As far as the comments, I welcome them. This article is all about the negative aspects of the company, as the next article will be. I do intend on writning and article called "Living With Gamestop" which brings up many of the points you mentioned.

I have very little use for GameStop as a whole, but some of the the individual stores and employees are extremely useful.

I agree with you that generally you are going to feel ripped off no matter where you trade in your used games. And I do not use eBay, too many negative experiences.

I do look forward to the next installment of the Case Against Gamestop though.

Actually Eric took the lead on this article, and while I share some of the feelings as him my stance on GameStop is actually closer to yours.

There was a point where I refused to deal with GameStop, but through experience I've come to find out that many of my local game stores are not much better. In general I feel like you're getting ripped off wherever you decide to trade in your games. Obviously the better option is to sell your games online, but like you mentioned if you take advantage of GameStops trade in promos you can get a fair amount more. Usually I only trade in at GameStop if they are running some sort of promo.

I've also noticed, like you mention, that GameStop is not nearly as pushy with their reservation and EDGE card program as they once where. If you find a decent GameStop with good employees, chances are that you won't have to worry about being pestered to reserve games of sign up for their discount card. I shop at two different GameStops, and over the past several months I've never been asked to reserve a game or sign up for the discount card, and that's because: 1. I already have a discount card 2. The employees know me and know that I have enough knowledge to know which games I should or shouldn't reserve.

Now my stance on GameStop from an employees perspective is much different. As a former employee, I can tell you that the company has a terrible stance on employee relations. Most employees are underpaid and unappreciated, because from the companies point of view you are replaceable. Before I get to far ahead of myself I'll stop and save if for a future installment where I do add my 2 cents.

Eric and Tom,

Very interesting article. Thanks for the information.
I am sorry that you have had such a bad experience with GameStop.

I do trade-in games at GameStop from time to time. When I do trade I make sure I utilize some of GameStop's promotions. For example, get an extra 10%, 20%, 30% trade-in value when trading in a certain number of titles.
Or get an extra 20% – 30% trade-in value towards a pre-order title.
Also, you may recall the recent trade-in 2 select titles and get Resident Evil 5 for only $20 deal at GameStop. Using this method was the only way I could afford to get RE5 day one.

I have only had good experiences with my local GameStops (there are 2 in my town.) The employees are friendly, knowledgeable, and very helpful. In addition, they do not force pre-orders or Edge cards on customers at least in my visits. At my most recent trip to GameStop the employee there was able to:
Complete my pre-order of UFC2009.
Confirm that Batman: Arkham Asylum was delayed.
Tell me the release date for Dead Space: Extraction
And let me know that they did not have a release date yet for WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2010.

When I return to GameStop on May 19th to pickup my UFC2009 pre-order I plan on:
Renewing my Edge card
Trading in some Wii titles toward EA Sports Active.

I understand and tend to agree that GameStop's trade-in values are pretty pathetic. But obviously many people find some value in trading in their used games or the company would have not been so profitable.

Another reason that I often pre-order from GameStop is due to the many pre-order exclusives that GameStop has. The most recent one, for example, being two additional, exclusive fighters for UFC 2009. I imagine that this content may be released digitally at some point in the future, maybe for free, but more likely for $2.99 to $4.99. This is a pre-order item worth some real value (at least to me.) Prior to that, I believe my last pre-order was for FarCry2 for exclusive in-game content and map. Fortunately I have never had a problem with a pre-order being sold to someone else from under me.

Bottom line, although I have not used services like Gamefly, Goozex, and Amazon's trade-in service, I am glad that they exist. I find it very useful to be able to compare what Amazon would be willing to give me for trade in comparison to what GameStop will. That being said, I am still the type of shopper who enjoys browsing titles in a retail store, being able to look at the condition of a used game BEFORE I purchase and it helps if there is a 'buy 2 get 1 free' sale or if I have a coupon for 10% off. You cannot get that kind of satisfaction shopping online or using a game trading service.

Anyways, thanks again Eric and Tom for the great information. I am very much looking forward to part two of this series.