According to Eurogamer, GAME staff were “told to buy Nintendo 3DS consoles and games from supermarket rival Tesco” last Thursday night, and then sell them in-store as pre-owned.
The website cites an internal memo that was presumably leaked out by an employee. “Whilst we are unable to competitively match this offer in terms of a mint price,” says the memo, “it offers a great opportunity to gain 3DS consoles and games for your store’s pre-owned stock.”
The plan, it appears, was to use cash from the tills to pick up a 3DS and a game (for £209.99) and then trade it back to GAME for cash at the same price, with up to £1049.50 authorised per visit to Tesco, enough for five bundles. “Your store can do this trip multiple times,” said the memo.
The console would then be sold to any customer as ‘mint’ for the same price, but only once the brand new stock had run dry. Staff were not to “up sell” the pre-owned machines.
One GAME staff member allegedly told Eurogamer “the store he works at was reprimanded for not taking part”.
A spokesperson for the retailer told Eurogamer that “Some of our stores wanted to move quickly last weekend to build their pre-owned stocks of 3DS at the same time as their local competitors, so we gave them a process to do that. It was not mandatory, and happened in small volumes.”
It’s worth noting that despite comments over at Eurogamer, this isn’t illegal in any way.
Charmed_Fanatic
wow just to love GAME like 5-7 years ago, now they seem to be getting more and more desperate for money
gideon1451
I’m really beginning to not like GAME.
MadBoJangles
In fairness other companies do the same thing.
I was in GAME on Friday (buying Crysis) and the manager from our local CeX was doing the exact same thing, but buying them from GAME instead.
cc_star
All companies buy stock from the cheapest source, if a supermarket wants to sell at a loss, that’s their problem but they can’t blame other outlets for effectively turning them into a wholesaler.
Tesco etc are only trying to force other companies out of business, and then once they control the market you can look forward to only being able to buy the top 10 or 20 chart games at whatever price they choose.
More power to GAME is what I say. Consumers badly need a choice
MadBoJangles
I agree to an extent.
I think if GAME sell these at inflated prices, then gamers lose out. However, if GAME went bust then the supermarkets could (as you say) charge what they like.
If that were to happen though, I feel Play.com and Shopto etc’s trade would increase dramatically too :)
cc_star
Something like 60% of all games are sold during a couple of months at Christmas and relatives only buy in a store or online
Many parents & especially grandparents need advice and supermarkets just aren’t equipped for even basic advice and these are far more profitable customers for the industry than the clued up core gamer keeping an eye on cheap websites buying at the lowest possible price.
MadBoJangles
Interesting, I never thought of it quite like that.
I have often wondered just hoe GAME and other stores can justify the prices of certain titles (not new releases)but that would actually explain a lot of it!
Pete_UK
If I went to buy all the petrol at my local pumps during a shortage so that I could then sell that petrol on at a profit, there would be uproar; this is a company doing exactly the same thing. When the Competition Commission hears about this sparks’ll fly..
BG Tips
‘and then once they control the market you can look forward to only being able to buy the top 10 or 20 chart games at whatever price they choose.’
Haha, apart from a few tatty pre-owned titles, that’s pretty much what GAME are like now.
Sympozium
So they’re not pre-owned?
gideon1451
Exactly. Who’d buy a new one at GAME now then?
gideon1451
Though really, it’s a good deal for people who buy 3DSs second hand, they’re basically getting new ones.
hazelam
yeah, but it’s not gonna be a good deal is it, they’ll end up paying more than they could have got them for from tesco, or are game going to sell them at a loss?
MadBoJangles
Exactly.
rossthebassist
its only a deal if you buy the game, GAME can sell the game at break even, and make money on the console. more power to GAME for having the smart to do it.
people can moan all they want, but they are securing there own buissness, making sure during the stock drought which its nintendo, there more than likley will be one, that they have stock to sell through and make a profit, you know who needs to learn the lesson from this supermarkets. sell at a loss ok we loose money, we dont get people into our stores for shopping because its just GAME buying our stock. thickos that the supers are
gordon_strange
Fair play to them. They saw an opportunity and took it.
Gamers win as they get a cheaper console
Tesco win as they get a sale
Game win as they make a profit and with all the closures and staff redundancies recently, I’d say that can only be a good thing.
hazelam
how do they get a cheaper console?
if they still managed to get one from tesco then they’re paying the same price, but if tesco run out of stock because of game then the gamer will be forced to pay more, because game will be selling these at a profit.
slates16
good business alright.
like this woman I seen once who bought all the Ireland hats in a sports shop for 5er each and sold them beside the ground for a 10er
hazelam
might not be illegal, but it’s still a bit of a scumbag thing to do.
i support the preowned market fully, but not this, selling games and consoles people no longer want is one thing, but preventing other people from buying the products elsewhere in this way just stinks.
and that’s what they’re doing, every one of those they buy like this is one less gamer who can buy it.
DrNate86
Couldn’t agree more.
BG Tips
How are they preventing other people buying them? Tesco can always just get in more stock. It’s not like there’s only gonna be a limited no. of 3DS’ being made.
rainydays458
This is a new low for GAME.
Dexter17
Judging by the most recent sales figures, GAME are stuggling. This is possibly down to the boom of internet retail and the prices that supermarkets can offer. I can’t help but feel a degree of pity for the company, myself.
jcor
Does the Eurogamer article say how much they’d be selling them for preowned?
gazo69
One day everyone will realise how bad GAME’S prices are!
Seriously though everytime I walk into a GAME shop, all I do is grumble about the prices and how much cheaper I have seen said game online.
Pete_UK
This is the only reason I visit Game stores anymore. +1
Awayze
GAME’s prices aren’t that bad, they’re only beaten by supermarkets on some occasions but you get reward points as well.