If You're Game, Or Just Want To Play, This Site Is For You
Written: Jan 21 '06
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I like simple businesses that provide a basic online user experience, solid customer service and a decent selection at good prices. AreYouGame.com achieves of all those goals while proudly proclaiming on its front page that it has been in business since 1998. That, of course, is about a million years in web terms so they are clearly doing something right.
What They Sell and How To Find It
AreYouGame sells a mix of toys and games. You won’t find hot software like Civ IV or Madden here, but you will find DVD tie-ins to Star Wars and the WWE along with a board game for Survivor The site doesn’t skimp on pop culture, but it is a game store, not a video game store.
The site is organized in multiple ways. Games are organized by age, by interest and by “favorites”. I am usually skeptical of sites that promote ranked products, but AreYouGame seems to have at least captured major categories like Disney and Monopoly. If you ever want a shock, check out how many different versions of Monopoly are available, including a make-your-own.
AreYouGame even has staff reviews, which although advertisements, are really well written and would not be out of place on any review site. The reviews obviously don’t pan anything the site is selling, but do a good job explaining the benefits of what each game offers.
Still another very useful way the games are organized is by grade and subject matter. Finally, the search engine is powerful and in addition to keywords, allows searching by price, age or interest.
Customer Service
After navigating the site with ease while my youngest child sat next to me, we made our selections and checked out with ease. I was encouraged by the various seals on the site, including a Verisign seal, assuring consumers of secure transactions and a relatively new seal called “Hacker Safe”. Even more importantly, a check of the Bay Area’s Better Business Bureau site showed no complaints for a three year period. While that should not be your only check of a business’ trustworthiness, it is an excellent indicator.
After placing our order on a Sunday night, we received an email quickly. The email showed all of my order information, including the order number, items and prices. Although links were also included in the email, I was pleased to see a toll-free telephone number was also included.
Early Tuesday morning we received a shipping confirmation. The confirmation offered a UPS tracking link, the tracking number and again, a toll-free number. And by Friday, the package was at our house, fast shipping for UPS.
About the only thing I didn’t like about the site was the shipping charge by weight. AreYouGame offers three different shipping styles, but the lowest shipping rate is $4.98. Costs quickly escalate and a three pound package can cost nearly $7. I suspect that is one way the company keeps its product prices low, but it still adds to the overall consumer cost and should not be ignored.
The Bottom Line, Clicks and All
AreYouGame.com is a fine online store selling toys and games. Prices are decent, site navigation and service is fine and shipping is a little expensive.
Five Things To Remember From This Review
1. This is a toy and game store, not a video game store.
2. The company has been in business since 1998, a long, long time.
3. Selection is good and prices are reasonable.
4. The search engine is robust and items are organized a variety of ways.
5. Customer service is solid, bordering on excellent.
Joubert’s FunLink
AreYouGame.com has a great online demo section. You can try out versions of different games at this URL:
http://www.areyougame.com/interact/html.asp?html=DemoArcade.html
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? board game and playing games
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