Serious Talk #1 - Gamestop's Circle of Life

[JJ Styles]

Note to all readers: I haven't really posted anything of real serious matter to talk about so i guess lets have a mature, wise, and lovely discussion of one of this year's latest controversies

Also, i wanted to make a series of threads called "Serious Talk" where we discuss about certain things that I would like for us to talk about. We start this series with a literal BANGARARANG.

Unless you haven't really been giving a darn about it, Gamestop recently has gone under a lot of fire from many consumers and even their own employees for this controversial program called "Circle of Life" program.

Gamestop's circle of life program is basically this:
1) ) pre-orders;
2) reward card subscriptions;
3) used game sales;
4) game trade-ins.

Each of these 4 quotas are based on the store's total transactions. Pre-orders and reward cards subscriptions are based on the number of transactions, while used game sales and trade-ins are based on the total dollar value of transactions. If a store's quota for used game sales is 30%, and the store sells $1,000 worth of merchandise, GameStop expects at least $300 of that merchandise to be pre-owned.

Based from how the COL program works, this means that the more new games employees sell, the more used games they have to sell in order to make up for the quota. Paraphrasing whatever I've read regarding the COL, Gamestop employees are encouraged to stop people from buying new games and hardware by aggressively selling used or pre-owned products instead. Its also been mentioned that Gamestop is rather strict on this program and will fire employees who do not make the quotas.

Gamestop employees have told certain media outlets about how they are, and I quote "Forced to lie to their customers".

Anyway, more things related to this controversial COL program is in the related reading materials here:
https://kotaku.com/new-gamestop-program-leads-employees-to-lie-to-customer-1791874332
https://twinfinite.net/2017/02/circle-life-questionable-gamestop-practices/

Moving on, I'd like to ask you ladies and dudes on your whole stance on this practice. Do you agree that its way out of the line? Or do you think otherwise and its just some overblown ruses to make Gamestop look bad in the eyes of the public? What are your thoughts regarding Gamestop's practices and other stores based on your own personal experiences.

PS: The reason why i made this topic is that I have a soft spot for video game stores and yes I remember visiting at least one Gamestop branch during a trip i had in the US of A back in the day.

Also, "SERIOUS TALK" will either be a bi-weekly (every 2 weeks) or a tri-monthly series of threads and discussions by yours truly regarding some Video gaming and VG industry things. Topics of discussion are based on what I feel would be nice for everyone to talk about and of course public request for a SERIOUS TALK No.2 will be in consideration. Thank you good sirs.

 

[machomuu]

I get why this exists, Gamestop's gotta make money somehow and the whole GS vs. Publisher relationship is pretty shitty, but this means of fearmongering, which is basically the main factor that results in really shitty customer service and employee-customer interaction, is absolutely disgusting. This is certainly a way to do it but it comes at the cost of a pretty bad reputation and the average consumer choosing non-game stores or even internet services over this corporate monster. And oh, the horror stories from actual employees I've heard. Yikes.

 

[OuterTsuchinoko]

Whenever I go to buy a game at GS which is very rare these days they always try to sell me fake new s**t that totally f'ing pisses me off. In the last six months I have gone to GS three times and once for Splatoon, Valkyria Chronicles HD, and some other game I can't remember. Each and every time I went up to the counter I asked can I get a new copy of so and so game. They went to the drawer and grabbed me a disc that was in a slip and went to get a case off the shelf. This has totally become the routine now when I go to any of these store. I ask whether they have any new in box surrounded by plastic copied and then they go through the whole explanation about how it's a brand new game that hasn't been played before and they just needed the box for display. I then tell them no thanks and leave the store only for my friend to have to hear me rant for at least 20 minutes about how much I hate that practice and will never shop there again. I don't know why they do this. I never buy there because it happens, then when I need something bad or wanna give them a chance they always take the faith right out of me by doing it again. I like the people that work there and the service is great but don't lie to me and try to make me pay full price for a supposedly new game when all it comes with is a disc/cart and no case, plastic or manual. It really gets on my nerves when it happens. And this has only been within the last six months, there have been way more instances than this in all three states I have lived in. It's really sad for people who like to buy new games.

Besides that I hate how GS always shoves pre-orders and subscriptions down your throat. That's the second biggest thing I hate about that place. I don't come to your store to be pressured to do things and not get what I want, I come to shop and have a good experience and 90% of the time I get a bad one.

The only good thing about GS is their launch/release events. The employees are usually really into them and know how to get you hyped and the whole atmosphere is great. So that's a good thing. But for the most part I hate the place and the way they do business.

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

I'm curious to see if GameStop's stance may change towards their employees now that the company is stepped into the ring as a publishing company. I feel like that may swing the balance in terms of revenue coming into the company/business practice, but I don't know the exact numbers to make an educated guess to that. Do I think that's agregious to fire an employee for not selling enough used products? Sure. At the same time though, if GameStop clearly outlines their agreement with the employee when they join the team, I don't feel bad because the employee is accepting the terms and conditions when taking the job.

 

[Desert Stream~]

Why does it matter if preowned games aren't selling as much as non-preowned games? People are gonna buy both, either way, at least a little bit. That's just ridiculous.

 

[Somewhere_]

Gamestop is going to die out eventually, just like Blockbuster. In my opinion, the Circle of Life program is just trying to keep Gamestop around a little longer. Forcing your employees to lie should be economic suicide and it smells like desperation. Eventually the high prices, low trade-ins, and general employee/customer dissatisfaction are going to reach a boiling point and Gamestop's stocks will totally tank- much faster than their already slow decline. In short, while it is a terrible policy that hurts employees and potentially customers (and seems borderline fraudulent), we can rest assured that this will contribute to Gamestop's eventual demise.

I guess a good counter-argument would be if the used and collectable games market continues to thrive, so will Gamestop. Perhaps Gamestop may be a good thing because if Gamestop disappears, prices on used games (especially old valuable ones) on Ebay or other websites will most likely skyrocket without the competition following - of course - the next to free games that will be handed out if Gamestop goes out of business. Unless they are bought out, which might be unlikely.

 

[Guest123_x1]

This new "Circle of Life" program sounds to me like something GameStop was required by it shareholders to implement, in a desperate attempt to prop up stock prices (everything that major retailers do these days is for the sole benefit of stockholders, even if the majority of consumers don't want such changes). My guess is if this program wasn't implemented, Wall Street would probably be sending the company's stock to zero at some point in the near future. (It's absolutely bullturd that our economy is extremely and dangerously overfinancialized, but that's a whole 'nother topic).

With most gamers switching to acquiring games exclusively via digital downloads these days, and more and more people doing their games (and web surfing) exclusively on smartphones, and the resulting horrific sales plunge over the holiday season, I wouldn't be surprised if, besides what I said above, "Circle of Life" is an attempt by GameStop to avoid Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

 

[Mewtwolover]

Gamestop is going to die out eventually, just like Blockbuster. In my opinion, the Circle of Life program is just trying to keep Gamestop around a little longer. Forcing your employees to lie should be economic suicide and it smells like desperation. Eventually the high prices, low trade-ins, and general employee/customer dissatisfaction are going to reach a boiling point and Gamestop's stocks will totally tank- much faster than their already slow decline. In short, while it is a terrible policy that hurts employees and potentially customers (and seems borderline fraudulent), we can rest assured that this will contribute to Gamestop's eventual demise.

This, the Circle of Life program actually makes GameStop die out faster.

GameStop should finally change their slogan to "Screwing the players" because now that fits even better than before, I'd say that it describes the COL program almost perfectly.