Gamestop allows more preorders than actual amount of copies they receive?

[Lingy]

I was convinced that my GameStop would hold my copy of Brawl until the 2 day time limit runs out, but a friend told me that GameStop makes all their money from taking more preorders than the number of copies they actually receive. I don't really believe him, but there's a chance that I might not be able to make the midnight release.

 

[InsaneMonkey]

I think it's illegal to not fulfil a preorder...

 

[Valgarus]

InsaneMonkey is right, if you put money down, its illegal not to fulfill.

 

[Ichida]

SmashBoards, behold the reason to preorder MONTHS IN ADVANCE.

Also, take any resonable measures to show up to the store early. Bring a portable, a friend, some food, something. If they really are taking too many pre-orders, you will want to be one of the ones who gets their copy.

 

[Frames]

It makes sense; after all, gamestop is a business like no other and they've got stats to make and quotas to fill. Big software publishers are always pushing stores to get preorders, no matter what the cost may be.

 

[DeuceBlade]

Your friend is just a conspiracy theorist.

 

[TBL_Luis]

As said before, it is illegal for them to not fulfill your pre-order, so they always have enough copies to fill every pre-order, I doubt they want to get sued, lol.

 

[DonkeyPirate]

yeah I suggest going in first thing in the morning on the 9th. they did that to one of the games i preordered and didnt pick up the first day

 

[Chrnocide]

They need to hold it for at LEAST 2 days. If you get there within 2 days of the release and they don't have it.. well..

let's start a riot.

 

[staindgrey]

No, I seriously doubt it because my friend tried to switch his preorder from the Gamecrazy at home to the Gamestop up here last week so I could get it on the midnight release, but they wouldn't accept the preoder. Obviously they had reached their limit already.

 

[Zek]

GameStop makes its money ordering exactly as many copies as they have pre-orders, effectively forcing people to provide a down payment for the game if they want it near release. It's not quite as sinister as your friend's theory. It's very possible that they can't meet everyone's pre-order, but that would be because of supply shortages and not some master plan of theirs.

 

[Brentos4o8]

yeah I suggest going in first thing in the morning on the 9th. they did that to one of the games i preordered and didnt pick up the first day

Well...
I suggest going to the midnight release.
There's also a tourney at around 11 so get there at 9-10 and you'll be fine.
Otherwise go in the very morning.

 

[Kr3w]

When i went to make a payment torwards my Brawl reservation today I asked the cashier about this and he said that they stop taking pre-orders at a certain point, then how ever pre-orders they had, they order that much, plus a few more for walk-ins.
Pretty much if you reserved the game, you're guaranteed to get it.

 

[Ampleforth]

About a week before the release date, Gamestops report how many reserves they have, and they get shipped more copies to cover the reservations, last-minute reservations, and walk-ins.

If you reserved over a week in advance you should be fine.

 

[_NeXuS_]

you should be fine... however i would be more worried about the expected shortages than gamestop actually over accepting preorders. i think nintendo said awhile back that shortages would be likely...maybe that just pertains to walk-in customers who didn't preorder though. be glad you did.

 

[Monshou_no_Nazo]

I went to Gamestop yesterday to finish payment on the game, even though it comes out next Sunday. I did this in hopes of ensuring I get a copy as soon as possible.

Hopefully it helps that I pre-ordered right after the Pokemon tournament.

 

[soviet prince]

My Gamestop said as long as you preordered you are guaranteed a copy.

 

[GimR]

One of my Gamestops said that they had 200 pre orders already. No way they're going to have 200 copies.

 

[cdude1034]

This is how it works.

Gamestop guesses the approximate number of copies of a game their locations will get. The further ouy from the release date there are, the more of an approximation this number is. The closer they get, the more of an idea they have.

Not every location will receive the same number of copies. Most of the time, the number of copies received depends on the number of preorders, plus, some excess.

With some exceedingly popular games such as Halo or Smash, no matter how many copies are sent, the odds are that it will still sell out, so what Gamestop does is hold every copy they receive for up to two days for those people who preordered. Filling those is priority one.

If you don't happen to get yours within those two days, you don't lose your money. When you go pick it up, you tell the employee you preordered it, and that money you put down still goes towards the purchase price.

It's not illegal to not fill a preorder on launch day if you don't have enough copies to go around. It's illegal to keep the money though if you don't pick it up right away. The money you put down on a game is still YOUR money.

 

[thecatinthehat]

Well I'm pretty much assured a copy.
-Pre-Ordered about a year ago.
-Pre-Ordered with about 15 Dollars.
-I live in the 3rd largest school district in America, and I'm the only real smasher around here.

 

[Vollo]

This is how it works.

Gamestop guesses the approximate number of copies of a game their locations will get. The further ouy from the release date there are, the more of an approximation this number is. The closer they get, the more of an idea they have.

Not every location will receive the same number of copies. Most of the time, the number of copies received depends on the number of preorders, plus, some excess.

With some exceedingly popular games such as Halo or Smash, no matter how many copies are sent, the odds are that it will still sell out, so what Gamestop does is hold every copy they receive for up to two days for those people who preordered. Filling those is priority one.

If you don't happen to get yours within those two days, you don't lose your money. When you go pick it up, you tell the employee you preordered it, and that money you put down still goes towards the purchase price.

It's not illegal to not fill a preorder on launch day if you don't have enough copies to go around. It's illegal to keep the money though if you don't pick it up right away. The money you put down on a game is still YOUR money.

this person is correct. also sounds like a law student

 

[entrapment]

Legally...they can take as much pre-orders as they want 2 days before the shipping date. The Trick is if they can't fulfill...they will "attempt" to get in contact through the means that where given to them. If you fail to obtain their message they legally don't have to give you your copy of the game in those days you pre-ordered it. So ya they ususally good about pre-orders but big games they tend to warn you to come early.

 

[g-regulate]

One of my Gamestops said that they had 200 pre orders already. No way they're going to have 200 copies.

One near my house had like 415 pre-orders already. Store's never stop doing pre-orders, they will keep taking everyone's $5, even if they only receive half the amount of actualy copies of brawl. They don't care about you, they just want your money.

 

[OrlanduEX]

They don't care about you.

until you pull a class-action lawsuit on their ***.

 

[The Executive]

If this is true, I'm showing up at the mall at 7AM and waiting in front of the GameStop door for 2 hours until they open for my copy. NOBODY gets my Brawl, esp. when they've only put $5 down.

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

Glad I payed mine in full last week.

This can happen, though. It's quiet common with big launch titles.

 

[mthegreatone]

InsaneMonkey is right, if you put money down, its illegal not to fulfill.

gamestop can put you on lower priority if all you do is put $5 down instead of paying for the game in full ahead of time. i think that was the case when the next-gen systems were first being launched...

 

[SU_Remo]

Glad I payed mine in full last week.

This can happen, though. It's quiet common with big launch titles.

I did the same last week as well, in addition to picking up two brand new first party Gamecube controllers :D I finished my payment mostly because I was afraid of losing my $50 gift card before Sunday came around.

 

[KingDiDiDiddy]

I payed my game in whole like 5 months ago and am planning to show up at like 10 (and as of yesterday my gamestop said they had 150 copies pre-ordered)

should I be ok or should i show up earlier?

 

[nelohalo]

Just to clarify, will the game be launching midnight on Saturday, or midnight on Sunday?

And will places like wal-mart and target be running midnight launches?

 

[ncstate21]

Your friend is just a conspiracy theorist.

That sir, is a

Spoiler

conspirist theory

 

[TheMadShrew]

The only reason any Gamstop wouldn't have enough copies to fulfill preorders is if there were some kind of shipping error. In fact, they will likely have many more copies than what have been pre-ordered, and even more on top of that because a good amount of people will not pick up their preordered copies within the first two days, at which point they are available to the public.

 

[Papapaint]

A few points of clarification:

1. It's not "illegal" for them not to fulfill a preorder. That's just plain silly.

2. Paying for the game in full does not prioritize your copy. It's not as though there are people getting the game for $5. They give it to whoever is there first, regardless of whether or not they paid that day or twenty months ago.

3. It's simply good business. There will be plenty of dip****s who don't bother to pick up the game within the first few days.

 

[S2]

Gamestop legally only has to provide you with a game eventually. If you preorder, they are not required to get you the game on day 1, as long as you're on their waiting list for further shipments.

That being said, the store policy is to gurantee all preorders within 48 hours of them getting it. Stores are not supposed to order more than they can fullfill.

I've never had a problem concerning a preordered game at GS. I've been buying Preorders for over a decade at EB/GS.

 

[Tundravalco]

i work there and its true we have 300+ preorders and about 160 copies for the midnight release. but were getting more the next day so it doesnt really matter too much unless everyone comes to get it at midnight.

 

[Papapaint]

Gamestop legally only has to provide you with a game eventually. If you preorder, they are not required to get you the game on day 1, as long as you're on their waiting list for further shipments..

Legality =/= Store policy. The most you could get out of this is a free game or something for the store evading policy. You couldn't take this to civil court and hope to win.

 

[Pokec]

I wont be in town on the Sunday, so i was hoping to get the game on Monday.

I only put down $20..but now I'm worried that I won't have a copy for Monday.

Say it isn't so!

 

[beige]

Yeah man, I called my gamestop just to make sure I'll get a copy if I have a pre-order and they said if you have a pre-order, they'll have a copy for you.

 

[Killer Tree]

1. It's not illegal to not fulfill a reserve. You can just cancel the reserve and ask for your money back though. I remember with Gears of War, their shipment was accidently shipped to some other state so they didn't have the game for days. I just canceled my reserve and bought the game at Best Buy on launch day.

2. If you are worried, just go and buy the game either midnight or early launch morning. Unlike video game systems, I'm pretty sure they just give you the game if you have a reserve and they have a copy no matter what reserve number you have.

 

[Spartan1841]

They can't do that but they could even if its illegal sometimes they screw people up but I really doubt that happening