Just need to blow off some steam. Bear with me please.
Final Fantasy 8 came out on the playstation this week, as I’m sure a lot of you already know. Unfortunately, due to something called college, I wasn’t able to get to the store to buy my copy until today. When I finally got to the mall, the toy stores were sold out.
Now, I’m not very fond of Wal-Mart to begin with, but sometimes a gamer’s instincts override common sense (not to mention K-mart was sold out). So I go to Wal-Mart and in the electronics section they have several copies of FF8. I’m delighted.
So I take it up to the front counter and get out my checkbook. The clerk rings it up and it comes to. . . ten dollars OVER the price on the game, which is right on the package. I point this out to the clerk, who says that the price he rang up is the right price. I ask him why it’s ten dollars over the game price and he tells me that it’s because Wal-Mart was kind enough to have the game in stock.
There’s a line behind me that’s about six people long at this point, but I’m not going to just shut up and pay. “Let me get this straight,” I tell the clerk. “If I want the game I’m going to have to pay ten dollars more than the regular price. . . just because you HAVE it?”
“That’s right,” the clerk says.
“That’s scalping,” I tell him. “Why should I pay ten dollars more just because you have the game?”
“Well, if you want it, you’re going to have to pay the ten dollars,” the clerk says.
“If I want it I’ll go to another store,” I tell him, and I leave.
Okay, so it’s only ten dollars. But I just can’t stand to pay something that’s so obviously overpriced (remember, the sticker right on the game was ten dollars less than the price they wanted me to pay) so the Walton’s can make an extra buck. I’d rather wait until K-mart gets their next shipment and pay the regular price.
So, anyway, I’m home and I’m without FF8, but I think I came away with a moral victory, if nothing else. I also believe some of the people behind me in line decided to go somewhere else too after my argument with the clerk. I hope they did. I hope I cost the big W some sales.
– Sylence
“The problem with reality is the lack of background music.” – Anon