Exactly. My point then, and I think you have to agree based on what you've just stated, is that claims that EB is somehow keeping the retail game market afloat are both ludicrous and asinine. And that's something that the EBstop brain trust in G&T argues all the time, or at least used to. EBstop employees absolutely have this attitude as though their store is what stands between paradise and the unending darkness of a videogameless society and I've seen that attitude manifest here on the forums and in person as well.
I think that another game store franchise would take its place. So GameStop may not be important, but it's products and services are.
It's not exactly a warehouse, but it is closer in design to one. While they do stock new product and some of it is not preordered, you have to admit that a majority of their stock falls into two categories: used product and preordered product.
Preordered games are an important part of the business, but we get a lot more new non-preordered stock than we do preordered stock. If I had to guess, out of the 150-200 pieces of new game shipment I did last week, about 15 of those products were preordered.
Also I don't think I need to go into detail here about the problems with B&M preorder content not actually being given to the consumer because an EBstop employee took it.
Whether you like GameStop or not, I think a retail game-only shop is very important for the industry. It just so happens that the margin on new games is ridiculously small which forces the shop to find other sources of revenue. In this case used games. If you can think of another revenue source for a small game shop, more power to you. But the way the industry is set up right now makes it pretty much impossible.
Doesn't this contract your first concession? Unless I am misunderstanding the concept of "importance" here, haven't we already agreed that if EBstop ceased to exist, that all the product they sell would be made available elsewhere and would likely sell just as well thus causing absolutely no harm to the retail games market or publishers? It would have no repercussions whatsoever, so I fail to see how EBstop is "important" at all - can you please enlighten me?
I'm not saying that GameStop is important, I'm not saying that a game-only retail business is important. And I agree that I wish some of the employees had more passion about video games, but there's not a lot I can do about that. The reason I think a game-only retail store is important is because of the wider variety of games they offer. For the average person, if they wanted, say a copy of Okami, where would they check? GameStop first if they didn't want to hit up eBay.
While the all the employees of GameStop may not know what they are talking about, on average, they are sure as shit more knowledgeable than the guy in electronics on WalMart. I can't count the number of times that I've had a customer come from the nearby Target with completely incorrect information all the way up too: "The guys at Target said you might have Mario for the PS2." and "The guy at WalMart told me that the 40gig PS3 plays PS2 games."
Exactly. My point then, and I think you have to agree based on what you've just stated, is that claims that EB is somehow keeping the retail game market afloat are both ludicrous and asinine. And that's something that the EBstop brain trust in G&T argues all the time, or at least used to. EBstop employees absolutely have this attitude as though their store is what stands between paradise and the unending darkness of a videogameless society and I've seen that attitude manifest here on the forums and in person as well.
I think that another game store franchise would take its place. So GameStop may not be important, but it's products and services are.
It's not exactly a warehouse, but it is closer in design to one. While they do stock new product and some of it is not preordered, you have to admit that a majority of their stock falls into two categories: used product and preordered product.
Preordered games are an important part of the business, but we get a lot more new non-preordered stock than we do preordered stock. If I had to guess, out of the 150-200 pieces of new game shipment I did last week, about 15 of those products were preordered.
Also I don't think I need to go into detail here about the problems with B&M preorder content not actually being given to the consumer because an EBstop employee took it.
Whether you like GameStop or not, I think a retail game-only shop is very important for the industry. It just so happens that the margin on new games is ridiculously small which forces the shop to find other sources of revenue. In this case used games. If you can think of another revenue source for a small game shop, more power to you. But the way the industry is set up right now makes it pretty much impossible.
Doesn't this contract your first concession? Unless I am misunderstanding the concept of "importance" here, haven't we already agreed that if EBstop ceased to exist, that all the product they sell would be made available elsewhere and would likely sell just as well thus causing absolutely no harm to the retail games market or publishers? It would have no repercussions whatsoever, so I fail to see how EBstop is "important" at all - can you please enlighten me?
I'm not saying that GameStop is important, I'm not saying that a game-only retail business is important. And I agree that I wish some of the employees had more passion about video games, but there's not a lot I can do about that. The reason I think a game-only retail store is important is because of the wider variety of games they offer. For the average person, if they wanted, say a copy of Okami, where would they check? GameStop first if they didn't want to hit up eBay.
While the all the employees of GameStop may not know what they are talking about, on average, they are sure as shit more knowledgeable than the guy in electronics on WalMart. I can't count the number of times that I've had a customer come from the nearby Target with completely incorrect information all the way up too: "The guys at Target said you might have Mario for the PS2." and "The guy at WalMart told me that the 40gig PS3 plays PS2 games."
Yeah but I've also had Gamestop people give information that was just as wrong. That's half my point: EB games advertises itself as something of a specialized store...for games...but the amount of inaccurate info many employees provide is sometimes just as bad as in other stores.
You'll get your occasional, well-informed and/or enthusiastic employee...maybe you'll even get lucky and find a single store stocked with employees of that caliber...but they are the exception and not the rule.
Also, I had an EB employee laugh at me like three weeks ago. I was calling around looking for Persona 3 (obviously before FES was announced). For one store I called, the kid that answered laughed and said "nah, bro, you should have bought that a long time ago...been discontinued...you'll never find it now." I then asked if he had a used copy. He then laughed and said "nah nobody's going to trade that in" in a giggly voice. I hung up. I then went to K-Mart of all places and found it on the shelf. I wanted to call back and laugh at the kid myself - he literally annoyed me to that degree, acting as if I were a stupid thing for daring to ask if they still had a copy or even a used one - but I couldn't remember what store it was or what his name was. If I could have I probably would have because I can be a petty bitch.
I have dozens of stories like this and so do so many other "average" everyday customers. I've NEVER heard ANY other store have so many anecdotal complaints like this coming from consumers. It's kind of surreal and I think it's indicative of the way a vast majority of the EB employee base treats its customers.
So I thank you for personally being a better employee and person, YodaTuna, but you are an exception and not the rule.
I then went to K-Mart of all places and found it on the shelf. I wanted to call back and laugh at the kid myself - he literally annoyed me to that degree, acting as if I were a stupid thing for daring to ask if they still had a copy or even a used one - but I couldn't remember what store it was or what his name was. If I could have I probably would have because I can be a petty bitch.
KMart is the mecca of video games, because no one shops there. So nothing is ever sold out. I got a GBA on launch day from them even though every store in my town and the two nearby suburbs were sold out. But, still, you got lucky. You shouldn't have been laughed at, but sometimes customers do approach is good humor looking for a hard to find a game and sometimes I share a laugh with them. Maybe he was confused.
I have dozens of stories like this and so do so many other "average" everyday customers. I've NEVER heard ANY other store have so many anecdotal complaints like this coming from consumers. It's kind of surreal and I think it's indicative of the way a vast majority of the EB employee base treats its customers.
You can find all sorts of anecdotal complaints from any sort of store or business. Since last year, the vast majority of a store's ranking is based on customer service. Management brings down the hammer when you get a bad customer service poll, believe me.
I don't understand the harping on EB/Gamestop selling used games. I understand that people do not like their pushing used products over new ones, but while BestBuy and Target do not, Ye Old Local Game Shop always did that too. It's true that game publishers and game producers don't get paid for the sale of used product, but that's the expectation of the secondary market -- authors don't get paid for resold books, furniture makers don't get paid for resold furniture, etc. You sell a physical product to someone and they can do what they want with it, including selling it to consignment shops. It's far from the only non-optimal part of the video game industry.
You can find all sorts of anecdotal complaints from any sort of store or business. Since last year, the vast majority of a store's ranking is based on customer service. Management brings down the hammer when you get a bad customer service poll, believe me.
I understand that one more anecdote probably won't mean much, but I've been referred to, to my face, by a clerk, as a "tranny fag" at exactly one store. Guess which store that is. I called corporate to complain and was told that, "perhaps I shouldn't go to that store anymore." Gamestop, as far as I can tell, treats their customers like shit.
I'm more than happy to preorder, but I'm going to do it with a company that doesn't sexually harass me and will deliver the game to my door.
Again, this is purely anecdotal, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.
Do you really think physical store location is relevant to the people that wanted to play Portal, Team Fortress 2, and Half-Life 2: Episode Two?
You're forgetting about every single one of the XB360 and PS3 sales, which didn't match PC sales(of which included both retail release and Steam). But 1.5 million units of lost sale would have sucked.
Silly me, I must have forgotten about mail delivery services and internet shopping. No, wait, you were the one that forgot about it, not me. If no brick and mortar stores existed, The Orange Box would have done just fine. EB didn't help move The Orange Box. The Orange Box helped move The Orange Box and EB B&M locations were just a vehicle through which they went from publisher to consumer, but EB and "B&M retail" are not the only avenues through which consumers can procure physical retail copies of games they desire.
But in many cases, they're the easiest. I think it's silly to say that if Orange Box(or any other game) skipped B & M stores completely sales wouldn't be affected. I'm the perfect example. I tend to buy a fair amount of games, but I always do it through physical stores. Mainly because I personally find it much more ofa hassle to order online, give up your cc info, and then wait for the thing to be delivered. I also happened to buy Orange Box for the 360.
And what about kids? And the mainstream audience? People in the net seem to think they're the most important group, and that if they're doing it one way, then everyone should be doing it their way.
You can find all sorts of anecdotal complaints from any sort of store or business. Since last year, the vast majority of a store's ranking is based on customer service. Management brings down the hammer when you get a bad customer service poll, believe me.
I understand that one more anecdote probably won't mean much, but I've been referred to, to my face, by a clerk, as a "tranny fag" at exactly one store. Guess which store that is. I called corporate to complain and was told that, "perhaps I shouldn't go to that store anymore." Gamestop, as far as I can tell, treats their customers like shit.
I'm more than happy to preorder, but I'm going to do it with a company that doesn't sexually harass me and will deliver the game to my door.
Again, this is purely anecdotal, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.
I've stopped shopping at GameStop/EB for much the same reason - not because they're sexually harassing me, but because they seem to find the fact that I am British to somehow sully their otherwise perfect store. They refused to take my Debit Card when I showed them my ID - a British passport, as I hadn't gotten my California ID at that time - and when I finally did have the ID they decided to decline my purchases because the debit card I was using at the time (also originating from Britain) didn't have bumpy numbers or letters on it, something most British banks stopped putting on their cards a couple of years ago to prevent fraud.
There's a Play 'N' Trade near where I live that's closer than the GameStop, so we tend to buy our games there instead when we're not buying from Best Buy/Amazon. The guys in there are incredibly friendly, the store is nicely laid out, and they don't pressure us for pre-orders. They're happy to just let us get on with it. They also stock a lot of niche stuff, which is awesome - they're comparable to GameStation back in the UK, before they were bought out by GAME, that is...
Sorry to go off on a tangent in my last post, but the EBStop employees that I've dealt with are infuriating.
I understand that, for some people, preordering a game from EBStop is really convenient. I'm sure that, if I spent a lot of time at the store, I would like the system. If I knew that I would be in there anyway, I would love to know that they were holding a copy of a game for me (especially since I primarily purchase games that come out in limited quantities). However, I can't always make it to the store within 72 hours, and it is much more convenient for me to just get a game in my mail, even if I'm not getting it until a few days after it's been released. I very rarely get a game on the first day and start playing it right away, so I'm cool with waiting.
However, I can't always make it to the store within 72 hours, and it is much more convenient for me to just get a game in my mail, even if I'm not getting it until a few days after it's been released.
If you preorder, the vast majority of stores would be more than willing to hang on to your game for a few extra days. Shit, at my store, we give them a week, call them again, and give them two more days.
You can find all sorts of anecdotal complaints from any sort of store or business. Since last year, the vast majority of a store's ranking is based on customer service. Management brings down the hammer when you get a bad customer service poll, believe me.
I understand that one more anecdote probably won't mean much, but I've been referred to, to my face, by a clerk, as a "tranny fag" at exactly one store. Guess which store that is. I called corporate to complain and was told that, "perhaps I shouldn't go to that store anymore." Gamestop, as far as I can tell, treats their customers like shit.
I'm more than happy to preorder, but I'm going to do it with a company that doesn't sexually harass me and will deliver the game to my door.
Again, this is purely anecdotal, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.
I've stopped shopping at GameStop/EB for much the same reason - not because they're sexually harassing me, but because they seem to find the fact that I am British to somehow sully their otherwise perfect store. They refused to take my Debit Card when I showed them my ID - a British passport, as I hadn't gotten my California ID at that time - and when I finally did have the ID they decided to decline my purchases because the debit card I was using at the time (also originating from Britain) didn't have bumpy numbers or letters on it, something most British banks stopped putting on their cards a couple of years ago to prevent fraud.
Occasionally, you have to make an imprint of a card, that's probably why they refused it the second time. I think we talked about this in the employee lounge too. I probably wouldn't have taken your card either, as there isn't a single bank in the US that issues completely flat cards. Not your fault, but I'm not taking my chances to be the subject of a fraud investigation. GameStop is subject to a lot of credit card and check fraud due to the ease of reselling a system or games.
Thats wierd cause a lot of debit cards in canada are flat. I never even thought it would be an issue in other other places. Bu then I hear that you guys don't differentiate your debit and credit cards.
Thats wierd cause a lot of debit cards in canada are flat. I never even thought it would be an issue in other other places. Bu then I hear that you guys don't differentiate your debit and credit cards.
Thats because most if not all debit cards in the US are backed by one of the credit card companies.
I've never had those issues before except once years ago at Funco Land when the clerk called my friend and I fags not quite under his breath when we were buying Pokemon Stadium. So we didn't buy games there for a few months. Nearly every other experience I've had has ranged from forgettable to remarkably pleasant.
And Drez, why do you care about the "horrors" those people working at game stores are having such a horrible time if you think they should be done away with anyway?
Sorry... I don't go to pawn shops or used car lots for a reason.
Hell, I don't even walk onto a new car lot with the intent to buy, just test drive. I arrange the buy terms through the internet department, because my time is more important than to have to deal with some nervous hack in a seersucker suit with non-matching socks.
I use pre-ordering so I can spend money now and then not worry about when it comes out and such. Then later it just appears happily on my doorstep and I can play it.
If I pre-order, I do it through Amazon. They don't charge anything until it ships, though sometimes things do arrive a little later than they would if I got it through another store. There's not many games I can't wait on. Hell, I don't even play most games day one simply because I'm going to wait for the first patch.
When I think of preordering, I always wonder - whatever happened to the sweet preorder bonuses? Sure, I could see some money being lost when they're giving away good items...but I am not adverse to paying a bit extra for these things. Even something like gold cartridges/discs for preordered Zeldas was a good incentive. So what changed?
No need to offer a bonus if people will buy it for the same price anyway. Bonuses just cut into margins along the whole chain.
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
edited March 2008
Thing is. The managers at EB and Gamestop aren't COMEPLETE douchebags, they're just so damn pressured for preorders and trade ins that it makes them turn into complete douchebags. Seriously, my old manager was so pressured to get better numbers on that stuff that he upped the price of trade ins to make the numbers look better (upped the amount given to customers, not the amount charged for buying pre owned) and he would take preorder money on something like a system, with a 20 or 40 dollar preorder, and use that money to buy a ton of preorders on other stuff, then cancel them at the last minute and put all the money back on the customer's original preorder.
This is not an uncommon occurance from what I've heard over the past year or two. Not only have they destroyed the market and dominated it at the same time, but they've now adopted this wal-mart mentality as to how employees are treated.
I miss the days when I worked there, years ago, and things were just relaxed. Pre orders and trade ins were important, but not to the extent where as long as you didn't drop below a few of each a day you were fine.
It's amazing, I can actually have a human conversation with the guys at Gamestop where I live. And albeit the fact that their stock of Computer games is laughable at best they still have a whole wall full of old PS2 games that I never got a chance to buy. But they push pre-orders so much because plain and simply they're told to. I think I've only pre-ordered like two games in my life and they were Phoenix Wright games. I only did that cuz those things sell like hot-cakes. Oh that reminds me, note to self pre-order Apollo Justice. Anyway where was I? Right!The only logical explanation I have for pre-ordering it would be like, if you definately wanted it. I wouldn't go pre-ordering all willy-nilly because then you get into the realm of Vegas where you just roll the dice and hope you don't get stuck with a steaming pile of shit. Lets face it, if you pre-order a game... you HAVE to buy it, unless of course you have wads of cash stuck under your matress. I don't know about you but if I paid for something even the tiniest bit. I'm getting it dammit! Come hell or high water! Well thats my spiel... I'm gonna go lie down.
Right... well... you make a fine point. And I did not know that, game news does not reach my ears as I don't check it all that often I coulda swore it came out later this month though but thanks I'll run by Gamestop and see if they have it. But let me rephrase what I said... if I pre-order a game I have to buy it, it's like a compulsion... an unnatural compulsion.
Remember YodaTuna, this discussion isn't about your store or any of the store you know about because the individuals in those stores treat their customers with respect, which makes assurance of a beating quite puzzling.
Remember YodaTuna, this discussion isn't about your store or any of the store you know about because the individuals in those stores treat their customers with respect, which makes assurance of a beating quite puzzling.
Well it's just kind of a shitty thing to do, especially if you're doing it just to "Stick it to 'em". You're probably just going to frustrate some low level employee who's under a ton of pressure from the 3 managers above him to get preorders.
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
Remember YodaTuna, this discussion isn't about your store or any of the store you know about because the individuals in those stores treat their customers with respect, which makes assurance of a beating quite puzzling.
Well it's just kind of a shitty thing to do, especially if you're doing it just to "Stick it to 'em". You're probably just going to frustrate some low level employee who's under a ton of pressure from the 3 managers above him to get preorders.
also this is just really stupid.
Aside from the two minutes it would take to scan a receipt and refund the preorder, or the five minutes it would take to look it up without a receipt, they still earned interest off your money. So they won.
Remember YodaTuna, this discussion isn't about your store or any of the store you know about because the individuals in those stores treat their customers with respect, which makes assurance of a beating quite puzzling.
Well it's just kind of a shitty thing to do, especially if you're doing it just to "Stick it to 'em". You're probably just going to frustrate some low level employee who's under a ton of pressure from the 3 managers above him to get preorders.
also this is just really stupid.
Aside from the two minutes it would take to scan a receipt and refund the preorder, or the five minutes it would take to look it up without a receipt, they still earned interest off your money. So they won.
That isn't what would frustrate the employee. If I'm not mistaken canceled preorders are deducted from the employee's total for the month, so they have to try selling an additional preorder to make their numbers.
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Remember YodaTuna, this discussion isn't about your store or any of the store you know about because the individuals in those stores treat their customers with respect, which makes assurance of a beating quite puzzling.
Well it's just kind of a shitty thing to do, especially if you're doing it just to "Stick it to 'em". You're probably just going to frustrate some low level employee who's under a ton of pressure from the 3 managers above him to get preorders.
also this is just really stupid.
Aside from the two minutes it would take to scan a receipt and refund the preorder, or the five minutes it would take to look it up without a receipt, they still earned interest off your money. So they won.
No they didn't, because if he cancels the day before, they've already ordered a copy for him. If that copy never sells, or doesn't sell until the price drop, GameStop loses a ton of money. Interest on 5 dollars is not the driving reason for GameStop to do preorders and I really wish people would stop using it as a boogie man as an argument against preorders. I'm sure they earn interest on that 5 dollars, but I doubt it would affect their business plan if they didn't.
And interest on 5 dollars over a couple week period that the preorder is probably in the system, that interest is probably, something like 1 or 2 cents. HOORAY!
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
Remember YodaTuna, this discussion isn't about your store or any of the store you know about because the individuals in those stores treat their customers with respect, which makes assurance of a beating quite puzzling.
Well it's just kind of a shitty thing to do, especially if you're doing it just to "Stick it to 'em". You're probably just going to frustrate some low level employee who's under a ton of pressure from the 3 managers above him to get preorders.
also this is just really stupid.
Aside from the two minutes it would take to scan a receipt and refund the preorder, or the five minutes it would take to look it up without a receipt, they still earned interest off your money. So they won.
That isn't what would frustrate the employee. If I'm not mistaken canceled preorders are deducted from the employee's total for the month, so they have to try selling an additional preorder to make their numbers.
Yeah, but there's no way that would process the night before the game releases, especially since the games sometimes ship early.
Now if you cancelled a week before, then yeah, that would screw with numbers, but the company still earns the interest, and you might not get your game if the manager wants to be a dick.
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
No they didn't, because if he cancels the day before, they've already ordered a copy for him. If that copy never sells, or doesn't sell until the price drop, GameStop loses a ton of money. Interest on 5 dollars is not the driving reason for GameStop to do preorders and I really wish people would stop using it as a boogie man as an argument against preorders. I'm sure they earn interest on that 5 dollars, but I doubt it would affect their business plan if they didn't.
And interest on 5 dollars over a couple week period that the preorder is probably in the system, that interest is probably, something like 1 or 2 cents. HOORAY!
Dude, I was a supervisor at gamestop. Seriously, please don't be trying to tell me the reason for preorders isn't interest. Also, the markup on new games is nothing. The only reason gamestop sells new shit (which is now in short supply) is to facilitate the production of used shit, where it makes something like 3/4 of it's proffit. If it's a new game, and he cancells the night before, A) he still intended to buy it, and someone else would if he didn't, since its a new game and all. They don't lose a ton of money by not selling a new game. They practically lose nothing. They lose a ton of money by not refusing to return that game a week later so the customer has to trade it in at 50% loss and the store gets to sell it twice.
edit: by the way, that wasn't a rant against gamestop. They have one of the most ingenious, albeit slightly unethical and cutthroat business practes out there, and it's made them a fuckton of money. But defending it as being an innocent misunderstanding or overexaggeration is fucking stupid. They're a business, they developed a distribution method that put most of their direct video game only competition into chapter 11.
Dude, I was a supervisor at gamestop. Seriously, please don't be trying to tell me the reason for preorders isn't interest.
Dude, I am a manager at GameStop. I don't doubt for half a second that GameStop collects interest on those preorder dollars, however I don't believe a) it is something that concerns that customer b) it has any affect on whether gamestop offers a preorder program or not. It's money, it's sitting there, it's going to gain interest. When you cancel a preorder, GameStop corporate doesn't high five each other and count their newly acquired pennies.
Interest is not the reason for GameStop taking preorders, it's a happy side effect. See next response.
Also, the markup on new games is nothing.
They don't lose a ton of money by not selling a new game. They practically lose nothing.
These two sentences don't match. I think myself and everyone who reads this forum is quite aware of the fact that new games don't have any markup. Think about that though. If a 60 dollar game has a very small markup. That means GameStop is paying 53-55 bucks for it. So if they don't sell that game, THEY ARE LOSING 53-55 dollars. Not to mention that shelf space that game occupies while it doesn't sell. There are very few games with legs. Nintendo games have some, but most standard releases throughout the year(barring huge releases during Christmas) sell their first week and that's pretty much it. So if you have stock after the first 5 days a game comes out, chances are, you'll have that stock for several more months. Preorders are a way of managing that stock. As well as, getting games into someone's hands so then they can trade them later and resell it.
edit: by the way, that wasn't a rant against gamestop. They have one of the most ingenious, albeit slightly unethical and cutthroat business practes out there, and it's made them a fuckton of money. But defending it as being an innocent misunderstanding or overexaggeration is fucking stupid. They're a business, they developed a distribution method that put most of their direct video game only competition into chapter 11.
And I'm not defending GameStop in the strictest sense, I'm just pointing out certain things I don't think some people understand or purposefully misinterpret to make their position look better. I really don't care if people don't like gamestop's business plan, or if they shop there or if they preorder.
I think reason for the surge in pre-order is both the pressure by the industry and also as a society we have less and less patience. Honestly look at Apple, when the iPhone came debuted people camp the line. The product wasn't even in short supply. I think people are raised to have less patience especially with technology just handing you things instantly and short attention span. Its just my theory from experiences dealing with teenagers lately.
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Yodatuna: i dont think this thread was started so that you can educate us as to how you run your Gamestop.
I started this thread asking how the industry over 10-12 years progressed into a shithole money pit that treats customers like cattle. No, i dont want to preorder when i walk into a B&M store. And how, as customers, we let the gaming industry GET to this state perplexes me.
I dont care about your corporate pressure and sales numbers. If you would have treated me like this 10 years ago, you would have gone out of business. Oh wait, the EB in the mall where i live DID go out of business for doing this shit. Ironically, thats why we have 2 gamestops now in the same mall O-o
Turning your gamer haven into a freggin Pawnshop like has been suggested in this thread is a zit on the face of the gaming industry. Gaming specialty stores are supposed to be like Comic Book shops of the years past. While preordering was option, it wasnt a harassment to the point it drives away customers.
Listen, Look, Learn.
Thank you for the constructive comments in this thread btw.
That isn't what would frustrate the employee. If I'm not mistaken canceled preorders are deducted from the employee's total for the month, so they have to try selling an additional preorder to make their numbers.
Yeah, but there's no way that would process the night before the game releases, especially since the games sometimes ship early.
A cancelled preorder counts against the employee no matter when it's cancelled, even if the game has been out for 2 years.
Yodatuna: i dont think this thread was started so that you can educate us as to how you run your Gamestop.
I started this thread asking how the industry over 10-12 years progressed into a shithole money pit that treats customers like cattle. No, i dont want to preorder when i walk into a B&M store. And how, as customers, we let the gaming industry GET to this state perplexes me.
Your persecution complex at being asked a question by store clerks is baffling. Several people have pointed out that they preorder some games and that it doesn't bug them. How about you accept that people are going to talk to you and try and sell you things you might not want when you're in a retail store? I personally haven't been treated like cattle. In fact, the majority of my visits to game stores has been nothing but pleasant.
Turning your gamer haven into a freggin Pawnshop like has been suggested in this thread is a zit on the face of the gaming industry. Gaming specialty stores are supposed to be like Comic Book shops of the years past. While preordering was option, it wasnt a harassment to the point it drives away customers.
I'm sorry things have changed since then. Welcome to the world of change. You aren't the only one shopping at game stores and if you're that upset about it I suggest you let them know with your wallet.
I dont care about your corporate pressure and sales numbers. If you would have treated me like this 10 years ago, you would have gone out of business. Oh wait, the EB in the mall where i live DID go out of business for doing this shit. Ironically, thats why we have 2 gamestops now in the same mall O-o
EB didn't go out of business. GameStop and EB became one company, that's more than likely the reason for 2 GameStops in one mall. Oh and GameStop was almost out of business 10 years ago.
Turning your gamer haven into a freggin Pawnshop like has been suggested in this thread is a zit on the face of the gaming industry.
You can't make money selling only new games. If you have a better idea of how to make a profitable game store, I'm all ears.
While preordering was option, it wasnt a harassment to the point it drives away customers.
While it may drive away some of the people on this board, you have to understand the people on this forum are a very small subsect of the video game playing population. If GameStop was losing customers it wouldn't be one of the fastest growing retail chains in the US.
You may not agree with their business plan(and I've given you the opportunity to post your own), but you can't deny that it's successful and that most people outside of this forum seem to have at least tolerable experiences with GameStop.
YodaTuna on
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
Yodatuna: i dont think this thread was started so that you can educate us as to how you run your Gamestop.
I started this thread asking how the industry over 10-12 years progressed into a shithole money pit that treats customers like cattle. No, i dont want to preorder when i walk into a B&M store. And how, as customers, we let the gaming industry GET to this state perplexes me.
I dont care about your corporate pressure and sales numbers. If you would have treated me like this 10 years ago, you would have gone out of business. Oh wait, the EB in the mall where i live DID go out of business for doing this shit. Ironically, thats why we have 2 gamestops now in the same mall O-o
Turning your gamer haven into a freggin Pawnshop like has been suggested in this thread is a zit on the face of the gaming industry. Gaming specialty stores are supposed to be like Comic Book shops of the years past. While preordering was option, it wasnt a harassment to the point it drives away customers.
Listen, Look, Learn.
Thank you for the constructive comments in this thread btw.
You're way off base there dude. I don't think this thread was started so you could educate everyone on how your hippie video game store would be bankrupt within two years, or bought out, like many stores that Gamestop has purchased over the last five years.
First off, EB in your mall went out of business because Gamestop was more aggressive and bought them out, which is why they REPLACED, not closed the EB in your mall, with TWO gamestops, so know what you're talking about before you bash Yoda.
It's nice that you live in a utopian fantasy where game shops are like comic shops and have colorful people and everyone is all retro and awesome, but there's a reason only one comic book shop usually survives in a town, but that same town can have three gamestops. It's because the sales methods used in comic shops make very little money, as where the preowned industry in games makes money hand over fist (you know it does Yoda.) by creating a forced market of "antiques" in a very short period of time. They also regulate just how much inventory they lose through preorders, which has the "added bonus" (alright Yoda, I'll agree it's not the sole reason for preorders, but it's still a damn important one) of gaining the store interest for doing nothing, much like extended warranties, which are usually a joke and/or useless.
His last page of posts wasn't about how he runs his store, it was debate over weather or not preorders were intentionally for interest or for the sole reason to save stock. He made some good points, while you pined for some fantasy store that's the video game equivalent of Cusack's store in High Fidelity.
edit: I see I was beat twice. Also, I wasn't trying to start it up with you Yoda, I think it was just a misunderstanding. I thought you were trying to say that preorders for interest were a strawman and complete bullshit, but I see now that you're saying they do make money, but the reason is for numbers control so they don't lose money on shelf merchandise, which I do agree with, and I understand they need in such a high volume setting. However, it's still a bad system which has a lot of loopholes for abuse. While I don't long for the "stores of yesterday", I do miss just being able to walk into a store and..... oh, nevermind, I can still do that at any best buy or target or wal-mart or FYE, so I guess its all good. I'll keep buying new stuff at other places, and getting my used stuff at Gamestop
as where the preowned industry in games makes money hand over fist (you know it does Yoda.)
Never denied it, it's a sweet deal.
by creating a forced market of "antiques" in a very short period of time.
This is as much of the fault of the publishers as it is GameStop, what with yearly sequels and short print runs. While I don't like comparing the video game and movie industry, I think this problem would be solved if game publishers acted more like dvd publishers.
YodaTuna on
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
as where the preowned industry in games makes money hand over fist (you know it does Yoda.)
Never denied it, it's a sweet deal.
by creating a forced market of "antiques" in a very short period of time.
This is as much of the fault of the publishers as it is GameStop, what with yearly sequels and short print runs. While I don't like comparing the video game and movie industry, I think this problem would be solved if game publishers acted more like dvd publishers.
I'll agree with that to a high extent, but it's also the fault of gamestop, and it's not going to change. They basically took the building blocks of the stores that gnomeland loves so dearly, and me too, for that matter (the comic shops/record stores), and found a way to make them earn higher by taking video games, and essentially "forcing" this classic market on them. It's made them a lot of money and they're not going to stop anytime soon, so yeah, I guess we just have to live with it, but in addition to the game developers doing things different, the only way I see the quality of games increasing as well is if the whole digital distribution thing continues to take off, because a lot of those XBLA games are more fun than their $40 console counterparts.
I hate the preorder system. I think it is a stupid game and I hate that if I want to buy games from my local shop, I have to play it. But that doesn't mean I can't abuse it for all it is worth.
I am a gamer.
I am not an accountant, a manager, or a retail employee. I do not care about numbers except the one on my checking account balance.
I do preorder and cancel. Actually, usually I don't cancel it completely; I move my five bucks to another game that I want. I can use the same 5 bucks all year long to preorder games, moving the preorder a day before launch. They might think it is a dick thing to do, and they might be right, but they are following the policy laid out for them and I am getting what I want.
If they say they don't have enough afterwards, I call them a fucking liar.
Gihgehls on
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
I hate the preorder system. I think it is a stupid game and I hate that if I want to buy games from my local shop, I have to play it. But that doesn't mean I can't abuse it for all it is worth.
I am a gamer.
I am not an accountant, a manager, or a retail employee. I do not care about numbers except the one on my checking account balance.
I do preorder and cancel. Actually, usually I don't cancel it completely; I move my five bucks to another game that I want. I can use the same 5 bucks all year long to preorder games, moving the preorder a day before launch. They might think it is a dick thing to do, and they might be right, but they are following the policy laid out for them and I am getting what I want.
If they say they don't have enough afterwards, I call them a fucking liar.
which is fine, but don't think that you're proving some awesome fucking point by doing it.
First off, they're earning money by you leaving that five bucks in their system, and since you're obviously not the only one, they're earning quite a bit from you, and others. Second, they are still selling you said game, since you seem to be buying it even after you cancel the order, so they're not losing money. The only person getting screwed here is you, who might have to go to another location when they decide to call you on your bullshit and tell you they don't have a game to sell you so they can sell it to someone else.
So call them fucking liars, they still have your money...
and it seems like they're winning what you consider a "stupid game"
I don't mean to sound rude, but what's your point here, that you're sticking it to "the man" by giving them your money? If you really wanted to make a statement you'd just preorder your shit off amazon.com or something and avoid sales tax and shipping altogether and show them who's boss.
I hate the preorder system. I think it is a stupid game and I hate that if I want to buy games from my local shop, I have to play it. But that doesn't mean I can't abuse it for all it is worth.
I am a gamer.
I am not an accountant, a manager, or a retail employee. I do not care about numbers except the one on my checking account balance.
I do preorder and cancel. Actually, usually I don't cancel it completely; I move my five bucks to another game that I want. I can use the same 5 bucks all year long to preorder games, moving the preorder a day before launch. They might think it is a dick thing to do, and they might be right, but they are following the policy laid out for them and I am getting what I want.
If they say they don't have enough afterwards, I call them a fucking liar.
The only person getting screwed here is you, who might have to go to another location when they decide to call you on your bullshit and tell you they don't have a game to sell you so they can sell it to someone else.
This is a store policy question, but couldn't they legitimately deny him the game after he cancels the preorder if they didn't get enough copies for everyone who preordered?
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Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
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I think that another game store franchise would take its place. So GameStop may not be important, but it's products and services are.
Preordered games are an important part of the business, but we get a lot more new non-preordered stock than we do preordered stock. If I had to guess, out of the 150-200 pieces of new game shipment I did last week, about 15 of those products were preordered.
Agreed
I'm not saying that GameStop is important, I'm not saying that a game-only retail business is important. And I agree that I wish some of the employees had more passion about video games, but there's not a lot I can do about that. The reason I think a game-only retail store is important is because of the wider variety of games they offer. For the average person, if they wanted, say a copy of Okami, where would they check? GameStop first if they didn't want to hit up eBay.
While the all the employees of GameStop may not know what they are talking about, on average, they are sure as shit more knowledgeable than the guy in electronics on WalMart. I can't count the number of times that I've had a customer come from the nearby Target with completely incorrect information all the way up too: "The guys at Target said you might have Mario for the PS2." and "The guy at WalMart told me that the 40gig PS3 plays PS2 games."
Yeah but I've also had Gamestop people give information that was just as wrong. That's half my point: EB games advertises itself as something of a specialized store...for games...but the amount of inaccurate info many employees provide is sometimes just as bad as in other stores.
You'll get your occasional, well-informed and/or enthusiastic employee...maybe you'll even get lucky and find a single store stocked with employees of that caliber...but they are the exception and not the rule.
Also, I had an EB employee laugh at me like three weeks ago. I was calling around looking for Persona 3 (obviously before FES was announced). For one store I called, the kid that answered laughed and said "nah, bro, you should have bought that a long time ago...been discontinued...you'll never find it now." I then asked if he had a used copy. He then laughed and said "nah nobody's going to trade that in" in a giggly voice. I hung up. I then went to K-Mart of all places and found it on the shelf. I wanted to call back and laugh at the kid myself - he literally annoyed me to that degree, acting as if I were a stupid thing for daring to ask if they still had a copy or even a used one - but I couldn't remember what store it was or what his name was. If I could have I probably would have because I can be a petty bitch.
I have dozens of stories like this and so do so many other "average" everyday customers. I've NEVER heard ANY other store have so many anecdotal complaints like this coming from consumers. It's kind of surreal and I think it's indicative of the way a vast majority of the EB employee base treats its customers.
So I thank you for personally being a better employee and person, YodaTuna, but you are an exception and not the rule.
KMart is the mecca of video games, because no one shops there. So nothing is ever sold out. I got a GBA on launch day from them even though every store in my town and the two nearby suburbs were sold out. But, still, you got lucky. You shouldn't have been laughed at, but sometimes customers do approach is good humor looking for a hard to find a game and sometimes I share a laugh with them. Maybe he was confused.
You can find all sorts of anecdotal complaints from any sort of store or business. Since last year, the vast majority of a store's ranking is based on customer service. Management brings down the hammer when you get a bad customer service poll, believe me.
I understand that one more anecdote probably won't mean much, but I've been referred to, to my face, by a clerk, as a "tranny fag" at exactly one store. Guess which store that is. I called corporate to complain and was told that, "perhaps I shouldn't go to that store anymore." Gamestop, as far as I can tell, treats their customers like shit.
I'm more than happy to preorder, but I'm going to do it with a company that doesn't sexually harass me and will deliver the game to my door.
Again, this is purely anecdotal, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.
But in many cases, they're the easiest. I think it's silly to say that if Orange Box(or any other game) skipped B & M stores completely sales wouldn't be affected. I'm the perfect example. I tend to buy a fair amount of games, but I always do it through physical stores. Mainly because I personally find it much more ofa hassle to order online, give up your cc info, and then wait for the thing to be delivered. I also happened to buy Orange Box for the 360.
And what about kids? And the mainstream audience? People in the net seem to think they're the most important group, and that if they're doing it one way, then everyone should be doing it their way.
I've stopped shopping at GameStop/EB for much the same reason - not because they're sexually harassing me, but because they seem to find the fact that I am British to somehow sully their otherwise perfect store. They refused to take my Debit Card when I showed them my ID - a British passport, as I hadn't gotten my California ID at that time - and when I finally did have the ID they decided to decline my purchases because the debit card I was using at the time (also originating from Britain) didn't have bumpy numbers or letters on it, something most British banks stopped putting on their cards a couple of years ago to prevent fraud.
There's a Play 'N' Trade near where I live that's closer than the GameStop, so we tend to buy our games there instead when we're not buying from Best Buy/Amazon. The guys in there are incredibly friendly, the store is nicely laid out, and they don't pressure us for pre-orders. They're happy to just let us get on with it. They also stock a lot of niche stuff, which is awesome - they're comparable to GameStation back in the UK, before they were bought out by GAME, that is...
I understand that, for some people, preordering a game from EBStop is really convenient. I'm sure that, if I spent a lot of time at the store, I would like the system. If I knew that I would be in there anyway, I would love to know that they were holding a copy of a game for me (especially since I primarily purchase games that come out in limited quantities). However, I can't always make it to the store within 72 hours, and it is much more convenient for me to just get a game in my mail, even if I'm not getting it until a few days after it's been released. I very rarely get a game on the first day and start playing it right away, so I'm cool with waiting.
If you preorder, the vast majority of stores would be more than willing to hang on to your game for a few extra days. Shit, at my store, we give them a week, call them again, and give them two more days.
Occasionally, you have to make an imprint of a card, that's probably why they refused it the second time. I think we talked about this in the employee lounge too. I probably wouldn't have taken your card either, as there isn't a single bank in the US that issues completely flat cards. Not your fault, but I'm not taking my chances to be the subject of a fraud investigation. GameStop is subject to a lot of credit card and check fraud due to the ease of reselling a system or games.
Thats because most if not all debit cards in the US are backed by one of the credit card companies.
And Drez, why do you care about the "horrors" those people working at game stores are having such a horrible time if you think they should be done away with anyway?
Hell, I don't even walk onto a new car lot with the intent to buy, just test drive. I arrange the buy terms through the internet department, because my time is more important than to have to deal with some nervous hack in a seersucker suit with non-matching socks.
If I pre-order, I do it through Amazon. They don't charge anything until it ships, though sometimes things do arrive a little later than they would if I got it through another store. There's not many games I can't wait on. Hell, I don't even play most games day one simply because I'm going to wait for the first patch.
No need to offer a bonus if people will buy it for the same price anyway. Bonuses just cut into margins along the whole chain.
This is not an uncommon occurance from what I've heard over the past year or two. Not only have they destroyed the market and dominated it at the same time, but they've now adopted this wal-mart mentality as to how employees are treated.
I miss the days when I worked there, years ago, and things were just relaxed. Pre orders and trade ins were important, but not to the extent where as long as you didn't drop below a few of each a day you were fine.
If you want to be a huge dick, yea. They'll remember you though, don't blame me for the beatings.
Well it's just kind of a shitty thing to do, especially if you're doing it just to "Stick it to 'em". You're probably just going to frustrate some low level employee who's under a ton of pressure from the 3 managers above him to get preorders.
also this is just really stupid.
Aside from the two minutes it would take to scan a receipt and refund the preorder, or the five minutes it would take to look it up without a receipt, they still earned interest off your money. So they won.
That isn't what would frustrate the employee. If I'm not mistaken canceled preorders are deducted from the employee's total for the month, so they have to try selling an additional preorder to make their numbers.
No they didn't, because if he cancels the day before, they've already ordered a copy for him. If that copy never sells, or doesn't sell until the price drop, GameStop loses a ton of money. Interest on 5 dollars is not the driving reason for GameStop to do preorders and I really wish people would stop using it as a boogie man as an argument against preorders. I'm sure they earn interest on that 5 dollars, but I doubt it would affect their business plan if they didn't.
And interest on 5 dollars over a couple week period that the preorder is probably in the system, that interest is probably, something like 1 or 2 cents. HOORAY!
Yeah, but there's no way that would process the night before the game releases, especially since the games sometimes ship early.
Now if you cancelled a week before, then yeah, that would screw with numbers, but the company still earns the interest, and you might not get your game if the manager wants to be a dick.
Dude, I was a supervisor at gamestop. Seriously, please don't be trying to tell me the reason for preorders isn't interest. Also, the markup on new games is nothing. The only reason gamestop sells new shit (which is now in short supply) is to facilitate the production of used shit, where it makes something like 3/4 of it's proffit. If it's a new game, and he cancells the night before, A) he still intended to buy it, and
edit: by the way, that wasn't a rant against gamestop. They have one of the most ingenious, albeit slightly unethical and cutthroat business practes out there, and it's made them a fuckton of money. But defending it as being an innocent misunderstanding or overexaggeration is fucking stupid. They're a business, they developed a distribution method that put most of their direct video game only competition into chapter 11.
Dude, I am a manager at GameStop. I don't doubt for half a second that GameStop collects interest on those preorder dollars, however I don't believe a) it is something that concerns that customer b) it has any affect on whether gamestop offers a preorder program or not. It's money, it's sitting there, it's going to gain interest. When you cancel a preorder, GameStop corporate doesn't high five each other and count their newly acquired pennies.
Interest is not the reason for GameStop taking preorders, it's a happy side effect. See next response.
These two sentences don't match. I think myself and everyone who reads this forum is quite aware of the fact that new games don't have any markup. Think about that though. If a 60 dollar game has a very small markup. That means GameStop is paying 53-55 bucks for it. So if they don't sell that game, THEY ARE LOSING 53-55 dollars. Not to mention that shelf space that game occupies while it doesn't sell. There are very few games with legs. Nintendo games have some, but most standard releases throughout the year(barring huge releases during Christmas) sell their first week and that's pretty much it. So if you have stock after the first 5 days a game comes out, chances are, you'll have that stock for several more months. Preorders are a way of managing that stock. As well as, getting games into someone's hands so then they can trade them later and resell it.
And I'm not defending GameStop in the strictest sense, I'm just pointing out certain things I don't think some people understand or purposefully misinterpret to make their position look better. I really don't care if people don't like gamestop's business plan, or if they shop there or if they preorder.
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
I started this thread asking how the industry over 10-12 years progressed into a shithole money pit that treats customers like cattle. No, i dont want to preorder when i walk into a B&M store. And how, as customers, we let the gaming industry GET to this state perplexes me.
I dont care about your corporate pressure and sales numbers. If you would have treated me like this 10 years ago, you would have gone out of business. Oh wait, the EB in the mall where i live DID go out of business for doing this shit. Ironically, thats why we have 2 gamestops now in the same mall O-o
Turning your gamer haven into a freggin Pawnshop like has been suggested in this thread is a zit on the face of the gaming industry. Gaming specialty stores are supposed to be like Comic Book shops of the years past. While preordering was option, it wasnt a harassment to the point it drives away customers.
Listen, Look, Learn.
Thank you for the constructive comments in this thread btw.
A cancelled preorder counts against the employee no matter when it's cancelled, even if the game has been out for 2 years.
I'm sorry things have changed since then. Welcome to the world of change. You aren't the only one shopping at game stores and if you're that upset about it I suggest you let them know with your wallet.
EB didn't go out of business. GameStop and EB became one company, that's more than likely the reason for 2 GameStops in one mall. Oh and GameStop was almost out of business 10 years ago.
You can't make money selling only new games. If you have a better idea of how to make a profitable game store, I'm all ears.
While it may drive away some of the people on this board, you have to understand the people on this forum are a very small subsect of the video game playing population. If GameStop was losing customers it wouldn't be one of the fastest growing retail chains in the US.
You may not agree with their business plan(and I've given you the opportunity to post your own), but you can't deny that it's successful and that most people outside of this forum seem to have at least tolerable experiences with GameStop.
You're way off base there dude. I don't think this thread was started so you could educate everyone on how your hippie video game store would be bankrupt within two years, or bought out, like many stores that Gamestop has purchased over the last five years.
First off, EB in your mall went out of business because Gamestop was more aggressive and bought them out, which is why they REPLACED, not closed the EB in your mall, with TWO gamestops, so know what you're talking about before you bash Yoda.
It's nice that you live in a utopian fantasy where game shops are like comic shops and have colorful people and everyone is all retro and awesome, but there's a reason only one comic book shop usually survives in a town, but that same town can have three gamestops. It's because the sales methods used in comic shops make very little money, as where the preowned industry in games makes money hand over fist (you know it does Yoda.) by creating a forced market of "antiques" in a very short period of time. They also regulate just how much inventory they lose through preorders, which has the "added bonus" (alright Yoda, I'll agree it's not the sole reason for preorders, but it's still a damn important one) of gaining the store interest for doing nothing, much like extended warranties, which are usually a joke and/or useless.
His last page of posts wasn't about how he runs his store, it was debate over weather or not preorders were intentionally for interest or for the sole reason to save stock. He made some good points, while you pined for some fantasy store that's the video game equivalent of Cusack's store in High Fidelity.
edit: I see I was beat twice. Also, I wasn't trying to start it up with you Yoda, I think it was just a misunderstanding. I thought you were trying to say that preorders for interest were a strawman and complete bullshit, but I see now that you're saying they do make money, but the reason is for numbers control so they don't lose money on shelf merchandise, which I do agree with, and I understand they need in such a high volume setting. However, it's still a bad system which has a lot of loopholes for abuse. While I don't long for the "stores of yesterday", I do miss just being able to walk into a store and..... oh, nevermind, I can still do that at any best buy or target or wal-mart or FYE, so I guess its all good. I'll keep buying new stuff at other places, and getting my used stuff at Gamestop
Never denied it, it's a sweet deal.
This is as much of the fault of the publishers as it is GameStop, what with yearly sequels and short print runs. While I don't like comparing the video game and movie industry, I think this problem would be solved if game publishers acted more like dvd publishers.
I'll agree with that to a high extent, but it's also the fault of gamestop, and it's not going to change. They basically took the building blocks of the stores that gnomeland loves so dearly, and me too, for that matter (the comic shops/record stores), and found a way to make them earn higher by taking video games, and essentially "forcing" this classic market on them. It's made them a lot of money and they're not going to stop anytime soon, so yeah, I guess we just have to live with it, but in addition to the game developers doing things different, the only way I see the quality of games increasing as well is if the whole digital distribution thing continues to take off, because a lot of those XBLA games are more fun than their $40 console counterparts.
I am a gamer.
I am not an accountant, a manager, or a retail employee. I do not care about numbers except the one on my checking account balance.
I do preorder and cancel. Actually, usually I don't cancel it completely; I move my five bucks to another game that I want. I can use the same 5 bucks all year long to preorder games, moving the preorder a day before launch. They might think it is a dick thing to do, and they might be right, but they are following the policy laid out for them and I am getting what I want.
If they say they don't have enough afterwards, I call them a fucking liar.
which is fine, but don't think that you're proving some awesome fucking point by doing it.
First off, they're earning money by you leaving that five bucks in their system, and since you're obviously not the only one, they're earning quite a bit from you, and others. Second, they are still selling you said game, since you seem to be buying it even after you cancel the order, so they're not losing money. The only person getting screwed here is you, who might have to go to another location when they decide to call you on your bullshit and tell you they don't have a game to sell you so they can sell it to someone else.
So call them fucking liars, they still have your money...
and it seems like they're winning what you consider a "stupid game"
I don't mean to sound rude, but what's your point here, that you're sticking it to "the man" by giving them your money? If you really wanted to make a statement you'd just preorder your shit off amazon.com or something and avoid sales tax and shipping altogether and show them who's boss.
This is a store policy question, but couldn't they legitimately deny him the game after he cancels the preorder if they didn't get enough copies for everyone who preordered?