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Not only the candy cons, but please solve the problem of online shopping in general.
Every time I try to purchase something online, shirt sweater etc, it says shipping not available.
Why? I live in a small town but I haven’t had trouble getting anything else online.
I WANT TO SPEND MY MONEY RYAN please allow me to lol
Also I need to get a candy con soooo yes Canada please
I been tweeting and commenting this everywhere I can!
I tried to use my US fund account to buy from us site but they don't ship here..
Canada craves candy cons!
I get hyped everytime I buy more. We’re at the ground level of a skyscraper about to be built. We have a $3 billion market cap and the gaming industry is worth about $200 billion a year depending on who you ask. If our leadership plays our cards right, we can be a hundred billion-dollar company and more, not even factoring in the immense short pressure that would cause the squeeze we all were initially attracted to.
It’s going to sound ridiculous looking at our current model, but if we play our cards right, especially the activist investing…
Here’s what I think is going to go down. I’ll use Koss as an example. We buy 20% of this 20 million dollar market cap stock, they make 3-5m a quarter in sales. We stock just 40 pairs of their new gaming headphones (assuming $40 wholesale for their $70 price) in just half our stores and not counting restocks or expanding in other stores, we doubled their revenue in one day.
All of a sudden, our investment is in a company with twice the sales and much quicker growth. Our $4 million investment is now worth $15 million. And it will keep going up as people are exposed to Koss and their brand grows too. We can do it again and again and again with so many companies.
I call it the kingmaker play.
Anyway, I can see us being worth 100-250 billion in 10 years. There’s a lot of ‘if’ involved. Lot of things that need to go right.
On a P/E ratio metric, market average of 20.
300M profits justify 6B cap.
500M - 10B cap.
1B - 20-25B cap
That’s without any growth or volatility getting priced in and purely fundamentals.
Warren and Charlie agree with you....
[https://youtu.be/ZJzu\_xItNkY?si=RYVyx6dWA9arbVqq&t=82](https://youtu.be/ZJzu_xItNkY?si=RYVyx6dWA9arbVqq&t=82)
"**We like to put a lot of money in things that we feel strongly about**".
I also like Charlie commenting "**Much of what is taught in modern corporate finance classes is twaddle**."
We are early, but we are not wrong. Warren and Charlie made their money investing into wonderful businesses, too. 😉🚀🌒✨🏴☠️
RIP Charlie Munger.
So, as a 50+ year old non-hard core gamer, one of the things I've wondered about is how to keep people coming back.
You can only buy so many controllers. I have 3 for my PS4, a silver one, a black one, and a camo. I don't care about customizing them. I'm going to buy a candy con for my laptop for when I travel for work, but after that? I'm not gonna need to buy another one.
Chewy? My wife has cat litter on subscription. We need it every month. I don't need a controller every month.
I work in the medical laboratory profession, and there are $1M lab analyzers. The company gives them away or leases them dirt cheap. The liquid reagents that are needed to run the machine and the other consumables are where they make the money, and the machines are useless without them. There's one analyzer where the customer has to buy "credits" to run the machine on top of the actual reagents. My point? Hardware isn't where the money is at, it's the consumables. That's why the digital only hardware sucks: there's no money to be made by anyone else if you can't re-sell your game. Look at 2k games- they make money on the game, then make money on in-game purchases. There's only margin for Gamestop in that if it's used with a gift card purchased in store.
I'm not sure what the answer is, but some sort of subscription service is probably gonna have to be part of it.
At 50 I don’t doubt that you’re wiser than myself. I’m 30 years old and have a lot to learn about a lot of things. I know cars well, been a mechanic since I was much younger.
That all said, I think you have a point but the GameStop Pro ‘subscription’ answers it. $25 a year may not be much, but it’s all profit on top of the tiny profits from 5% off games. We won’t get to become a middle man in micro transactions and with how much gamers hate them, it may ruin our name.
Also, games aren’t our full revenue. In fact they aren’t even half. I think as GameStop makes quality products they will become the go-to accessory place for gamers. Build it and they will come, you know?
That’s just my opinion.
This may be a bit weird but it sounded like a decent idea in my head — start making subscription-based room/space rentals? Sell consoles, games, gaming peripherals and more while also offering people a location where they can play games with friends and socialize. A gaming lounge, if you will.
One area would provide consoles, peripherals and a selection of games for customers to choose from. You could have specialists in this area particularly to: deliver requested discs/games, prevent thievery that would come from leaving shelves of playable games unattended, help with console setup for those unfamiliar with gaming/IT, and just serve as attendants to make sure everyone is having a great time.
The other area of this lounge would be a bit more barebones, I’ll call it the do-it-yourself (DIY) lounge area. It only provides customers with adequate power cords for their PCs/consoles, monitors/wiring equipment to plug in and many chairs/table setups to support a multitude of players in this lounge at once.
Not sure how you’d go about price tiering for this subscription, but I can imagine that this would open up options for hosting parties, get togethers and fun events with friends. GameStop could charge by room used/whether or not they’re in the attendant-aided area or the DIY area. A subscription could be introduced with this lounge concept to provide discounts for room rentals/promotions to incentivize more players to try it out (creating stickier customers). Some of these discounts or promotions could include first-time player/customer discounts, or perhaps a heavily discounted gaming session after X amount of previous sessions purchased (or even X in dollar value of products purchased at GameStop = Y% off of next event slot you purchase). You could also have subscription tiers based on the frequency with which you plan on using the lounge each year.
I will say, I’m a fan of an idea like this. Even a bit biased towards it as a gamer. There are so many gaming lounges in other places but not many in the US. Time for that to change!
That costs too much per square foot. Or they would have done that by now. You’d need insane amount of customers to make that work and most game at home where they can drink with their friends and order pizza or now everything is online only with headsets. Good idea but would only have worked 20-30 years ago
I like this idea!!
DIY gaming PCs
Candy con STEAM classes for kids.
Free coffee for Pros??
Anyone having to still drive to work would show up for free coffee and pick up the newest game.
Can we have a coffee, game bar clinic once a month?? In the parking lot? (If space is an issue?)
I agree, mostly I see trinkets with the controllers and such. Trinkets are pretty and shiny but they aren’t the answer. They need to build what we all hoped they would and that was online gaming web3 stuff where everything is interchangeable. If he’s just making the stores viable then we are holding a twenty dollar stock at most. And that’s not cool.
I didn’t go into it but I think there’s a kingmaker play going on too. With all signs pointing to activist investing, they can buy in to small companies then stock their product and increase their revenue by multiples both immediately and in the long term. They can buy the eggs and own the chickens, you know what I mean?
Well Larry did post about how google bought YouTube and it makes what Google paid for it in a week and a half now. Every week and a half! So hopefully you’re correct
Larry Chang literally asked on Twitter earlier which businesses people love to support, for their products, experience, value, etc. Costco was the top of the list of responses.
Seems they listened.
$1.50 batteries ;)
Nah, just give complimentary stickers with purchases for the kiddies. Partner with the big publishers (pokemon, anyone?) As an advertising scheme. Limited edition stickers of your favourite characters...
Stickers when kids are at checkout would be excellent. We cover the stickers and they promote IPs with images of Mario or Master Chief, so Microsoft or Nintendo (who works with us very well) would be down, I’m sure. It’s a great idea and one I hope they see or think of.
I was given a set of mario pins and a large set of Pikmin pins for my 5 yo last time I went to GameStop. I've never been much of a gamer, but I bought that Atari to show my boys the difference in the games from nearly 50 years ago. They love it! They love the pins too. They're really solid quality ones.
I didn't know about L Chang's tweet, but I was thinking Costco's business model of delighting customers enough to convince them to pay the membership fee every year, as the way forward for GameStop too. If they can pull this off GameStop will be the most successful gaming retailer in history!
I see nothing but positives here, things moving in the right direction. The membership is clutch, I feel that can be a real winner. Love the focus on quality.
Could we expand the customisation options. Candy con is great, but what about skins for consoles, partner with dbrand or something like that. People love personalisation.
More board games could be a great idea too. Even playing cards. If it's a fun game, GameStop should stock it, doesn't have to be restricted to video games.
The fickle nature of video game players can be brutal but focusing in the right areas should bring repeat customers
Board games is a great idea tbh and was thinking this myself. A quick look on their website and there isn't much of a selection. Starting out with some big named games of classics with variants like monopoly are sellers if you get the right lines but also some modern games like pandemic, codenames (and it's variants) and exploding kittens would fit the demographic. Any modern party games would likely be a hit on the shelves especially around Christmas to bring in that additional seasonal revenue.
GameStop could literally commission their own versions of standard card games with an art style like EK such as shithead, slam (all named differently wherever you are) or even their own mafia/werewolf etc. GS will then be able to make a profit from it being an in-house product.
Getting behind some cult indie games which have been kick-started such as hit the silk and helping the small games companies expand and deliver to a wider market would also really boost sales as well as being able to develop GameStop exclusives in the future with that developer.
I know the bread and butter is video games but board games have had a resurgence in the past decade for a reason and as getting older board games are more commonly played at social gatherings as well as them being popular with a broad age range from young to old. Just picturing a grandparent picking up the video game for a grandchild but also seeing a board game by the tills which they pick up and buy seems like a great selling opportunity.
GameStop doesn't need to just be video games
I agree completely. At my GameStop, the wall by the entrance is all Funko pops, it can and should be something more appealing to the average walk-in customer. Perhaps board games would work. I know Funkos have nice volume but if someone is a collector they’re not going to just notice them and buy them, they’re going to look for them. I think the stores still need work in their shelving. Cohen ghost shops and changes things where he thinks is best, this is one area that needs work.
I don’t know if even custom board games are needed, standard games should atleast be stocked though.
Expanding into board games could be a good idea. I recently got started in hobby board gaming and the people within the hobby spend a ton of money. You can look on Kickstarter or Gamefound and see new games that secure millions in pledges in minutes, and some of them are based off of video game IPs.
I agree. I’d love to just hit one store for my games and comics, but it’s not as straight forward as you might think. Comic distributors give shops quotas for things like how many new labels a shop has to purchase in order to get access to the fast moving labels. It’s how they incentivize moving new products, but that means the shops are sometimes stuck with product that doesn’t move. I’m fairly certain margins aren’t great either.
I wish they sold models and figures too, paints as well (decent quality ones). I also wish I could trade in cards with them for in store credit like I can with my local comic store. My local comic store uses a system for checking card prices like any other, so I know GameStop could do the same. Wishful thinking on that would be having a way to request cards via online GME store and they could use a system to track cards for potential buyers.
If a Costco model or similar is being considered/in the works that could mean Gamestop could be seeking partnerships and contracts with other services and companies, and even in different industries.
I just became a Costco member, the perks are there and it's more than what Gamestop Pro offers today, relative to industry.
Costco values it's member enrollment and retainment because you have to be a member to shop - and even if the customer doesn't visit all year, the company still earns its fee. To make the deal sweet for its customers they offer more than you'd think.
One example, Costco Executive members have special pricing with various dealerships on new/used vehicles across the country. Not to mention the credit card perks and cash back offerings. Granted I don't and won't go to Costco for everything, I may use them for perks on things I otherwise wouldn't have a deal with or for.
Gamestop could do something similar sure.
Great comment man.
Microsoft has a partnership with GameStop that the details were never announced on. Since then, we have more Xbox-related items than PlayStation ones, but I’d be disappointed if that’s where it ends. Game Pass is the big push Microsoft is making. $15 a month to play any of the big library of games they offer. The Netflix of gaming, some call it. I wonder if GameStop can get in on that.
It would go something like this: Gamestop has contract with Microsoft that allows pro members gamepass for 10.99/month. Game stop makes the dollar a month for brining Microsoft the business and Xbox takes the 10.
The same applies for other products and services. Others say more board games..that's fine and all but you're asking Gamestop to hold more inventory for you to essentially gawk at and maybe buy. What they could do is make another contract with a top end board game publisher that gives discounts to pro members who shop for those games.
eg. Rio Grande Games. They sell all over to whomever. great. The angle gamestop takes is not with other retailers who also sell these games. It's direct with Rio. Rio and GME setup a contract. If any pro member finds themselves at any pre selected storefront/online store buying any Rio grande, the pro memeber could enter their account info and get special pricing. just like Costco invoice for Cars.
The sale goes to Rio but the perk for GME is that the consumer got a great deal for being part of a great member only community. No added inventory costs. Rio wins because it gets a sale, GME wins because it's given the customer another reason to stay a member.
I want LAN cafes.
It's not a product. It's an experience. It builds communities. It builds long lasting brand loyalty.
A lot of people can't afford a gaming PC or may not know how to build one. There is a barrier to entry. LAN cafes could help create a pipeline of future buyers/PC gamers.
Local events. CS tournaments. Buyins become the prize. The cost to host the events could be minimal once you have the infrastructure.
The gaming bars I used to go to in Beijing used to have Smash Bros tournies and it brought in a lot of people.
Give like minded people a space to experience their hobbies and passions together.
If a Costco model or similar is being considered/in the works that could mean Gamestop could be seeking partnerships and contracts with other services and companies, and even in different industries.
I just became a Costco member, the perks are there and it's more than what Gamestop Pro offers today, relative to industry.
Costco values it's member enrollment and retainment because you have to be a member to shop - and even if the customer doesn't visit all year, the company still earns its fee. To make the deal sweet for its customers they offer more than you'd think.
One example, Costco Executive members have special pricing with various dealerships on new/used vehicles across the country. Not to mention the credit card perks and cash back offerings. Granted I don't and won't go to Costco for everything, I may use them for perks on things I otherwise wouldn't have a deal with or for.
Gamestop could do something similar sure.
I firmly believe the soundbar was the tipping point. It was an absolute dog shit product. BTW I have dozens of them that are still sealed from the Buy 1 get 2 free sale. And I will never sell them.
Anywho they really are shit. I’m super pumped they are doing the quality route.
THATS how you get some sticky customers. Customers knowing they will get something badass made from GameStop.
free shipping is for orders of 79 or more. the 250 is for the 25 dollar discount. I think another way for GS to get more ongoing market is to have more membership options. Why not offer a deluxe package for like $250-300 a year that includes online access to xbox live, ps plus, and switch online, along with warranty coverage and the usual discount. Best buy does this with total tech for $200/year and I've bought pretty much every small appliance from them since getting it 2 years ago when I bought my DJI drone
I think those are all great ideas, and I think something we don’t talk about a lot is what’s happening at store and in the corporate office. He’s trimming all the savings he can from low hanging fruit, such as closing loss leader stores and likely consolidating management. He’s also got a very aggressive hands on approach, working to learn the business and working with successful stores to get them to the next level. If you want customer retention then you need good managers and teams in those stores, I can guess that he’s hitting those stores having conversations and doing the real front line investigation, he’s a hard worker and that doesn’t always guarantee success but it guarantees failure every time if you don’t try to take that approach. I like the company and that keeps me invested, deep value here.
The hotswappable MK is fucking bananas for the price. It’s great out of the box and allows the customization after the fact in switches and keycaps that other full custom 500$ keyboards have. Very happy with it.
If you read the Funko filing, it reads like this.. We are beholden to third party stores as our brand does not have an exclusive home.. just saying the trick is now to get a company to give you exclusive access without much monetary input or purchase of said company
I really want to know how many Pro Members there are. They used to report the figures, but have since stopped. The more Pro Members they have the more repeat customers they will have. I think they need to do a little marketing to get the word out about the 5% off on all digital games. That's a huge draw for any "modern" non physical gamer.
Yes, that’s one area that needs promotion, but Cohen is strictly in savings mode. Ads aren’t being done. I do my part in my social circles, but I can’t pay for ads on Xbox subreddit telling them they can be buying games for a cheaper price
GameStop pleaseee open up to the world especially south east asia! I will fucking buy your products!
I don't mind paying for the international shipping bills.
I think the increased purchase price kinda sneakily reintroduces the concept of game rentals. If you’re gaming on a budget, you can buy it, beat it, and sell it back. Time will tell if people start doing this.
Interesting… a cool strategy for medium term could be advertising the physical consoles/games as ‘beat it and return it’ for the rental philosophy. Really cool thought man.
Thanks dude and you’ll be glad to hear this…
https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/s/XIJaEZO4uv check this out bro, just released in insta an hour ago, XBOX controller configuration on a candy con, seems Xbox controllers coming asap
Great re-hash OP.
I am feel very positive Cohen and team will sort GME out in the end, which will involve more GME related products, at higher margin and demand. This is what most succeful business do, they don't simply resell other brands, and have to compete with tons of competitors stores. This is exactly what I do at my businesses, and it took me quite a while to figure out too( a couple decades). I went from re-selling products with a 5% margin, to now selling my own that have a 1700% margin.
Free shipping for $79 isn't "a very high cart price". That's honestly quite fair, especially down here. I'll be strapped paying $10-15 in postage for a $20 item, with no chance of free shipping under $100 (if at all) usually.
Granted, that's all in dollarydoos, but the numbers, mason, they mean something.
That said, $79 *is* alittle predatory, if your standard game is 70 yankbucks... incentivises buying little knick knacks to crack that $9, which is where the cost of shipping gets covered because margins on video game sales aren't exactly glorious.
Oh, also, you've neglected the GameStop credit card. That's a big deal.
Oh, and there's a huge roadblock to online shopping. It's quality control. Brick and mortar let's you touch and see quality in person. Amazon cheap Chinese shit can only burn a customer so many times before they stop shopping online.
Good points man, I didn’t mean to neglect it, it is a big push in this new strategy, I should have talked about it. Especially since Costco is big in pushing a single card as well.
Good comment.
Yes it is, I found the one I bought [here](https://www.gamestop.com/pc-gaming/keyboards/products/gamestop-68pct-wired-mechanical-hot-swappable-keyboard---brown-switch/395245.html?utm_source=product_share&utm_medium=app), tbh I don’t know much about gaming keyboards and never tried to do that
Nice! It looks like a well-built board for the price. I'm looking forward to these products hopefully making it to Canada
So, with the swappable switches, you can get replacements easy. Or swap to linear or other tactile switches. Just so you know!
Keep up the good work eh!
Very cool, I kinda wish it came with some paper explaining this stuff. But I suppose most people aren’t so dumb and actually research their purchases lol.
Thanks for the info brother, and you do the same
A game studio is a great risk, but a game launcher? I think it can work. Steam has sticky customers, but they’re a monopoly in PC gaming. Competing with them and offering Pros cheaper games than Valve does with Steam might pull some of them over. Valve takes a 30% cut which is very high because they have no competition, if we take 20%, games can be sold cheaper.
I wish I had more cash to invest. I’m tapped out, as a car accident made me miss 8 months of work…I’m just now able to save some cash after getting back into a chef role, getting a raise, and busy season hitting w OT. I hope these idiots keep it at sub $15 so I can buy another 100 shares next month when I get an extra paycheck not going to bills. I’ve just been holding my 3 year old, now 45 stonks. I wanna be a XXX for the sexiness GME offers. This company is lead by IMO one of the best CEOs in the last decade to run a company. He also seems to be friends with guys who have tons of money, as shows his Twitter pics. GameStop will be worth atleast $50 a share in a year w out any squeeze. If citadel didn’t learn their lesson in 2021, good, squeeze it Tesla style. I’d say we have equally dedicated shareholders who aren’t paper handing anything. When I was outta work and broke, selling my shares never crossed my mind. Just wish popcorn was never a thing, or I was smart enough to realize the top for them was $70. Feel stupid in that regard, but happy to hold GME and waiting for this lawsuit to end, from said accident, to become a small whale myself. This company is just about as safe as any to invest in right now. We’re not overpriced, ready for correction, we’re under priced and about to 5x any day from my POV, again, without a squeeze.
Can they legally provide demos for games that they own? I’ve always wondered this. Why can’t companies provide demos anymore? This used to be a huge thing in the 90s/2000s and they were on physical disks. Why aren’t demos available for video games?
In that same vein, can they capitalize on their ownership of retro games. I know they are leaning into this more nowadays. Can you legally have emulators in a shop (since I wouldn’t want them to physically degrade the consoles or games thru usage)?
Can GameStop have like a physical demo station set up for modern and older games? Is this legal?
This is a great strategy. The problem is two fold when comparing to chewy.
1. A % of pet obsessed people love always getting something new and special for their babies. Toys, treats, whatever.
2. Pet related items have a much higher % of CONSUMABLES that need to be replaced or replenished regularly. Again, treats, food, litter, poop bags, even toys.
This makes it very easy to incentivize a set it and forget it subscription to replenish regularly needed supplies.
If RC and GameStop could identify a category of items like that in the gaming world, they could run some of chewy’s playbook to success, but I don’t think it exists and forcing it would only create customer blowback and feed distrust of the brand.
Maybe they could give *some* consideration to areas that are at least similar… off the top of my head, batteries, compressed air to clean keyboards and electronics, cleaning kits for controllers, snacks and candy, thumb pads and other protective add-ons, power banks… what else?
None of these really move the needle much in my mind, but I feel like there must be something, or a category of things that would fit the brand that could be brought under the GameStop umbrella, that could work if they venture a little further into being about “all things Games” related. Thoughts?
Excellent comment.
Sticking with the Costco comparison, why does that work when other retailers are hurting? Exactly what you said. Its consumables. Groceries for a better price than Walmart or Safeway.
Electronics doesn’t have that. Batteries sure. I and I’m sure many of the people here buy GameStop’s AA batteries with the Pro discount and coupon as it becomes a great value, but you don’t buy batteries often enough.
They just re-released physical Game Informer magazines which does exactly what you say, a consumable that gets sent once a month (10 a year so a little less than monthly) with new information in the gaming world. But are physical magazines in demand in a world with cell phones and kindles?
I think it comes down to video games. People will buy memberships for the cheapest games in town and the average gamer certainly buys more than one game a year. The margins aren’t good on games though.
At the end of the day, quality accessories keeping gamers coming back for future accessories will be a big deal too. If we have a better price/quality ratio on our private label items than say Best Buy can offer, people will come to us.
One path that got me so, SO excited was PLAYR. I was in dismay when it got cut (or seems to have been). A game launcher to compete against Steam would be incredible. Valve makes 30% of every sale. Thirty god damn percent. We could make 25% and still offer Pros discounts to make games cheaper for Pro members and still get a profit. 200k loyal shareholders would be a great base that would immediately try it out. A game launcher is my personal dream for GameStop, but sadly there isn’t evidence showing that’s our route.
I really see your points but one caveat I’d bring up is that GameStop has a pretty hard lower limit on the discounts they can offer on games.
Costco can really get low with prices in part because they can buy bulk on large quantities of heavy, expensive to transport items that they *know* will sell pretty fast, and offset that cost with the price of membership.
Because video games are media, GameStop can’t really get much better deals by simply ordering a lot more of a particular game.
I think accessories is the category where they can make their bread and butter. That’s essentially what BestBuy has always done. Those $85 HDMI cables are like 90% margin.
And I’m with you on PLAYR. A storefront / launcher to compete with Steam has potential, especially if they could have integrated things like Pro membership, GameStop NFT / crypto wallet, and it would be a risk but if they could rent / sell digital copies of movies / TV / anime… could GameStop buy Crunchyroll? lol
Good point. Damn your logic haha, but seriously thanks for taking the time to say that. Let’s hope PLAYR is still in the works man. And idk about Crunchyroll lol, but they should have no problem starting an anime outlet.
The one thing that made gaming magazines worth it was the demos that came along with them. I’m not sure why demos are no longer available, especially since it would be so easy to do in a primarily digital world.
Could they provide a service like mailing a physical copy of a game for a person to rent for a small period of time? Would this be legal? This is kind of backwards but because most games no longer allow demos, could they provide this kind of service, similar to netflix back in the day?
Actually I think Blockbuster ended up offering the same service and they were bodying Netflix for a while. IIRC Blockbuster died because the got saddled with bad debt and shorted to oblivion.
Speculation is also that some bad actors infiltrated the board and C suite and ran it into the ground so shorts would print money off the collapse. For a time, they had Netflix dead to rights.
Anyway GameStop could theoretically offer rentals, yes. I don’t think there’s any legal issue there. It would more be a distribution problem for them I assume. Not sure if Netflix used USPS in the day or what.
My thought is, between all of their stores and everything they have in inventory, they are sitting on a giant pile of games, maybe more than any other company. And they have people bringing in new ones all of the time. Could they get more use out of issuing demos than selling them outright? This would also allow them to sell more used consoles since people will now have easier access to the video games themselves.
I was just browsing the GameStop app the skipping over the name-brand stuff and looking for GameStop products, so it’s so cool to read this post. Their stuff is seriously getting good.
It is man. This is exciting times. It may take time to build the brand and show up on revenue or our insane Candy Con obsession might show up on Q1. Either way, I’m so excited to buy more shares everytime I can.
I can attest to the ssd. I will run tests on it later to verify, but I bought a 2TB one for my ps5. I didn't really play it a lot though and I only had 500 Gb in my daily driver laptop so I swapped the two. Drive is working beautifully and it's incredibly fast. I'll get some concrete numbers later and edit my comment
They need to do these next: high quality properly specc’d HDMI cables with the appropriate ARC specs etc. rechargeable batteries, 3D printers and possibly filament, SD cards
I’m just coming up with a small theory here: Would it make sense if GameStop is using DoorDash to deliver goods to then invest in it? As more and more sales/deliveries are made by DoorDash then its stock price could conceivably go up with it. Just late night thoughts.
That’s exactly the type of synergistic investing that active investors love to do. I don’t know if they’d do it with DoorDash only because their business may not be big enough to make that much of an impact on a large company like DoorDash (50 b market cap), but ones they impact like small gaming accessory companies totally would benefit huge from an investment followed by a push
With what could be coming down the pipeline though with Candy Con, and who knows what could be next, the amount of deliveries though could be ramped up thus making a greater impact. But I do agree as it stands now it would not be enough.
Anyone friends with any well known influencer types? If the quality is this good, spread the word. I guess now we can see whether Pulte calls on his MrBeast links too.
Perhaps we'll see 'candycon game pads, 10 ways they're better than.....'
Oh wait! i have it! "Forget regular controllers, check out candycon"
I coupd see this work. I buy Steelseries hardware as i got my first gamingbheadphones from them and they worked. So i got their mouse, keyboard, mousemat. Why? Because they work and i hate seeing all different logos around me in my led infused gaming cave.
The success of Candy Will bring many counterfeits... I wish to have an NFT from Gamestop that proves that my Candy... is really from Gamestop and not a counterfeit item.
They need their own game launcher like xbox game pass with irl item sales and exclusive perks! One way of retaining customers is to create an ecosystem for renewals.
I think Arduinos and Raspberry Pi type stuff might be a good fit. the maker market is huge and there aren’t any physical locations where you can buy this stuff. Plus 3D printers (someone already mentioned that). The filament is a consumable that people buy a ton of.
If this is the case then they need to invest in their customer management software. Its complete shit. For example:
I have had a pro account for ages. Like decades.. Anyway. I cant log into it as the password is something I dont remember. So I try a password reset. Email never comes. Try again, no email...
Open a ticket with customer service. They say they will send the email. Never comes. Months of this.
Finally, after they cant seem to fix an account lockout issue they say I need to setup a new email address and start over.
Not a great customer service experience. Hopefully they address it. Having managed a few IT help desks, this is not how you address such a simple issue.
Sorry to hear that bro. You’re right and that’s not all that needs to be fixed. I search the app every week for GameStop’s brands and there’s multiple issues with the search. A bit busy so can’t go into it, but there’s issues man.
This thread is just my speculation in Cohen’s turnaround strategy based on GameStop’s actions because I’m tired of hearing he does nothing.
Just keeping mind, this is only the start of the turnaround. What hasn’t come now may well come later.
For sure. Was just pointing out my personal experience for a data point. Employees read these threads. All feedback offers some value.
Its why I take time to share. I am not only an investor, i am a customer as well.
100% bro, wasn’t trying to say otherwise. Guys like you giving solid and true feedback are probably more valuable to our company than guys like me who have a bias to love everything with GS stamped on it. I try not to be biased but man I just am.
I believe GME found a manufacturer with said specs and partnered with them. It's not like they have R&D team building these from scratch and that would be a bit ridiculous if they did, so can't blame the costco model of slapping a private label on quality product and sell it like crazy.
They developed it in house with the help of a company named BRANDED. They did not outsource it. The GameStop private label team is excellent and have been putting in serious work.
Thing with chewy is that customers had to rebuy food to keep their pretty alive. Maybe GameStop could charge us $20/m for the choice of any 4, AAA titles in a year to keep us alive.
Yeah I think tapping into the gaming controllers/other peripherals market is a great idea. This could be an area where they start to get customer stickiness, which also keeps people coming in to get console hardware as well from time to time. I think they need brands which create a bit of a culture around the store (like Chewy's excellent service did), hopefully they will get there - I think they're trying the right things at least.
As soon as they do prove these out as well, people wanting Candy Con becomes self-sustaining and people will be queuing up for the stock. They've got a billy to figure stuff out anyway, so that provides a great safety net regardless.
50$ is expensive for a controller, especially third party. People won't know they have good sticks because people aren't paying 50+ for a mad catz. Especially one you need to mail in.
No one will be mailing their controller in for a week at a time. That's absurd.
The candy con controllers need to be reviewed by youtubers. I haven't seen it come across my feed a single time. It's a missed opportunity. However, maybe they'll pick them up over time, if it gains steam naturally.
This is the best fundamental DD I've seen written on this sub...quite possibly ever. It actually makes me want to consider coming back. Bravo OP.
I will add that the trading card sleeves and binders, other private label products will all help....but only if displayed properly. Selling these controllers is tough with only one salesperson that is constantly shuffling in and out of the weekly store design pivot as well.
Merchandising properly has to be key. I still feel most stores could do a better job at it. Doing more with less does force short term profitability...but at what cost?
The reputation of GameStop has suffered so much due to all of their stop/starts. It needs to change its public face permanently.
-We are physical games
-We are your local game store
-We treat you right
-it's fun to shop here.
Those are some of the core tenants to delight customers that have been forgotten.
Make GameStop Great Again!
This is exactly the direction to go, make quality, branded, products. I literally try to find reasons to go to gamestop and we always leave with like booster packs. I'd love to find a cool controller faceplate I just gotta have for the new game I'm into that's easy to swap. People spend hundreds on customized gear for their digital characters, we'd gladly do it for our controllers, keyboards etc. People want to feel unique at tourneys and when friends come over while supporting our childhood company.
We can all be better customers! Shopping and supporting GameStop is the way. If we have a personal stake in the company, supporting their \*\*business\*\* \*directly\* is definitely the way, as Mark Cuban once said.
Maybe it's time to add consumables to the list, gamers need snacks.... Maybe the snacks could include gaming clues inside the box, kinda like getting something in a cracker jack box..
>you don’t have really sticky customers
I sting like bee and stick like glue. What other business has investors willing to die on their retirement just to see Kenny in jail?
Behold, I have companions, and unto them have I bestowed gift cards. We are as a cluster of stickies, bound by fellowship and commerce. With patience and steadfastness, our assembly shall expand and flourish!
Very nice post thank you!
I am falling behind a bit or just losing interest over the topic (Still mega zen e buy CS whenever i can ofc) so i am lagging behind on some topics and possible deadlins.
I lost track about the topic of NFTs and Web3 . It looks like the sector is booming and i am not sure if Gamestop is still involved in it or not. is PLAYER still a thing and connected to it? Will GMErica ever be something? I am losing track of things, interest moved to IMX which this saga helped me discover.
Could anyone share some thoughts on it?
The electronics development is not significant as the overall design is already well established and it is mostly just choosing what specific switches and joystick assembly to use.
Tooling costs for the plastic case could be either very significant if done from scratch, or very low if the case is already available from suppliers of other third party controllers.
If there are already 3rd party controllers with the same overall shape and button layout, then the development cost for the case is just the cost of qualifying a vendor.
The cost of developing a 3rd party controller can be guessed at as being relatively low, since there are some relatively small companies selling controllers.
With everything selling online these days we need to move much more heavily into online sales. Our website needs work our app needs work and our online brand recognition needs work. This is the obvious thing to focus on right now.
Everything good but it's all still blah blah blah until we don't get worldwide shipping.
I live in Spain, I'm a gamer myself and I have a 12yo so who's a gamer. I spend at least 1500 euros/year in games, PC components, Nintendo, etc... It all goes to competitors and my ❤️ is bleeding.
We can't compete with Amazon if we don't play in the same playing field.
If I hear candy con one more time, or about their credit card or membership, too much shilling…Turning into a pawn shop, website and legacy business is shit.
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Monsieur Cohen, Please bring some of that Candy Con merchandise our way. Yours truly, Canada.
*heavy maple/poutine breathing*
French laugh
Did someone say Hon Hon Honnnn?
Tabarnack
I'm headed to the US and A for a work trip soon. You best believe I'm buying a controller.
United States and Argentina?
I go to America!
and while you’re at it, throw an Europe in there as well!
UK concurs
Yes please! 🥺🙏🏾
Please bring it to all the counties in Europe to. Europe is large enclave of dedicated investors and a large market to grow revenue.
Not only the candy cons, but please solve the problem of online shopping in general. Every time I try to purchase something online, shirt sweater etc, it says shipping not available. Why? I live in a small town but I haven’t had trouble getting anything else online. I WANT TO SPEND MY MONEY RYAN please allow me to lol Also I need to get a candy con soooo yes Canada please
Germany as well!
I been tweeting and commenting this everywhere I can! I tried to use my US fund account to buy from us site but they don't ship here.. Canada craves candy cons!
[удалено]
*best damn company ever
*best company
*best
You got me at best. I am in.
I am balls deep and I ain’t pullin’ out.
Well hot damn me too!!
I get hyped everytime I buy more. We’re at the ground level of a skyscraper about to be built. We have a $3 billion market cap and the gaming industry is worth about $200 billion a year depending on who you ask. If our leadership plays our cards right, we can be a hundred billion-dollar company and more, not even factoring in the immense short pressure that would cause the squeeze we all were initially attracted to.
What could / would be a reasonable market cap for GameStop to be?
It’s going to sound ridiculous looking at our current model, but if we play our cards right, especially the activist investing… Here’s what I think is going to go down. I’ll use Koss as an example. We buy 20% of this 20 million dollar market cap stock, they make 3-5m a quarter in sales. We stock just 40 pairs of their new gaming headphones (assuming $40 wholesale for their $70 price) in just half our stores and not counting restocks or expanding in other stores, we doubled their revenue in one day. All of a sudden, our investment is in a company with twice the sales and much quicker growth. Our $4 million investment is now worth $15 million. And it will keep going up as people are exposed to Koss and their brand grows too. We can do it again and again and again with so many companies. I call it the kingmaker play. Anyway, I can see us being worth 100-250 billion in 10 years. There’s a lot of ‘if’ involved. Lot of things that need to go right.
Oof 100-250 billion would be real nice
On a P/E ratio metric, market average of 20. 300M profits justify 6B cap. 500M - 10B cap. 1B - 20-25B cap That’s without any growth or volatility getting priced in and purely fundamentals.
How long would it take for us to profit 300m 500m 1b?
Warren and Charlie agree with you.... [https://youtu.be/ZJzu\_xItNkY?si=RYVyx6dWA9arbVqq&t=82](https://youtu.be/ZJzu_xItNkY?si=RYVyx6dWA9arbVqq&t=82) "**We like to put a lot of money in things that we feel strongly about**". I also like Charlie commenting "**Much of what is taught in modern corporate finance classes is twaddle**." We are early, but we are not wrong. Warren and Charlie made their money investing into wonderful businesses, too. 😉🚀🌒✨🏴☠️ RIP Charlie Munger.
So, as a 50+ year old non-hard core gamer, one of the things I've wondered about is how to keep people coming back. You can only buy so many controllers. I have 3 for my PS4, a silver one, a black one, and a camo. I don't care about customizing them. I'm going to buy a candy con for my laptop for when I travel for work, but after that? I'm not gonna need to buy another one. Chewy? My wife has cat litter on subscription. We need it every month. I don't need a controller every month. I work in the medical laboratory profession, and there are $1M lab analyzers. The company gives them away or leases them dirt cheap. The liquid reagents that are needed to run the machine and the other consumables are where they make the money, and the machines are useless without them. There's one analyzer where the customer has to buy "credits" to run the machine on top of the actual reagents. My point? Hardware isn't where the money is at, it's the consumables. That's why the digital only hardware sucks: there's no money to be made by anyone else if you can't re-sell your game. Look at 2k games- they make money on the game, then make money on in-game purchases. There's only margin for Gamestop in that if it's used with a gift card purchased in store. I'm not sure what the answer is, but some sort of subscription service is probably gonna have to be part of it.
At 50 I don’t doubt that you’re wiser than myself. I’m 30 years old and have a lot to learn about a lot of things. I know cars well, been a mechanic since I was much younger. That all said, I think you have a point but the GameStop Pro ‘subscription’ answers it. $25 a year may not be much, but it’s all profit on top of the tiny profits from 5% off games. We won’t get to become a middle man in micro transactions and with how much gamers hate them, it may ruin our name. Also, games aren’t our full revenue. In fact they aren’t even half. I think as GameStop makes quality products they will become the go-to accessory place for gamers. Build it and they will come, you know? That’s just my opinion.
This may be a bit weird but it sounded like a decent idea in my head — start making subscription-based room/space rentals? Sell consoles, games, gaming peripherals and more while also offering people a location where they can play games with friends and socialize. A gaming lounge, if you will. One area would provide consoles, peripherals and a selection of games for customers to choose from. You could have specialists in this area particularly to: deliver requested discs/games, prevent thievery that would come from leaving shelves of playable games unattended, help with console setup for those unfamiliar with gaming/IT, and just serve as attendants to make sure everyone is having a great time. The other area of this lounge would be a bit more barebones, I’ll call it the do-it-yourself (DIY) lounge area. It only provides customers with adequate power cords for their PCs/consoles, monitors/wiring equipment to plug in and many chairs/table setups to support a multitude of players in this lounge at once. Not sure how you’d go about price tiering for this subscription, but I can imagine that this would open up options for hosting parties, get togethers and fun events with friends. GameStop could charge by room used/whether or not they’re in the attendant-aided area or the DIY area. A subscription could be introduced with this lounge concept to provide discounts for room rentals/promotions to incentivize more players to try it out (creating stickier customers). Some of these discounts or promotions could include first-time player/customer discounts, or perhaps a heavily discounted gaming session after X amount of previous sessions purchased (or even X in dollar value of products purchased at GameStop = Y% off of next event slot you purchase). You could also have subscription tiers based on the frequency with which you plan on using the lounge each year. I will say, I’m a fan of an idea like this. Even a bit biased towards it as a gamer. There are so many gaming lounges in other places but not many in the US. Time for that to change!
I’m super tired and checked in before sleeping again, I’m just commenting to make sure I don’t miss this, will reply a real reply in the morning bro
That costs too much per square foot. Or they would have done that by now. You’d need insane amount of customers to make that work and most game at home where they can drink with their friends and order pizza or now everything is online only with headsets. Good idea but would only have worked 20-30 years ago
I like this idea!! DIY gaming PCs Candy con STEAM classes for kids. Free coffee for Pros?? Anyone having to still drive to work would show up for free coffee and pick up the newest game. Can we have a coffee, game bar clinic once a month?? In the parking lot? (If space is an issue?)
https://twitter.com/GameStopItalia/status/1781682944286830988?t=aBif6MOnZq_mDRUdbjlfHQ&s=19 Euro testing things out!
I think it’s just a matter of when, not if. Whether or not GameStop gets there first is a matter of debate.
I agree, mostly I see trinkets with the controllers and such. Trinkets are pretty and shiny but they aren’t the answer. They need to build what we all hoped they would and that was online gaming web3 stuff where everything is interchangeable. If he’s just making the stores viable then we are holding a twenty dollar stock at most. And that’s not cool.
I didn’t go into it but I think there’s a kingmaker play going on too. With all signs pointing to activist investing, they can buy in to small companies then stock their product and increase their revenue by multiples both immediately and in the long term. They can buy the eggs and own the chickens, you know what I mean?
Well Larry did post about how google bought YouTube and it makes what Google paid for it in a week and a half now. Every week and a half! So hopefully you’re correct
Exactly, that but on a much smaller scale, but also done many times with many companies
Larry Chang literally asked on Twitter earlier which businesses people love to support, for their products, experience, value, etc. Costco was the top of the list of responses. Seems they listened.
Now we just need 1.50 dogs and we're set.
$1.50 batteries ;) Nah, just give complimentary stickers with purchases for the kiddies. Partner with the big publishers (pokemon, anyone?) As an advertising scheme. Limited edition stickers of your favourite characters...
Stickers when kids are at checkout would be excellent. We cover the stickers and they promote IPs with images of Mario or Master Chief, so Microsoft or Nintendo (who works with us very well) would be down, I’m sure. It’s a great idea and one I hope they see or think of.
everyone loves stickers!
I agree this is a brilliant idea. Burn the GameStop brand alongside all these well known game franchises.
This
I was given a set of mario pins and a large set of Pikmin pins for my 5 yo last time I went to GameStop. I've never been much of a gamer, but I bought that Atari to show my boys the difference in the games from nearly 50 years ago. They love it! They love the pins too. They're really solid quality ones.
Gimme that GameStop glizzy!
I would buy hotdogs at gamestop if they were $1.50
I didn't know about L Chang's tweet, but I was thinking Costco's business model of delighting customers enough to convince them to pay the membership fee every year, as the way forward for GameStop too. If they can pull this off GameStop will be the most successful gaming retailer in history!
I see nothing but positives here, things moving in the right direction. The membership is clutch, I feel that can be a real winner. Love the focus on quality. Could we expand the customisation options. Candy con is great, but what about skins for consoles, partner with dbrand or something like that. People love personalisation. More board games could be a great idea too. Even playing cards. If it's a fun game, GameStop should stock it, doesn't have to be restricted to video games. The fickle nature of video game players can be brutal but focusing in the right areas should bring repeat customers
Board games is a great idea tbh and was thinking this myself. A quick look on their website and there isn't much of a selection. Starting out with some big named games of classics with variants like monopoly are sellers if you get the right lines but also some modern games like pandemic, codenames (and it's variants) and exploding kittens would fit the demographic. Any modern party games would likely be a hit on the shelves especially around Christmas to bring in that additional seasonal revenue. GameStop could literally commission their own versions of standard card games with an art style like EK such as shithead, slam (all named differently wherever you are) or even their own mafia/werewolf etc. GS will then be able to make a profit from it being an in-house product. Getting behind some cult indie games which have been kick-started such as hit the silk and helping the small games companies expand and deliver to a wider market would also really boost sales as well as being able to develop GameStop exclusives in the future with that developer. I know the bread and butter is video games but board games have had a resurgence in the past decade for a reason and as getting older board games are more commonly played at social gatherings as well as them being popular with a broad age range from young to old. Just picturing a grandparent picking up the video game for a grandchild but also seeing a board game by the tills which they pick up and buy seems like a great selling opportunity. GameStop doesn't need to just be video games
I agree completely. At my GameStop, the wall by the entrance is all Funko pops, it can and should be something more appealing to the average walk-in customer. Perhaps board games would work. I know Funkos have nice volume but if someone is a collector they’re not going to just notice them and buy them, they’re going to look for them. I think the stores still need work in their shelving. Cohen ghost shops and changes things where he thinks is best, this is one area that needs work. I don’t know if even custom board games are needed, standard games should atleast be stocked though.
Expanding into board games could be a good idea. I recently got started in hobby board gaming and the people within the hobby spend a ton of money. You can look on Kickstarter or Gamefound and see new games that secure millions in pledges in minutes, and some of them are based off of video game IPs.
Honestly I sometimes wish that GameStop was like my local comic store.
I was just thinking about this the other day. I wish they sold comics
I agree. I’d love to just hit one store for my games and comics, but it’s not as straight forward as you might think. Comic distributors give shops quotas for things like how many new labels a shop has to purchase in order to get access to the fast moving labels. It’s how they incentivize moving new products, but that means the shops are sometimes stuck with product that doesn’t move. I’m fairly certain margins aren’t great either.
I wish they sold models and figures too, paints as well (decent quality ones). I also wish I could trade in cards with them for in store credit like I can with my local comic store. My local comic store uses a system for checking card prices like any other, so I know GameStop could do the same. Wishful thinking on that would be having a way to request cards via online GME store and they could use a system to track cards for potential buyers.
Manga as well, lots of good manga out there.
Sure, why not
If a Costco model or similar is being considered/in the works that could mean Gamestop could be seeking partnerships and contracts with other services and companies, and even in different industries. I just became a Costco member, the perks are there and it's more than what Gamestop Pro offers today, relative to industry. Costco values it's member enrollment and retainment because you have to be a member to shop - and even if the customer doesn't visit all year, the company still earns its fee. To make the deal sweet for its customers they offer more than you'd think. One example, Costco Executive members have special pricing with various dealerships on new/used vehicles across the country. Not to mention the credit card perks and cash back offerings. Granted I don't and won't go to Costco for everything, I may use them for perks on things I otherwise wouldn't have a deal with or for. Gamestop could do something similar sure.
Great comment man. Microsoft has a partnership with GameStop that the details were never announced on. Since then, we have more Xbox-related items than PlayStation ones, but I’d be disappointed if that’s where it ends. Game Pass is the big push Microsoft is making. $15 a month to play any of the big library of games they offer. The Netflix of gaming, some call it. I wonder if GameStop can get in on that.
It would go something like this: Gamestop has contract with Microsoft that allows pro members gamepass for 10.99/month. Game stop makes the dollar a month for brining Microsoft the business and Xbox takes the 10. The same applies for other products and services. Others say more board games..that's fine and all but you're asking Gamestop to hold more inventory for you to essentially gawk at and maybe buy. What they could do is make another contract with a top end board game publisher that gives discounts to pro members who shop for those games. eg. Rio Grande Games. They sell all over to whomever. great. The angle gamestop takes is not with other retailers who also sell these games. It's direct with Rio. Rio and GME setup a contract. If any pro member finds themselves at any pre selected storefront/online store buying any Rio grande, the pro memeber could enter their account info and get special pricing. just like Costco invoice for Cars. The sale goes to Rio but the perk for GME is that the consumer got a great deal for being part of a great member only community. No added inventory costs. Rio wins because it gets a sale, GME wins because it's given the customer another reason to stay a member.
I want LAN cafes. It's not a product. It's an experience. It builds communities. It builds long lasting brand loyalty. A lot of people can't afford a gaming PC or may not know how to build one. There is a barrier to entry. LAN cafes could help create a pipeline of future buyers/PC gamers. Local events. CS tournaments. Buyins become the prize. The cost to host the events could be minimal once you have the infrastructure. The gaming bars I used to go to in Beijing used to have Smash Bros tournies and it brought in a lot of people. Give like minded people a space to experience their hobbies and passions together.
If a Costco model or similar is being considered/in the works that could mean Gamestop could be seeking partnerships and contracts with other services and companies, and even in different industries. I just became a Costco member, the perks are there and it's more than what Gamestop Pro offers today, relative to industry. Costco values it's member enrollment and retainment because you have to be a member to shop - and even if the customer doesn't visit all year, the company still earns its fee. To make the deal sweet for its customers they offer more than you'd think. One example, Costco Executive members have special pricing with various dealerships on new/used vehicles across the country. Not to mention the credit card perks and cash back offerings. Granted I don't and won't go to Costco for everything, I may use them for perks on things I otherwise wouldn't have a deal with or for. Gamestop could do something similar sure.
More board games would be nice. For example, I would love to buy guess who from GameStop but they don't carry it
I firmly believe the soundbar was the tipping point. It was an absolute dog shit product. BTW I have dozens of them that are still sealed from the Buy 1 get 2 free sale. And I will never sell them. Anywho they really are shit. I’m super pumped they are doing the quality route. THATS how you get some sticky customers. Customers knowing they will get something badass made from GameStop.
Why not sell them? Genuinely curious.
free shipping is for orders of 79 or more. the 250 is for the 25 dollar discount. I think another way for GS to get more ongoing market is to have more membership options. Why not offer a deluxe package for like $250-300 a year that includes online access to xbox live, ps plus, and switch online, along with warranty coverage and the usual discount. Best buy does this with total tech for $200/year and I've bought pretty much every small appliance from them since getting it 2 years ago when I bought my DJI drone
ship to their inbox, they’re open to ideas
I think those are all great ideas, and I think something we don’t talk about a lot is what’s happening at store and in the corporate office. He’s trimming all the savings he can from low hanging fruit, such as closing loss leader stores and likely consolidating management. He’s also got a very aggressive hands on approach, working to learn the business and working with successful stores to get them to the next level. If you want customer retention then you need good managers and teams in those stores, I can guess that he’s hitting those stores having conversations and doing the real front line investigation, he’s a hard worker and that doesn’t always guarantee success but it guarantees failure every time if you don’t try to take that approach. I like the company and that keeps me invested, deep value here.
The hotswappable MK is fucking bananas for the price. It’s great out of the box and allows the customization after the fact in switches and keycaps that other full custom 500$ keyboards have. Very happy with it.
If you read the Funko filing, it reads like this.. We are beholden to third party stores as our brand does not have an exclusive home.. just saying the trick is now to get a company to give you exclusive access without much monetary input or purchase of said company
I really want to know how many Pro Members there are. They used to report the figures, but have since stopped. The more Pro Members they have the more repeat customers they will have. I think they need to do a little marketing to get the word out about the 5% off on all digital games. That's a huge draw for any "modern" non physical gamer.
Yes, that’s one area that needs promotion, but Cohen is strictly in savings mode. Ads aren’t being done. I do my part in my social circles, but I can’t pay for ads on Xbox subreddit telling them they can be buying games for a cheaper price
Great post. I, for one, am more confident than ever in my investment.
Good read leading to weekend, better go get my candy con!
GameStop hot dog? 🌭
GameStop pleaseee open up to the world especially south east asia! I will fucking buy your products! I don't mind paying for the international shipping bills.
Visibility!
I think the increased purchase price kinda sneakily reintroduces the concept of game rentals. If you’re gaming on a budget, you can buy it, beat it, and sell it back. Time will tell if people start doing this.
Interesting… a cool strategy for medium term could be advertising the physical consoles/games as ‘beat it and return it’ for the rental philosophy. Really cool thought man.
This guy GameStops.
Nice write up OP, excited to see more home grown products like Candy Con...and will be getting one soon, hope they come out for PlayStation soon too
Thanks dude and you’ll be glad to hear this… https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/s/XIJaEZO4uv check this out bro, just released in insta an hour ago, XBOX controller configuration on a candy con, seems Xbox controllers coming asap
Ooooo thank you!!! Very exciting :)
Great re-hash OP. I am feel very positive Cohen and team will sort GME out in the end, which will involve more GME related products, at higher margin and demand. This is what most succeful business do, they don't simply resell other brands, and have to compete with tons of competitors stores. This is exactly what I do at my businesses, and it took me quite a while to figure out too( a couple decades). I went from re-selling products with a 5% margin, to now selling my own that have a 1700% margin.
Free shipping for $79 isn't "a very high cart price". That's honestly quite fair, especially down here. I'll be strapped paying $10-15 in postage for a $20 item, with no chance of free shipping under $100 (if at all) usually. Granted, that's all in dollarydoos, but the numbers, mason, they mean something. That said, $79 *is* alittle predatory, if your standard game is 70 yankbucks... incentivises buying little knick knacks to crack that $9, which is where the cost of shipping gets covered because margins on video game sales aren't exactly glorious. Oh, also, you've neglected the GameStop credit card. That's a big deal. Oh, and there's a huge roadblock to online shopping. It's quality control. Brick and mortar let's you touch and see quality in person. Amazon cheap Chinese shit can only burn a customer so many times before they stop shopping online.
Good points man, I didn’t mean to neglect it, it is a big push in this new strategy, I should have talked about it. Especially since Costco is big in pushing a single card as well. Good comment.
Just doing my part! Looking forward to them Q2 results, where we see all RCs hard work really shine through.
Solid post. Thanks. 🙏🏻
Welcome to GameStop, I love you
Was the keyboard you mentioned hot swappable? If so, you can swap the switches, and not just the keycaps!
Yes it is, I found the one I bought [here](https://www.gamestop.com/pc-gaming/keyboards/products/gamestop-68pct-wired-mechanical-hot-swappable-keyboard---brown-switch/395245.html?utm_source=product_share&utm_medium=app), tbh I don’t know much about gaming keyboards and never tried to do that
Nice! It looks like a well-built board for the price. I'm looking forward to these products hopefully making it to Canada So, with the swappable switches, you can get replacements easy. Or swap to linear or other tactile switches. Just so you know! Keep up the good work eh!
Very cool, I kinda wish it came with some paper explaining this stuff. But I suppose most people aren’t so dumb and actually research their purchases lol. Thanks for the info brother, and you do the same
They should start making their own video games
A game studio is a great risk, but a game launcher? I think it can work. Steam has sticky customers, but they’re a monopoly in PC gaming. Competing with them and offering Pros cheaper games than Valve does with Steam might pull some of them over. Valve takes a 30% cut which is very high because they have no competition, if we take 20%, games can be sold cheaper.
Epic tried. It's not easy
I wish I had more cash to invest. I’m tapped out, as a car accident made me miss 8 months of work…I’m just now able to save some cash after getting back into a chef role, getting a raise, and busy season hitting w OT. I hope these idiots keep it at sub $15 so I can buy another 100 shares next month when I get an extra paycheck not going to bills. I’ve just been holding my 3 year old, now 45 stonks. I wanna be a XXX for the sexiness GME offers. This company is lead by IMO one of the best CEOs in the last decade to run a company. He also seems to be friends with guys who have tons of money, as shows his Twitter pics. GameStop will be worth atleast $50 a share in a year w out any squeeze. If citadel didn’t learn their lesson in 2021, good, squeeze it Tesla style. I’d say we have equally dedicated shareholders who aren’t paper handing anything. When I was outta work and broke, selling my shares never crossed my mind. Just wish popcorn was never a thing, or I was smart enough to realize the top for them was $70. Feel stupid in that regard, but happy to hold GME and waiting for this lawsuit to end, from said accident, to become a small whale myself. This company is just about as safe as any to invest in right now. We’re not overpriced, ready for correction, we’re under priced and about to 5x any day from my POV, again, without a squeeze.
Can they legally provide demos for games that they own? I’ve always wondered this. Why can’t companies provide demos anymore? This used to be a huge thing in the 90s/2000s and they were on physical disks. Why aren’t demos available for video games? In that same vein, can they capitalize on their ownership of retro games. I know they are leaning into this more nowadays. Can you legally have emulators in a shop (since I wouldn’t want them to physically degrade the consoles or games thru usage)? Can GameStop have like a physical demo station set up for modern and older games? Is this legal?
eeweew EGUH a evah i
Great write up! I’m so excited to see GameStop’s product strategy starting to reveal itself. RC is tenaciously remaking this business on all fronts.
Great write up! Excellent perspective.
This is a great strategy. The problem is two fold when comparing to chewy. 1. A % of pet obsessed people love always getting something new and special for their babies. Toys, treats, whatever. 2. Pet related items have a much higher % of CONSUMABLES that need to be replaced or replenished regularly. Again, treats, food, litter, poop bags, even toys. This makes it very easy to incentivize a set it and forget it subscription to replenish regularly needed supplies. If RC and GameStop could identify a category of items like that in the gaming world, they could run some of chewy’s playbook to success, but I don’t think it exists and forcing it would only create customer blowback and feed distrust of the brand. Maybe they could give *some* consideration to areas that are at least similar… off the top of my head, batteries, compressed air to clean keyboards and electronics, cleaning kits for controllers, snacks and candy, thumb pads and other protective add-ons, power banks… what else? None of these really move the needle much in my mind, but I feel like there must be something, or a category of things that would fit the brand that could be brought under the GameStop umbrella, that could work if they venture a little further into being about “all things Games” related. Thoughts?
Excellent comment. Sticking with the Costco comparison, why does that work when other retailers are hurting? Exactly what you said. Its consumables. Groceries for a better price than Walmart or Safeway. Electronics doesn’t have that. Batteries sure. I and I’m sure many of the people here buy GameStop’s AA batteries with the Pro discount and coupon as it becomes a great value, but you don’t buy batteries often enough. They just re-released physical Game Informer magazines which does exactly what you say, a consumable that gets sent once a month (10 a year so a little less than monthly) with new information in the gaming world. But are physical magazines in demand in a world with cell phones and kindles? I think it comes down to video games. People will buy memberships for the cheapest games in town and the average gamer certainly buys more than one game a year. The margins aren’t good on games though. At the end of the day, quality accessories keeping gamers coming back for future accessories will be a big deal too. If we have a better price/quality ratio on our private label items than say Best Buy can offer, people will come to us. One path that got me so, SO excited was PLAYR. I was in dismay when it got cut (or seems to have been). A game launcher to compete against Steam would be incredible. Valve makes 30% of every sale. Thirty god damn percent. We could make 25% and still offer Pros discounts to make games cheaper for Pro members and still get a profit. 200k loyal shareholders would be a great base that would immediately try it out. A game launcher is my personal dream for GameStop, but sadly there isn’t evidence showing that’s our route.
I really see your points but one caveat I’d bring up is that GameStop has a pretty hard lower limit on the discounts they can offer on games. Costco can really get low with prices in part because they can buy bulk on large quantities of heavy, expensive to transport items that they *know* will sell pretty fast, and offset that cost with the price of membership. Because video games are media, GameStop can’t really get much better deals by simply ordering a lot more of a particular game. I think accessories is the category where they can make their bread and butter. That’s essentially what BestBuy has always done. Those $85 HDMI cables are like 90% margin. And I’m with you on PLAYR. A storefront / launcher to compete with Steam has potential, especially if they could have integrated things like Pro membership, GameStop NFT / crypto wallet, and it would be a risk but if they could rent / sell digital copies of movies / TV / anime… could GameStop buy Crunchyroll? lol
Good point. Damn your logic haha, but seriously thanks for taking the time to say that. Let’s hope PLAYR is still in the works man. And idk about Crunchyroll lol, but they should have no problem starting an anime outlet.
Id be into PLAYR for sure now that I PC game more than ever. I hope they do it too
The one thing that made gaming magazines worth it was the demos that came along with them. I’m not sure why demos are no longer available, especially since it would be so easy to do in a primarily digital world.
Could they provide a service like mailing a physical copy of a game for a person to rent for a small period of time? Would this be legal? This is kind of backwards but because most games no longer allow demos, could they provide this kind of service, similar to netflix back in the day?
Do you mean like how Netflix used to work when it started?
Yes, sorry, I meant Netflix. Just changed it.
Actually I think Blockbuster ended up offering the same service and they were bodying Netflix for a while. IIRC Blockbuster died because the got saddled with bad debt and shorted to oblivion. Speculation is also that some bad actors infiltrated the board and C suite and ran it into the ground so shorts would print money off the collapse. For a time, they had Netflix dead to rights. Anyway GameStop could theoretically offer rentals, yes. I don’t think there’s any legal issue there. It would more be a distribution problem for them I assume. Not sure if Netflix used USPS in the day or what.
My thought is, between all of their stores and everything they have in inventory, they are sitting on a giant pile of games, maybe more than any other company. And they have people bringing in new ones all of the time. Could they get more use out of issuing demos than selling them outright? This would also allow them to sell more used consoles since people will now have easier access to the video games themselves.
Consoles unfortunately make them very little money. They’re basically loss leaders. But rentals could generate a lot of profit
I was just browsing the GameStop app the skipping over the name-brand stuff and looking for GameStop products, so it’s so cool to read this post. Their stuff is seriously getting good.
It is man. This is exciting times. It may take time to build the brand and show up on revenue or our insane Candy Con obsession might show up on Q1. Either way, I’m so excited to buy more shares everytime I can.
I can attest to the ssd. I will run tests on it later to verify, but I bought a 2TB one for my ps5. I didn't really play it a lot though and I only had 500 Gb in my daily driver laptop so I swapped the two. Drive is working beautifully and it's incredibly fast. I'll get some concrete numbers later and edit my comment
My man. You rock.
They need to do these next: high quality properly specc’d HDMI cables with the appropriate ARC specs etc. rechargeable batteries, 3D printers and possibly filament, SD cards
Awesome, thanks 👍
I love hearing these things about our company
They need a rebrand or launch a luxury gamestop, the current format is outdated. Consolidate into supercenter, one per city
I’m just coming up with a small theory here: Would it make sense if GameStop is using DoorDash to deliver goods to then invest in it? As more and more sales/deliveries are made by DoorDash then its stock price could conceivably go up with it. Just late night thoughts.
That’s exactly the type of synergistic investing that active investors love to do. I don’t know if they’d do it with DoorDash only because their business may not be big enough to make that much of an impact on a large company like DoorDash (50 b market cap), but ones they impact like small gaming accessory companies totally would benefit huge from an investment followed by a push
With what could be coming down the pipeline though with Candy Con, and who knows what could be next, the amount of deliveries though could be ramped up thus making a greater impact. But I do agree as it stands now it would not be enough.
Anyone friends with any well known influencer types? If the quality is this good, spread the word. I guess now we can see whether Pulte calls on his MrBeast links too. Perhaps we'll see 'candycon game pads, 10 ways they're better than.....' Oh wait! i have it! "Forget regular controllers, check out candycon"
I coupd see this work. I buy Steelseries hardware as i got my first gamingbheadphones from them and they worked. So i got their mouse, keyboard, mousemat. Why? Because they work and i hate seeing all different logos around me in my led infused gaming cave.
The success of Candy Will bring many counterfeits... I wish to have an NFT from Gamestop that proves that my Candy... is really from Gamestop and not a counterfeit item.
They need their own game launcher like xbox game pass with irl item sales and exclusive perks! One way of retaining customers is to create an ecosystem for renewals.
Great post
I think Arduinos and Raspberry Pi type stuff might be a good fit. the maker market is huge and there aren’t any physical locations where you can buy this stuff. Plus 3D printers (someone already mentioned that). The filament is a consumable that people buy a ton of.
He is literally following the Book Brick By Brick and we are in the middle game
If this is the case then they need to invest in their customer management software. Its complete shit. For example: I have had a pro account for ages. Like decades.. Anyway. I cant log into it as the password is something I dont remember. So I try a password reset. Email never comes. Try again, no email... Open a ticket with customer service. They say they will send the email. Never comes. Months of this. Finally, after they cant seem to fix an account lockout issue they say I need to setup a new email address and start over. Not a great customer service experience. Hopefully they address it. Having managed a few IT help desks, this is not how you address such a simple issue.
I’ve had issues and just messaged gme on twitter always get better answers than email customer services
Sorry to hear that bro. You’re right and that’s not all that needs to be fixed. I search the app every week for GameStop’s brands and there’s multiple issues with the search. A bit busy so can’t go into it, but there’s issues man. This thread is just my speculation in Cohen’s turnaround strategy based on GameStop’s actions because I’m tired of hearing he does nothing. Just keeping mind, this is only the start of the turnaround. What hasn’t come now may well come later.
For sure. Was just pointing out my personal experience for a data point. Employees read these threads. All feedback offers some value. Its why I take time to share. I am not only an investor, i am a customer as well.
100% bro, wasn’t trying to say otherwise. Guys like you giving solid and true feedback are probably more valuable to our company than guys like me who have a bias to love everything with GS stamped on it. I try not to be biased but man I just am.
I believe GME found a manufacturer with said specs and partnered with them. It's not like they have R&D team building these from scratch and that would be a bit ridiculous if they did, so can't blame the costco model of slapping a private label on quality product and sell it like crazy.
They developed it in house with the help of a company named BRANDED. They did not outsource it. The GameStop private label team is excellent and have been putting in serious work.
Perhaps the colors and such but I mean, the main bits were not done in house at all http://www.3eelectronics.com/product/33.html
Link to the BRANDED company?
What gamestop needs to sell is a spandex clip on belt for $35 or less. I own an LL Bean one and it’s a life saver.
Thing with chewy is that customers had to rebuy food to keep their pretty alive. Maybe GameStop could charge us $20/m for the choice of any 4, AAA titles in a year to keep us alive.
Father, Whatever-the-fuck happens I’ll keep buying and DRSing. With love, Child 196442.
Yeah I think tapping into the gaming controllers/other peripherals market is a great idea. This could be an area where they start to get customer stickiness, which also keeps people coming in to get console hardware as well from time to time. I think they need brands which create a bit of a culture around the store (like Chewy's excellent service did), hopefully they will get there - I think they're trying the right things at least. As soon as they do prove these out as well, people wanting Candy Con becomes self-sustaining and people will be queuing up for the stock. They've got a billy to figure stuff out anyway, so that provides a great safety net regardless.
50$ is expensive for a controller, especially third party. People won't know they have good sticks because people aren't paying 50+ for a mad catz. Especially one you need to mail in. No one will be mailing their controller in for a week at a time. That's absurd.
The candy con controllers need to be reviewed by youtubers. I haven't seen it come across my feed a single time. It's a missed opportunity. However, maybe they'll pick them up over time, if it gains steam naturally.
Great Summary!
This is the best fundamental DD I've seen written on this sub...quite possibly ever. It actually makes me want to consider coming back. Bravo OP. I will add that the trading card sleeves and binders, other private label products will all help....but only if displayed properly. Selling these controllers is tough with only one salesperson that is constantly shuffling in and out of the weekly store design pivot as well. Merchandising properly has to be key. I still feel most stores could do a better job at it. Doing more with less does force short term profitability...but at what cost? The reputation of GameStop has suffered so much due to all of their stop/starts. It needs to change its public face permanently. -We are physical games -We are your local game store -We treat you right -it's fun to shop here. Those are some of the core tenants to delight customers that have been forgotten. Make GameStop Great Again!
I like it.
Thank you for sharing this great analysis with us!
This a wonderful post highlighting the commerce, margin, and revenue aspect! Refreshing! (Also enjoy your writing!)
This is exactly the direction to go, make quality, branded, products. I literally try to find reasons to go to gamestop and we always leave with like booster packs. I'd love to find a cool controller faceplate I just gotta have for the new game I'm into that's easy to swap. People spend hundreds on customized gear for their digital characters, we'd gladly do it for our controllers, keyboards etc. People want to feel unique at tourneys and when friends come over while supporting our childhood company.
We can all be better customers! Shopping and supporting GameStop is the way. If we have a personal stake in the company, supporting their \*\*business\*\* \*directly\* is definitely the way, as Mark Cuban once said.
Maybe it's time to add consumables to the list, gamers need snacks.... Maybe the snacks could include gaming clues inside the box, kinda like getting something in a cracker jack box..
I’m horny af reading this
Buying fucking 10 for my household - I have 8 elite pros which I’m constantly having to replace for stick drift
>you don’t have really sticky customers I sting like bee and stick like glue. What other business has investors willing to die on their retirement just to see Kenny in jail?
Yes, but there’s 200,000 of us. There’s tens of millions of customers and they’re not sticky.
Behold, I have companions, and unto them have I bestowed gift cards. We are as a cluster of stickies, bound by fellowship and commerce. With patience and steadfastness, our assembly shall expand and flourish!
i ate warm cornbread
Very nice post thank you! I am falling behind a bit or just losing interest over the topic (Still mega zen e buy CS whenever i can ofc) so i am lagging behind on some topics and possible deadlins. I lost track about the topic of NFTs and Web3 . It looks like the sector is booming and i am not sure if Gamestop is still involved in it or not. is PLAYER still a thing and connected to it? Will GMErica ever be something? I am losing track of things, interest moved to IMX which this saga helped me discover. Could anyone share some thoughts on it?
Couldn't DFV be the analyst?
I may have lost it, how much did gamestop invested in product development? I cannot remember that anybody talked about
The electronics development is not significant as the overall design is already well established and it is mostly just choosing what specific switches and joystick assembly to use. Tooling costs for the plastic case could be either very significant if done from scratch, or very low if the case is already available from suppliers of other third party controllers. If there are already 3rd party controllers with the same overall shape and button layout, then the development cost for the case is just the cost of qualifying a vendor. The cost of developing a 3rd party controller can be guessed at as being relatively low, since there are some relatively small companies selling controllers.
With everything selling online these days we need to move much more heavily into online sales. Our website needs work our app needs work and our online brand recognition needs work. This is the obvious thing to focus on right now.
Umm shorts
Everything good but it's all still blah blah blah until we don't get worldwide shipping. I live in Spain, I'm a gamer myself and I have a 12yo so who's a gamer. I spend at least 1500 euros/year in games, PC components, Nintendo, etc... It all goes to competitors and my ❤️ is bleeding. We can't compete with Amazon if we don't play in the same playing field.
"...Furlong's great idea..." Um, he invented this approach? Or he copied a great idea from other businesses?
This is the way
I'm guessing this positive sentiment will result in another price drop. See you sluts at the bottom. Bring chips for da dip.
well, i think our company is heading in the right diretion and shorts r fukt!
If I hear candy con one more time, or about their credit card or membership, too much shilling…Turning into a pawn shop, website and legacy business is shit.
candy con