I don't know if this has already been mentioned...

But one of the main reasons I rarely shop at Game is that it bothers me that a lot of their games are opened and then sold. I like to buy something that's 'new' in a 'new' condition. I always have a sense that unless a game is still in it's plastic wrap, there's no telling whether it's a return, a pre-owned copy or just simply taking home for a whirl by a staff member before put on sale. It's the same ith my local supermarket which prices are now pretty goog. I rarely buy from them because they always open the boxes and leave them on display. I want assurances that my game is new...

That same thing puts me off too. I wish they would use proper display boxes instead of them putting in the disc once you take it to the til. Half the boxes are are tatty just from sitting on the shelves. Plus as you say, they could quite easily be passing off preowned as new.

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Fact of retail, I'm afraid. Minimise storage room space and maximise shelf space by reducing the amount you have to store. Easiest way to do that is to gut all the boxes.

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GAME would be risking a hell of a lot of legal troubles if they passed off second hand stock as new on a regular basis, and they really couldn't risk that at the moment.

This seems to be getting less commonplace lately, with shrinkwrapped copies usually kept in the drawers or glass cupboard behind the tills. The best method is to just go to the till and ask for a game rather than actually bring a display box with you. If they have some shrink wrapped and some that are opened, chances are they'll just grab a shrink wrapped one rather than go and grab a display box.

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Gamestation do the same thing. Twice I've bought 'new' DS games only for them to have save files already on

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I've had the opposite on think buying on Amazon, I've bought used games only for them to turn up in unopened cellophane wrappers.

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When I worked at GAME new games would occasionally be sold as pre-owned, I'm not entirely sure what the reasoning for this was. I'd guess that they had a bunch of stock that they wanted to put in the 2 for £15 preowned offer, always seemed a bit weird to me though.

Well I don't understand that 2 for £15 bit, but I've long suspected GAME of doing this, especially back when I was at school and you'd walk in on release day and there'd be copious amounts of the release day game in the pre-owned section, only £2 cheaper than the new version

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CEX are like that, only they charge more on release day for a sealed 'pre owned' copy.

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Don't the managers get some kind of commission on pre owned titles? #justsaying

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I don't think so. The store just shows as having more revenue since more of the sale price of a 2nd game is profit compared to a new sale. If there was commission on 2nd hand sales I'd expect them to be pushed a LOT more aggressively.
The managers may get commission based on profitability or exceeding profit margin targets, but I don't know for certain either way.

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When I bought my Slim PS3 from GAME it came with inFamous which I already owned and I wanted Tekken 6 instead. Both were the same price but they wouldn't let me do a straight swap. So I bought the inFamous bundle and then traded in that game, but despite it being sealed and never having even left the shop, they would only give me the standard pre-owned price for it. Scamming bastards.

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When I bought a DS lite in store, I got one with a bundle, had it price matched with a bundle from gamestation over the road to knock £15 off, then the cashier handed me the games from the bundle, I handed them back and he knocked another £15 off and gave me the DS. I thought it was very good service.

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There is an issue with VAT I believe. Technically, they would have had to break the seal of the game and sell it as pre owned, as it had already been sold to you. I've taken sealed games before, and they asked that I open them. I've also been in a few times and been persuaded into taking a used copy of a game, for the guy at the till to say its brand new and all the codes etc are in there....odd.

I still have £17 in reward points to use after my card was 'disabled', they are pretty poor for customer services as its a repeat issue that hasn't been resolved. At some point, I'll pick up a new game for £23, I just need to decide which one, and when.

Management bonuses are paid based on growth (increased profits compared to the previous year). They occasionally do commission on certain items, usually their own brand peripherals.

Someone on GAF said KPI's were based on pre-owned and that an area manager went mental at a profitable store for missing the target, but was fine with another unprofitable store as it hit them. They were told profitability is not a KPI.

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For some reason most retailers seem to operate in this way. I've never understood it. Things like attachment of accessories (controllers, cases, etc, and in particular own brand ones), extended warranties, Strategy guides....they're all seen as a KPI. But actual turnover isn't

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Took them three attempts to let me pre-order a damn game this morning.

Da strawberry float?

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Yup. We have to try for 'something extra' with every transaction. We're told that no-one is allowed to leave with only one item. I don't know why they have such a boner for this 'attach'.

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I've just got this image of terrified shoppers being held hostage in branches of GAME because they're trying to leave with one item for some reason.

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