Kotaku - GameStop Sells Played Games As New, Sources Say, Practice Could Be Illegal - Legal
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Originally Posted by kotaku.com
The alleged practice of GameStop lending new copies of games to employees at their stores and then later selling those games as new, unused copies, may be a violation of federal law. GameStop's "check-out" policy, confirmed to Kotaku by a number of the chain's managers and employees, could fall under scrutiny of the Federal Trade Commission.
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According to a number of GameStop employees and managers across the country, all of which spoke to us on the condition of anonymity, new copies of games rented out to employees are often mixed in with the unplayed display copies. And both are sold at "new" prices.
When a shipment of video games initially arrives at a store, managers are told to "gut" several copies of the game, removing the disc or cartridge from the packaging so it can be displayed on the shelf without concern of theft, according to our sources.
The games are then placed in protective sleeves or cases under the counter. If a customer asks why the game is not sealed they are typically told the the game is a display copy. The game is still sold as new.
When check-out games are returned, we were told, they are placed with the gutted display copies. If a customer asks about these, they are typically told they are display copies, not that they have been played before. |
It's about time this practice gets analyzed. Coming from the legal compliance/audit world as I do there are a number of clearly visible issues here. Lack of full disclosure as to what the consumer is buying, charging full price for an item that is by definition not "new" (even a so-called 'gutted' copy is not new, because it's no longer sealed), and a bait-and-switch on the return policy (if you buy a so-called 'gutted' copy of a game, you then can't return it for a refund according to Gamestop's policy, because you can't then prove that you didn't break the seal).
Anyone buying games, if you've shopped for new games and haven't been demanding a sealed copy when they try to push a so-called 'gutted' copy on you, this article is a good read for you.
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