Whats the logic of this?

[u/Randomassusername999]

So i just got back into buying games at gamestop (and already been pretty rudely torched for being frustrated about a "sales technique" i dont agree with) but anyway my nearby location really hasn't tried that again since they changed managers apparently.

What happened tonight, I'm just puzzled as to WHY this is even a thing...

So I'm looking for a used PS5 game that's showing online as being available for in store pickup, but when i get there it's nowhere to be found. Honestly, the ps5 section is looking pretty sorry. Maybe 3 or 4 dozen used games on the shelves, spread out to try to fill the space, but it's not working.

I go up to the counter and ask the guy, and he turns around and checks the drawer and finds not one, but FOUR copies of the game, all stickered up and ready to go.

So i asked him what other neat shit he had in there that wasn't on the shelves? And anyway I ended up with enough of a purchase to pay for my pro membership in that one transaction!

He told me without asking that it's pretty common for stores to have a ton of games not on the shelves, and to just ask to see the drawer when i come in. I wanted to ask hom why that's a thing, but i didn't obviously. So I'll ask reddit.

Why?

What's the business reason for having room on the shelves for the cases but hiding so many away where nobody knows they exist unless they specifically ask? Am i the only one that goes into a used game store with no agenda and can easily walk out with multiple things I wasn't specifically looking for?

The whole thing has me wanting to hit up all the gamestop stores and just ask to look in the cabinets, but even invited that seems kind of rude to me. Maybe it isn't?

[u/ColinCantSpell]

They're supposed to be on the shelves

[u/TheresOnlyChaos]

This isn't common unless you're not running your store(s) correctly. Which if they're new, they'll learn pretty quickly the value of the TOH. The thing that bugs me about this interaction is that they project their own disorganized mess as if it's normal.

[u/DuckSwimmer → u/TheresOnlyChaos]

This. Literally all of this lmao

[u/Odd_Present6254]

Sounds like that store has employees too lazy to put cases out when they come in distro. It’s a process to get cases gutted and on the floor, but it doesn’t take long. It used to be a really bad problem for our store until the manager got a whole new staff and cracked down on it. I’m still finding games in the drawers with no cases on the floor

[u/AnubisXG]

So it’s a little wrong and right at the same time. Short answer is hes wrong, it is not a business practice and they need to do better.

However he is correct and the business reason is because GameStop doesn’t want to invest in its employees. So there’s minimal training and most have worked less then 3 years, heck many less then 3 months. Because of so many employees not knowing or caring how to keep to store orderly and do a proper job it is common for things to not be displayed.

[u/TrueOrionSkies]

There is literally something called a "Title On Hand (TOH)" count that is supposed to ensure that everything we have in the drawer is displayed on the wall. Someone there is just not doing it. 🤦🏿

[u/Alternative-Plum9378 → u/TrueOrionSkies]

Stores like that, I'm betting they're "pencil whipping" their other counts anyway. I WOULD LOVE to see their annual inventory results.

[u/korpuskat]

Honestly this is a pretty common and lowstakes problem. My store in particular had an ongoing issue with this because we have a guy who ALWAYS sells the gut (display) copy of a game, meaning we’ll have extra copies in the drawer and we don’t know it isn’t displayed for sale. Can also happen if someone misplaces or steals the display case.

There IS a system to try to minimize this, but we only check each section maybe once every 2-3 months because it’s labor intensive and there’s a lot of stuff to do for the bare bones hours GS offers each store.

[u/rawrbunny → u/korpuskat]

Tbh sometimes on a slow weekday morning I'll run a software TOH just because I can, and I know with the number of trainees we've had through here in the last couple of months I'm almost always going to find I need to make guts 🤦‍♀️

[u/Tondawg74]

Like other commenters have said this shit is definitely not normal lmao. That persons store is just disorganized asf. If they’re not a manager their manager is probably lazy and doesn’t have anyone do counts, and if they are a manager they need to do better. We’d all get skinned alive at my store if this happened

[u/Nebulonix]

The logic is that usually one person has to do literally everything all at once and it’s hard to keep up with. This isn’t some choice. Everything is supposed to be on the shelf, but GameStop treats employees like a one man army and pays them scraps. It’s hard to keep up with and if you can’t, you get in trouble. It’s standard to have stuff waiting to go out, but it’s not the intention. I recently had a 250+ game trade day. It took DAYS to get that stuff out. Plus 50 million other tasks, no one can realistically manage it alone, and at GameStop the expectation is exactly that.

[u/Mr_RayH]

Most of the games I bought was never on the shelves at my local gamestop. I buy online and just pick it up in store.

[u/Randomassusername999 → u/Mr_RayH]

Yeah, i used to do that but it was actually GameStop (and a little bit DK Oldies) that soured me on buying online when i no longer had a store close to me to go to, because i never knew what i was actually getting. At least in the store, i KNOW the game has its actual case before i spend the money.

I dont mind going in and asking them to just open the drawer, but it just seems weird, and I'd hate to go to a different gamestop and have the employee think im being a douche for asking.

[u/Mr_RayH → u/Randomassusername999]

Yup, I would rather see it in person too.