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The EB Games Employee Manual

Effigy2000 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:59:22 -0800

I read that there was a 'leaked' copy of the EB Games employee handbook floating around the web a few years back, and it explained in some great detail about how to talk to customers and to push really hard on getting people to pre-order and so on. Despite my best efforts, I can't get Google to show it to me. Does anyone have a link to it (or a saved copy they're able to send me)? Also, as a side question; why do EB Games and similar video game retailers push so hard to try and get you to pre-order stuff? What's in it for them, other than a potential sale once the game is released?

The demand is there, the money is not.

mhp — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 20:19:14 -0800

We have a lot of local talented artists locally, with a pretty happening music scene. Lots of these are college students with not much money, but loads of talent. Help me help them. A couple friends of mine and I are opening a venue/record store, and we've got a fairly successful online store selling local albums and other merchandise on consignment, but there are quite a few bands that we get asked about all the time, that we don't have, because they never made one because of a lack of funding.

We think this is a shame, and want to help.

Our solution is this:

1. They need $500 to produce a CD.
2. Let's say they raise $300 on their own, but they need $200 more to produce it
3.The decide to offer preorders of their cd for $5
4. We accept preorders, but we don't charge anybody until there are 40 willing people ($5 x 40 people=$200) or the band adds some more money
5. After the goal is reached, we charge everybody the $5 and give all of it(minus 15% or so)to the band, who then makes the cd, and gives to us so we can ship out the preorders

Are there any obvious flaws with my plan? Has this been done before, It seems that I've read about it someplace else, but my googling has failed me.

Are there any other considerations I may have missed?
Is this a stupid idea, or does it have potential?
Name Suggestions? The store is called "The Station"

WTB GH2 PST

heresiarch — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 08:44:38 -0800

What's the fastest way to get a copy of the upcoming Guitar Hero 2 for the 360? I don't have a preorder, and the local EB says there's no hope of getting it from them for quite some time. I basically never buy games as soon as they come out, so I don't know what the best practices are for doing it. Do online vendors tend to have more stock? Should I be looking for obscure vendors that are less likely to have lots of people buying from them? Or should I just give up and assume I won't be able to rock out for another few weeks?

If there is location-specific advice, I'm in Cambridge, MA, but am also frequently in Providence, RI if there are better options there.

Preorder Xbox 360?

robbie01 — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 15:29:55 -0800

Is any place still accepting Xbox 360 pre-orders, with a reasonable guarantee of launch delivery? The only place I could find was Gamestop.com's outrageously expensive Omega Bundle. Not gonna pay $2,000+ for a console, thankyouverymuch. At least not all at once ;)

Pre-Ordering Etiquette

blueshammer — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 08:49:39 -0800

I have a game that I am interesting in self-publishing. I don't have a lot of capital to put into it myself, so I'm thinking about using pre-orders to generate the bulk of the necessary revenue. What is the etiquette, if you will, of pre-ordering? What's "too long" between the submission of a pre-order and the availability of the product? I don't want people to actually give me money unless I can guarantee eventual shipment of the product; how is this handled? I'm thinking of how Amazon doesn't charge your card until an item ships; is that how pre-orders are typically handled? Do business that operate on pre-orders borrow against those pre-orders to pay for manufacturing, and then cash in on those pre-orders to pay back the bank? Any wisdom in this area is appreciated.