How I Got BURNED By A Major Portland Video Game Retailer

THIS SAME THING happened to me yesterday. I found Jeanne Darc CIB at a videogames store on shelves with a price tag of 39 dollars. I admit that I only picked it up as trade fodder as I already own the game. But when I was about to pay for the game the guy pulled up pricecharting and told me that he had to increase the price to 81 dollars (That's double the price). AND he had already gone through the trouble of finding the disc and putting it in the case for me, so it makes me question if he was actually following "store guidelines" as he had claimed. My question is: Why would a store go trough the trouble of pricing everything if they have to check the prices online before they sell it to you. Maybe they haven't removed the price tags because they assume that only a few games will jump in price dramatically; and they make sure to check online for games they're not familiar with. But if they can increase the values based on online market price, shouldn't they be able to also lower them? I'm planning to go back to the store and ask if that employee told me the truth, and maybe he'll get fired for keeping the game (if he did). And if he did tell the truth, I will ask if they can match all of their other prices to pricecharting, because some of the games I wanted to buy were overpriced. If they can't help me, I will poop on their glass displays and spread it nice and wide like peanut butter on bread. JK. But anyway! Thank you Miami, for addressing this issue. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Oh hell nah! There’s so many things that pop in my head about this, but mostly what a ridiculous encounter. It bugs me that they asked you what you’re intentions are as if they’d jerk the price around more on the spot based on their personal preference of what a customer does with a purchases! I’d be livid, but mostly disappointed. Did they just assume “oh he’s willing to spend money so I’ll jack up the price on the spot” that clearly bit him in the ass, you probably would have been inclined to shop more had that not happened. Just janky, sorry you experienced that. I’d be unhappy about it too!

Obviously I liked your new intro :) What a shock to hear you don't live in Miami, haha. Anyway, copies of Wild Arms XF (which is terrible, by the way, and I think the guy unconsciously did you a favor) sell for around 50-70. Sealed? Not even 100, so for starters it was over-priced. Sad to see you went through this experience, but at least you didn't go home with a few bad games (like Lunar Dragon Song. Seriously, Miami? Why do you want that horrible game in your collection?!).

Snakes ruin any market when they do this. RPGS are sacred and money hungry people have no business selling them

I wonder if they accidently looked up Wild Arms Alter Code F instead of XF. There is one that sold for 300 on Apr 30 but even that is an outlier.

Sellers on ebay use the over the top pricing to get offers, they never expect to sell for 3-4 times the market rate.

been waiting for this vid to come out since you mentioned it earlier this week. thanks for the vid bro and hope you dont have to deal with this mess again in the future.

He shouldn't put a price tag or he should've put a note that states (prices are subject to change) if he's going to change the price that quickly. That's unethical of him because you already made the deal by holding the game to the counter while you are browsing for other games.

very paranoid take: dude has seent you coming into his store for awhile, seent you spending money, assumed you were a collector with deep pockets (hence the question about whether you were gonna play it or put it on a shelf), and took you for a mark. i just find it hard to believe this guy who you guess to be an owner or at the very least who youve seent working there for years would make a careless mistake like basing a price on an ebay buy it now listing, not to mention brazenly marking up the item by 200% at the point of sale. what a crummy experience. im just glad you put your foot down and walked.

He was definitely price gouging which is unlawful, but not illegal (unless in California.) I've had similar experiences in pawn shops where they look up the price as you are looking around. Some tactics I use now is not to "show my cards" until the end, where I just tell them all the items I'm buying once I am ready to go. So they don't have time to sit and think about what I'm buying. Another thing is I know it's hard not to get upset when they do that, but sometimes it might be worth "calling him out" and saying "Hey, where's this new price coming from, what do you see?" And then you can comment if he's going off of one overenthusiastic eBay seller or even looking up the wrong game! And all else you could bust his chops and tell him how shitty of a practice that's is, or even haggle with him. Some people in that business don't mind a bit of "sales sparring". Again I know it's hard to do in the heat of the moment, but don't let them get the satisfaction without you giving them a reasonable piece of your mind. But I'm glad you shared this story. It's a dog eat dog world out there and us gamers need all the tips and tricks we can get to get ahead and win.

You don't live in Miami? What a ripoff!

Agree with you Miami i would have asked to see what they are selling the game for . Or look together at the prices . Then negotiate the deal for the game. If he didn't agree to price then . I walk out and don't come back.

5:50 let's look at what you're trying to do for a second. You targeted a game that in factory sealed condition was underpriced by a large enough amount to safely purchase it and ensure that you'd have a profit as a reseller. You would not have been interested in the game at all, or likely any game for that matter, if they were priced matched with ebay. You're an opportunist and a value-driven collector. Let's be honest.