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WadeIt0ut

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,985
Iowa
I'm well aware of the gutted copy policy, which is why I asked for it sealed. But in all the times I've shopped there, I've never been asked for it to be "resealed". If it's already open anyway, there really isn't any point in resealing it lol

It's November. Maybe they thought you were getting it as a Christmas gift so you'd want it sealed?
 

Gamer @ Heart

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,575
You laughed at them for a policy that is decades old. How have you missed every thread exactly like this one for so long?

You don't come out of this looking good.
 

WaluigiTime

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,671
Good Burger
Remember when Gamestop got new copies of Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii and they opened them because they are worth more used than the suggested retail price?
 

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
If only printed game journalism wasn't dead, there would have been a magazine rack for you to knock over as well! Hopefully your derisive, disdainful laughter taught them a lesson and they will never again attempt to re-seal an opened game.
 

logash

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,734
I refuse to buy anything "new" not sealed and no, that is no resealing it. I am a regular customer at my local gamestop and I am pretty sure they are talking about the bag with the adhesive flap that doesn't actually fit the game. They used to use a little circle to seal the game at the opening which is almost impossible to take out without ruining the box. This bag is just as bad because the top has a super strong adhesive flap and since the game doesn't fit in the bad it destroys the top instead.
 

ErbilT

Member
Oct 28, 2017
117
Henderson, NV.
You ain't exactly looking non-ridiculous yourself man.

Why would you laugh at a retail employee just trying to make you happy, even if they didn't understand the specifics of your plastic needs?

Exactly, I worked at EB 20 years ago and we would offer to reshrink copies if they were our last ones. We would do this as a courtesy knowing that the game could be a gift and even though the display copy gutting wasn't the best solution in the world, at least we cared enough to repackage the game so it was presentable. This was company policy and the employees have no say in the matter... But hey, you laughed at an employee making minimum wage. You sure showed them.
 

KayonXaikyre

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,984
Like many have said this isn't a "now" thing. This is very old. I worked there when it was called Babbages in the year 2000 and some of the new games are just games resealed by employees. Also, they let you rent them. As long as you don't scratch the disc you can play the game and then they just sell em as new again. You've probably bought a "new" game without even knowing it if you shopped there lol. Hell one time a "new" disc I got didn't work at all and I knew why haha.
 

Falconbox

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,600
Buffalo, NY
Actual new resealed games will still have the sticker along the edges too.

If you buy a "new" game without the stickers and it's just shrink-wrapped, it means they wrapped and heat-gunned it themselves.
 

TimPV3

Member
Oct 30, 2017
631
They only do this so you can't play it and return it (like the employees get to). I think it's MUCH better than the obnoxious clear sticker that leaves the worst sticky residue on the case.
 

DeuceGamer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,476
Why are so many giving OP a hard time? Nothing wrong with wanting a new game to be new and sealed IMO. I probably would have handled it a little differently, but I don't see the issue is deciding that you do not want a gutted copy.
 

Ascenion

Prophet of Truth - One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,098
Mecklenburg-Strelitz
GameStop's been doing this for years. And there's nothing wrong with it either. They have to have a "gut" copy to be able to display the game case on their shelves. When they sell out of copies, the "gut" copy is the last available and they usually put a sticker or re-seal for the buyer. The general rules of new games apply to the gut copy.

source: i'm a former employee.

I'm sorry, this is and has been bullshit. Best Buy doesn't do this, Walmart doesn't do this, Sams doesn't do this. You don't have to gut new titles for a display title. Get those security cases, or put out the paper tags like sams or put out a cardboard image of the game. No excuse.
 

PinballRJ

Member
Oct 25, 2017
858
Did you have to climb over piles of collectibles to get in the store? Not even kidding my local one had piles of stuff blocking areas of the store
 

Suburban Thug

Banned
Nov 13, 2017
3,635
Midwest
If you acutally laughed before walking out the egg is on your face, OP. Seems like they had one copy left, which was on display, and offered to reseal it if you wanted to purchase. Nothing unreasonable about that.
 

Gestault

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,362
You laughed at them for a policy that is decades old. How have you missed every thread exactly like this one for so long?

You don't come out of this looking good.

I think it's as much that they tried to convince someone who already made clear they wanted a factory-sealed copy that their circular sticker is just as good. I'm not saying that final reaction didn't sound snarky, but it was a situation where a staffer was pushing something the person obviously didn't want. It's all about how the interaction felt at the time, and OP was the one who thought it seemed weird.
 
OP
OP
Grunty

Grunty

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,348
Gruntilda’s Lair
I updated the OP for clarification... I know they have gutted copies. But I've never been asked for one to be resealed before... and no, I shouldn't have laughed and walked out. It should have been handled differently in that regard.
 

GodofWine

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
2,775
Its like buying the last pair of shoes in your size, and the left one is a display - you look it over, and make a decision (usually its fine, sometimes little Billy Stick Fingers was pawing it up)
 

WadeIt0ut

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,985
Iowa
I think it's as much that they tried to convince someone who already made clear they wanted a factory-sealed copy that their circular sticker is just as good. I'm not saying that final reaction didn't sound snarky, but it was a situation where a staffer was pushing something the person obviously didn't want.

But again, they probably assumed he was getting it as a gift and that's why he wanted it sealed. They just offered him the option it's not like they did it in the back room and lied to him.
 

DarkChronic

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,036
They've been doing it for a while.

My mom picked me up a copy of Mega Man 11 for my birthday a few weeks ago and they sold her an opened copy (not shrink wrapped) as new. She didn't know any better obviously and I didn't make a big deal about it but it still drives me bonkers inside that they pull that garbage.
 

spman2099

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,892
Yeah, I can remember buying a "new" game when I was kid that was sealed and opening it up to find that the instruction manual had the receipt of the person who had previously purchased it wedged inside.

That was probably a good twenty years ago. That company has always been shady about that shit.
 
Nov 2, 2017
6,809
Shibuya
Yup, this irritated me quite a bit. I went in to pick up the only copy of 428 on release and they pulled this. I still ended up buying it just because I wanted to assure getting myself a copy, but their idea of sealed was keeping the game out of the box, and putting it back in then putting a sticker around where you open it from to make it "new". I guess this is probably for anti-theft, but it's still super bullshit. I will no longer purchase new games from GameStop... Ever.
The plastic sticker is so you can return it; if you didn't take off the sticker they will still treat it as a sealed copy for your benefit.
 

Deleted member 1190

User-requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,663
It is absolutely used because clerks have been signing out those copies to play at home is why.

Not every copy is taken home, and in my experience employees taking copies home in general was pretty rare and if they did he manager would make them taken used copies and not new ones. Granted that last part is going to vary by location and be entirely up to the manager to be doing their job the right way. But in general the only time new copies were gutted was when it was the one copy that was used as a display.

They're not in there gutting every new copy of a game.

Them needing to use a gutted copy as a display is a different subject though.
 

wenis

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,111
that's been a practice going back to EB Games. I was friendly with a manager of EB Games as a youth and he would pay me a couple bucks to reseal games with this packing device. We did it out right in public too, no one had an issue with it.

basically this:

GSQZOC8l.jpg
 

Novel Mike

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,553
I think it's as much that they tried to convince someone who already made clear they wanted a factory-sealed copy that their circular sticker is just as good. I'm not saying that final reaction didn't sound snarky, but it was a situation where a staffer was pushing something the person obviously didn't want. It's all about how the interaction felt at the time, and OP was the one who thought it seemed weird.
They couldn't have known the guy cared if it was gutted or not. It's the holiday season, people want sealed games to give to their kids. When I worked there I'd have parents even ask us to reseal used games for them.
 

ctj

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
2,318
Bay Area, California
New means factory sealed. If GameStop opened and re-sealed it, then it's not new. If I was in the OP's situation, I wouldn't have laughed at the employee, but I would not have purchased the game from them.
 

mikehaggar

Developer at Pixel Arc Studios
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
1,379
Harrisburg, Pa
I'm the same way. I'll never buy the gutted "new" copy. I want factory sealed. I understand some don't care, but I do for whatever ridiculous reason. Also, I'm guessing the guy who was banned from gamestop knocked over the magazine rack. Just a hunch.
 

mute

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,084
Was one of the reasons I stopped going there 10+ years ago.
 

Gestault

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,362
Its like buying the last pair of shoes in your size, and the left one is a display - you look it over, and make a decision (usually its fine, sometimes little Billy Stick Fingers was pawing it up)

Well it would be like that, except having a couple staffers each trying to convince you that it's just as good after you ask if there are any other new versions. It would be easy for that to feel pushy. If you want an actual new copy, that's what you're shopping for.
 

WadeIt0ut

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,985
Iowa
Well it would be like that, except having a couple staffers each trying to convince you that it's just as good after you ask if there are any other new versions. It would be easy for that to feel pushy.

I feel like you are making way too much of an assumption as to how this situation went down.

Nothing the OP said makes it sound like they were being pushy. He said the manager told him and the other employee they could see it if he wanted.
 
Oct 25, 2017
4,798
I stopped going to GameStop years and years ago because of this policy. I had a friend who worked at GameStop as a manager, so I know exactly what a "gutted copy" was, and the fact that the employees at the time were allowed to take those home and play them.

When they literally harassed me in the store when I told them I wouldn't buy a gutted copy for a new price, I determined I'd never give them money again. That was like, I don't know, 8 years ago, and I'd be perfectly happy if GS went out of business.
 

ckareset

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt account
Banned
Feb 2, 2018
4,977
Why do people still make excuses for this tactic.

I bought an "opened "new copy" of twilight princess and no surprise despite being assured the disc was fine it wasnt.

Gamestop is a last resort. Remember that
 

Xiaomi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,237
What difference does it make if it's not sealed but is new?

I'm not a physical-copies guy anymore, but I imagine people who collect physical games are more likely to want control over opening and maintaining their collection. Plus it's just honest. Online retailers wouldn't let you sell an opened game that has been out of its case as new, so why should a B&M shop get away with it?
 

Kyou

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,952
I bought a sealed copy of Phoenix Wright from Gamestop years ago that had a save file halfway through the game on it
 

PlanetSmasher

The Abominable Showman
Member
Oct 25, 2017
115,658
Why do people still make excuses for this tactic.

I bought an "opened "new copy" of twilight princess and no surprise despite being assured the disc was fine it wasnt.

Gamestop is a last resort. Remember that

If the disc is damaged then you return it and get another copy for no charge. This is the same thing that happens if you buy anything defective. Why is this such a sticking point?