The next time you go into a Gamestop store, you may get a little extra pressure to purchase a PlayStation 3. Gamer’s Reports is reporting that their source at Gamestop says that Sony is running a contest for Gamestop managers. In other words, they’re bribing managers to step-up their game and sell more PS3’s.
Essentially, each store will have a target amount of PS3’s that they are supposed to sell based upon previous averages. The manager within a district whose store sells the most above what their target was will win 20,000 points that will be redeemable for Sony/Gamestop items. Additionally, the manager who is number one for the whole company will get 10,000 more points.
The rewards site requires a username and password, so it’s not clear what 20,000 or 30,000 points will buy. I imagine it’s gotta be something good if it’s supposed to motivate managers to sell record amounts of PS3’s.
Okay, perhaps it’s not bribery. This kinda thing has been done in the industry before, but it does seem like a pretty desperate way to get more sales, if you ask me.
Price Cut?
In other PS3 news, Sony may be cutting the price on the game console sometime this year. Sony’s president Ryoji Chubachi says that Sony “does not rule out the possibility of lowering the price.” It is rumored that the price would drop $100 before the Christmas season.
So is it the price that’s keeping people from purchasing the Playstation 3? If so, what’s a fair price?
Source: News.com.au
The price does have a bit that would keep me from buying one. However, I do not play many games like I used to. I sold my Xbox 360 with HD-DVD drive not too long ago.
The only game I play anymore is Titan Quest for the PC.
I’m sure price is a large factor. I remember when I was a teenager, $600 was not very easy to come by.
As far as a “fair” price?…Well, as long as both parties voluntarily agree, every price is fair.
For me…$300 would get me interested.
I was just in a GameStop the other day, picked myself up Resident Evil 4 for the PC for 20 bucks. And this is kinda off topic from PS3 but I learned some interesting news. As I was remarking to the guy working there how sad it is that theres 4 whole walls and everything in between of console games and stuff for consoles, the PC gaming section has been reduced down to one single shelf. And then he told me that they’re getting rid of that soon too. GameStop stores will sell zero PC games in store, and only on their website. Even Half Life 2 Episode 2 when it comes out, will not be in store to buy, I asked, answer was nope. Tis a sad sad day for PC gamers.
Gamestop people always try to push stuff on people, that is why I rarely go there. I like to go to Toys R Us, Target, or Best Buy they are much better and not try to push stuff on people majority of the time.
I wonder if they’re on some type of commission at Gamestop? Maybe that’s why they are pushy? I know Best Buy, Target, Toys R Us, etc., aren’t on commission which is probably why they could care less if you buy or not.
I was a manager in a electronics department before going back to school and it was not uncommon for manufactures to offer incentives for high ticket items such as camcorders or big screen TV; JVC and Sony were to the most common. Often, the sales were recorded through the register and reported automatically other times you had to keep a copy of the sales receipt and submit it to the manufacture similar to a rebate. The incentives were usually pretty good but you had to sell several “widgets” to qualify.
Another tactic that retailers offer employees who may or may not be on commission is a “spiff” which is a small, immediate bonus for a sale. These were usually on high profit items but not necessary big tickets items. I’ve seen spiffs as low as 50 cents and as large as $100. Spiffs were paid on the pay check but were sometimes sponsored by a manufacture.
These thing have been around for a long time and most (major)retailers participate.
The only thing I ever remember working at Target is a promotion Microsoft did for the original Xbox. To get people to learn about the new games they setup a website that you could visit and take quizzes on the games after reading about them. If you did well enough on the quiz you would get some points, which could then be traded in for Xbox games. I think it took 4 quizzes (about ten questions each) to earn one $19.99 game. So it wasn’t such a bad deal.
Other than that I don’t remember getting any other incentives for being the electronics manager. I guess it is only Target, so more of the incentives are probably offered to Best Buy since their focus is on electronics.
@xpgeek – PC Gamers will always be able to get PC games. Either at Best Buy, Fry’s Electronics or online.