Should it be considered "New" if it's already opened?

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Where I work, for both new and used games, we don't keep the physical games out on the sales floor, only the cases as obviously if the games were actually out there our losses due to theft would go through the roof.

With new games, we break the seal on the game, put the disc away in a drawer and place the case on the wall. The game is never played or otherwise touched.

A fair number of our customers take issue with the fact that we sell games labeled "New" when they have already been opened by us.

On top of that, since the cases and manuals are kept out on the floor, they disappear sometimes. Standard policy is that even if a manual or case from a "New" game goes missing, a replacement case is made and the game is still sold at the same full price you would pay for a sealed copy at Wal-mart.

Now you can get a 10% discount on an opened new item (especially where the manual and case is missing) if you ask about it, but it's not something proactively offered even when all we have for a "new" game is the disc (I personally do not agree with this).

So my question to you, the good people of CS, is: Is it fair to call something "new" and sell it for full price if the packaging has been opened?

[Flygon_Trainer]

In my opinion, "new" in terms of objects like video games, CDs, and the like, means "factory sealed". So, my answer would be no, it's not new. It's extremely good quality, "like new", but without the factory sealing it's not new to me.

In addition, I'd have to see the CD after it had been in the drawer after a while. If its conditions in the drawer had damaged the CD at all it is most certainly not new.

Furthermore, if the case and/or instruction manual are missing, it's absolutely not new at all, it's been used and not all the components that would have come with a "new" game are there.

[Bandit]

For me, if there was an empty box on the ZOMG! NEW! shelf, I would expect it to be that way. I would also expect when I take that box to the counter that I would get a sealed copy. If it's the last copy, I'd pay new for it if it has all the disks/manuals/goodies.

If it's a "Special Edition" deal, I'd expect a sealed copy.


Just my 2 cents.

B

[Dave1982]

Is there some reason you can't have dummy displays and keep the sealed product in a secure location?

[NightWatch]

Yeah, I've bought games that are brand new, but the seal was broken by the store. I didn't check the inside, but when I got it home, I discovered the manuals were gone. I like having the manual. I rarely buy new games at the game stores for that reason now.

[ArcticChicken]

While I fully understand why gamestore opens the games and stashes them behind the counter, if I'm shelling out new game prices, I want all the original packaging intact. And I'd be fucking pissed if someone tried to sell me a game as new without the original case or manual.

[Hanzoku]

I agree, If the store wants to operate on that principal, it should have a dummy case on the floor, and the rest of the sealed new games in lockup. I definitely would refuse to pay full price for a game that is marketed as new without case and/or manuals.

[Rapscallion]

I could see why it would be considered 'new' under those circumstances, but I could also see why a customer wouldn't be able to see it as such as well.

Rapscallion

[PepperElf]

personally i hate the practice too and refuse to buy any game/software that's pre-opened

i don't want any chance of the keycode turning out to be pre-used

[PCGameGuy]

Keycodes! Oh that'd just piss me off no end. Or special in-game codes for collector editions. I have unfortunately had to stop using the local stores due to the used game issue, the pre-order issues, and then this opened-new issue. Which is too bad, since I LOVE going to the game store and seeing what they have, and talking with the staff/customers about my little hobby. Amazon is just not the same, you know?

[Broomjockey]

I've gotten several games like that from the EB Games near me, and it annoys me every time that I'm getting something already opened. I paid for new, I want it sealed. In fact, I've read somewhere about a suit going on about one game shop where the employees would occasionally play the games on the units in-store, or even borrow them temporarily, and so the games were now absolutely used, but since they were never sold, the store was selling them as new, and some people found out.

[Jetfire]

For computer games, considering many/most PC games nowadays have KeyCodes that are located in the manual or on the box itself, if it wasn't factory sealed, I would be suspicious of it. I know for MMO expansions and probably a lot of other games nowadays, you don't even NEED the CD/DVD in the box; you just need the keycode to register the product and you're good to go. (I've got pretty much every EQLive and EQII expansion up until 4 years ago from the box when available, and other than when I installed originally, the discs have never seen the inside of a diskdrive. )

[cinema guy]

So a question to Crazed Clerk the 2nd, how do you go about returns?

There is a whole other thread about not accepting returns that have been opened because of piracy concerns. Does your store accept returns of opened games?

[Android Kaeli]

I haven't bought a game in a while but I would expect to have a dummy case out to look at as a pretty, empty box and the actual game in the back somewhere.

I would think that if it was unopened, it's new, but even if it's opened at a store level to make it look nicer it's used.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

So a question to Crazed Clerk the 2nd, how do you go about returns?

There is a whole other thread about not accepting returns that have been opened because of piracy concerns. Does your store accept returns of opened games?

As a general rule, no. However, in most cases if a customer makes a big enough fuss about it we will go ahead and accept the return. This has happened many times.

I don't know if it's true but I am told there was a time we would accept opened new games for refunds and then resell them as "new" even though they had been played and returned. A lawsuit was filed by customers not impressed by the deception and so in response to the suit the company stopped doing new game returns unless sealed (at least officially). I've never researched it but it seems plausible.

As for borrowing games temporarily, this does happen.

From an online article:

The harsh side is the 'checkout' : for better or worse, that employees may check out new games that are more than two weeks past their original release so long as they are returned in mint condition. Typically most good stores encourage employees to check out used, even though company policy gives used more weight than new. The fact is, though, that checking out titles isn't at the top of most employee's to-do lists, and 98% of games have literally never been touched, only slid into a paper or plastic sleeve and put away.

Also, someone asked why we don't use display cases. Well we don't get display sleeves for every game that comes out and I guess the company does not want to bother with the expense of printing a bunch out. In addition, not having display cases prevents situations where a customer tries to buy a game that's not in stock (by bringing the display case to the counter) and then gets upset.