Is it morally wrong to rip off gamestop? (Retro Game Trade loophole)

[marvelvscapcom2]

Hello everyone


Today I stumbled onto a really good philosophical discussion that I really wanted to share with everyone .  Now i'm not encouraging anyone to do this, I assume it's either very illegal or would lead to you getting banned by local Gamestops. I actually condemn the act even though gamestop is grimey sometimes with trade values, I don't think 2 wrongs make a right.  .   

Many of you probably already know about this loophole with trading in retro games at gamestop. But if not i'll explain the basics of it.


Gamestop started accepting retro video game trades a year or so back, but of course with that it came a big flaw in the system. They can't afford to have one of every retro console in back to test every game,  it'd be cost effective on a global scale and time consuming.  So they took the lazy way and just simply don't test their games until I guess they reach the factories in which they proccess them.    Sometimes they don't even test them there. 



Since gamestop can't test their games, nothing stops the people trading in games from going on ebay, buying a clayfighter sculpters cut label or a super metroid label and putting it on a John Madden football cart and getting 20-30 bucks for it.   You could go in with a stack of maybe 10 John Madden football 94 froms your collection,  with a 2 dollar Super Metroid, Chrono Trigger, Zombies Ate my neighbors ect... label on each one.  And probably make 200-300 bucks.   



But here is the huge morality question, A question that almost analyzes you as a human spiritually .


When gamestop is giving someone 20 bucks for a 70 dollar game,  they are ripping them off at least 20-30 bucks because 50 they could still make a 20 dollar profit.   Some games are worst than others.  Sometimes they give a dime for a game they'll sell for 6 bucks.  Sometimes they give 25 bucks for a console they'll sell for 100-200.  They do this by the millions, for the past decades.  Their CEOs probably drive Lamborghinis and go to places you could only dream of. So when someone rips them off 20-30 bucks by selling them a fake game,  is it getting even?   Is it simply a classic "stick it to the corperations and give to the poor"  robinhood philosophy?    Or is it still grimey theft that the world should loathe?     Is taking from the people who take still as bad?       Is a father feeding his child off of the backs of a billion dollar conglomerate a sinful act or an act of retribution? 


I have discussed this with many people who do this. A lot of my friends do it.  And they always use the same argument.  Of how gamestop makes billions off of ripping people off.   And every single person who trades there gets robbed at least 5-50 bucks each time.    So you going in and ripping them off once or twice isn't going to hurt them any.   And it's free of moral guilt for that reason. 


I don't think I can agree.  I think if gamestop was a mob in the industry of extortion and murder, it wouldn't make it alright for everyone else to do it too.   Eye for an eye makes the world blind is what momma said lol.     Plus, you knowingly and willingly agree to them paying you what they pay you.  Nobody puts a gun to your head.  If you are being dumb enough to sell them something for a dime than that's your fault not theirs. 



How do you feel about this discussion?    Is it ok to con a con?     I know we all hate gamestop sometimes, but what is your thoughts on these types of trade tricks?   

Thanks for sharing

[oldgamerz]

If gamestop finds out you will be in a lot of trouble

[justin8301]

So putting the morality question aside, I'm just going to say its probably not a great idea to do this. When you trade in at gamestop, they take your information from your ID. If someone starts to notice a bunch of fakes coming in, it could be possible for them to track it back to you.

Now, morally speaking if you could get away from it I'd still say no. While I totally get that the price they offer for buying retro games is kinda low, the price they charge for these games in their store is actually kinda of fair. Most popular games are at market value (some even under priced imo) and when you add their rewards discounts and their buy 2 get 1 sales they often run, Gamestop can actually be kind of a great place to BUY retro games. If people start trying to take advantage of their no questions asked trade in policy, it eventually gets to the point where its not worth it to them as a company to keep stocking retro. And in the end that sucks for people like me who actually buy games from them. Its kinda nice being able to walk into a store and see retro games right in front of you, you can pick them up and really check them out before buying, and if you get home and they don't work, you can take them right back. I would actually LOVE to see gamestop get more serious about their Retro offerings.

There are however some "scams" that you can pull off at GameStop that I dont mind. Every once and a while, they will have a trade in deal where the amount they offer on a game is actually more than the price of the game in their store or some other chain. I've heard about people buying games in one gamestop (or other stores like walmart) and then trading into another and just repeating the loop to make a bit of credit. While this can be a little shady, I dont have any issues with this. Gamestop is the one setting the price here, you're just taking advantage of something they set up.

[shadowzero]

Generally speaking if you have to ask if something is wrong it likely is, you just want to justify it somehow in your mind.  Personally I rather like the golden rule approach to most things.  Treat others as you wish to be treated sort of thing.  So I ask, would you like Gamestop to sell you a fake copy of FarCry 5?  Does a company's bad policy give others the right to abuse that policy and cause harm not to the company but a fellow gamer out there?

[topspot123]

Yeah, I think it's obviously morally wrong.  Besides, you'll really be (at least temporarily) ripping of the next customer who buys that game. 

Imagine being that customer.  You find that rare game that you've been waiting on ebay auctions for on Gamestop.  You buy it, maybe spending more than you wanted to, but trusting Gamestop more than the no-names on ebay.  You wait a week or two for the delivery, missing yahoo and ebay auctions, amazon listings, etc, but knowing you finally got what you want.  It arrives and...it's a relabel of Madden.   

The fact that you don't like Gamestop's business practices (and I don't either), doesn't allow you to indulge in fraud.  That's where I stand on the moral question. 

Thanks!

[kamikazekeeg]

There is no real debate here.  It is morally wrong to do it even once.  Gamestop isn't doing any sort of scam, no matter how much you don't like their trade values or what they sell them at.  Yes, people don't normally realize the general value of games, especially retro ones, but Gamestop is a business and people can do their own work to check to see what the value is beforehand.  A lot of the time, they aren't even that significantly worse than the average game or pawn shop and what cash deals they'd offer.   They are also a convenience to people who don't want to sell online or can't find a nearby game shop.  You don't have to like what they do, but they aren't doing anything abhorrent.

[marvelvscapcom2]

There is no real debate here.  It is morally wrong to do it even once.  Gamestop isn't doing any sort of scam, no matter how much you don't like their trade values or what they sell them at.  Yes, people don't normally realize the general value of games, especially retro ones, but Gamestop is a business and people can do their own work to check to see what the value is beforehand.  A lot of the time, they aren't even that significantly worse than the average game or pawn shop and what cash deals they'd offer.   They are also a convenience to people who don't want to sell online or can't find a nearby game shop.  You don't have to like what they do, but they aren't doing anything abhorrent.

I agree ,   The people who always complain about gamestop "ripping people off" don't realize that nobody held a gun to their head or forced them.  They even tell you the total they are giving before you sign your name, show ID and literally give expressed written consent to the total mentioned price given for the games.  I never got why people say they rip people off.   I do know some old ladies will go in there not knowing what they have, but millions of resellers in the retro community go to yard sales and those same people will brag about how they got an earthbound for 3 bucks off the same old lady.   It's nothing wrong about making profit.  Especially when the person knowingly cosigns it. 


I agree with others too, this is why we can't have nothing nice.  They'll probably eventually get out of the retro trade entirely because of the few who have to ruin it. 

[bikingjahuty]

I'm not a fan of Gamestop, but yes, it is morally wrong to defraud anyone or any entity. As someone said above, there is no debate here; you can lie to yourself to make yourself feel better about it, but in the end you are a fraud if you do this, even if the victim is a huge mega-corp.

[soera]

No one is required to accept the trade value any store offers you for the items you are trading in. Sure it seems like people are getting ripped off but if both people agree, it's not a scam. Trading in obviously known wrong items to get over on someone, however, is a scam for sure and should be persuaded against.

[cirno]

I don't really feel bad for gamestop in this whole thing; it's their own irresponsiblity that lands themselves with this issue. However, I have disdain for this kind of practice because it would really screws over anyone who actually buys this stuff from gamestop. I know it's probably not the best place in the world to hunt down old games, but you'd be knowingly landing some poor guy with something worthless they didn't want.

Don't think of it as pulling a fast one on a crappy company as some sort of karmic retribution, think of it is as indirectly decieving and punishing anyone who shops there. And for awful as gamestop is, that's far, far worse than the kinda stuff they do.

[zenimus]

The people who always complain about gamestop "ripping people off" don't realize that nobody held a gun to their head or forced them.

Another thing people don't think about is the cost of overhead. If I sell a game in eBay, I have to compete with the market to get a sale. If the game can be easily found for $70 with free shipping, that's the most I can expect to get. Losing about 15% in combined fees takes away $10.50, then another $5 for shipping brings me down to $54.50 to keep after.

If Gamestop offered $70 for a $70 game, they wouldn't make any money with the transaction. No one can afford to do business like that. It's in their best interest to buy inventory for as little as possible, something we all do when looking for deals on eBay. How can anyone think that's abhorrent for Gamestop to do?

Some people don't like the work and risk involved with selling online, so they sell cheaper at Gamestop and let them handle that part of it. Sure they won't make as much for their stuff as selling online maybe, but they also don't need to spend any time listing and shipping it all.

[sworddude]

First of all gamestop has the right to buy up games for way lower to bargain prices It's how you make a profit especially with the huge costs they have.

They invest allot in their physical stores online stores, advertisments employees etc wich results in getting people wanting to get rid of stuff even if It's dirt cheap that's their reward of being recognised.

Than again I doubt many people could or would want to invest that much or could do that not to mention that people aren't forced to do their trade ins there.

As far as loop holes go especially with fake items If you get found out it might be a trip to jail if you can prove when it is done on purpose.

Also as far as loop holes go wich aren't illegal especially with more popular stuff it can be found out so stores might chance the rules after some time. Abuse certain things while you can I'd say as far as certain trade ins or wrong prices go 

I remember when some gamestore sold a minty cib gotcha force gamecube for just 15 euro's wich was only a 40 euro game at the time but very hard to get regardless. Since it was the hyped gamecube it was apperently mispriced when i tried to pick it up but according to the rules it should be sold to me and I did get it since the reserve price was just 15 in my order.

One day later they chanced the rules that if stuff is mispriced it cannot be sold as far as retro stuff goes in all stores and on their website, this was a pretty big chain so not some small mom and pop shop action was taken very fast 

Had many more examples but none as fast as that one with the less popular stuff you can get away with it way more easy

[badATchaos]

What's the really good philosophical discussion?  You would be directly lying to Gamestop, and Gamestop is within their rights to pay whatever they want for your used games.   No one is forcing you to sell your games to them.

[desocietas]

An interesting discussion, and as any reference of GameStop often brings out the hate of the company, it makes me wonder - will the general public be upset if GameStop went the way of Toys 'r' Us?

As much as everyone jokes and hates on GameStop for their trade in values and such, it's a convenience they provide and one of the main ways they make a profit. Selling you those $500 brand-new consoles? They get virtually nothing from that outside of having their inventory space taken up.

I worry that if anything happens to GS, the used games that would normally go to them might just go into the garbage. Not everyone has a Half Price Books or other good used goods store that would take back video games.

[wolff242]

An interesting discussion, and as any reference of GameStop often brings out the hate of the company, it makes me wonder - will the general public be upset if GameStop went the way of Toys 'r' Us?

As much as everyone jokes and hates on GameStop for their trade in values and such, it's a convenience they provide and one of the main ways they make a profit. Selling you those $500 brand-new consoles? They get virtually nothing from that outside of having their inventory space taken up.

I worry that if anything happens to GS, the used games that would normally go to them might just go into the garbage. Not everyone has a Half Price Books or other good used goods store that would take back video games.

I think gamestop has gotten a lot better about a few things over the years, but their buy prices are still..ugh. However, they do usually run decent promotions once and awhile, if you follow what they are foing (I don't sell, so it doesn't effect me) I really would hate it if they went away, as gamestop is really the only used game store in my city. They go under...no more spur of the moment used games.