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Paid full price and got this in the mail (open box). GameStop and I have different definitions of “new”
(i.imgur.com)
this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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Mildly Infuriating
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So, here's what probably happened.
Physical GameStop stores will usually open a handful of new games that they receive, so that they can put the boxes on the shelves. But the boxes are empty. You take the box from the shelf for the game you want to buy, bring it to the counter, and they go into a locked drawer that has their stock of games, and they put the game into the box, and then sell it to you. This is assuming that they don't have any unopened copies available; usually they will, but if you're unlucky and happen to catch them at the end of their stock for a particular title, you might get one that's been opened so that the box can be used on display.
Unfortunately, a lot of would-be thieves don't realize that the boxes on the shelves are empty, and steal them. So if you're really unlucky, you'll get a generic box that they print out like this if they don't have any originals left. Usually these boxes are only used for used games (where they bought the game without the box), but sometimes they use them with new copies if they absolutely have to. Depending on the store and the cashier, you can sometimes get them to give you a small discount for the missing box, but I'm not sure if that's a corporate policy or not.
I believe that they can technically still sell these as "new" product, as opposed to "unused", because the product never left the store's possession during this opening/storing process, and isn't the same as a returned product being resold. So what likely went down here is that when OP ordered this game, due to availability or logistics or whatever, they sent a copy that was being held at a physical GameStop store, instead of from some warehouse.
If you're really worried about it, OP, you can probably contact GameStop and request a return or replacement for an unopened copy. In my experience, they're usually pretty understanding about that. It's an annoying extra hoop to jump through, but unfortunately that's just always been a risk one takes when buying from GameStop.
Sounds like what should be called an "open box" product to me
Employees can also take “new” games home and play them for a few days, the being back and sell as new for full price.
Absolute shit business, hilarious that they were chosen for stock shenanigans.
Quiet, buy GME best company. The shirts are controlling them. The low stock price has nothing to do with them being a bad business pissing away millions of dollars. Their NFT wallet that was a huge waste of money is the wave of the future.
Yeah, once they break that shrink wrap, regardless of the reason, its open box and used.
Yet, other stores don't do this. Avoid GameStop and you avoid this, and all that comes with it. It's fine to learn what happened. It's not OK to do this or have this happen to you.
Who gives a shit?? If the game is new that’s all that’s important. It’s not like studios put anything interesting on the box let alone inside the box these days.
Maybe I’m biased because I hate physical clutter and refuse to stack plastic trash in my house tho (home RAID server ftw)
What a hilarious comment. I don’t like shit on my shelves but that didn’t mean I’d pay full price for a piece of shit
I hate that they do this. You opened it, you touched the disc, the disc was run in a system. That's not new, that's not unused. GameStop should have never done this in the first place, and I can't believe they still do it.
What system? "The system" is to put it in a plastic sleeve in a glorified filing cabinet. The game is never played, the box is just used for display. What's asinine is that the video game manufacturers never realized they could sell cover boxes to gamestop and the like and probably make extra profit... which would stop the entire need for them to do this at all.
Try returning an open game to GameStop under the same rationale and see if they agree.
Twenty Years ago they let employees “check out” brand new games that were opened like this so it was all bullshit.
My mistake about your post. But they will sometimes use a disc in the in store kiosk and then sell that as used if it's the last disc available. At least they used to.
No you were right. Employees can take games home to sample, and they’re still sold as new
Why do you assume the game was ran?
My mistake I thought they had used it in the kiosk. My point still stands though that someone else opened it, touched it, and I have no way of verifying it's integrity until I get home. That's used.
We have very different definitions of used
As soon as the case is removed from the shrink wrap it is used. GameStop won’t pay you full price to trade in an open copy of a game just because you say you never put it in your console.
When. I buy a NEW game, the entire thing should be in mint condition, case included. When I pay full price, I’m paying for everything that comes inside the shrink wrap, and it should be unadulterated.
If anything has been adulterated in any way compared to how it came from the factory, then I shouldn’t have to pay full price.
That wouldn't be used, that would be open box which is very different. GameStop doesn't trust consumers when they say something is new, but realistically if they're selling a "used* item as new then that's false advertising and they'd get in huge trouble. They're selling an open box item as new, which is fine, because it is unused.
A new car that has yet to be sold to anyone but that has also been on numerous test drives is still a new car.
Dude employees can take games home to play them, and they sell them full price as “new”
That’s fucking used.
Source: two friends worked at that shit company.
Go try selling an open copy of a game on eBay or Craigslist as “new”. You won’t get people paying “new” prices for it. You will get people paying “used” prices. And your prices will be even lower if the case is all grubby and covered in stickers, as GameStop tends to do.
If they want to sell these as “open box”, fine, but selling them as new for new prices is downright shitty and that is what people have a problem with.
This is not a tough concept to grasp. No other retailer is shitty enough to open all their products, sell them at full price, then tell their customers to fuck off when they complain.
Fuck GameStop.
Yeah big difference between some random seller and an actual company that can get the book thrown at them for being shady. New requires closed box for p2p sales because you can't trust anyone at all. If I could somehow definitively prove that I've not actually played a game and the only thing removed was the plastic covering then, yeah, I could easily sell it as new.
Let’s put it another way.
When I buy a new product, I’m paying for everything that comes inside the shrink wrap, case included. Once you open that case, the case is used. It is no longer in brand new mint condition.
If GameStop had a reputation for taking care of their open boxes and ensuring that they were in as close to mint condition as possible, I probably wouldn't care. But they don't. Every time this happened to me, I got a scuffed up case covered in hard to remove stickers. In some cases, you end up like OP and pay the full new price for a bare disc with no original case or manual. The fact that you are OK with that is astounding.
Why are you so eager to defend shitty behavior that only GameStop engages in? Are you just completely oblivious to the fact that many people who still buy physical games want to keep the packaging in good condition?
Yes we do. New to me is unopened..if you took the plastic off I'm not paying.new. GameStop wouldn't take this game back as new either.
GameStop wouldn't take it back because they can't take your word for it, where they themselves know that it's effectively "new" even if it's open box for display reasons. Consumers can somewhat reasonably assume that they aren't selling you a used product as new due to potential false advertising claims.
An item that is open but never used is still new. A new car that has yet to be sold to anyone but that has been on numerous test drives is still new.
As a consumer I can verify the car is running, the interior still looks fresh, there are no dings, the engine isn't missing hoses, etc. I can't verify the disc hasn't been scratched lightly until I know the disc reads.
You can... look at the disk?
Besides, who cares if the car looks fresh? The doors were opened, and gasp taken for a test drive! So therefore it's no longer new!
All I'm saying is technically speaking "new" doesn't mean "absolutely an unequivocally untouched." It just means it hasn't been sold or used by anyone else. Open box isn't "used," it's "open box" and effectively new, and can generally be treated as such. You're free to be skeptical, though, as would I
Looking at the disc doesn't always show damage.
Would GameStop take open box as a new return? No. So they shouldn't see it as new.
I already addressed that and I'm not going to go in circles with you
I got you. I can take their word for it that the disc is perfect but they can't take mine. Makes sense.
Because this thread is just a circlejerk
This is so unbelievably shitty, and they’ve been doing it for decades now. The number of times I went in, asked for a new copy of a game, and was told to pay full price for something that came in a grubby open box covered in stickers was infuriating. It’s a big reason I stopped shopping there over 10 years ago.
Other stores figured out how to put games on their shelves without opening the boxes and taking the discs out. In fact, it’s actually less work to not be shitty. Just put the fucking game on the shelf LIKE EVERY OTHER GODDAMN STORE ON THE PLANET.
Fuck GameStop. I hope their CEO gets hemorrhoids regularly.
That's a fuckload of words to explain why they sent OP an open box product as new. Like a super shitty company.