Demetre Vasilounis
Contributor
People often think of a job at EB Games as the golden occupation. If you’re a hardcore gamer without employment, then I’m the guy you envy, the one you see when you shuffle into your local EB Games, the one who makes you think “I could do that.” I’m the one who has it all, surrounded by games. But believe me, when it comes to the sale of video games, it’s not easy.
Before I obtained my current position, I tried to work for EB Games for years. I used to be one of the many gamers that, day after day, would turn in their resumes in the hopes that they would finally be able to capitalize upon their vast knowledge of the video game industry for something useful. It’s impossible to put into words the elation I felt when I found out I got hired.
However, working at EB Games is not glamorous. We are not a bunch of nerds who stand behind a counter and talk about games. The last thing we do is converse with each other. The company places a massive emphasis on sales and income. Numbers are an integral part of EB Games. When I ask you if you want to pre-order anything, or if you want to protect your game, or even if you need help with anything else, it’s because I am trying to fulfill a quota. This applies to every employee of EB Games.
My quota is usually eight game pre-orders per shift. Pre-orders equal guaranteed sales for the company. Also, my UPT (Units Per Transaction) should be at an average of 2.0 per shift. We’re told to “add more” to transactions, so that number is meant to measure employees as salespeople.
Additionally, every shift, 40 per cent of my transactions have to have a Gameplay Guarantee attached to them. A Gameplay Guarantee requires customers to pay a fee of $3 for a new game or $2 for a used game to protect their disc for a year. If the disc gets scratched, or if it malfunctions, customers return it to us and we give them a new one. Gameplay Guarantees are definitely useful for customers, but when guarantees are declined, they quickly become my nemesis.
Our store makes anywhere between $5,000 and $6,000 on a typical day. We usually make about $20,000 on a day when a blockbuster game is released. Sales targets vary based on performance in previous years. We’ve made about a million dollars this year; we need to hit two million by the end of the year. Seventy-five per cent of our profit comes in the holiday quarter.
For those who scoff at these numbers, it is also important to be aware that EB Games heavily values customer service. This is not a good thing when you work at EB Games. Not only do we get the expected herds of self-proclaimed gaming gurus who will walk in simply to debate the value of Halo: Reach’s upcoming downloadable content (which is very distracting when attempting to do one’s job, I might add), we also experience people from the other end of the spectrum: the parents who know nothing about games and want recommendations for what to get their kids. I try my best to be impartial about games and inform customers of the reviews games receive. I leave my opinion out of the equation because I don’t want to be the dreaded “guy at the store” who picked a game that little Jimmy didn’t like. Sometimes, the parents will come back a few days later with the game they purchased already unwrapped and open, demanding that we ignore our strictly enforced return policy and give them a refund or exchange for a new game.
The pressure from both high-ranking company executives and unruly, ignorant customers is enough to make one want to quit gaming altogether.
So, next time you step into an EB Games, just remember that those nerds behind the counter have a job to do. They might pester you with promotions about new games, but they really want to be at home, actually playing them, just as much as you do.
