GameStop Posts $270M Net Loss

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It is absolutely mind boggling how a company that buys used games, marks them up two million percent and resells them, can end up posting a $270 million net loss. :eek:

GameStop announced the results of it 2012 fiscal year (ending Feb. 2, 2013) today, with revenues of $403 million, which is slightly down from the $405.1 million in fiscal 2011. Due to "restructuring, impairment and debt retirement expenses of $680.7 million primarily related to goodwill impairment," the company saw a net loss of $269.7 million (2011: net earning of $339.9).
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Feel bad for the employees about the get laid off, but GOOD, and THAT'S WHAT YOU GET for scamming (dumb) people out of their used games for so many years
 
Bummer. I'd imagine part of the net loss is due to Steam and other similar services sales.
 
The only time I buy anything at Gamestop anymore is when they have crazy coupon stacking deals or the occasional great flip trades. Amazon gets most of my business or the Microsoft Store.
 
Not surprised, with the exception of major releases GameStops are all but empty now a days with the exception of a soccer mom picking up a copy of the most violent game out there for the kid who is obviously not old enough to play it. With NextGen consoles doing downloads and installs of the newest games, I wouldn't be surprised if GameStop goes bye bye (in brick and mortar form).
 
the last 2 times I went to gamestop to buy a new release game i was told "Sorry we only ordered the number of copies we had pre-orders for." So, yea....
 
ITT: Hyper-generalizations.



Sad thing is this will probably laid to layoffs, not that Gamestop ever gave out enough hours for stores anyway. Pay your employees peanuts, don't staff enough. Now it's about to get worse.
 
I refuse to shop their because of the way they treat employees, the lack of customer service, and the obvious rip off on trade-ins and the price they slap on the box of used.
 
Funcoland was a ripoff too. I used to have a friend that would trade in games there and I told him that even if he had to pay for a classified ad in the paper, he would still make way more money on his used games.
 
Shit's really gonna hit the fan for physical stores when next-gen consoles have digital downloads as an option on release day. Some people still like to have the box but PC gamers have gotten over it and for console gamers that should be one less thing to break.

Microsoft seems to already be buttering up their users with actual sales on digital downloads so I'm at least somewhat confident that digital distribution will be more common on the next-gen platforms.
 
Well if Sony and Microsoft's new consoles wont allow you to sell your games; it's gonna happen eventually.
 
Darunion said:
the last 2 times I went to gamestop to buy a new release game i was told "Sorry we only ordered the number of copies we had pre-orders for." So, yea....
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Exactly. Besides, AZ delivers it to your door on release day. Go to work, come home, play.
 
I bet they had planned to earn 540 million...but only earned 270 million...hence...270 million loss.:p
 
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Didn't Gamestop go out of business a few years ago? Shortly after Blockbuster? Oh wait, I'm thinking forward to the future. Just wait a few years.
 
You can sell games on craigslist and ebay for more than you'd get from gamestop, and you can get games from amazon, ebay, craigslist, etc. for less than you'd pay at gamestop. They all but dropped their PC gaming stuff years ago(still have the big releases like WoW expansions though), and as people have pointed out, digital delivery for big titles at launch is coming to the next gen consoles. Gamestop's business model was all but obsolete even a few years ago.

I mean hell, who even goes to a gamestop anymore other than to maybe check out a demo system for a new console? You certainly don't need to pre-order these days(and the silly little gamestop exclusives never amount to much anyway), and you can still preorder from sites like amazon if you really want to.
 
I actually looked up what "goodwill impairment" was, and it makes the story even more funny.

They didn't lose all that money because their income exceeded expenses (they actually made a $410 million profit), they "lost" money because the actual dollar value of their brand recognition (and other intangibles, called "goodwill") dropped by a whopping $680 million (impairment)

What this all means is that even the top executives think that the GameStop Brand is complete garbage right now.
 
What it really means is that they played some funny math for some other goal, taxes, stock manipulation etc...
 
Darunion said:
the last 2 times I went to gamestop to buy a new release game i was told "Sorry we only ordered the number of copies we had pre-orders for." So, yea....
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I had the same experience last time I went to a GameStop... I think that was when Doom 3 came out. Never bothered with them again.
 
I think y'all should cut them some slack as far as the buy to sell price ratio is concerned. You buying and selling on Craig's List or even Ebay is no where the same thing as a retail store.

Even if they paid their employees nothing they would still have to pay anywhere from a couple thousand a month to 10's of thousands a month in rent depending on the location. You also have all the utilities of the store. You have the cut that the credit card company takes for each purchase. You have the cost of logistics (shipping, etc). But then add in the $200-$500 (low balling here) paycheck each week for each employee. Plus any other expenses those employees incur (if they give any benefits that is).

So while you have a regular day job to cover most of those costs in your life, these companies have only those profit from those things to survive. Try paying on your bills selling used video games on Craig's List and see how long before you start thinking like GameStop.

I'm not a GameStop employee, nor am I a retail sector employee. But I understand why a company buys a product for $5 wholesale and HAS TO turn around and sell it for $25. This is in every industry, its just you don't normally get to see the wholesale cost like you do when you go into GameStop and your are the wholesale source.

And more importantly I hate to see people loose their jobs. Especially right now. And especially young adults, because that's the worst bracket to be in right now looking for a job.
 
It's probably where they started taking iPhones and tablets, and they are not selling for the crazy prices they put on them.
 
Haven't used GameStop since Alpha Centauri and Exp was released. The staff were always trying to sell games that sucked by having loud conversations about how good it was. I didn't have the internet at the time so I was stuck with gaming mags and usually read which ones were good at the time. The other thing that ticked me off is that the console section lined an entire wall and the PC section was one shelf.
 
They should have went digital and had their own delivery system. All these brick and motor places that sell digital content will tank in the future. Its all going online in the future. Its just how things naturally progress. Its inevitable.
 
djoye said:
Shit's really gonna hit the fan for physical stores when next-gen consoles have digital downloads as an option on release day. Some people still like to have the box but PC gamers have gotten over it and for console gamers that should be one less thing to break.

Microsoft seems to already be buttering up their users with actual sales on digital downloads so I'm at least somewhat confident that digital distribution will be more common on the next-gen platforms.
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Not only that, I'm sure the near future will be implementing more DRM based on tying the game to your xbox or psn accounts, making it impossible to sell your used games without buying another license from the developer, making the media itself useless...I mean if we've been hit heavily with this on PC as the "smallest gaming" market for atleast the last 5 years, I don't think the bigger market will be ignored for much longer.
 
The misdirected hate around here for GS would be laughable if it wasn't so pathetic. They aren't scamming anyone. Anyone who trades a game there knows damn well they are getting minimal value for it. It is a convenience factor and nothing more.

I traded in GoW3 the other day as it were. I got $5.50 for it. Now before the mouthbreathers start in with "hur dur, that is such a ripoff", I only traded it because my wife bought me the Red PS3 gow bundle and as a result I now had two copies. So I basically got an extra $5 for a spare copy I didn't need of a game I've already beaten that I didn't pay for. As to those who buy a new game, beat it in three days then trade it in for $30 less than they paid for it. Well that is their own choice and if $30 is the rental value they were willing to pay, who are you to tell them they are wrong? Their money, their choice. I rather like GS myself, I get used games that are guaranteed to work for my young kids for their DS at sub $10. For those that don't have kids, games tend to either cease being entertaining quickly or get destroyed. I would rather not pay $30 a pop for a game that might last 2 months.
 
Darunion said:
the last 2 times I went to gamestop to buy a new release game i was told "Sorry we only ordered the number of copies we had pre-orders for." So, yea....
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Yea i stopped going about 2 years ago when I went to get my pre-ordered copy of Desux:HR and they sent the shit back to their warehouse because they were in a pissing match with the publisher. I was pissed and haven't been back since they don't carry PC games anymore unless it was pre-ordered. Server them right their business model sucks, they buy used console system for like 20 bucks but sell them for close to the same price as a new one, its a complete rip off. My wife and i wanted to sell our Wii with the balance board and they would give us 20 for the system and 5 for the board.......the board itself is worth $100 by itself. They need to fail.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
The misdirected hate around here for GS would be laughable if it wasn't so pathetic. They aren't scamming anyone. Anyone who trades a game there knows damn well they are getting minimal value for it. It is a convenience factor and nothing more.

I traded in GoW3 the other day as it were. I got $5.50 for it. Now before the mouthbreathers start in with "hur dur, that is such a ripoff", I only traded it because my wife bought me the Red PS3 gow bundle and as a result I now had two copies. So I basically got an extra $5 for a spare copy I didn't need of a game I've already beaten that I didn't pay for. As to those who buy a new game, beat it in three days then trade it in for $30 less than they paid for it. Well that is their own choice and if $30 is the rental value they were willing to pay, who are you to tell them they are wrong? Their money, their choice. I rather like GS myself, I get used games that are guaranteed to work for my young kids for their DS at sub $10. For those that don't have kids, games tend to either cease being entertaining quickly or get destroyed. I would rather not pay $30 a pop for a game that might last 2 months.
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Strictly speaking in terms of economics -- even though your wife bought it for you it still comes off the bottom line in the end when factored into your families finances. The initial outlay for the original GoW disc + the GoW bundle your wife bought - the sweet sweet $5 trade in you got... still means there is a pretty big hole left by all that activity in the end.

In terms of gamestop themselves - hope they burn in hell. I think the last time I went to one was when I bought GTA4 for Xbox360 all those years ago. You can't step foot into one of their stores without being leered at, you can smell the desperation in the air, and it's all the fault of management that set the crazy tactics and policies.

Looking at the big picture -- it sure seems as if we are headed to a 100% digital way of distribution. Which might not be too bad if a few things can be fixed along the way (broadband caps being #1). And the price -- bandwidth is SO much cheaper than the combined cost of making/storing/transporting a physical goods. If a company is saving $4 on every game sold due to it not being physical... will the new game standard be $56 now? Doubtful.

DRM wise -- if my game is locked and registered to my xbox via some wacky digital method, then I'd damn well better be able to get my money back if there is ever a problem and not get the "no returns on non-physical goods" crap.

The argument of "you could have made a copy and just returned it" doesn't really hold water anymore, why retailers and companies cling to it shows just how behind the times some of these places are.
 
collegeboy69us said:
Strictly speaking in terms of economics -- even though your wife bought it for you it still comes off the bottom line in the end when factored into your families finances. The initial outlay for the original GoW disc + the GoW bundle your wife bought - the sweet sweet $5 trade in you got... still means there is a pretty big hole left by all that activity in the end.

In terms of gamestop themselves - hope they burn in hell. I think the last time I went to one was when I bought GTA4 for Xbox360 all those years ago. You can't step foot into one of their stores without being leered at, you can smell the desperation in the air, and it's all the fault of management that set the crazy tactics and policies.

Looking at the big picture -- it sure seems as if we are headed to a 100% digital way of distribution. Which might not be too bad if a few things can be fixed along the way (broadband caps being #1). And the price -- bandwidth is SO much cheaper than the combined cost of making/storing/transporting a physical goods. If a company is saving $4 on every game sold due to it not being physical... will the new game standard be $56 now? Doubtful.

DRM wise -- if my game is locked and registered to my xbox via some wacky digital method, then I'd damn well better be able to get my money back if there is ever a problem and not get the "no returns on non-physical goods" crap.

The argument of "you could have made a copy and just returned it" doesn't really hold water anymore, why retailers and companies cling to it shows just how behind the times some of these places are.
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Actually the additional PS3 was because we wanted another media center for the kids room. It was a planned cost and the GoW games being thrown in free were just a bonus. So..that pretty much shoots your silly theory.

Again, more silly hatred for a company based on a highly limited experience in one location. If I acted like that to any company where one of their "random stores and the idiot teens hired by it" treated me badly. I wouldn't do business with anyone in the US. I find it far easier to simply avoid the bad stores until management gets changed as it eventually does.
 
Conker said:
They should have went digital and had their own delivery system. All these brick and motor places that sell digital content will tank in the future. Its all going online in the future. Its just how things naturally progress. Its inevitable.
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They do. They bought Impulse from Stardock some time back.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Actually the additional PS3 was because we wanted another media center for the kids room. It was a planned cost and the GoW games being thrown in free were just a bonus. So..that pretty much shoots your silly theory.

Again, more silly hatred for a company based on a highly limited experience in one location. If I acted like that to any company where one of their "random stores and the idiot teens hired by it" treated me badly. I wouldn't do business with anyone in the US. I find it far easier to simply avoid the bad stores until management gets changed as it eventually does.
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You must own stock in GS then because pretty much everyone that used to buy games and suck from Game Stop (including family members) have stopped because in reality Gamestop as a store is struggling to remain relevant, their trade in values are ridiculous. They make 4 times the amount on the game that they just bought used. Not to mention there are certain games that require an online code to play the multiplayer that they will sell you, but you can't play online because you need the code that is already in use so basically you have to rebuy the game. Your whole rant about misplaced hate for an dishonest company is just kind of lame. Business used to be an honorable practice but now people like you enable the bigger businesses to pull the BS they are starting to pull now-a-days. Its sad really.
 
This doesn't surprise me. I think I've been in a GS three times and might have actually purchased something once. I have to wonder who actually shops there.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Actually the additional PS3 was because we wanted another media center for the kids room. It was a planned cost and the GoW games being thrown in free were just a bonus. So..that pretty much shoots your silly theory.

Again, more silly hatred for a company based on a highly limited experience in one location. If I acted like that to any company where one of their "random stores and the idiot teens hired by it" treated me badly. I wouldn't do business with anyone in the US. I find it far easier to simply avoid the bad stores until management gets changed as it eventually does.
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Silly theory? The information about it being a planned purchase was left out and was no where to be found when my perfectly valid at the time reply was posted.

My mention of my experience was not the only time I've been into a gamestop -- in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, they are like starbucks. You will have two gamestops within 5 miles of each other, both dishing out the exact style of sub par service. I've been in and out of their stores for years up until that point, and the unifying theme of every store (at least here in Texas) is that they suck. If EA had a physical store front -- I would imagine it would behave much like every GameStop I've ever been in.

I have no idea and nor will I judge your income level -- but I would be much more inclined to let $30 in value evaporate if I was making 250K a year. Sadly I'm not, and $30 represents a tank of gas for me so I (and many others these days) look to reclaim all the value possible out of their old video games/equipment.

Sure, you might get lucky and have a GameStop that's run by a person who understand and appreciates video games as well as customers, sadly more often than not you get someone who's fresh out of some community college management class who happens to work for a regional manager who only gives a shit about "The numbers". While it's good to care about the numbers you have to balance that with actually caring about the product you sell and the people you sell it to.

Much like in the world of dating -- often times you only get one chance to make an impression on a customer that will set the tone and expectations, I realize there will always be bad experiences in the eyes of some customers, but when a large majority of all customers have the same negative experience across the country, then the problem is with the company itself and who's at the time.

Will anything of value be lost from society when this place closes it's doors? Nope.
 
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