Yo there folks,

like many others, the following article also jumped on the train to complain about gamestop's business model.

http://n4g.com/news/980597/inside-gamestops-ridiculous-used-games-business

But i am asking myself a couple of things, reading this;

1.) Following is an example I sadly see on a daily basis: “I would like to return this game for my money back.” “Well, we can't actually do that. Our policy is that all new sales are final.” Occasionally you might get a cool employee that won't mind doing the return for store credit, but your usual corporate kiss-asses aren't going to be much help (it literally came out less than week ago).

- I dont see a problem with that, isnt it common that you can not return unwrapped media in general? (In other words, why is it gamestop's fault?)

2.) “The trade in credit is going to be $18. I see you don't have one of our rewards cards, which would give you an extra 10% credit if you purchased it today.”

- If they see that a certain Game (may it be a brand new release) is hated by critics and Fans alike, why the heck should they buy it off your hands for a high price tag? This is business we're talking about, and i do not know a single company where this would be any different. (And for games that are actually good, the pricetag tends to be a bit higher - of course, you'd be better of selling a new released game on Ebay or else, but with gamestop, a third party is involved, meaning that the money gain is simply cut by half.)

3.) The worst part of this story, GameStop is going to turn around and sell that used game for somewhere between $50 and $55, just less than $5 under what it would cost brand new.

- i agree with this part, this is the only thing that kinda bugs me about gamestop, and i'd say everyone in the world has a right to complain about this - especially Publishers and Developers, who might really loose a nice chunk on money while gamestop getting a veeery nice profit out of this. (Then again, imagine Mass Effect used for 39.99$ the week it came out. wouldnt this hurt the industry much more?)

So i think we can say that Gamestop is darn greedy, yes, but - at least in my opinion - its not devil incarnation. Its how  business runs nowadays, just like within most companies nowadays. (And i think that one or another 20$ purchase at gamestop from prequels of certain games actually may have been advertising for upcoming releases, motivating people to buy the next sequel of Series X new and for full price., even if they didnt intend to before.  .. Yes, this is a rather small part helping the industry, but i think it exists.)

EDIT: I think it MIGHT be worth pointing out that i only have experience with the european Branch of GameStop (Germany), due to my location. If they do some cheap things over seas i do not know about, sorry. (But getting a Gamestop employee telling unaware mom's and dad's that Buying Item XY used is stupid becuase you would need an Online Pass and therefore make a loss, while they make a profit is priceless. And it happens quite often over here, and they arent forced to do so.)

I wish we had gamestops...

So no, not justified.

I don't really shop there anymore. The practices they use are ridiculous. I would much rather use Amazon.com

Better Pre-Order incentives
Better Pricing
Better Service
Better Shipping

Oh and they don't sell me a *NEW* "Used" game for $59.99

You have a point, but then again, a huge lot of online-only store's do offer better deals than your common retailer - if it is gamestop now or any other.

People don't have to accept the disgusting credit or cash offered for 2nd hand games. They can sell them on ebay if they like or to a friend or to whoever. If people are stupid enough to sell at a low price and stupid enough to buy at a high price, they deserve their stupid outcome.

In fact it's a good thing, for once stupid people actually get what stupid people deserve.

I like them but they're not the best for used games. I like their pre-order bonuses but some employees are almost pushy when it comes to that useless 3$ to 5$ warranty.

I have never really had a problem with Gamestop and I think some of the complaints are ridiculous, however in regards to returning a new game, no you should not be able to return a new opened game, how easy is it to copy these things? Most of the time I have seen a retailer accept a return but exchange for the same item, and then open the game you get to ensure it is not sealed.

As for the price you get for used games? That is a choice, primarily, you can get a better price is you sell it on eBay, maybe even on craigslist, but that requires effort from you, or you can dump it off with them, requires no effort from you. You not only get less, but you have to do less, you don't pay an eBay listing fee or a portion of the sale price to eBay either, as you also don't pay a cent on craigslist. However with eBay you run the risk of not getting paid, on craigslist you run the risk of being raped and murdered, possibly eaten by some psychopath. Who knows?

Gamestop is a fine store, and as any business exists to make a profit, that doesn't mean everything they do is perfect, but its not terribly different than many other stores out there.

This!
Up until now I bought from them just HW, a steering wheel and pedals support (and it was best value at them just because, probably due to its bulk and weight, I couldn't find it with free shipping anywhere on the net), but besides the bloody mess they keep SW in, the few times I found a game I was looking for at them I always realised I could find it cheaper elsewhere.

but i am entitled to buy things in a way that nobody ever profits!

I don't really have a problem with Gamestop. I buy used games sometimes. I NEVER sell them. Even if a game sucks. The only time I can remember doing this is with Killzone 3 (Good game but didn't appeal to me at all--got Red Dead Redemption instead. Almost an even exchange!) and Velvet Assassin. Aside from that, I can't remember the last time I traded a game in. In a way, I wish I'd kept them both.

-I just bought Witcher 2 and the guy tried really hard to sell me a strategy guide. "It's a really big game and you're gonna need a guide!", he said. It's not like I don't have the internet.

-His friend tried really hard to get me to pay $3 for a protection plan. I told him I own like 1000 games and none of them ever broke.

That's about it. Nothing I can't really handle. Just say no. They're salesmen so it's their job to try and sell you stuff. The issues I do have are pretty ancient. Once I heard the guy tell a lady to buy a PS2 cooling system to keep the console from catching on fire. What the hell? Another time, a guy tried to sell me a used copy (I know it was used because two kids were playing it on the demo and he got it out of the Gamecube right in front of me!) of Freedom Fighters as if it were a new game. Lastly, I bought a used copy of Condemned: Criminal Origins with the case because I like for my games to look new. When I got to the car to examine my booty (shut up, perv), I saw that he'd switched cases on me. I took it back and got the case.

Really, I've been able to get new and used games from Gamestop for less than they were selling at Wal-Mart (and vice versa, to be honest). I've been able to exchange a shitty game for a better game if it was used. I got a used copy of Batman AA for the 360, beat it and traded it for a new Dance Central 2 without any questions asked (it was within the two week limit so every penny I spent went towards the new game). I even like Game Informer magazine. Sometimes I bitch and complain but that's just me acting like a gamer. We bitch and complain about everything. Doesn't mean we don't love 'em.