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A unique online trade-in offer on the UK GameStop site has been drawing attention, but perhaps not for the reasons it should. For those not in the know, online trade-in, in which a customer ships a copy of a used game to GameStop for trade-in credit without ever setting foot in a store, is something the Texas-based retailer is testing in some of its smaller markets. A call to corporate headquarters, today, confirmed that the UK is one such smaller market, which also might explain the next part of the tale. The online trade-in website is no longer. While the representative I spoke with was able to find the flyer on a cached version of the webpage, we were both able to confirm that the page with the offer has gone down. Whether this is due to a lack of enthusiastic response or something entirely different is unknown at this time, but since the entire deal was built around customer gullibility, it wouldn’t be wholly surprising if GameStop thought better of it. What do I mean by customer gullibility? Well, the ad promised, in big bold letters, that one could receive Modern Warfare 3 for the paltry sum of 99p. Even when converting to USD, that’s less than $2. The only caveat was that one had to purchase both Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 through the UK website before their release dates, then ship Battlefield 3 back in a supplied, pre-paid envelope before November 18. Following this, a refund would be processed for your debit/credit card, less the 99p for Modern Warfare 3. The ad uses the language “refund you the balance less 99p.” 
Objectively, this is still a good deal. Modern Warfare 3 is the more expensive title in the UK by a full five pounds, and getting it at a four pound discount while also getting to play Battlefield 3 for a couple of weeks is fairly generous (though it should be noted that this deal, of course, applies only to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the games, the PC being exempt). The fact that the promotion is marketed entirely as a way of getting Modern Warfare 3 for 99p, dancing around the fact that one has still paid in full for Battlefield 3 after all is said and done, seems somewhat disingenuous. Regardless, the page is no longer, the link now leading to a 404 error. We’ll keep our eyes out in the coming week to see if it rematerializes before Battlefield 3’s UK launch. By Shelby Reiches |