There has been a large amount of GameStop going around the web lately. More than normal thanks to the videos created by an ex employee going by Zero Originality. Well after watching this entire series I did learn a few things I didn’t know before, but for the most part it is old news. The only parts I didn’t know about was the way the employees get paid. That is most definitely ridiculous, and I would say borderline criminal. When it comes to the rest of the stuff that was stated, I really don’t see how it is any different than any other retail store. I have links to the videos below. I do highly recommend watching them,

I’m going to start with addressing the EDGE card. Yes, I do have the EDGE card and yes GameInformer isn’t worth the paper it is printed on, the card itself can be of a huge benefit. The person making these videos uses buying $200 in used games as an example. Granted, that may be an average for standard consumers. However someone like me who has dropped over $4,000 on video games and video game related items this year already, only about 18% or so of it at GameStop, the EDGE card is of a great benefit to me. I use all of their coupons and promotions to my advantage, I’m actually known for letting the employees know about the new coupons and being just about the only one in my area that uses them. I don’t buy new games except when I pre-order, and have only pre-ordered 6 games, and I used store credit I got from moving store credit from FYE to Gamestop. More on that later.

The main GameStop I go to, I know the store manager and one of the main regular employees fairly well I never have to deal with any of these problems from the sales point of view. I know this isn't the norm or there wouldn't be stories of hate against GameStop. None of the employees ask me for pre-orders or anything, even the new hires seem to know my name and not to ask me anything. I still haven't figured out if that is good or not. Even towards other customers while I’m there, they will mention the EDGE card and it’s benefits. They say if you don’t plan on buying more than $150 in used games or accessories than you should probably skip it. They don’t even mention the magazine until someone has already agreed to buy one.

I was in there the other day and someone asked about a game coming out, and they mentioned that if you wanted one FROM THEM on the day it is released they should pre-order. They said that their shipments are based on pre-orders and normally only get enough to cover the pre-orders. The guy then asked if the game was in short supply, and the employee straight-up said no it’s just how their shipments are handled. The guy then asked if he could get the game on release day from Best Buy, and the employee said more than likely. He was completely honest on how their pre-orders and new game sales work.

Now onto the trades. I only trade there when they have a decent deal going on and even then I rarely trade, considering I hadn't traded anything to a Gamestop for almost a year. I don't get rid of my games, I'm a bit of a pack rat. Actually, I'm a huge pack rat that doesn't really get rid of much of anything. With that being said I recently traded in my entire PS3 collection, games and hardware, when they were doing both the hardware trade-in bonus and the extra 30% on game trade-ins bonus. Worked out well for me and I didn't look back. The PS3 and most of the games I had, I didn't even pay for. I had liquidated almost a third of my DVD collection to FYE during their trade-in special and picked up the PS3 stuff using the credit I had with FYE, which has much worse prices and customer service than GameStop, at least the ones in my area.

Yes, I could have probably gotten another hundred or so by going through eBay. However, since the changes in eBay and the amount of money that eBay and Paypal both take out, the extra $100 gets dropped down to about an extra $60. Again that's an extra $60 and it would have been in real money. That is true. I could have sold them on a place like Cheap Ass Gamer too and probably made some more money. Craigslist isn’t an option in my area because, well there are like 25 posts a month in the entire site for my area. It’s dead.

The real people these videos are targeting are the uninformed consumer. They aren’t direct at the hardcore gaming community. Boycotting a place like GameStop will do no good whatsoever. What really needs to be done, as a community, is we need to inform other consumers as much as possible, pass on the ways to get the best deals. Yes with opening up the line of communication to others, we risk hoarders and SD/FW people to just overtake it. Oh well, everyone on boards like CAG and others, are worried about these people. It doesn’t matter, we need to pass as much information on as possible. For everyone one deal that the hoarders ruin, we can still help the general populace get in on other deals and learn how to deal with GameStop and other retailers. Also, support your local GameStops that have good employees and good policies. The more you support those stores, the more support they get from the RM/DM.

I apologize for the length of this, but I wanted to put my two cents in on this. I know my experiences and viewpoints will be largely ignored. That is fine. I know GameStop has problems, and I'm not refuting that. I'm just saying that a lot of these things aren't limited to GameStop and the best way to deal with them is to do business with a GameStop that doesn't act like a bunch of idiots. GameStop isn't going to go away.

Videos All in Order (Warning, there is some NSFW language used, so watch with headphones or low volume.)