Store Employees Poaching Games

[turf]

Human nature.

How many of us can honestly say we wouldn't do the same if in the store employees' situation?

I would consider it a perk of a low-paying job & 'fairness' wouldn't even be any kind of factor and it wouldn't hinder me at all 

Love me/Hate me...just telling the truth 

Hell, I'd do it.
I'm with theflea. If it's someone collecting, I can't bitch too much. But dammit, assholes that grab the good stuff just to resell can eat my ass. 

[disgaeniac]

Human nature.

How many of us can honestly say we wouldn't do the same if in the store employees' situation?

I would consider it a perk of a low-paying job & 'fairness' wouldn't even be any kind of factor and it wouldn't hinder me at all 

Love me/Hate me...just telling the truth 

Hell, I'd do it.
I'm with theflea. If it's someone collecting, I can't bitch too much. But dammit, assholes that grab the good stuff just to resell can eat my ass.

Tell us what you *Really* think 

It'd bother me more if it was just being done for resale purposes -but- again...it really wouldn't bother me *that* much + I could totally understand it...

...that said - if any 'professional' game sellers/resellers need to put in 8 hours a day @ (prolly) minimum wage in order to make their game "business" prosperous enough to make a living on:

1).  They're not doing it right, and

2).  IMO, they're prolly not making much of a dent and/or hurting the market very much (read: at all:)

[karyann]

At least you have game stores. I have to drive three hours to get to a GameStop. If I were to hop the boarder into New Brunswick or eastern Quebec I could probably find something faster. My French is limited so it would make it hard to look around or ask about nearby establishments however.

New Brunswick is very bilingual, and I'm pretty sure they tend to speak more English than French, if you ever want to try your luck


As a former video games store employee, it definitely was a perk to be able to get the games first, because otherwise the job sucked Though I only bought games that went to my collection.

[instantreplay]

Human nature.

How many of us can honestly say we wouldn't do the same if in the store employees' situation?

I would consider it a perk of a low-paying job & 'fairness' wouldn't even be any kind of factor and it wouldn't hinder me at all 

Love me/Hate me...just telling the truth 

I completely disagree. The fact that this kind of thing happens ultimately stems from America's incredibly materialistic and selfish culture.

Also, I wouldn't call it a perk because it isn't fair to the person that owns the business. If the employees are constantly grabbing all the good games, its likely to alienate customers. It would be one thing for a person to grab all the good games if it was their store, but it isn't, someone else owns it. I think it would be okay if they did it every now and again (like one game every week or so) but doing that every time you see a game you want is bullshit. Generally speaking the employees should wait a couple of days before they buy something for themselves. If they can't handle that then they should find a different job.

[disgaeniac]

Human nature.

How many of us can honestly say we wouldn't do the same if in the store employees' situation?

I would consider it a perk of a low-paying job & 'fairness' wouldn't even be any kind of factor and it wouldn't hinder me at all 

Love me/Hate me...just telling the truth 

I completely disagree. The fact that this kind of thing happens ultimately stems from America's incredibly materialistic and selfish culture. (Lolololol)!

Also, I wouldn't call it a perk because it isn't fair to the person that owns the business. If the employees are constantly grabbing all the good games, its likely to alienate customers. It would be one thing for a person to grab all the good games if it was their store, but it isn't, someone else owns it. I think it would be okay if they did it every now and again (like one game every week or so) but doing that every time you see a game you want is bullshit. Generally speaking the employees should wait a couple of days before they buy something for themselves. If they can't handle that then they should find a different job.

While some of what you say is true and I even agree with you on some of it...it's all a meaningless rant 

The 1st 2 words of my posts that's being quoted are the most significant & relevant words in the entire thing:

"Human Nature".

Regardless of what you think, feel like/don't like, hate, and/or rant about -

It Is What It IS and it's going to Stay The Way That It Is   

Customers can not be "alienated" by what they never know about -and- only a fool is going to tell the truth to/brag about things to their customers that would alienate them.

You may dislike & disagree w/ the word "perk" as much as you want to -but- it doesn't change the fact that that's exactly what it is, is seen as, and is called by those employees.

Store owners (while paying their employees as little $ as possible and giving them just enough hours *NOT* to able to receive benefits/health insurance) don't care (and don't complain) as long as their store's making money -and- again, it would take even a greater fool to do this & let the boss find out about it.

So...what part of what you said did I *Agree* with?

Why, the 1st 3 words of your post!

the "I completely disagree" part 

'Cuz...well, ya know - it's "America's incredibly materialistic and selfish culture" that gives you the freedom & allows you to do so 

[doctorlaudanum]

I completely disagree. The fact that this kind of thing happens ultimately stems from America's incredibly materialistic and selfish culture.

Also, I wouldn't call it a perk because it isn't fair to the person that owns the business. If the employees are constantly grabbing all the good games, its likely to alienate customers. It would be one thing for a person to grab all the good games if it was their store, but it isn't, someone else owns it. I think it would be okay if they did it every now and again (like one game every week or so) but doing that every time you see a game you want is bullshit. Generally speaking the employees should wait a couple of days before they buy something for themselves. If they can't handle that then they should find a different job.

You bring up some good points, but I highly doubt this is a problem exclusive to America. I also think it really depends on the store owner. In the many times I've seen this behavior in action, only once has a store owner ever had a problem with it. Most of them just want the games to sell, which I think is perfectly understandable.

[disgaeniac]

I completely disagree. The fact that this kind of thing happens ultimately stems from America's incredibly materialistic and selfish culture.

Also, I wouldn't call it a perk because it isn't fair to the person that owns the business. If the employees are constantly grabbing all the good games, its likely to alienate customers. It would be one thing for a person to grab all the good games if it was their store, but it isn't, someone else owns it. I think it would be okay if they did it every now and again (like one game every week or so) but doing that every time you see a game you want is bullshit. Generally speaking the employees should wait a couple of days before they buy something for themselves. If they can't handle that then they should find a different job.

You bring up some good points, but I highly doubt this is a problem exclusive to America. I also think it really depends on the store owner. In the many times I've seen this behavior in action, only once has a store owner ever had a problem with it. Most of them just want the games to sell, which I think is perfectly understandable.

I know, right?!

Thinking/calling this an "American" thing is just...Facepalm-worthy 

Glad to see you back again too, Doc.   

[bikingjahuty]

Customers can not be "alienated" by what they never know about -and- only a fool is going to tell the truth to/brag about things to their customers that would alienate them.

The store I was talking about has a lot of alienated, pissed off customers because of the grabby employees, simply because they know this happens and are tired of seeing shelves filled mostly with sports games and crappy budget titles. Just knowing it happens is enough to turn people away just because they know they'll never find certain things they may be looking for. I know a handful of people, not just gamers and collectors, that have stopped shopping there because the selection is pretty stagnant, except for more of the same old crap being put on the shelf.

And the employees often do not have the same goals as management, and certainly not corporate, so yes, they love to brag and gloat about the stuff they got that you didn't. They could care less if you don't want to shop there, all they are about is getting the good stuff before any of the customers do. It's almost like they feel entitled to the games that come in and how dare anyone try and buy them before they do. It's that attitude that alienates people as well.

[Warmsignal]

If they're willing to work a lame job just to poach, more power to em. People often ask me why I don't do the same. Sometimes people ask me why I don't work at GameStop and just tell them to pay me in video games.

[hexen]

If I knew it happened at a store I went to (As far as I know, though, this is luckily not the case) I would be really bummed out, but I would do the exact same thing in their shoes. This is, of course, acting under the assumption they are collectors. As has been rightfully said many times in this thread already, anyone who does it just to resell it deserves to be brutally dismembered by Satan.

[disgaeniac]

Customers can not be "alienated" by what they never know about -and- only a fool is going to tell the truth to/brag about things to their customers that would alienate them.

The store I was talking about has a lot of alienated, pissed off customers because of the grabby employees, simply because they know this happens and are tired of seeing shelves filled mostly with sports games and crappy budget titles. Just knowing it happens is enough to turn people away just because they know they'll never find certain things they may be looking for. I know a handful of people, not just gamers and collectors, that have stopped shopping there because the selection is pretty stagnant, except for more of the same old crap being put on the shelf.

And the employees often do not have the same goals as management, and certainly not corporate, so yes, they love to brag and gloat about the stuff they got that you didn't. They could care less if you don't want to shop there, all they are about is getting the good stuff before any of the customers do. It's almost like they feel entitled to the games that come in and how dare anyone try and buy them before they do. It's that attitude that alienates people as well.

I get you.

I'm thinking that, even if one or two or 4 or 5 new people started working there - even if none (or even 1 out of 5) continued this practice, that your 'assumptions' about the store would remain unchanged.

[instantreplay]

Let me clarify a couple of things.

1) I misspoke when I said it was a problem with America. It's a problem with Western cultures in general. We tend to have an egoist mind set, i.e., if no one sees us do it then we have no problem doing something that might otherwise get us in trouble if others knew about it. While its not strictly an American problem, it's more of a problem in America. This is why people are having such a difficult time reforming our health care system; people are taking more than they should. It's not uncommon for people to go on anti-depressants simply because there was a death in the family (if you can no longer function normally because of a family death, you should be talking to a therapist instead of taking medication). I could go on but I don't want to get stuck on this one thing

2) Ultimately what I was trying to say is that its okay if employees buy video games before they hit the shelves every now and then but it becomes a problem when they do it every single time they see a game they want.

3) I forgot :V

[bikingjahuty]

Customers can not be "alienated" by what they never know about -and- only a fool is going to tell the truth to/brag about things to their customers that would alienate them.

The store I was talking about has a lot of alienated, pissed off customers because of the grabby employees, simply because they know this happens and are tired of seeing shelves filled mostly with sports games and crappy budget titles. Just knowing it happens is enough to turn people away just because they know they'll never find certain things they may be looking for. I know a handful of people, not just gamers and collectors, that have stopped shopping there because the selection is pretty stagnant, except for more of the same old crap being put on the shelf.

And the employees often do not have the same goals as management, and certainly not corporate, so yes, they love to brag and gloat about the stuff they got that you didn't. They could care less if you don't want to shop there, all they are about is getting the good stuff before any of the customers do. It's almost like they feel entitled to the games that come in and how dare anyone try and buy them before they do. It's that attitude that alienates people as well.

I get you.

I'm thinking that, even if one or two or 4 or 5 new people started working there - even if none (or even 1 out of 5) continued this practice, that your 'assumptions' about the store would remain unchanged.

Yes, I would always assume at least one person was doing it since it has always been this way since I have been going there. I should say it is less of an assumption and more of a fact though; when I go up to an employee and ask, "hey, do you guys have any SNES games that might have come in recently." I am often told no or something along the lines of, "Oh yeah, we got a ton in last week, there was like Zombies Ate My Neigbors, Final Fantasy III, Earthbound, but a few of the employees already bought them." I have been met with answers like this ever since I first started shopping there, except at that time the employees seemed to be after specific games rather than everything and anything that came through the door that was sought after or they could flip easily for a decent profit. When less grabby employees worked there I thought it was cool that they were able to snag a certain game they've wanted and left the rest to the customers because myself and others still found enough to make the trip to the store worthwhile. Now, the only valuable games I find are super obscure games that only the most intense collectors and enthusiests really know about. So I am at least aware that someone is picking certain games out at any given time, and I honestly don't mind as long as they don't get carried away like they have now. I feel like the main problem at the moment is that more resellers are doing this than actual collectors. It's an easy way for them to supplement their income.