never get anything from them afterwards.
No!!!! I love going to gamestop and stocking up on pre owned games
I gave up on em' years ago when they started to phase out PC games in favor of console and handheld only. In the last few years, I've gone into GameStop a few times, with money and a mood to buy, and every single time, they have had absolutely nothing I wanted to buy, and a total ton of stuff that I had no interest in. Besides all that, they have shady business policies, both with their customers as well as their employees, and they have been an EA like evil corporate monster that has devoured all the actually cool software chains, as mentioned in the video above. Let em' go the way of the dinosaurs is what I say, so they can make way for cool independent Mom n' Pop stores.
Is the End Nigh for GameStop? YES. It's Sad but True, Retail Archseology😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Me too 😭
Last time I was in a GameStop, I was trading in a console. The employees, who just a couple of years before, acted totally stoked to be there, now seemed dead inside. The console I had been using not twelve hours before, I was told "won't start", so I wouldn't be getting the full price they were offering. I said, "Okay, sure, whatever." got a few used games, and haven't been there since. That was 2020. The two in my town are limping along, but the used game/gaming stores are doing more business. It's just a matter of time before they both close.
Ah yes, last time I was in a Gamestop was during the plague. I walked in and asked the clerk if they had a Nintendo Switch. The clerk said no so I walked back out and later that day just ordered one online and I got it in like 3 days...
GameStop just isn't EB Games or Funcoland. You could say that it's a shell of its former selves. I won't miss it one bit, even though there really isn't any other game stores where I live.
Also, nice use of Toejam & Earl music!
When you can download a game or just get it through amazon, why go to game stop?
boostedmaniac I can’t remember the last time I bought a PC game at a store, and our XBOX games come from Best Buy.
@@GreenAppelPie IIRC Gamestop doesn't even sell PC games anymore. That's why I stopped going there.
boostedmaniac I don’t like games being locked to a account and Amazon has always given be bad experiences and I don’t trust them to deliver me Games day 1. It really isn’t that hard to go outside for less than 15mins to pickup a game.
I love game stop ,hate to trade but still like them
I have shopped at the Prescott Gateway location (to this day) since its grand opening day. About 19 years now. I had not heard the name "Game Stop" until that visit, expecting to see an EB. Wow thank you. Their anti-thief system for new releases was a strain. You were lucky if you wanted a new releases factory sealed. It just didn't go well with me if it was supposed to be for a gift for someone. Generally I rarely purchased games there for current systems, with the exception of used DVD films. Usually I would peripheral and consoles. Walking out with a fresh PS2/PS4 in those big blue boxes were my best memories.
One of my fondest memories was my mom taking me into Babbages in a mall & telling me to go pick out a game. This was back in the 90's when cover art was really all you had to go off other than magazines. I remember picking my one of my favorite RPGs ever, Megaman Legends for the PS1. I vividly recall the shelf jutting out of the wall diagonally & seeing the game maybe slightly above eye level. I had just started getting into RPGs and had loved playing Megaman X4 at my cousins house on his PS1. Megman+RPG=LOVE
When they turned their back on the PC platform they turned their back on me. I laugh every time I see one in a sh*ty strip mall.
Their prices never feel competitive. Also when I buy a "new" game I want a sealed copy. Don't grab the game from a drawer and stick it in a scuffed up display case and sell it to me as "new."
Let 'em go out of business. They low ball you on any trade-ins and then their used merchandise ( especially game consoles ) are barely cheaper than new.
I feel like GameStops in malls do way better than stand alone shops on a street location. I think that when you’re out shopping going inside a GameStop is more appealing than to park a car and get out to do the same. Basically if there’s good foot traffic already, GameStop won’t be empty.
EB games was a nicer place to chat and walk around. No up selling or pressure sales like Gamestop. I miss them.
Way too many stores I don’t need to be able to walk to a GameStop from anywhere in the country lol
They rip those children off with them unfair trade ins....they should expect to fail a $40 game does not equal a $4 credit🤨
No Skylanders should be worth $1,000,000. Look if you like that game so much then why are you selling?
@uwu グーチ owo Yeah because you and thousands of other people thought the same thing. "Yeah I don't want this game no more."
@uwu グーチ owo And they will give you only 5 more cents for you 50 boxes of games that no one wants
@uwu グーチ owo You know it's hard to be sarcastic in a text based format.
Funcoland was a great video game store much better than gamestop.
Ditto.
I remember them charging me full price for a game that was already open and didn’t have the plastic wrapping on it. That was a bunch of bs they weren’t even willing to give even a slight discount for it.
I was born in 01 and my whole childhood with me and my friends was spent buying Nintendo DS light, Wii original, and ps3/xbox360 games. After that I found this cool store called Disc Replay that gave me better deals and had some cool retro game consoles w/ games for cheap prices. I remember buying GTA V for PS3 when it came out there. I got excited but honestly the location near me closed up a few months after I found it but at least I got a Purple GameBoy Color for 15$ from them too. Any other alternatives to something like Disc Replay (not including Game Stop)?