Store clerks are not paid by you so they can say whatever to you before you buy something! Very simple, isn't it? Anyway. It's pretty normal for a retailer to have its own agenda since they always have to control and maintain their inventory healthy. One of their jobs is to sell something that doesn't sell otherwise after all.
Sony Incentives to Gamestop Employees...
- Thread starter expletive
- Start date
It is wrong, people can do something about it (i.e. shop somewhere else), and the title is doing nothing but stating the facts provided in the link.
This is different. This is Gamestop allowing an incentive directly to their employees, ensuring that any shred of objective advice that a consumer might get from their associates, is further obscured. I dont pay them, but Gamestop does. Does it seem like good business to you to have the face of your company risk lcoming off like a bunch of shills?
at the end of the day if you do all the necessary research + cost calculation on any product you are looking at, salesperson or promotion means nothing to you. 
edit: i tried all my best to stop laughing when this guy from GAME tried to tell me that there's more games to play on ps3 than 360
edit: i tried all my best to stop laughing when this guy from GAME tried to tell me that there's more games to play on ps3 than 360
According to you. But the posters above have certainly explained why your opinion is not the universal truth.
They're likely to encounter the same thing elsewhere, as others have explained above. I too have worked retail and can tell you the same thing.
Yes, but I'm sure it can be agreed that it could have been written in other words since there is not one specific company doing this.
Where do you shop then, how do you prove what is otherwise a company policy which is not public?
Like someone said, buy online and stay away from sales people.
Has someone actually made a successful argument that this isnt wrong? I've seen a lot of 'well so does Microsoft' and some 'c'est la vie". Let me check again...
All I can do is make my purchasing decisions based on the information i have in front of me. If i find that Best Buy or an alternative chain were doing it as well, then eventually i'd be left with no alternative but to go online.
No, i only have proof of this, so I can't outirght say they all are doing it, even though they may very well be.
See above.
Therein lies the problem? To what basis do you say it is wrong? From what perspective? From a business perspective, they're doing what is right to maintain sales. Stockholders see it as something good. From some perspectives it is "right" from some perspectives it is "wrong", hence my suggestion that this be in the aforementioned Religion, Politics & Socioeconomic Climate section of B3D.
You say you try to make your purchasing decisions based on the information in front of you, but you are not consistent in what you consider to be solid information or "proof". Already, there are members, myself included that have told you that many companies engage in the offering of incentives to retailers to sell their goods, some over short periods, some for long term. MS, Canon, Epson, Sony, etc. Yet, you decide that there is no proof except for this case of Sony doing it.
I must be missing something here.
Retail outlets are the console/software/etc. manufacturer's sales representatives to the market. They are not hired by the customers to give unbiased data any more than car dealerships are.
Would it be "unjust" if one console manufacturer gave Gamestop a better discount than another did? Would it be unjust if Toyota paid their INDEPENDENT dealerships employees a bonus for selling more? What if that dealership also sold Hondas?
I think expletive is completely out of touch with how sales channels work.
When it comes to sales, sales persons are PAID to represent their products.
Retail outlets are the console/software/etc. manufacturer's sales representatives to the market. They are not hired by the customers to give unbiased data any more than car dealerships are.
Would it be "unjust" if one console manufacturer gave Gamestop a better discount than another did? Would it be unjust if Toyota paid their INDEPENDENT dealerships employees a bonus for selling more? What if that dealership also sold Hondas?
I think expletive is completely out of touch with how sales channels work.
When it comes to sales, sales persons are PAID to represent their products.
I dont think i can state the my basis any more clearly than i have several times arleady, but here goes...
By Gamestop engaging in incentive programs like this one, degrades the potential of a customer to receive unbiased information. That is bad for customers.
I dont care if its good for business, thats their problem.
I consider this link, along with scanned document, and the conversation with the manager of my local store, solid information. Not what 2nd hand info on the board here says. There may very well be incentive programs that i dont find objectionable as this one, i'll decide as i go.
Why the hell is everyone so eager to defend gamestop anyway?
Understood, and none taken, but still, you cant say 'use your brain' to someone like, say, my wife.
But the real question is does she realize that when going to places like that?
Mine has (to an extent).I see your point and I think what specifically rubs me wrong about this is the propensity for it to propagate FALSE information. Sales incentives make sense to me, "Halo 3 is only 58.99 at gamestop!" becuase MS cut a volume discount with gamestop. Thats a very concrete and factual representation to a consumer. Product X is 58.99 here, product X (or Y) is 59.99 there, very pragmatic decision. But now you are rewarding the salespeople directly for selling the product, armed with nothing but the power of persuasion. To me, that sounds like nothing good comes out of it for the consumer and exponentially increases the chance that my wife is goung to be outright lied to.
Do you mean to say that this ain't happening already? C'mon, 'objective buying advice' is a myth! People were giving biased advice based on their own opinion long before any SONY deal 'compromise'.
I think Mize is right. You need to get in touch with how sales channels work - because if you were, you'd know that this is the way of the norm. Retailers, no, any sales channel run incentives all the time!
Is it fair that only the *new* customers to sign up for the phone deal go into the draw to win the car? What about me? I've been with the company for 6yrs already!
SONY is only doing what any good company would do - ensure that their product sells. And if that means buying mindshare from Gamestop, then so be it! They're not the first, and won't be the last! Sad fact.
Yep.
They are representatives of their employers not of the suppliers.
Volume discounts are very common and can benefit the consumer. The current situation cannot benefit the consumer.
See the first point.
Manufacturors are in the business of making money on the stuff they sell. They can sell this direct, or they can sell this to retailers who take a bit of margin but nevertheless generally help them sell their stuff better.
Retailers are in the business of making money on the stuff they sell. The higher the profits the better. You cannot ask from them to do the work that consumer organisations are invented for, unless you do so buy going to a shop that uses this method as a means to create a more loyal client-base.
Consumer organisations and stuff like review magazines and websites (although being ad-based, they are still vulnerable to corruption) are in the business of providing consumers with objective information on the value and quality of products sold by manufacturors through retailers.
Any questions? If not, let's move on.
Retailers are in the business of making money on the stuff they sell. The higher the profits the better. You cannot ask from them to do the work that consumer organisations are invented for, unless you do so buy going to a shop that uses this method as a means to create a more loyal client-base.
Consumer organisations and stuff like review magazines and websites (although being ad-based, they are still vulnerable to corruption) are in the business of providing consumers with objective information on the value and quality of products sold by manufacturors through retailers.
Any questions? If not, let's move on.
You want a successful argument? Here you go.
These kind of employed tactics improve competition between companies to better provide for their retailers, which directly corresponds to better sales for the multiple home consoles available through pushed sales. These sales promote competition between the major console manufacturers and software developers, which, in the end, only benefits us, the gamer.
There. Please, in the words of Ali G...Relax ya' body.
gokickrocks
Regular
what i find funny is that the incentive is pathetic
they get a choice of sony published games (no ps3 system listed), which currently is at 4 games: motorstorm, resistance, genji and nba 07
if the employee even owns a ps3, he/she most likely already has resistance and probably motorstorm as well and seeing how every gamestop employee that i interacted with (which they initiated the convo, i just want to get a game and get out) are caught up on their reviews, they'd avoid genji (which i heard wasnt bad except for annoying camera angles that just pissed people off)
...im assuming that they get to save up their reward points (~ $350), so i guess they can hold off on their choices, but to not be able to apply their points towards a system, i dont see much of an incentive for now
they get a choice of sony published games (no ps3 system listed), which currently is at 4 games: motorstorm, resistance, genji and nba 07
if the employee even owns a ps3, he/she most likely already has resistance and probably motorstorm as well and seeing how every gamestop employee that i interacted with (which they initiated the convo, i just want to get a game and get out) are caught up on their reviews, they'd avoid genji (which i heard wasnt bad except for annoying camera angles that just pissed people off)
...im assuming that they get to save up their reward points (~ $350), so i guess they can hold off on their choices, but to not be able to apply their points towards a system, i dont see much of an incentive for now
not to mention they problably get the games at cost any time they want which makes the value even less.
archangelmorph
Veteran
Expletive I understand your distaste for the situation but unfortunately thats life.. This kind of thing happens in all areas of retail, much much more than many seem to realise..
Ever walked into a PC store and asked the clerk which brand is better? You think the one he would lead you to ACTUALLY holds some kind of technical or social advantage with respect to some of the others? (not you personally.. I'm sure most of the people around here build their own rigs..
)My point is this..
What's happening is good business.. The consumer comes in with a need and is persuaded towards purchasing a top brand product (Hey! at least it is a Top Brand Quality product!!).. If they buy it and they like it then everybody wins.. If they don't they'll bring it back to the store and get a refund before walking out again with something else..
At the end of the day this only really affects people who are either torn on their decision of which console to get AND they aren't fully aware of what each one has to offer.. OR people who generally don't have a clue about any of the consoles and in that case they'll either agree to the purchase of stick two fingers up at the cost of the machine (which is pretty hard to swallow for the average joe regardless of how much you try to persuade him!!).. Not only that, most of the people who work in these stores are hardly "world class" salesmen and so most people won't be very easily swayed into slapping down £425 on something they have doubts about..
And people who are wise and already know what they want will walk into the store, pick up the console they're looking for and buy it without ever needed to ask for any "supposed informed oppinion"..
Personally I say "Well done Sony!!" because they really have to do SOMETHING to get rid of the pretty poor retail mindshare which already plagues most of these stores..
When I went into GAME to buy my Xbox360, I was considerably shocked by overhearing a store clerk completely blast (i.e. only having negative things to say about it, and in some cases even lying about it) the PS3 when asked which console would make a better purchase between that and the 360.. Most of these store clerks don't really care about the needs of the consumer anyway and in fact seek to push their own agendas/oppinions onto consumers in an attempt to demonstrate their self-proclaimed expertise (on an industry they sit at the arse [& can't see over it] of..) to make them feel good about themselves..
IMO It's this retail mindshare (supressing the enthusiasm of the uninformed) which could be playing a rather significant factor to the poor uptake of PS3 brand.. Sure the higher-ups in retail have a much warmer oppinion towards the brand, but unfortunately they aren't the ones "selling" these units to the consumers who are just looking for the next best thing in consumer electronic entertainment..
Word games are fun? Their employers represent the suppliers - duh! Then they hire employees to do this job. If it's not the retailer's employees job to "sell you" then whose job is it?
Unfortunately you just described a common practice known as "selling."
One sells what they're paid to sell. If I work for a Kia dealership Kia's are the best, etc.
Hence the age old saying "buyer beware"