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[Gamerguy84]

How many lives does gamestop have. I've read death articles about them for a couple years now.

 

[diffusionx]

There were a few things they could have done, actually.

• Quality over quantity. If Gamestop had bothered to start ensuring that their used products were in respectable condition, they could have become a great place for online sales. As it is, I will head to ebay for used games because at least on ebay I can get an idea of what I'm buying.
• New should mean new. I cannot stress enough how much this one stupid decision has destroyed their reputation. Gutting copies and selling them as new is bad enough, but the copies they sell as "new" aren't even in good condition. They're sometimes worse than the used products they sell.
• Retro games and consoles. Retro exploded during Covid. If they had bothered to make a significant effort to be part of that, they could have a whole new market to tap into.
• Basic repairs/mods. Cleaning fans, replacing thermal paste, swapping batteries, hdmi mods, screen mods. There are so many hardware services that they could have gotten into. They could have been the place to service older/aging consoles.
• Grading used. Game grading is very popular. As much as I hate the practice, they could have partnered with a grading company or started their own grading service for their used products.
• Limited Print/Boutique Labels. Companies like Limited Run are tapping into a desire to keep physical games alive. Gamestop could have partnered with them or even done it's own publishing of highly sought after games. Imagine if they tried to use their clout to release something like physical copies of Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

There are so many things they could have done if they cared, but they are a short-sighted scummy company that would rather sell used/new games in questionable condition, cheap trinkets, and memberships than do something substantial to save themselves.

Most of this stuff, nobody cares about. People who post on NeoGAF do but even if they did all this, they wouldn't attract a fraction of the business needed to replace the loss of physical game sales. Just to use an example, LRG has been around for 10 years and generated $150 million of revenue. Well, GameStop made about $5.7B in revenue last year, so tell me how this massive investment in boutique labels that could maybe generate a few million a year is going to make up a billion dollar decline in their business.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I'm surprised they never turned themselves into a sideshow collectable store. Those statues prob have some big ass margins. People would prob be more inclined to spend big bucks on a statue if they could see it in person. Having the statues alone on display would prob draw in alot of foot traffic and sign people up for a line of credit for a statue they cant afford.

Totally. Games have traditionally low margin. Roughly, consoles are breakeven, new games maybe 20%, accessories maybe 25-30%, used games probably like 50%. I might be off, but it'll directionally true. So for consoles (lets say $300-500 each), that's basically $0 profit. Ok, maybe they squeak out $5 or something. But holistically $0. So they got to sell a ton of shit at high margins just to counter all those $0/0% margins to get that ratio up.

All that shit you see regarding toys, stuffed animals, board games, collectible knick knacks etc... I'd estimate are a solid 50% as a whole. I used to work at a company that did trinkets, coffee mugs, collectibles etc... and stores would roughly get about 50% on each. So if they sell it for $10, they bought it for $5. Or calculating the margin from the cost side, it's doubling your money at 100% going from $5 to $10.

Fun tip for all: Way back when I worked at the company, a typical $10 coffee mug at store would be like this. I know because I worked with the purchasing managers to source and do cost analysis:

Retail: $10 mug
Cost to store: $5
Cost to us to make: $0.80 to $1.10

We'd get shit loads from China in batches of like 1,440 per skid. You can fit a lot of mugs on a wooden pallette!

So next time you guys see a mug in a store selling for XXX, remember that it cost the company probably about 10% of that value to source from China.

Even more amazing. We buy it off Chinese factories for lets say $1.00. At that price, they are also making money off it! So the true cost to make a mug is probably like 50 cents and by the time it makes it through the chain it's $10! lol

 

[havoc00]

It kind of sucks if they just disappear only because I spent so much money and time at them as a kid and always well usually, had a good experience. I have fond memories of ripping the game open to read the manual while my parents drove me home.

 

[Beechos]

I don’t understand this sentiment at all. GameStop exists to provide immediate liquidity to those whose want it for their games/gaming products. It’s meant to be used by those who either needed immediate cash or didn’t want to go through the hassle of a private sale. As a result it can never offer private sale prices because it has to bear the risk of the asset.

The problem is that we have entitled people whining about trade in values/prices with absolutely no understanding of the pawn shop business. People wanting private sale prices with the convenience of immediate liquidity. A business like that cannot and will not ever exist.

Yeah not only that but the overhead of running a business like rent, employees, insurance which private sales don't have.

 

[clarky]

Time for some diamond hands baby!

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Sad of course that job losses will result from this.

This is yet another indicator that physical is over for games.

 

[LordBritish]

they need laptops in the store... on display.... high end shit - 4080 4090 only... and pc boxed games

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

It is definitely sad to see it decline. I remember going to the mall with my mom as a kid and spending hours in Electronics Boutique while she shopped in department stores. The employees were all nice, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic. All of those EB stores around me eventually turned into GameStops, and they are now sad shells of their former selves.

Indeed, I don't think younger players know what they're missing. Game stores used to be clean, decent, not scammy and not filled with plastic collectible junk. But we're basically a third world country at this point, and the only people who don't see it are the ones too young to remember what a decent public life looked like a few decades ago.

 

[THE DUCK]

Nothing like getting slimed when you walk in, slimed while you browse, then triple slimed at the till. No idea why anyone would have shopped there in the past 10 years.

 

[dragonyeuw]

Yes which is why gamestop is dead their who business model revolved around huge profits reselling games. If no one is buying physical how are they going to have games to resell and people to resell them to. None of my local gamestops here in nyc even have a selection of used games to resell let along new ones.

Is the one across from Manhattan Mall still open? Whenever I visited NYC that was the GS I went to but haven't been there in years.

 

[dragonyeuw]

There were a few things they could have done, actually.

• Quality over quantity. If Gamestop had bothered to start ensuring that their used products were in respectable condition, they could have become a great place for online sales. As it is, I will head to ebay for used games because at least on ebay I can get an idea of what I'm buying.
• New should mean new. I cannot stress enough how much this one stupid decision has destroyed their reputation. Gutting copies and selling them as new is bad enough, but the copies they sell as "new" aren't even in good condition. They're sometimes worse than the used products they sell.
• Retro games and consoles. Retro exploded during Covid. If they had bothered to make a significant effort to be part of that, they could have a whole new market to tap into.
• Basic repairs/mods. Cleaning fans, replacing thermal paste, swapping batteries, hdmi mods, screen mods. There are so many hardware services that they could have gotten into. They could have been the place to service older/aging consoles.
• Grading used. Game grading is very popular. As much as I hate the practice, they could have partnered with a grading company or started their own grading service for their used products.
• Limited Print/Boutique Labels. Companies like Limited Run are tapping into a desire to keep physical games alive. Gamestop could have partnered with them or even done it's own publishing of highly sought after games. Imagine if they tried to use their clout to release something like physical copies of Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

There are so many things they could have done if they cared, but they are a short-sighted scummy company that would rather sell used/new games in questionable condition, cheap trinkets, and memberships than do something substantial to save themselves.

I really like that last one, not so much partnering with Limited run but establishing themselves as a publisher for Indies and out of print stuff, especially those titles attracting hundreds on the used market. None of that will pivot their current direction, though. I really do think they're done.

 

[Beechos]

Is the one across from Manhattan Mall still open? Whenever I visited NYC that was the GS I went to but haven't been there in years.

Yeah might as well be closed though. Empty looks like a store going out of business. All the cool geek shit/statues that was in the basement is gone only a couple funk pops and t-shirt remain.

 

[kingpotato]

I'm in Hampton VA and there is a GameStop here with another GameStop that's only a 6 minute walk away. I don't know how often this happens but perhaps they can consolidate costs somehow ...

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Worked at GameStop 2004-2011 or something. Saw halo 2 launch, WoW launch etc. it’ll never be like that again. Say what you will about GameStop and hate them all you want but it’s pretty shitty to see the future of gaming just be digital store fronts

Those midnight launches, standing in long lines to get WoW expansions, good times

 

[dragonyeuw]

Yeah might as well be closed though. Empty looks like a store going out of business. All the cool geek shit/statues that was in the basement is gone only a couple funk pops and t-shirt remain.

Yeah, I can't imagine that needing to be open if that's the state its in and especially given its location.

 

[King Dazzar]

We have GAME here in the UK. And recently when I looked in there, it looked like only 50% of the shop was gaming. The rest looked like a focus on cuddly toys and mainstream board games - basically stuff that I wouldn't have thought sell at all. All very weird. Didn't look like a reinvention of itself that would work.

 

[ArtHands]

Death of the physical format games coming in fast?

 

[Spyxos]

When I looked about 3 months ago, there were 8 gamestops in Berlin. Today there are only 6 in Berlin and 68 in the whole of Germany.

 

[Arsic]

The digital future came.

I do hope they’re at least around when ps5 pro launches so I can trade in my ps5 to offset cost of a pro.

 

[TidusYuna]

Gamestop "New" did them in. At least for me.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

It is definitely sad to see it decline. I remember going to the mall with my mom as a kid and spending hours in Electronics Boutique while she shopped in department stores. The employees were all nice, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic. All of those EB stores around me eventually turned into GameStops, and they are now sad shells of their former selves.

I remember in the 90s they had low prices, priced matched competing ads (did it myself many times), had a 10 day return policy, didn't try upselling you on warranties and Game Informer Magazine, and when you walked in a store to browse the clerks left you alone.

It all changed around 2000-ish. Take what I said above and do a 180 for each thing.

 

[Mercador]

It seems they sell videogames nowadays. Quite revolutionary.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

What jobs are left for them to cut. Each store has like 1 employee.

 

[kiphalfton]

There's no reason to go into a GameStop if you want to buys games. Ridiculously low stock of games you can get at basically any other retailer. Instead, the store is jam packed with shirts, action figures, plushies, Funkopops, and every other type of "geek" merchandise you can think of. There's no room to walk through the damn stores with all the garbage merch taking up all the floor space.

I know people keep saying no one buys games from them, but who buys all the garbage merch from them? Why have they gone so hard into the merch game?

I wouldn't say jam packed. Seems like they're trying to spread what inventory they have (whatever it may be; Funko, games, clothes, etc.) very thin to make it look more filled out.

It's nothing when compared to Think Geek. Which actually had some cool stuff, and was jam packed with stuff, but I think even they closed down.

The way GameStop is now, reminds me of how Fry's was right before shutting down. Lots of space, not much inventory, and what they did have was garbage.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

Time for some diamond hands baby!

have a friend who is still buying shares. has thousands now.

i still have shares too, and while im not going to sell (unless the price explodes), anytime i say "ehhh gme" he reminds me, "no debt, $1b cash".

gamestop has ~1/14 the cash of nintendo. thats wild to me.

 

[phant0m]

Consolidate stores. There are 4 stores within 10 miles of me. Make the consolidated ones bigger and a “destination”.

Bring back demo stations, and go one step further — have consoles setup and let people try games for 15-20 mins.

Get more retro stuff and imports. I was just at PAX and the retro vendor booths were packed all weekend long.

 

[MALpractice311]

I wouldn't say jam packed. Seems like they're trying to spread what inventory they have (whatever it may be; Funko, games, clothes, etc.) very thin to make it look more filled out.

It's nothing when compared to Think Geek. Which actually had some cool stuff, and was jam packed with stuff, but I think even they closed down.

The way GameStop is now, reminds me of how Fry's was right before shutting down. Lots of space, not much inventory, and what they did have was garbage.

That's fair. I guess it just seems like more, since you can't walk through a GameStop to get the game shelves without dodging the merch displays.

Oh man. Fry's, that name takes me back. I live on the East Coast and I heard that Fry's put Best Buy out of business on the West Coast and would be their main rival when they finally came over here. The first minute I stepped foot in that store, I knew they never had a chance. It was an absolute mess, shit was everywhere, nothing was organized, and the employees ranged from completely disinterested to outright hostile to the customers.

 

[kiphalfton]

That's fair. I guess it just seems like more, since you can't walk through a GameStop to get the game shelves without dodging the merch displays.

Oh man. Fry's, that name takes me back. I live on the East Coast and I heard that Fry's put Best Buy out of business on the West Coast and would be their main rival when they finally came over here. The first minute I stepped foot in that store, I knew they never had a chance. It was an absolute mess, shit was everywhere, nothing was organized, and the employees ranged from completely disinterested to outright hostile to the customers.

Fry's was pretty badass, up to about 2018.

I went to one in Las Vegas, in the early 2010's, and the amount of stuff they had was insane. Not just junk like post-2018, but good quality stuff. Post-2018 they had a bunch of crap, that I'm not real sure who they were trying to appeal to.

I've never been to microcenter, but from the sound of it the PC component selection Fry's had was probably about as close to that in its heyday. But then they also had a whole bunch of other stuff from office supplies, DVDs, games, electronics, appliances, etc.

Definitely better than Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, etc.

Was sad to see the state it was in, when they went the consignment sales (?) route.

Like Fry's (right before it closed), GameStop has that same weird funk feel to it. Hard to describe, but it feels like it's a store that is in the death thralls for sure.

 

[Nydius]

I'm in Hampton VA and there is a GameStop here with another GameStop that's only a 6 minute walk away. I don't know how often this happens but perhaps they can consolidate costs somehow ...

I used to live in midtown Newport News, VA and yeah, GameStop locations were ludicrous. Just before we moved in 2020, there were three GameStops in an approximate 2.5 mile radius. One inside Patrick Henry Mall, one just up the street in the Jefferson Commons shopping center, and one in the shopping center by Walmart in York County off of 17.

At one point there had been four because they kept the former EB open in the mall, so there were two in the mall. They consolidated that location a short while after they opened the Jefferson Commons one.

Edit:

Like Fry's (right before it closed), GameStop has that same weird funk feel to it. Hard to describe, but it feels like it's a store that is in the death thralls for sure.

I know that “weird funk” you’re talking about though you’re right about it being difficult to describe. I felt it with both CompUSA and Circuit City in the months leading up to their ultimate demise.

 

[nush]

Fun tip for all: Way back when I worked at the company, a typical $10 coffee mug at store would be like this. I know because I worked with the purchasing managers to source and do cost analysis:

Retail: $10 mug
Cost to store: $5
Cost to us to make: $0.80 to $1.10

We'd get shit loads from China in batches of like 1,440 per skid. You can fit a lot of mugs on a wooden pallette!

So next time you guys see a mug in a store selling for XXX, remember that it cost the company probably about 10% of that value to source from China.

Even more amazing. We buy it off Chinese factories for lets say $1.00. At that price, they are also making money off it! So the true cost to make a mug is probably like 50 cents and by the time it makes it through the chain it's $10! lol

I worked in China for many years, for Chinese companies so I had the inside info on what things actually cost, not what they were sold to "Cheap" to the customers.

As I keep receipts and this is the price to the customer with the factory profit included. Now, how much do you pay for cables?

 

[MALpractice311]

I used to live in midtown Newport News, VA and yeah, GameStop locations were ludicrous. Just before we moved in 2020, there were three GameStops in an approximate 2.5 mile radius. One inside Patrick Henry Mall, one just up the street in the Jefferson Commons shopping center, and one in the shopping center by Walmart in York County off of 17.

At one point there had been four because they kept the former EB open in the mall, so there were two in the mall. They consolidated that location a short while after they opened the Jefferson Commons one.

I have a very similar experience in Buford, Ga at the Mall of Georgia. There is (or was, don't know, haven't been there in a while) a GS in the mall itself and another in a Target/Best Buy shopping center right across the street from the mall. In some areas, they got as bad as Starbucks.

 

[Nydius]

In some areas, they got as bad as Starbucks.

They really did. What infuriated me most was they never had the same inventory. I don’t mean used games, of course, because that’s out of their control. But new games and new merchandise was never the same at any of the locations. A new game might come out and the one in the mall would get a dozen copies while the other two stores got zero. Or the one by Walmart would get new amiibo while the other two wouldn’t get anything.

Having to check all three just to find which one of them actually had what I was looking for (when, in most cases, the Best Buy across the mall had the same things without stock issues) was a major reason I gave up shopping there.

 

[JayK47]

I guess I did my part. I stopped paying for Gamestop PRO years ago and stopped pre-ordering most console games. I no longer even live near one. I used them a decent amount last gen and haven't even jumped into this gen. I am pretty much only playing PC games now.

 

[Zuzu]

It sounds like they're going the way of Blockbuster

 

[ArtHands]

The death of GameStop will accelerate the decline of physical games.

 

[Rawbutt Jellybean]

If they operated the used game aspect of their business the same way the average ebay user does, I'd probably buy a lot from them. Where you know beforehand if you're getting a complete copy or just the game. Especially if they had powerup rewards, points, discounts, etc.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

I can’t help but imagine they might be making more money if their stores were full of used games and hardware instead of shitty toys and phones and clothes.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

They really did. What infuriated me most was they never had the same inventory. I don’t mean used games, of course, because that’s out of their control. But new games and new merchandise was never the same at any of the locations. A new game might come out and the one in the mall would get a dozen copies while the other two stores got zero. Or the one by Walmart would get new amiibo while the other two wouldn’t get anything.

Having to check all three just to find which one of them actually had what I was looking for (when, in most cases, the Best Buy across the mall had the same things without stock issues) was a major reason I gave up shopping there.

Theres a mall near my work that had two GS stores. One was EB, one was GS. And the mall also had an independent game store too! The GS closed down and they rebranded the EB store to GS. It also disappeared. In the final days they used it as a clearance shop selling tons of old used games and collectibles.

Amazingly, I think the independent game store is still there. But I havent been to that mall in a couple years so not sure.

 

[DaleinCalgary]

Any of you dumb fucks still own this stock?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I worked in China for many years, for Chinese companies so I had the inside info on what things actually cost, not what they were sold to "Cheap" to the customers.

As I keep receipts and this is the price to the customer with the factory profit included. Now, how much do you pay for cables?

In your first chart, row 3. 20 cents! lol. I've never worked at a company with stuff that cheap to make.

It's truly amazing how cheap a lot of stuff is to make at the factory level. Of course that doesn't include overhead and all that stuff, but just the raw product costs and/or profit associated with it.

Oh another funny thing about pricing too for all you people who never worked at manufacturing companies, you know how a lot of product lines will have base models, medium models and premium models? The retail prices go wild, but the cost to make barely budges a lot of the times.

At one of my old companies, there were lots of different tier of products, but for sake of ease, let's just say it was like this for retail price:

Base tier $50
Mid tier $100
Top end tier $250

The COGs were something like this:

Base tier $20
Mid tier $30
Top end tier $40-50

No doubt we didn't sell a lot of top tier products, but the margins are so good it's important to have it to prop up the overall financials even if maybe only 10% of our units sold were the top tier.

 

[Dthomp]

I would love if once in a while when I poke my head into a GS store that they actually had product. I only end up at one in a mall and the stock is pathetic, I worked many years as a manager for GS so I know that the strip store I don't go to gets most of the product for the area but it's not somewhere I can get to easily. Last time I went into my local one they barely had enough games to almost fill a 3 foot section, but had 9 feet of pop figures, and another 12 feet of just random crap in the back of the store along with a few displays of shirts. They need to close stores so that the ones that stay can have proper stock and try to make it a place to visit. They are too invested in the culture of pushing GPGs and a subscription that is over twice as expensive as it used to be with less use because they need as much profit to show morons with stock in this company. They need a CEO that cares about rebuilding customer appreciation.

We are at a point where they could gobble up most physical sales by just being better with in store experience. If I knew I could go there preorder a limited edition copy of something and there is a 100% chance it's there and I'm not going to be bombarded with upsells that make no sense (GPGs) I'd be there with bells.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

I never understood why Gamestop stopped selling older games. They basically stopped selling games and higher margin items (used older titles), though there were many reasons to not shop there long before that.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I never understood why Gamestop stopped selling older games. They basically stopped selling games and higher margin items (used older titles), though there were many reasons to not shop there long before that.

Maybe because the older games were either out of print, or they offered gamers such lowballed values like $2 a lot of gamers just said fuck it and held onto them.

 

[FinalBossWithTheMostPower]

I know it's cool to hate GameStop these days and I've had my fair share of shitty experiences with them, but it will be a sad day when there no longer exists a brick-and-mortar shop for gaming enthusiasts.

GameStop is a lot of things, a shell of its former funcoland glory, but it's also convenient and still has the occasional midnight event.

 

[Havoc2049]

I can’t help but imagine they might be making more money if their stores were full of used games and hardware instead of shitty toys and phones and clothes.

The amount of used games is very limited. I've watched a bunch of videos on YouTube of owners of used video game stores and it always seems like they are complaining about lack of inventory of games that people want.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

They should stock big box PC games! It'll make a return just like vinyl.

Man how I miss FunCoLand!

I’d be down for that

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

I know it's cool to hate GameStop these days and I've had my fair share of shitty experiences with them, but it will be a sad day when there no longer exists a brick-and-mortar shop for gaming enthusiasts.

GameStop is a lot of things, a shell of its former funcoland glory, but it's also convenient and still has the occasional midnight event.

When it goes there will only be 1 store left at the mall for me to look at and not buy anything from when I go shopping with my wife

 

[TransTrender]

Any of you dumb fucks still own this stock?

I bought a boat.

 

[Hudo]

They should stock big box PC games! It'll make a return just like vinyl.

This would be one of the best moves this fucking industry could ever do.

So it won't happen.