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Canadian Gaming Deals & Discussion 9: Looking for a Switch in Deals

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Fix-It Felix. Jr.

Fix-It Felix. Jr.

Member
farisr said:
But-but-but-but that one employee that one time actually dared to talk to me and try to sell me on a pre-order. The horror! That evil EBgames forcing those poor people to do that. The nerve. I hope EB shuts down and makes those people lose their jobs.
Click to expand...
Some employee tactics to get you to buy protection plans or/and pre-orders are pretty funny, though. I get that they are just trying to do their job and live up to unrealistic sales targets set by the company - but some of their reasons why I should get protection... lmao

But yeah, EB Games isn't bad. I take advantage of their trade-in deals often, especially when they double the value. And like others said, competition is healthy. The last thing the gaming industry needs is a monopoly on physical retail.
 
C

catpurrcat

Member
chrominance said:
What deals have they had besides trade-in deals? I feel like out of all the retailers, EB Games has the WORST deals of any retailer if you don't trade your games in. The last time I bought something from them was 2015, and that was because they were the only store that sold Steam controllers at launch.

That said, it's a bit crazy to want EBGames to go out of business because they're giving away fidget spinners.
Click to expand...

You mean new games? Everyones prices are the same, unless you have Prime or wait 3-6 months (this being a gaming enthusiast board, that's usually not an option, we do love our backlogs here)

Not saying they're #1 in everything, but it's nice they are around for competition. For a console-only physical-only gamer they are really good.
 
V

Vamphuntr

Member
It's just their brand new technique to get cheap used games in exchange for a toy. They've been doing pretty poor stuff since the beginning of their business including forcing selling useless warranties, selling gutted games as new, giving poor TIV for consoles and forcing their employees to harass you with sales pitch.

I don't really respond well to the "people will lose their job argument". It's kind of manipulative on the level of a sophism. It's not an argument. Of course you don't want to people to be jobless, that doesn't mean you can't criticize the job in question in the first place. And considering the amount of complaining and call to fire because canadapost/UPS/delivery guy X didn't deliver your package or didn't put it in the right place and the ridiculous amount of social engineering with Amazon chat reps to get discounts which probably put them in hot water this is kind of rich. This is not even taking into account trying to price match obvious price mistakes and abusing TIV by buying brand new games and and flipping it at EB itself for a profit some of you guys were doing. If you were so much caring about EB jobs you wouldn't be trying to hard to hit their bottom line in the first place.

Moreover If you buy from Walmart or Amazon you don't care much about competition either as their objective is to get rid of competition in the first place with aggressive pricing, marketing strategies and buy putting pressure on their suppliers which lesser important chains can't do.

Be my guest to be offended though.
 
C

catpurrcat

Member
Ventara said:
A lot of price drops and sales that people were jumping on at Amazon were merely them price-matching EB. People just didn't realize since they don't frequent the store. In terms of used games, they're often doing buy 2 for xx or b2g1f.

And simply having a brick and mortar store with a decent selection of niche games is a deal in and of itself in a way.
Click to expand...

Very happy to see this fact in particular recognized. Thinking of the past 2 years, stuff not readily available online anywhere were in store, easily find Bayo 360 (for only $15!), yakuza, nioh, switch pro controller, not to mention the only store to reliably get Vita stuff in general (incl a 32gig card for $40).

Many of us paid the equivalent of $160-$200 for new games via Prime e3 deals and subsequently traded in for new Switch stuff.
 
S

Stage On

Member
Vamphuntr said:
Can't wait for EB to finally go under. It's been long due. This deal is actually pretty pathetic.
Click to expand...

Heck no, if they went under we'd be utterly boned.

They are literally the only reason I managed to get myself a copy of the Fire Emblem fates.

Not to mention without them I wouldn't have been able to get my Switch at launch without the hassle of having to camp out overnight infront of walmart again like I did with the Wii.

Plus without EB around Game informer would go under and that's literally the last major game magazine left standing in north america that covers every system.
 
V

Ventara

Member
Vamphuntr said:
It's just their brand new technique to get cheap used games in exchange for a toy. They've been doing pretty poor stuff since the beginning of their business including forcing selling useless warranties, selling gutted games as new, giving poor TIV for consoles and forcing their employees to harass you with sales pitch.

I don't really respond well to the "people will lose their job argument". It's kind of manipulative on the level of a sophism. It's not an argument. Of course you don't want to people to be jobless, that doesn't mean you can't criticize the job in question in the first place. And considering the amount of complaining and call to fire because canadapost/UPS/delivery guy X didn't deliver your package or didn't put it in the right place and the ridiculous amount of social engineering with Amazon chat reps to get discounts which probably put them in hot water this is kind of rich. This is not even taking into account trying to price match obvious price mistakes and abusing TIV by buying brand new games and and flipping it at EB itself for a profit some of you guys were doing. If you were so much caring about EB jobs you wouldn't be trying to hard to hit their bottom line in the first place.

Moreover If you buy from Walmart or Amazon you don't care much about competition either as their objective is to get rid of competition in the first place with aggressive pricing, marketing strategies and buy putting pressure on their suppliers which lesser important chains can't do.

Be my guest to be offended though.
Click to expand...

No one here is offended. Merely pointing out, correctly, how EB going out of business would not benefit us at all, and would most likely make things worse. That's not sophism, that's fact. Pointing to anyone buying from Amazon/Walmart as them not caring about competition is sophism.

You can take it however you want, but no one is forcing anyone to use EB. Amazon/Best Buy don't offer better trade-in values most of the time. There are people out there who like trading in for things you might not like. EB is an option, and it's in everyone's interest for it to stay as an option.
 
F

Firestorm

Member
Vinc said:
I really, really don't want them to shut down because the more competition, the better. However, I really, really don't like the aggressive upselling they do. It does make me avoid the stores entirely unless they have crazy deals. I don't know what experiences others are having, but at my local EB the upselling is extremely aggressive, with employees adopting a very passive-aggressive attitude as soon as you politely refuse their offers. It's ridiculously unpleasant.
Click to expand...
I've honestly never had this issue at EB. They say their spiel quickly, I politely decline, and I'm on my way. Switch pre-order deals were insane. Can't believe I basically just swapped out my Wii U + games for a Switch without really losing any money on my old purchases.
 
P

poodpick

Member
I refuse to shop at EB because they wouldn't let me return a used 60GB PS3 that didn't work. After accusing me of fraud they gave me a gift card instead of cash.
 
C

catpurrcat

Member
Firestorm said:
I've honestly never had this issue at EB. They say their spiel quickly, I politely decline, and I'm on my way. Switch pre-order deals were insane. Can't believe I basically just swapped out my Wii U + games for a Switch without really losing any money on my old purchases.
Click to expand...

Me too. Generally avoid the mall stores (not saying they're bad, but they seem to be filled with casual customers at all hours) and go to standalone stores on a weekday or in financial/professionals areas instead. Never had bad service. Just a simple "no thank you" on the upsell. No different than refusing the dipping sauce upsell at a pizza place.

I always buy the sauce
 
M

March of the Crabs

Member
RS4- said:
I'd ask for the ticket, but Sony reps are pretty stingy and check IDs.

Unless these are hard passes without your name on it :eek:

I'd show up an hour early, unless it's a major film like MCU or DCEU. I think BvS and Civil War lineups started outside and they had to stagger the amount of people going in, at Scotiabank. Baby Driver has some hyper surrounding it, so you'd probably have to get there 90 mins ahead of time, because there's no guarantee what time the reps actually give out tickets, and it's a free for all trying to get seats.
Click to expand...

They are tied to my name, sadly. If they weren't I'd be tempted to give them away on here, but I feel like I'm obligated to try! Apparently Edgar Wright will be there doing a Q&A too.

Thanks for the info everyone! I was planning to go about 2 hours early so I'm glad that doesn't seen to be too late!
 
V

Vinc

Member
Firestorm said:
I've honestly never had this issue at EB. They say their spiel quickly, I politely decline, and I'm on my way. Switch pre-order deals were insane. Can't believe I basically just swapped out my Wii U + games for a Switch without really losing any money on my old purchases.
Click to expand...

Last time I went it pretty much went:

"Would you like to pre-order a game with that?"
"Not for now, thank you"
"Are you sure? Did you know Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming out this year?"
"Yes, I'm okay, thank you"
"It's best to pre-order since it's a popular game that will go quickly"
"I may preorder it later, but not now, thanks"
"Your choice! Would you like to protect your controller for a small fee?"
"No thanks, I'll just get this and be on my way"
"Are you sure? Nintendo doesn't cover past the first 90 days."
"No thanks, I'm good"
"If you come back with a broken controller in more than 3 months, I won't be able to help you"
"I'm really good. Thanks."
"Ok." *Hands receipt* "Next person!"

Might just be bad employees at that store, but it wasn't my only bad experience. It just sucks.
 
C

chrominance

Member
Ventara said:
A lot of price drops and sales that people were jumping on at Amazon were merely them price-matching EB. People just didn't realize since they don't frequent the store. In terms of used games, they're often doing buy 2 for xx or b2g1f.

And simply having a brick and mortar store with a decent selection of niche games is a deal in and of itself in a way.
Click to expand...

Oh, don't get me wrong, I absolutely agree that EB Games should continue to exist, and that having a store that sells anything outside of the major publishers is always valuable (if only so Amazon doesn't crush the competition and then screw everyone). I also didn't realize a bunch of the Amazon drops were to match EB, I always thought those were Best Buy price matches.

catpurrcat said:
You mean new games? Everyones prices are the same, unless you have Prime or wait 3-6 months (this being a gaming enthusiast board, that's usually not an option, we do love our backlogs here)

Not saying they're #1 in everything, but it's nice they are around for competition. For a console-only physical-only gamer they are really good.
Click to expand...

For new releases, sure (though they're the only major game store that didn't participate in the E3 pre-order sales at all--even Walmart discounted some pre-orders). But even then, it feels like Best Buy or Amazon are faster to drop prices than EB is. Hell, I still remember Shoppers Drug Mart dropping Battlefield 1, Watch Dogs 2 and some other game down to $49.99 the week Watch Dogs 2 was RELEASED. I don't think EB Games matched those prices.
 
Q

Qwyjibo

Member
I like EB being around. I like to have an option to unload old games and not have to deal with idiots on Kijiji. This past January they took some old PS3 games (during trade 3, 5 or 7 promo) that I wouldn't have been able to sell otherwise.

Now if only they had better sales for newish games. I'm sitting on almost $120 credit there with nothing to spend it on because Amazon just undercuts everyone.
 
I

iphys

Member
I've actually never been hassled at EB, although I have at a few other places. I guess it depends on the person you get and how quickly they are able to read you and figure out that they're wasting their time. The funniest was when I was a teenager and the guy at the Sony Store worked up such a sweat trying to convince me to buy the extended warranty that he finally got so flustered he just gave it to me for free.
 
I

i-Jest

Member
On the topic of EBGAMES deserved continuity, or lack there of, I'm personally of the opinion they should stick around. I'm not a fan of their Funko Pop figures, or their buyer protection offers, but keeping them around gives consumers more choice. I'm not a fan of how they've treated their employees so to push used game sales, or what have you, but no retailer is perfect in that field. Bullshit policies are always a pain to deal with, on both the employee and consumer side. However, I wouldn't have gotten my Villager, Marth, and Wii Fit Trainer when they were established as the trinity during the beginning of the Amiibo hunt if not for EB.

That's all I have to say about that.


On another note E3 Deals are potentially coming. I've booked off 3 days for E3. Let's all have fun watching the live streams, taking advantage of price errors, vigilantly watching for new games to be added, and staying up till the very last hour hoping Bestbuy adds those last two games some of us want BADLY.
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
EB being a metrics based company is the terrible part, really. But it's clear that their money comes from all the extras that they manage to sell, even if only 1 in 100 people buy the warranty.
 
C

Cynar

Member
Fix-It Felix said:
Some employee tactics to get you to buy protection plans or/and pre-orders are pretty funny, though. I get that they are just trying to do their job and live up to unrealistic sales targets set by the company - but some of their reasons why I should get protection... lmao

But yeah, EB Games isn't bad. I take advantage of their trade-in deals often, especially when they double the value. And like others said, competition is healthy. The last thing the gaming industry needs is a monopoly on physical retail.
Click to expand...
Sometimes it makes sense. Like Apple Care or device care with a 700+ phone(not best buys shitty warranty). I usually always just get it monthly and cancel it after the first year because then I'd rather just upgrade if I were to smash my phone. But a warranty on a disc? No thanks.
 
Maximus.

Maximus.

Member
Vinc said:
Last time I went it pretty much went:

"Would you like to pre-order a game with that?"
"Not for now, thank you"
"Are you sure? Did you know Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming out this year?"
"Yes, I'm okay, thank you"
"It's best to pre-order since it's a popular game that will go quickly"
"I may preorder it later, but not now, thanks"
"Your choice! Would you like to protect your controller for a small fee?"
"No thanks, I'll just get this and be on my way"
"Are you sure? Nintendo doesn't cover past the first 90 days."
"No thanks, I'm good"
"If you come back with a broken controller in more than 3 months, I won't be able to help you"
"I'm really good. Thanks."
"Ok." *Hands receipt* "Next person!"

Might just be bad employees at that store, but it wasn't my only bad experience. It just sucks.
Click to expand...

I have had to unfortunately deal with EB around the time of the Switch due to awesome trade in deals and this was my general experience when it came down to purchasing the Switch, games and accessories. Really annoying, but just constant "no's" would get it to stop. I didn't like how their mood would change after they knew they weren't getting the warranty sales and were basically looking at me like I was a waste of their time, when I was being friendly and talkative otherwise.
 
Fix-It Felix. Jr.

Fix-It Felix. Jr.

Member
i-Jest said:
On another note E3 Deals are potentially coming. I've booked off 3 days for E3. Let's all have fun watching the live streams, taking advantage of price errors, vigilantly watching for new games to be added, and staying up till the very last hour hoping Bestbuy adds those last two games some of us want BADLY.
Click to expand...
Man, I wish I could take a few days off. I'll only be able to catch EA, Ubisoft, and Sony's press conferences - which, with the exception of Nintendo, were the ones I wanted to see the most anyway.

Hopefully any price errors that happen while I'm at work will stick around until I get home!

Cynar said:
Sometimes it makes sense. Like Apple Care or device care with a 700+ phone(not best buys shitty warranty). I usually always just get it monthly and cancel it after the first year because then I'd rather just upgrade if I were to smash my phone. But a warranty on a disc? No thanks.
Click to expand...
Yeah, exactly. There are products that I'll absolutely buy a warranty for, either because they are expensive or because I take them outside the house often.

Blu-Ray discs are very resistant to scratching, and I don't toss my PS4 games around like a lunatic - so there's no reason to buy a warranty there. Then we have Switch/3DS carts, where I am constantly warned about how I may step on it or a dog may eat it when I'm not looking - but I'm not a child, and I don't leave my games sitting around on the ground. (and I don't even own a dog. I always find it amusing when my local EB mentions a dog damaging my games)

My parents always buy the protection, even though I told them it's not necessary. I'm sure EB makes a lot of money off people like them.
 
J

jholmes

Member
HubbaBubba said:
New Deal

This is the deal I bet you've all been dreaming for

bKXIkWT.png
Click to expand...

Next month you'll be able to trade in a game for a cup-and-ball toy, or perhaps one of those big hoops you can push down a hill.
 
The Elite

The Elite

BOSS
As someone who worked at Blockbuster I can tell you there are people out there who need that dumb ass disc warranty. It's warranty that doesn't apply to people on GAF but it's absolutely something that I can see being useful to others who don't seem to know how to take care of their discs.

EB has some great trade deals. I wouldn't want them to die out. We hear a lot of EB horror stories on GAF that don't really seem all that different than dealing with ant other retailer.
 
T

True Fire

Member
Vinc said:
Last time I went it pretty much went:

"Would you like to pre-order a game with that?"
"Not for now, thank you"
"Are you sure? Did you know Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming out this year?"
"Yes, I'm okay, thank you"
"It's best to pre-order since it's a popular game that will go quickly"
"I may preorder it later, but not now, thanks"
"Your choice! Would you like to protect your controller for a small fee?"
"No thanks, I'll just get this and be on my way"
"Are you sure? Nintendo doesn't cover past the first 90 days."
"No thanks, I'm good"
"If you come back with a broken controller in more than 3 months, I won't be able to help you"
"I'm really good. Thanks."
"Ok." *Hands receipt* "Next person!"

Might just be bad employees at that store, but it wasn't my only bad experience. It just sucks.
Click to expand...

Sounds like my typical experience at EB. If I didn't live down the street from one I'd never go.
 
C

chrominance

Member
Fix-It Felix said:
Man, I wish I could take a few days off. I'll only be able to catch EA, Ubisoft, and Sony's press conferences - which, with the exception of Nintendo, were the ones I wanted to see the most anyway.

Hopefully any price errors that happen while I'm at work will stick around until I get home!
Click to expand...

Hilariously, I won't even be around for Sony's press conference; turns out I'm going to a concert that night. At best I'll be catching snippets of it before/between sets. But I kind of assume any potential price errors will be happening early on, so Sunday or Monday during the day.

I'll miss being around for live reaction from GAF/Twitter, but if I'm honest the actual E3 show seems like the least exciting in years. Hope I'm wrong!
 
The Elite

The Elite

BOSS
I just found out I have a birthday party to go to on E3 Sunday. Going to miss the Microsoft conference, which is the one I am most excited about. I know, I can just read up on it online but it's not the same as watching that livestream. I will watch Monday night and I am going to take Tuesday off.
 
W

wonderful103

Member
C

catpurrcat

Member
wonderful103 said:
If I wasn't on mobile I'd link you to the "help me build a pc" thread, but while the pc from bestbuy isn't awful I think you can do a lot better for just under 1k if you were to build it yourself. Last year's i5 and an rx460 wit 2gb video ram wont be maxing anything out obviously.
Click to expand...

Yeah, The guys in the "i need a new PC" thread are incredibly helpful.

Try there.
 
R

RS4-

Member
AtlantiC_CodeX said:
How good is this PC for the price

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product...-ram-windows-10-english-gxi870/10481827.aspx?

?

And what's the cheapest good PC I can make?
Click to expand...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1352338
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/

You can also find stuff on kijiji and rfd (lol). Just be wary that there's some guy that's buying second hand parts by lowballing people, putting builds together and selling them for slightly less than what you'd get buying new.

Where are you located, Toronto?
 
L

Luigi87

Member
Dammit, somehow my Paypal credit card conversion defaulted back to "Use Paypal's conversion process" rather than "Bill me in the currency listed on the seller's invoice" and I didn't notice until after paying for something.
... this is always more expensive.
 
V

Vinc

Member
Luigi87 said:
Dammit, somehow my Paypal credit card conversion defaulted back to "Use Paypal's conversion process" rather than "Bill me in the currency listed on the seller's invoice" and I didn't notice until after paying for something.
... this is always more expensive.
Click to expand...

Wait... how do you change that? I didn't know that was possible! So getting charged in the currency of the seller's invoice uses the (usually smaller) CC's conversion fee?

Edit: Ah! Found it. Didn't even know this was possible.
 
L

lilty

Member
Is there a list online of games that count towards the trade 3 get it free deal at EB? I want to get Tekken 7 but shouldn't be spending money.
 
K

killroy87

Member
lilty said:
Is there a list online of games that count towards the trade 3 get it free deal at EB? I want to get Tekken 7 but shouldn't be spending money.
Click to expand...

There's a link to a list under the promo here, but it doesn't seem to be working for me right now. Maybe give it some time.
 
L

Luigi87

Member
Vinc said:
Wait... how do you change that? I didn't know that was possible! So getting charged in the currency of the seller's invoice uses the (usually smaller) CC's conversion fee?

Edit: Ah! Found it. Didn't even know this was possible.
Click to expand...

Yes, usually.
No_Style posted about it a while back, and it was great to learn. Dunno how my settings switched back to Paypal's though.
 
semiconscious

semiconscious

Member
Vinc said:
Last time I went it pretty much went:

"Would you like to pre-order a game with that?"
"Not for now, thank you"
"Are you sure? Did you know Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming out this year?"
"Yes, I'm okay, thank you"
"It's best to pre-order since it's a popular game that will go quickly"
"I may preorder it later, but not now, thanks"
"Your choice! Would you like to protect your controller for a small fee?"
"No thanks, I'll just get this and be on my way"
"Are you sure? Nintendo doesn't cover past the first 90 days."
"No thanks, I'm good"
"If you come back with a broken controller in more than 3 months, I won't be able to help you"
"I'm really good. Thanks."
"Ok." *Hands receipt* "Next person!"

Might just be bad employees at that store, but it wasn't my only bad experience. It just sucks.
Click to expand...

problem is, if you work there, & you need the job, & you don't do this stuff, & your boss finds out, well, there goes your job. me, i just sorta feel sorry for the people at my eb. can't take it personally :) ...
 
Fix-It Felix. Jr.

Fix-It Felix. Jr.

Member
You gotta think positive, guys! Good vibes will bring us the 25%+ discounts.

(I'm close to being able to redeem a $20 certificate though, so I could use the points lol)
 
C

chrominance

Member
NYR said:
giphy.gif


Enjoy your rewardzone points that can't be used until one month after the game ships.
Click to expand...

At least I can use the points for stuff like, oh, Steam credit. Obviously I'd prefer the straight discount but I feel a bit better about points than before.
 
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