VGCollect Forum
General and Gaming => General => Topic started by: bikingjahuty on April 03, 2014, 11:36:23 pm
-
One of the biggest problems I have ran into as a collector of video games, at least for the past year or two, is store employees picking over the rare, valuable and sought after games, mostly at used media stores like GoHastings, Bookmans, Entertainmart, 2nd & Charles and places like that. One such store in my area sells all games older than PS3/360/Wii for only $3 each regardless of title. When this store first opened up I was in heaven, picking up games like Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, .Hack Quarentine, and Ogre Battle 64 for only $3 each. However, for about the past year, this same store has accumulated about six employees that are collectors, resellers or both, and literally snag any game worth over $15 for their own personal agendas before it ever has a chance to make it to the shelves. While this store is the worst, there are several other stores in my area that rarely put anything on the shelf worthwhile because of the employees having the advantage of being able to see new games come in and pick it up right away.
So my question is, what is your opinion of employees doing this, and what is your experience with dealing with this?
I personally think it is very annoying and unfair. As a retail business I believe it is their primary motive to cater to the customers before the employees in terms of the incoming merchandise. If most of the decent merchandise never makes it to the shelf because of grabby employees, it definitely dampers moral for customers to continue shopping at a specific store.
Your thoughts?
-
I'm torn on the issue. On the one hand, I agree with you - if you never end up with good merchandise to sell to customers, that's a bad thing. On the other hand, working retail at places like that sucks so it's a small perk in the grand scheme of things to be able to get first shot at the cool games. So I'm undecided.
What I CAN say is 100% wrong is employees bragging to the customers about what games they grabbed. Several years back when Gamestop was still accepting PSOne games in trade I went in a store out of town & found a mint copy of Thousand Arms. I was pretty happy about it & brought it up to the register. The guy ringing me up proceeds to tell me that the same guy traded in a copy of Suikoden II, but that he grabbed that one & had it behind the counter for himself. Why tell me that? If you're going to do stuff like that, keep it to yourself!
-
I agree with argyle's statement, it's definitely a small perk when the employees have to deal with difficult customers. Although, part of me is torn between wanting to know what the employee scored or if the employee shouldn't say anything at all.
One time, an employee from the GameStop nearby my house told me how he scored a complete copy of Chrono Trigger for the Super Nintendo from a customer. Lucky!
-
Same thing at the Good wills. At one of my local good wills, there is a collector who gets anything good so they never have anything hit that shelf. One night I asked about if they had any games in the back and he said no and then started talking about how he got a Pikachu N64 console in the box from a donation and bought it himself from good will for 10 bucks. He was very blunt and told me I probably would never find anything at that store and to not waste my time because he and a friend of his were getting everything gaming. I do think that is completely wrong at the good will.
-
While I partially knew this one going on at the store I was referencing, it didn't bother as much until I unknowingly responded to one of their Craigslist ads and was being asked to pay Ebay prices for games they paid $2 for with their employee discount. I understand they make minimum wage and it's retail, but just think management needs to step in for the customer's sake and give us a fighting chance. I mean, the employees are literally dividing up the recent buybacks within minutes of them being taken in as if they feel entitles to them. Just infuriates me.
And I knew someone at a local thrift who used to do this as well. He was definitely the bragging type as well, having to tell me some of his best scores he got while working the backroom, including boxed SNES RPGs, boxed retro consoles, and $100+ games for only a couple of bucks. Haven't shopped at that thrift in years, but wonder if he still works there.
-
Guess I'm torn, too. I definitely think it's annoying, but I don't think the employees are really doing anything wrong. They're either passionate collectors aiming to pick up some classics for cheap or minimum wage-fed retail jockeys looking to make an extra buck. Honestly, I can sympathize with both. I know I'd be doing the same thing if I were in their position.
Definitely agree with argyle, though -- bragging about it makes you look like a douche.
-
Yeah, really can't be anything other than torn also, as it really just comes down to two collectors trying for the same lot, they are just in the better position. I think it's a tad scummy if they are taking it all just to then sell it, that kinda just brings it a bit into jerk territory, but I know I've thought about if I worked at a thrift shop and how great it would be to get access to stuff before it goes out lol I really can't blame them for doing so, it just make it tough for the small time collectors like me.
-
Hey, you know what Toys'r'Us does to employees who take advantage of their jobs in the store, or who use their employee discount to grab stuff and resell it?
THEY FIRE THEIR ASSES.
This was one of the very first things the managers drilled into the employees' heads when I started working at a local store several years ago. So if any of these people are doing this then they're breaking corporate policy and can get them fired, if not worse.
It's disgusting.
-
Hey, you know what Toys'r'Us does to employees who take advantage of their jobs in the store, or who use their employee discount to grab stuff and resell it?
THEY FIRE THEIR ASSES.
This was one of the very first things the managers drilled into the employees' heads when I started working at a local store several years ago. So if any of these people are doing this then they're breaking corporate policy and can get them fired, if not worse.
It's disgusting.
That doesn't stop them. Toys R Us gets a lot of the "chase variants" of Skylanders. How many do you think actually hit the shelf?
They may not buy them directly, but they sure do get put aside for someone they know.
-
Hey, you know what Toys'r'Us does to employees who take advantage of their jobs in the store, or who use their employee discount to grab stuff and resell it?
THEY FIRE THEIR ASSES.
This was one of the very first things the managers drilled into the employees' heads when I started working at a local store several years ago. So if any of these people are doing this then they're breaking corporate policy and can get them fired, if not worse.
It's disgusting.
That is if these places have the same policy. Smaller, second hand market stores, might not have the same rules. To some that own them, employees buying them might not matter as long as the stuff is sold, though I imagine most businesses would rather discourage it, since it ends up hurting their customer base.
-
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.
-
I can relate to your situation here. Similar case in my area, I had a discount area/shop for gaming, trading cards, comics, toys etc.
I knew they were hoarding all the good stuff for themselves because the employees were open about it when they talk among themselves when customers are around. So I made it a point to befriend them, heh. Started out slow at first just, "hey what's up, what's new? any new deals? etc. Told them what I was into, games and toys wise. Started getting coffee together on their breaks, then next thing you know they are texting me on whats new coming in whether i'm interested to reserve anything.
I knew I couldn't win in the first place to get all the great gems coming in because they were all collector's themselves, so I improvised a bit. In the end I made some good friends too :) To be honest when I first thought I should get to know these guys I wasn't expecting a gain friends just to get access to their merch, but things worked out for the best. I found out that they didn't resell any of the goods too, just game collector nuts like myself, the boss of the place told me so himself. Anything that was reserved was sold directly by the store.
So I dunno, maybe say hi to these employees 8)
-
I've talked about this subject before, There's a local used Video Game store that has a limit on game prices. Most any game can be is $70. They have gotten Earthbound, EVO, Harvest Moon, Secret Scout and other high value games and everyone of them was bought by an employee. Some even call their friends to come in and get it first. It's not to bad if its someone who collects, but some have bragged about selling them online. This practice just makes me not want to hunt for games at their store because I always know its been picked over.
-
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 :o
Love me/Hate me...just telling the truth ;)
-
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 :o
Love me/Hate me...just telling the truth ;)
Yup - and heck, any of us who have taken advantage of connections/friends we have at game stores for our own advantage *raises hand* are basically guilty of the same thing as well.
-
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 :o
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.
-
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 :o
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 :P
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:)
-
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 :P Though I only bought games that went to my collection.
-
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 :o
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.
-
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 :o
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 :o
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 :P
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 ;D
-
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 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 :P
Glad to see you back again too, Doc. ;D
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
-
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.