EB: Play Haze for a week, then get your money back

by Scott Jon Siegel { Mar 12th 2008 at 10:30AM }

In what's bound to be one of the most bizarre trade-in deals ever, EB Games in Canada is offering a unique deal for customers who pre-order the PS3 FPS Haze: they can return it a week later for a full refund.

The deal, as seen on their website, states that customers who pre-order the Ubisoft game will be able to pick it up on the release date and play it for a full week, then be able to sell the used game back to EB for full retail price. The deal only applies if the game, case and manual are kept in good condition, and if the game is returned within a week of purchase.

If we were Sony or Ubisoft, we would be less than thrilled with this promotion, which seems to suggest that Haze is only worth a week's investment of time. Then again, a sale is a sale, and maybe more Canadians will be tempted to purchase the title, if they know ahead of time that they don't have to keep it.

Tags: eb, ebgames, haze, ubisoft

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Rubix42 @ Mar 12th 2008 10:35AM

Wow, EB is straight up getting shady now. First they sell us opened games as "new" because it was the display copy.

Now they're just going ahead and owning it. Yeah, return the new game within a week so we can sell it as new again!

xFenixKnightx @ Mar 12th 2008 11:00AM

"First they sell us opened games as "new" because it was the display copy."

Yea they tried to do that to me too, I said FUCK NO!!

Mills and Boom @ Mar 12th 2008 11:37AM

This is why I stopped buying games from dedicated games shops. In the UK it's common practice to do this.

Supermarkets and online. Fuck you knobish shops.

Po0py @ Mar 12th 2008 12:01PM

This does nothing but harm the industry. EB just wants to sell the game twice and reap the benifits of earning 100% profits on the game when they sell it the second time.

You know a lot of people have been complainng about the downward spiral of retail game stores but I for one will be glad to see the back of them.

rv @ Mar 12th 2008 11:51AM

AFter this transaction ,it probably shows up in a special way on the balance sheet.
They make a sale, and have your cash. Inventory down, cash up.
They take it back as store credit. Inventory goes up by resale value, and unearned rev goes up, I believe. Im not sure though.

rc @ Mar 12th 2008 10:35AM

Actually, this would suggest that you will enjoy the game so much that you won't want to return it. But whatever. Spin it however you want.

copa @ Mar 12th 2008 10:45AM

"Actually, this would suggest that you will enjoy the game so much that you won't want to return it."

LOL. Got news for you, buddy, EB didn't develop Haze and doesn't have any control over how good the game is.

This sounds like an open declaration of war between retailer and publisher. The retailer is basically saying that the margins on the new game sales are so razor thin, that they would rather just translate the money directly into store credit.

If they can get 1/3 of those customers to spend the credit on buying high-margin used games, then they will make much more money than they would have on the straight-up sale of Haze.

It will also drive much, much, more store traffic on what otherwise would have been a low sale item, and allow them to collect interest on the preorder (and pocket money from the occasional customer who forgets to pick it up).

The interesting part, as Rubix42 suggests, will be to see what exactly they do with the returned copies. Do they try to resell them as new? There's no way they can unload all that inventory as $5-off used games. Do they try to return them to the publisher?

upz @ Mar 12th 2008 11:08AM

Copa, it's not so much a question of margin as it is a question of accounts payable/receivable. Basically, pre-orders and in-store credit are both huge for Gamestop because they are, in essence, no interest loans. My $60 gift card is $60 capital in their pocket that they use to generate revenue on other investments. What this says to me, is that they anticipate the profit margin from all their extra pre-order/trade-in cash to be higher than the value they'll lose from marking a copy of Haze from "New" to "Like New" (~$5 depreciation of in-store value). It's typical for large businesses to generate close to 1/10 of their revenue from other people's assets, but with Gamestop's business model, I wouldn't be surprised if that number was closer to 1/4. Anyway, my bet is that this is a test program, and if they deem it to be profitable, they'll roll it out world-wide. This will be bad news for developers and publishers, not because Gamestop is saying their games suck, but since they'll sell even less new copies now than when Gamestop was just reselling their games. We shouldn't underestimate the impact of this. It might be the beginning of all out war between publishers and resale retailers...

DangerMouse @ Mar 12th 2008 11:25AM

EB's main goal is to get the customer to the store, and make it enticing enough for the customer so that they don't purchase from a competitor.

Also, this guarantees the person who's still indecisive about purchasing the game reassurance to pre-order it. If they're unsure, then hey, return it if you don't like it. By forcing the indecisive to pre-order it, they know EXACTLY how many copies to order so they don't go too far over with extras. Extras = more new games to sell = sucky-ass profit.

If they keep the game, no loss, just like selling a new one. If they bring it back, they take 5 dollars off the price, and slap it on the USED game section, where in turn they make full profit on each one sold, compared to the maybe 10 or 15 they'd make by selling new copies.

Also, the customer has store credit, not there full money back. There's no doubt that EB will convince the customer to purchase a used game for few dollars cheaper so EB can be even more profitable.

Brilliant.

bobartig @ Mar 12th 2008 5:34PM

@upz: What kind of financial geniuses do you take GameStop for such that they could make meaningful gains on a 1-week interest free loan? Seriously? Banks can't do this, investment firms don't make money this way, what makes you think a games retailer somehow has a better investment model than the entire financial world? This is an absurd fantasy that you must dispel yourself of immediately.

Regarding gift cards, for any retailer, SEC accounting rules are such that the cash paid for gift cards cannot be recognized as revenue until the card is redeemed or expires. So retailers do see windfalls when people lose their giftcards, and millions of dollars worth of them go unclaimed, but this takes *years* to do properly, and requires tracking the things very carefully for a long time. So its more like a free loan with NO interest that they cannot spend for about 5-7 years, depending on state laws. Less of an amazing deal for them.

NATO_Duke @ Mar 12th 2008 10:40AM

When they get the used copies in you can keep doing it then too.

I have had them tell me to buy a used game, instead of new, so I could play through it and get a different game if I returned it within a week. I guess if the staff is unhappy enough with the company, and likes you enough, you could buy one game and play through many as you buy and return them over and over.

(I expect used copies of this game will remain bloated for a while.)

Shimrra @ Mar 12th 2008 10:42AM

Apparently EB Canada doesnt believe this game is going to be a hit so they are taking a chance and hoping that they can generate enough revenue once the game is released. When you think about it this is pretty damn smart of them. How many people out there play the game as soon as they get home? I know some people do but not everyone. With so many games gamers have in there collection it is hard to sit down and go thru a game from day one release. Alot of people would say "Yeah I'd return the game in less than a week" But the percentage of that group is going to be so small it would barely effect the amount of money EB would lose.

Phranctoast @ Mar 12th 2008 10:46AM

I think its a safe bet that people that are actually pre ordering the game will play it the first day. Why the hell pre order then?

Shimrra @ Mar 12th 2008 10:48AM

I understand that but ask yourself how fast do you finish your games? Well depending on what you are playing of course but in a whole how long does it normally take you to finish a game?

Phranctoast @ Mar 12th 2008 11:06AM

I guess it depends on the game. Ive had games I sat on since they were received as gifts and I had other games to still play.

When I rent games, I typically finish them in three days. If I really enjoy the game, I try to artificially inflate the time spent on the game by not playing it as much (like that makes sense......).

As far as Haze is concerned, Like most games of this type, the MP is whats going to keep people around. People may be more reluctant to return it because of that.

scotty @ Mar 12th 2008 10:45AM

People sure are ignorant when it comes to how much you can benefit from Gamestop/EB games.

First off, the reason they are doing this is to push pre-orders. Notice that you have to have pre-ordered the game. If you saw an ad that said, "hey, if you buy it here, you can return it within a week if you don't like it", that's going to push a lot of people into doing it.

Gamestop makes maybe 4-5 dollars on a brand new game sale, so it's probably worth it to them to lose 5 when someone takes it back (return it for 60, they sell as USED for 55).

And as the above poster said, yes, if you arent a total dickbag to the employees, they will tell you that if you buy any used game you are able to return it within 7 days. FOR ANY REASON. FOR A FULL REFUND. Saw a brand new game you were on the fence about? BUY THE USED ONE FOR *GASP* ONLY 5 LESS, then return it for a full refund in a week.

But hey, you guys all hate the company so much. Keep going to blockbuster and shelling out 8 dollars for a week.

Tonisha @ Mar 13th 2008 10:18PM

I agree. That sounds like a good deal. People complain when too much with the PS3 and games in general. Just be glad SOMETHING is happening for the PS3. It pisses me off when all people do is whine, whine, and whine.

rc @ Mar 12th 2008 10:50AM

@ Copa, first off, I'm not your buddy. You're one of the biggest douche bags on this site. Secondly, it's a good way to drive sales and if they thought alot of people were going to be returning the game, they wouldn't do it.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 12th 2008 11:40AM

I thought I was one of the biggest douche bags on the site.

I must try harder... I'll the the Hokage of Douche bags on this site... BELIEVE IT!

Steve @ Mar 12th 2008 2:23PM

Wow, you DO realize that the line between douchebag and just plain jerk off is now totally blurred right?

Marry me Mario PSN: Killjebus @ Mar 12th 2008 10:50AM

This is NOT the 1st time Funcoland ie Gamestop has done this. Nor will it be the last. They have been doing this once in a while for OVER 10 years.

ThePremierAssassin @ Mar 12th 2008 10:54AM

HHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Nicholas @ Mar 12th 2008 10:54AM

This is f***ing hilarious!

Shadowsithe @ Mar 12th 2008 11:01AM

They did this with God of War II was well.

Matt B @ Mar 12th 2008 1:00PM

But this is a PS3 game and many people want it to fail. So they spew FUD about how the game will suck since that can be the ONLY reason for a promotion like this.
Maybe it will be true and the game will suck, but the reverse can also be true and they are confident that most people will not return the game.

Jaken @ Mar 13th 2008 8:58AM

Erm, EB always had a 10 day money back guarantee when it was still about in the UK. I used to go every friday, give back the game, and get another one. It's pretty much free rentals. GAME did this too, I think they may have stopped it recently though for obvious reasons. I like the way they are trying to use a 7day guarantee as a new deal :D

xFenixKnightx @ Mar 12th 2008 11:03AM

Screw this, I want Crysis Warhead =P

seemoneh @ Mar 12th 2008 11:09AM

This actually makes a good bit of sense on their part. Make a bit of cash on the preorder interest, then resale the used game for a way better margin when it's returned. This could actually translate into extremely high profits on each game if it worked every time.

MarkHawk @ Mar 12th 2008 11:10AM

I can see a lot of people pre ordering this and keeping it.

What is there to lose? If I like it i get to keep it but if it's a flop EB's will give me full retail price refund. Chances are more people will keep the game for more then a week. If they do this in the states count me in.

Used games in the US have a 7 day try and take back if you dont like it policy.

LiK @ Mar 12th 2008 11:10AM

in other words: TAKE THAT GAMEFLY!

kbomb1upc @ Mar 12th 2008 11:13AM

Not to hop on the bash train but, has anyone ever meet a GameStop employee that actually knew what they were talking about? I think in my many of conversations I've meet about two.

ThePremierAssassin @ Mar 12th 2008 11:21AM

They usually scare the shit out of me...

Which is why I've made it a point to buy my videogames from either Best Buy or CC...

They're just so emo/freaky...

NATO_Duke @ Mar 12th 2008 11:33AM

Assassin, you reminded me - ya wanna go to the H.I.M. concert? MCR?

Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 12th 2008 11:42AM

I'll go to My Chemical Romance.... I don't know why but I really, really like their stuff. Especially Black Parade... but I'm also listening to Justice and Chemical Brothers so I'd feel a bit out of place at one of their concerts...

NATO_Duke @ Mar 12th 2008 11:48AM

I was just razzing because he said they were emo at EB. Actually, I like MCR too. I think I'm gonna see them in Chicago in April.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 12th 2008 11:50AM

Didn't know they were coming to Chicago. Might make the two hour drive then....

TomCo @ Mar 12th 2008 1:11PM

Hahahahaha,

BUSTED!

Bleu @ Mar 12th 2008 11:27AM

sounds like EB is trying to be slick, but we have a lot of idiots in this world and so we will see a bunch of saps actually do this.

deaftly @ Mar 12th 2008 11:27AM

Well I guess I'll be picking up Haze used a week after it comes out.

Alzheimers @ Mar 12th 2008 11:33AM

This is actually a two-level strategy that's certainly going to earn them a bucket of money:

1) The fact that despite most people intending on following through, there's actually going to be a much lower percentage who actually do, or comply with the terms fully. Because piracy on the PS3 isn't "rampant" they don't have to worry about people copying the game and returning it. Those people that do return it will be scrutinized with a magnifying glass: they'll disqualify you if the disk is barely scratched, they'll disqualify you if a the manual is creasedl, they'll disqualify you if you bought it 7 days and 1 second ago.

2) Considering all the supply issues that retailers are apparently having (you can't buy a game that you haven't preordered for a few days anyway, even if they have the stock to fill their preorder obligation), I wouldn't be surprised if Gamestop is allocated less then they anticipate demand to want. By offering the return program, they can turn around and sell it to someone who they can then "Upsell" again - remember Gamestop makes more money selling their membership cards/magazine subscriptions and cluebooks then they do the actual games. Oh, and if the person who comes in to buy that used copy of Haze also picks something out of the used bin, that's another bonus.

caramelzappa @ Mar 15th 2008 6:28PM

Relaters aren't really having supply issues. Gamestop just orders a couple of games over what the preorder number is. I went to Gamestop when brawl launched and of course, they only have enough for preorders, just like they did when Halo 3 came out. Best buy had stacks of Halo 3, target had at least ten copies of Brawl. EB/Gamestop tries to make you think you need to preorder to get your hand on the game, so they can get your address and other info so they can use it for advertising. Just go to best buy.

Mills and Boom @ Mar 12th 2008 11:41AM

Oh, and Haze is possibly the most vanilla, mediocre looking FPS since that new Turok game. It looks tired and dull like a giant panda.

There's just something around this title. Some shitty "haze".

Mike @ Mar 12th 2008 12:11PM

I don't understand what people are upset about. EB is a company and this is a strategy to do what they've set out to do. Make money. This offer is based on the mindset of offering a rebate. Most people do not collect on it. If someone does bring the game back in they'll more than likely get store credit. Any profit they've made on that game will be "lost" and transfered to whatever you purchase with the credit. Assuming that you use it of course. I can't believe how much money businesses make on unclaimed store credit and gift cards.

The onus here is on the developer. Make a game that consumers would want to keep for more than a week and you'll be alright. Deal or not, this should be their goal. Not shitty as games like Jumper that cost $60 and only last 2 hours. I know the developer can't control what EB is doing, but to me EB is doing me a favor (if I lived in Canada and decided to buy this game (which I wouldn't if I did live there)).

I understand that developers are not making money on the sale of a used game, but it's not a unique situation. How many people always buy a new car when they need to replace their current vehicle?

Shagittarius @ Mar 12th 2008 12:11PM

It makes perfect sense for gamestop, they can buy less copies of the game yet they stand to make greater profits from it...

It sucks for the publisher though.

Organic_Shadow @ Mar 12th 2008 12:18PM

Hopefully the co-op and mp modes are worth more than a week of play. I played RFOM online for months and never really heard anyone bashing on it, so I guess if I lived in Canadia this wouldn't really matter.

Sucks for the publisher though. A lot of people just play games through once and then trade them in. =\

Deck @ Mar 12th 2008 12:33PM

This is why I buy games elsewhere!

mike @ Mar 12th 2008 12:48PM

Did no1 even read the fine print? you dont get your money back, you get trade in value instead. This means EB games get to resell haze, and forces you to buy a different game in the store. Also, Tax is not included.

So $59.99 x 13% tax (ontario) = $7.79 that you dont get back from this trade in. You must also pay Tax on the second game you purchase. If you really want to try haze for a week, you better off heading to rogers video and renting the game for $7.99 which is a 1 week rental.