Gamestop.com is not my first choice when shopping for games
Written: May 13 '04 (Updated May 13 '04)
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What is Gamestop.com
Gamestop.com is an online store the offers new and used video games, video game accessories, and video game systems. They also sell DVDs, Anime, card games, board games, and action figures (mostly video game based). Their inventory is rather diverse as is their retail stores. While any of their retail stores can carry items in all these categories, the online store tends to have the best chance of having these games in stock. This is because their retail stores take up some of the smallest spaces available in our nation's malls and strip malls. They rarely have a lot of room to shelve and inventory lots of items.
The biggest draw of Gamestop is not so much their diversity of products, but rather the sheer amount of used video games at reasonable prices. You can still purchase cartridges going all the way back to the old 8-bit NES and 16-bit Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo at Gamestop.com. In addition, they also carry a huge selection of used games from modern consoles and handhelds as well. The prices for these items are very competitive with other retail prices. While the prices are very good for an online store, you'll still find better deals on Ebay and occasionally Half.com if you're in the market for used games. The good part about Gamestop.com is that they test and guarantee that your used game will work or your money back. While ordering on auction sites and sites like Half.com do not usually guarantee anything.
Site Layout and Navigation
The first thing that you'll notice when you load up Gamestop.com is how the front page jumps out at you. You're bombarded with their special deals and offers each with their own window of advertising space. It almost reminds me of a full color page of newspaper ads.
You main navigation on the front page is along the top. One of the top bars sorts by each of the modern platforms, with additional links to used products, and another link to everything else (toys, board games, etc.). Also along the top there is a search engine that searches for the keywords you specify. You can search the whole store for that keyword or just a subcategory. The final bar that runs along the top guides you to other links associated with the store. This would be your shopping card, order status, your account, and a list of FAQ categories.
Along the left pane there are several boxes with lists of game. These lists include: games that are to be released soon, games that have been released recently, and the stores top selling games. The purpose of these panes is not so much to guide people to games that they were looking for before they arrived at Gamestop.com, but rather to help foster a excitement for a game that they might not have had until they saw these lists.
Selection
As I mentioned before Gamestop.com has a very diverse selection of video games, consoles, and accessories. While Gamestop.com has a lot of diversity with its used game selection, it also has most new games as well. Products that are to be released soon can be preordered as well. However, they do not have the best selection when we're not talking video games. Their selection of DVDs, card games, board games, anime, and action figures is on par with what you'd expect to find at a Target store. However, their non-video game related sales are not the driving force behind the store's business as the non-video game products are treated more like impulse buys you'd expect to find at a grocery store checkout counter.
The downfall of having so many different items is that many of the older and more popular used video games are backordered. When shopping at Gamestop.com, I'm very confident that the store carries the item, but it the game or accessory is popular or old, then they are not likely to have it in stock. Waiting for one of these items to be restocked is usually a lost cause. There's a better chance of seeing it at the local retail store on a random day than having it appear on the online store. When an item is in higher demand than its supply, then the online warehouse is the one to get the shaft while the retail stores get any remaining game or accessory that the chain carries.
Ordering
Ordering from Gamestop.com is a breeze, however I did find some policies that people not familiar with video game shopping might not know about. The website uses your basic shopping cart ordering method. You add as many products to your cart as you want. When you're ready to order, you can "checkout" those items. The checkout method is pretty standard. The payment options are only the standard 4 credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and AMEX. Shipping is done through UPS and the options are: overnight, 2 day Air, Ground, value, and PO Box. There is no value or PO Box options for Hawaii or Alaska residents. You can also ship internationally to most major countries. You can track your order through the site using UPS's package tracking software. Gamestop.com allows you to link your tracking number to the UPS website, which is very convenient. Gamestop.com also offers many coupon deals such as a percentage off certain groups of games, accessories, or combinations. When you view your shopping cart, you can enter in these coupons through the code that they give you. When you checkout you should see the special deal applied.
The return policy is a little different with video games than other products I'm used to ordering. If you're buying a new or used video game, if the seal is broken (usually the cellophane is unwrapped), then the game cannot be returned for a refund. However, if the game is still sealed, then you can return it for a full refund within 30 days. Similarly, if the game is defective, then you can return it and Gamestop.com will send you another copy of the same game or accessory if done within 30 days. If you get your game, open it up and realize that they mixed up the order and they sent you the wrong game, usually you're up the creek despite the fact that it was their mistake. You should inspect the outside before you break any seal to make sure you have what you ordered. If what you see inside (a game for another platform despite the outside packaging, or a missing manual or game for that matter), then you can usually return it under their defective policy.
This policy is very strict because if it was relaxed it can easily be abused. I could open a game, play it for a few days then return it. In the limited time I have to play the game, I can write a review on Epinions. In about a year or less depending on how popular the game was, I can recoup the losses I suffered when shipping it back. If I shipped it back via media mail, I could save several dollars off of a Blockbuster rental. Besides, returned games, if not still sealed must be sold as used games and therefore marked down. Therefore it's not good business to not implement a strict return policy.
Specials
Gamestop.com offers many specials. Some are advertised on the main page. For instance, I recently bought the new Transformers PS2 game because they had an offer for free shipping I saw on the main page of the site. These offers can range from free shipping, to a certain percentage off strategy guides or any used game. There's also a special stopwatch sale that lasts for only a few hours. This deal can either target a specific game or a whole category like strategy guides or new Xbox games.
Overall Impressions
Overall my ordering experience was very professional. They shipped the package within 24 hours and it arrived on time. I never ran into any broken links or had to backtrack due to mistakes in the information I filed. I found the site navigation to be pretty smooth, once my eyes got adjusted to all the colorful ads and specials. The search engine was pretty accurate, and didn't spit out a large group of rather irrelevant games in the process (hello Epinions!).
The biggest reason why I don't shop there often is because the prices aren't very competitive with what they offer at their retail stores. Since I can travel to one of their stores for less gas than it takes to ship a game, it's worth it much more to get the game the same day for less money ... even if I only save a couple bucks. With the way the gas prices rising these days, I might not be in the majority for very much longer. If they continue to offer the specials, then it might be more worth my while if I'm able to wait a week to get my hands on the game. This also might be a better alternative for parents who wish to buy their kids a video game without being overwhelmed by the experience of going to the store itself. I might begin to shop there more frequently, but only because of the ever increasing outside influences.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Transformers for the PS2
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kjell1979
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Location: Oxford, Mass
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