Is my Business Strategy a recipe for Failure?

[@retroricksgamepoint]

Black Friday Sale on Whatnot on November 29th @ 3pm! Use this link to get $15 to spend for FREE! whatnot.com/invite/retrorick

[@foretrosake5216]

Instead of self check out, just self check station. Walmart had them and I loved them. Can’t find them these days. “Can’t find the price” then you could update the prices in you POS system.

[@ZeroCoolYT]

How you doing Retro Rick

[@amazedbotisalowlifeloserat5k]

Whatnot is Gay.

[@hudsonball4702]

I sadly won't be able to join in. I have work.

[@foretrosake5216]

@@retroricksgamepoint what did I say wrong that got my comment taken down?

[@RageReq0]

as someone who tries to avoid interaction as much as possible; if I saw a store where I had to ask them for all the prices, I would just no longer shop there

[@Scopez1337]

I'm sure they will put some scanner in the shop for scanning yourself.. loll they should.

[@nat_the_gray]

As someone who tries to avoid interaction as much as possible, if I had a social media goblin trying to get me to give a shoutout on camera I would never go in again 😂

[@Jankmasta]

@@nat_the_gray yeah id just leave too. im there to make a purchase and see some cool stuff not be a product

[@theodanielwollff]

Exactly. If it has no price, I don't buy.

[@clairetastic]

You should have them look up everything in the store for fun

[@rufio281]

68% of consumers won't buy if there's no price tag. Meaning you lose 2 out of 3 sales without having stuff priced!

[@Wendigowok]

Pfff .... Stats are meaningless ... 81% of people know that.

[@miket2646]

Yea I worked in a/v and we didn't have prices out in order to force conversation with the sales staff.

[@rufio281]

@@Wendigowok 😂

[@exsnozer]

Its illegal without a price tag as well. If no tag on the products or shelf its free in my country.

[@mO-gy8ee]

No tags I am going somewhere else

[@felix-ve8jk]

My local video game store, that's been around since the early 90s, looks up the price of every game he tries to sell. Not a single price tag on anything in the store. He'll look on ebay mostly (don't think he knows what pricecharting is) and takes the price of the most expensive listing and adds anywhere from $5-20. I don't even bother going in anymore. AJ Games in Los Angeles.

[@Categoryonegames]

Sounds like Worlds Game Store that has a few locations in California and Utah. They take the market value on price charting and add $20.

[@danserrano2251]

Yeah I've been in there. The older lady doing the repairs is rude but the older guy is cool. I'll go back because of him, even though he had to look up the price for a Ps1 game.

[@josephmarkjones4755]

Game Exhange?

[@mariokart8715]

Idk; that used game store has been around since the 16 bit era.

[@razortype-s]

Customers do not want to come into a store and play a game of "Guess my Price" when making a potential purchase on merchandise. If you value your business, it's best to be as transparent as possible.

[@unklejohn8575]

If there are no prices and they have to look it up, I won’t be shopping there again. Back in the 90s, I had a comic book shop do that to me and after waiting more than five minutes for him to look in two different price guides, I told him to forget it and I walked out.

[@captainmullet]

A better option than no sticker would be putting a QR code on the case you can scan that'll load the most current price. You could install a QR reader in the store too.

[@Categoryonegames]

The majority of people have QR code scanners on their phones. This is how the used shoe stores in malls work. They don't price anything and the QR code takes you to their site with live price updates. Anyone under 25 is used to shopping like this. It's just older people who still want the old way of retail.

[@SuperKrug3r]

@@Categoryonegames I don't see the point of putting in the effort of going into a physical shop if you are just going to scan a code and see current ebay prices. I'll just go buy it on ebay without having to leave my home?

[@paulmyers8319]

I've thought the exact same thing

[@mikesprigg5495]

Qr scanner for the price is absolute idiocracy at its finest.

[@lookitskazzy]

@@Categoryonegames You know Android and iOS can scan QR codes using the default camera app, right? It's not 2012 anymore. Anyway, QR codes wouldn't work because the assumption here is they have a secret automagically updating price database. They don't - they're doing manual lookups on pricecharting or eBay when you ask for the price.

[@AdrianMayers]

As a consumer I would not buy anything with no prices, i would assume it is too high and leave, I don't want to talk to someone to just browse. There are live LED price tags, like some supermarkets have started using, but they obviously cost a fair bit to buy... but the advantage is they can auto update live - however for video games where there is only one or two in the store it may not be worth it, but for special items, common sellers etc, they may be worth it...

[@avalanche84sakic]

You hit the nail in the end. No price is something people generally associate with a high priced good. It usually causes me to walk right out. And honestly it's nice to go into a store and occasionally find a deal, if they are pulling price charting on every single item, the ability to snag a good deal dies.

[@mariokart8715]

Half Price Books might do this same thing for their games. Caleb from Phoenix Resale can use this same pricing method too.

[@keithfick2728]

I personally think and I know from experience trying to remove labels from toys and video games I think everything should be bagged and then a price put on that bag instead of on the product that way there's no damage to the the packaging at all

[@crashbandicoot5091]

Totally agree with you guys on the pricing argument. My local game store has everything priced on the shelves but then everything under their counter is not priced and its super annoying to have to bug them every time to ask for prices.

[@kevin3seven]

If a store didn't price their games, I wouldn't shop there. Might as well go to eBay, I don't even have to leave the house.

[@justanotherveganonyoutube710]

Yeah it's ridicules when shops do that

[@mustardmule4723]

100% you can see the price & condition without moving

[@kevin3seven]

@@mustardmule4723 Exactly and the store is probably pulling up eBay comps anyways haha

[@bradkohl99]

A place I used to work would tackle a section (system) about once or twice a month, depending on the size of the section. We also had a manager who would randomly check individual games and make notes of specific things we needed to change.

[@LonSeidman]

On pricing: agree that no pricetags doesn't make much sense.. One thing I would do is have a script that takes the inventory from your POS system and compares it against price charting/ebay data. I'm sure there's a data provider out there for that sort of thing - anything over a threshold variance gets its price updated.

[@bpseal]

Thought the same thing. Have the Pos flag a +- 10% change and have it run a report weekly or daily to alert the staff.

[@leongonzales2697]

You and and Michael and your staff are wonderful.Peopkeep the amazing episodes coming love you all and have a wonderful Thanksgiving

[@u.2b215]

I'd keep track when an item in inventory is priced and then depending on the value of the game assign how often the current value is checked. So something like games below $10 at most once a year, $20-$50 every 6 months, $50-100 every 3 months, $100+ every month.

[@Paddy_Badger]

Savor the flavor Michael, you earned that championship mug. 👍👍👍

[@CamronCreates]

Regarding the price tag question, just add a "as of" date to the stickers when they are first printed. It's fair to re-look up something at the register if it's been longer than a month or so which would give the customer a range, and the store a baseline to adjust for FMV if they add that to their store policy.

[@MegaVelez84]

5:19 digging the secret of mana music

[@cameronwhitezel]

I want those Exo Squad toys. I grew up on that cartoon!

[@Categoryonegames]

One of the best cartoons and those toys are amazing.

[@youtubasoarus]

Same! I had the one on the right... sad to see how much they are now. I'll probably never own one again lol.

[@fezwhy]

Any store with no price on their games would not be a place I would go to ever again. What a pain in the ass. Who would want to walk to the counter and ask for each game.

[@cookiesandoj3488]

yes! I love watching speed runs and I've learnt that different speed running communities use different languages for their games because it's both quicker to click through and less characters.

[@TDarvin]

If your able to use color price stickers. You could print out the prices on a different color for each quarter. (Blue-1st quarter, red- 2nd quarter, white- 3rd quarter, yellow- 4th quarter) so if your in the 3rd quarter of the year and see a color label on a game from the 1st or 2nd quarter you or your employees can easily/visually know its been there awhile and can update the price accordingly and slap the new current color price label on it.

[@stanbent-uy5qo]

I think it is a blast to find old stock in any place with older tags. It makes people keep coming back for deals on titles as the market changes

[@offdutygnome]

I love this video. A little bit of everything and the Earthbound Twoson theme!

[@BaraahaMalatov-t8p]

You always keep it interesting!

[@wingerfan1]

What sucks at GameStop is when you go into the store and they have a game for $40 and it sells on eBay in excellent condition for $40 but their copy has a torn label and they still want the mint condition price for it.

[@TarHeelsKenny]

Corporate sets that price. They don’t care about box condition. If the game didn’t have the original box, you’d still pay $40

[@AndrewBoersma]

Listed the price as you have and have the customer do the research if something is too far off they can let you know and you match based on last 10 solds averages etc Id have a sign as you walk to notify the customer about matching average of 10 sold

[@SpankysLoot]

As a fellow gamestore, I totally hate when other stores hide the prices in thier showcase. It's so annoying. Glad to see you guys don't partake in this practice. I too try to make sure prices are visible on everything (GameBoy games are the only exception. I dont want stickers on the label).

[@UberNoxious]

if you know the sticker price for each game you can look up market prices for each one (preferably automated) then choose which ones need sticker price updates. you might also consider putting the date on each sticker just in case you miss one that you meant to update.

[@jonathanhodapp8735]

I would see if there is a system that is linked on value and weekly when you look at your online pricing of inventory it would show the value weather up or down and change weekly as appropriate

[@bri4498]

I think a black friday video would be fun, to see all the discounts and what people buy etc

[@bobsimpson9228]

Why don't game stores just use a database with dynamic price tags on games that match to SKU's in the database? Both eBay and pricecharting have API's.

[@_neovek]

that's the way! A little IT investment, very beneficial.

[@Chriserino]

*heavy breathing*.. Your comment has piqued my interest. As a programmer, this sounds like a fun adventure. An app that helps both the customer and the seller know current price range... Would be a good app if it doesn't already exist. Thanks for the idea :)

[@bobsimpson9228]

@@Chriserino yea I thought about it. The only annoying part is either the customer has to scan every item they're interested in... or there would need to be an LED screen that updates SKUs pricing in real time on each item.. or a directory screen like a tablet that would show the updated price of each item. The store owner should be able to add or remove percentage based on the database price as well so it shows to the frontend customer. The problem is the market would be very small and it would only be for people in used game stores or any niche that has API's of collectibles.

[@CornerFreq]

Let’s go Michael! The mug of victory!

[@Chr0mePisto1a]

The digimon toys are awesome. Now i have to go and buy some! Thanks a lot

[@rogueelephant1745]

Consumer always has the prices at their fingertips....if they feel the price is to high they can show you the price now.....up to the business owner to negotiate a fair deal at that point. Have to be careful as a customer and as a business owner. With that being said, not having a price on products is a bad idea.

[@bootlegcraig6525]

Try using different color price labels for each month. It’s a quick and easy way to know what’s been sitting the longest and needs to be looked up.

[@blaze6942]

I had them digimon toys when I was younger. I remember opening them for my birthday you don't see them around that often

[@1getter]

Instead of looking for yellow tags it may be easier when you place the initial price tag on the item print the date on the sticker as well .

[@LeviBechtold]

An easier way than looking for yellowing tags a store near me uses is every tag gets a colored marker dot that's a new color every 2 months. If they see a tag that's a different color than the current and previous 1 then it gets rechecked

[@vawus]

I will say I came into the store a couple times and a few items were like 50-75% above market and your employees said they can't adjust prices so maybe fixing that policy so you can move product.

[@TinyBricks2014]

You guys definitely to it the right way. If I went to that other store I would walk around collecting a bunch of random games I liked take a huge pile up to the counter ask how much each one was and then decide against them all making them put them all back again 😅 No prices on stock means you will always pay full price and no one wants that I would not buy from them

[@therealrebelsquadron]

Install scanners throughout the store that are connected to a system that verifies pos pricing. Bar code on the price stickers. Customers can scan the price tag to verify the price is up to date. Just spitballing.

[@wallaceprower]

I think of those old price checkers at walmart where you could scan the bar code and the price comes up on a little screen that was mounted to one of the pillars in store.

[@falconxblast]

Best would likely be an app that customers use on their own phone to scan your label themselves for the price and your database could be updated dynamically based on the rules you set.

[@theodanielwollff]

Has Rick never heard of those real time price LCDs? They are pretty cool. They run on bluetooth of something. Basically once a day all the prices are pulled from price chart and updated. No work for you but having to setup all the database stuff.

[@mustardmule4723]

We have them in a few shops in the UK, pretty smart!

[@Tomb76ski]

I have a game shop in Quakertown PA that does this and I stopped going because of this; I will never go back because of that. I don't hope they go out of business but I hope they change their ways

[@Security848]

A few independent shops in London have not priced up alot of items also i have noticed a couple of stalls and at game shows.

[@jasongarner5980]

No tags on stuff over $200 or something could make sense. If the price jumps 20% on that stuff it could matter. If you buy a game for $30 and retail it $60 then you still got the margin you wanted even if the new fair market value is $80 at sale. One shop I go to just goes by pricecharting.

[@stevenmolinaro921]

You need a way to export your inventory and import into a service like PriceCharting, then export it back into Excel and do a comparison. If +/- 15%, then print a new sticker

[@dukecityR]

I once went to a game store in Virginia where none of the games were priced. In order to figure out the price, you had to connect to their local wifi, then access their INTERNAL ONLY web site they hosted from a local server, and then look up the prices of each item on my own. I left and never looked back.

[@EndrzGame]

Hope Friday goes smooth for you and your staff!

[@JediMindTrix420]

I would look into Digital Price Tags to see if the cost is worth the trouble.That way you can update the prices automatically.

[@1981freon]

I like having all the prices on things because having to ask someone for help on everything is too big of a hassle. On a different note if I see something that looks like it is overpriced I will ask about it.

[@PkmnMasterNeb]

My local game store used to look up ok each item in the store. Granted, they were very fair with their pricing but it’s annoying for the consumer and employee to constantly look up prices. Ever since they switched over to sticker prices I’ve noticed myself more inclined to shop there.

[@prestondye9348]

local arkansan here. there’s a pawnshop/game store here in north east arkansas that refuses to price any of their inventory and looks everything up at the counter. I refuse to shop there because of it, which sucks because their selection is incredible. it’s taxing on the consumer, makes the process of buying/selling incredibly clunky, and it eliminates the possibility of finding any good deals because i’m always paying exact present time market value or more.

[@SkaterStimm]

I would invest in digital price tags where you can monitor the prices and update them like Walmart does. Economics 101 talk about menu cost, and updating price tags or a menu prices is expensive.

[@retroricksgamepoint]

Sure that’s doable with a menu but we have over 50,000 games in our inventory

[@TheD0GGPOUND]

As a speedrunner of retro video games, for the most part we run the Japanese roms of games because we save time skipping the Japanese dialogue over English. So retro Rick was basically right.

[@retro_reflections]

Digital tags with scan-and-show displays dotted around the store would seem to be the way forward. Worth the investment given the rollercoaster nature of the market, and good for stock control as well.

[@alexi111]

I went into a retro game store in Yonkers. Amazing selection, not a single price on anything. Walked right out lol..

[@cotesteph]

I’ve said it before, but PriceCharting leads to a standardizationof prices across stores, which means it’s harder to get deals or decent prices, and whenever i see a store without prices as a consumer i know i’m not getting value for my money there. I don’t buy, and I don’t return there.

[@ArnoldOldSchool]

Why go to the store if the prices are same as ebay? May as well save the time and gas and sit on the couch.

[@nathan-st2br]

A semi local game store looks up games but they also have prices on there games. So if a game says let's say 9.99 and it went up to 15.99 they change the price. Also if you trade in things they ask you how much you want. More than looking up the items

[@boo1_gaming927]

Back in the day, Japanese games would come out before they would here in America. Some companies still do this practice, but most big companies do a universal worldwide release. With that, there's more glitches and bugs in the Japanese versions, and since it would take at the very least a few months to localize and patch for the American market, this is why it is preferred for speedrunners.

[@rhegafd]

You should get (or if they dont make them you should make them and sell them) paper that changes colors after a set period of time. Print your labels > after 1 month it turns red. Have signage that says "Games with red price tags may change at POS"

[@DerekVasconi]

two videos in less than a few days apart? I feel like I woke up to an early Christmas! Thank you for this awesome video. Michael finally beat Rick at one of the store games... well, even the best to ever do it sometimes have to lose, so that when they come back and win, it's even more sweeter a victory. Also, another topic, I think not having the prices on games is a terrible business model choice. Asking for the price all the time would get annoying really quickly. But at the same time, how do you keep up with pricing when you have a massive inventory like you do? I think the answer is to find a happy medium and price games in a place where you are comfortable with the profit margin on that game, but also if a customer requests a price check on a game, then you can do that and offer a better deal if the current price deems it possible. That would add an interesting element of chance in your store, where you can go to your store and maybe buy games that should be priced higher but aren't and you feel like you are getting a great deal in that sense. Even the little guy has to eat too, you know? Good luck with Black Friday and please film it! Last year's video was really fun to watch all that chaos unfold!

[@gabe9346]

I wonder if you can get ebay data on game sales and digitally update prices on the fly based on that. Then maybe post the prices on big screens by the cases or let people look them up on tablets, so they don't have to ask.

[@Aging.gamer83]

There is a store by me that looks up every price. Also they only have one computer, so if they are in the middle of a transaction, you have to sit there and wait (often with multiple people waiting). I don't shop there often, it's such a pain.

[@MrClawking]

I think the best thing is have multiple colors price labels , so every 2 weeks , month or whatever, u say it’s been a month since we priced things with a orange label we need to check our prices again

[@mustardmule4723]

If you don’t price stuff people will just walk away as they know the counter will check ebay etc. & they’ll get a poor deal. As you mentioned it’s also just a hassle.

[@tosh_is_me942]

i miss when games and other media were set prices,.... like you could get any game for a snes for like, what were they, $60? But i wish modern stores would just have sections with like $10, $50. $80 etc shelves/display cases,.... obviously some are worth a little more or less, but it should even out if done right

[@mastercarnage8165]

could put the barcodes on the game boxes and have a pos in store for customers to loop up themself like walmart or target has the little price scanners

[@lunaflax]

In my country a big international seller of electrical products sell games without prices. When I found out I turned around and did not even bother to ask for the price. Their main competion is right next to them on do not do this. They been doing this for a long time now.

[@MysteryAGMLegend]

The problem is with having to go to the front for each game is annoying, because some of these places may try to scam some of these people, or try to give them a price that’s high end eBay price. What’s stopping someone from someone at the store saying a certain game is $300 on eBay, but recent sold listings have it going for 50 to 60 bucks cheaper, and store excuse is “Well are prices are more accurate” or “Well it’s a rare game, and with shipping and protection your probably paying the same amount”, because some stores can be scummy like that specially if a person isn’t familiar with things like price charting.

[@fakkel321]

Just have scanners around the store so you can go look up the price yourself. Supermarkets where i live do that.

[@Ga_thrift_flipper]

There is a game store where I live that goes off priceCharting prices and it updates as soon as the market drops or spikes with recent sold prices

[@GingerbeardthegamingDad]

Game stop did this the other night for the retro games . If you don’t know your stuff I won’t. Buy from you!!!

[@kingchorngus2774]

Couple game stores around here in Ohio are like that, those are now stores we specifically avoid. Simple as that!

[@SkaterStimm]

speed runners use the japanese games because they are also the original release with the most bugs. By the time the game comes out in North America and later Europe the bugs have been mostly patched.

[@TheTruthIsPathetic]

LED prices. You can update on your system and they’ll display the price. Maybe do this for higher value games

[@BriannaMoore-h7l]

The vibe in this vid is perfect!

[@albertsmith99]

What kind of vibe is that

[@BDBD16]

@@albertsmith99 Well it is a bot so it doesn't really know.

[@codykinghorn839]

For pricing could you have QR codes on the games that links to a pricing sheet that says the price of the game. That way you could just monitor the list and not have to walk around and look at various games for if they aren’t moving.

[@kennygrenier4011]

As a Magic: the Gathering Player I remember a time where prices used to be posted on the cards in the glass display cabinets. Those times are long gone. Now it's very rare for card prices to be written on the cards and I think that's actually totally fair for a few reasons: 1st: I think it's actually pretty labor intensive to need to manually price every single card, 2nd: The Magic: the Gathering card market moves fast, it's totally normal for cards to 5x in value over night. Some MTG influencer could mention a card in a video and suddenly there is a buy out of the card across all major MTG market places. In and economy like MTG prices need to be looked up because things change quickly. Do video games work the same way? It seems to me that that is what Gamestop is betting on by no longer posting prices

[@videogamessource2473]

Ive noticed a lot of people buying imports dirt cheap then selling close to NTSC price because its so easy to get and so expensive to find North American versions

[@SonicSVTFocus]

That store that won't price their games sounds like Game Xchange. I filed a complaint with the Oklahoma Attorney General when my local store wouldn't honor the price marked on 3 games I wanted to buy. It's a common problem for them when it comes to pricing games.

[@spadefist]

I was in a game store in Quebec one time and they had sticker prices but when I took them to the counter the guy started looking them up and increasing and decreasing the prices appropriately (but mostly increasing), this really annoyed me and in the UK (where I am from) it is illegal to sell priced items for any more than the stickered price. IMO this is even worse than having to ask about prices.

[@Voltyk_1]

I WAS JUST THERE A FEW DAYS AGO I MET RICK

[@albertsmith99]

OKAY THATS GREAT

[@bennorrell6411]

@@albertsmith99😂😂😂

[@BDBD16]

Sorry?

[@Voltyk_1]

@albertsmith99 why u so mean about it?

[@BDBD16]

@@Voltyk_1 1) All caps is traditionally considered yelling 2) The clout game is becoming too obvious to everyone. YT game stores are whats wrong with collecting now.

[@juicybear1986]

I would personally not go into a game store that didn't have prices. That takes away the impulse buy factor for me. Often times I will buy something I didn't have planned because it's a few bucks under market. Would avoid that headache at all costs.

[@Rayman4505]

What game store is no longer putting prices on?

[@stevewhitehouse9532]

I agree i would not go back to a store where i have to ask what the price is

[@supersoulswizzle]

Have a system that can see ur inventory and it can once a week check if prices are out of range by a certain amount. After the check have it spit out a PM that tells you all games in ur inventory that needs price adjustment. It shouldn't be that hard to create a system that does this.

[@laegerie]

15:14 is Rickolash host of the retro store hahaha

[@FunktapusGaming4Lyf]

Bahahahaha !!!😂 Don't wake him up! He's having fun!

[@mannaman00]

I know a game store like that also and its a terrible business model. Needless to say they have so much inventory you can barely move through the store. Makes you wonder if they want to make sales at all.

[@thepositivenerd]

It’s definitely become a thing in too many comic book stores to price at the counter. And I refuse to shop at the stores. It makes trying to pick up a stack of back issues a complete guessing game/nightmare.

[@Sevoran117]

Thanks for Ogre Battle my dude 🙏

[@p0ck3tp3ar]

Hopefully you didn’t buy the fake I sold them. They don’t do refunds on fakes. I’m kidding ;)

[@TheGebs24]

I’m less than one minute in and I see Super Famicom games! IM IN ❤

[@justjake2849]

As long as the stickers are super easy to take off

[@amberthecollector4860]

i lije the artwork your friend made

[@joemendez8536]

I been to a store that was like that in California and I did not like that at all. they were checking for everything I ended up buying nothing at all.

[@eschelhasii]

I wouldn’t shop at a store that doesn’t put prices on their product. Part of the fun of collecting is finding deals on games that you want. The store purchased the game based on the going value at the time so there is no money lost if that same item becomes a deal for the customer in the future. Plus, finding deals is what would bring me back as a repeated customer. In a similar vein, I have a game store near me that puts the price on the back of their expensive items in the glass cases and that annoys me to no end. I feel like it’s an engagement tactic because they know that some people will feel awkward turning it down after hearing the price, or will feel bad for ‘wasting the worker’s time’. Just be straight forward with your customers, they will appreciate it more.

[@binbootsalepickin]

Most independent stores (shops) in the uk you ask for prices.