'I Don't Care if I Get Let Go at This Point': GameStop Staff Reveal The Dark Side of Trade Anything Day, As Customers Harassed Employees and Deliberately Brought In Banned Items

A time aft GameStop celebrated its Trade Anything Day event, the retailer's unit person shared their experiences of handling everything customers brought successful — including galore items deliberately designed to daze oregon gross retired employees astatine the currency register.

Yesterday, GameStop shared a bizarre database of items it proudly said it had accepted successful speech for store credit, including a taxidermied bobcat, a coating of someone's canine with hairsbreadth similar Snoop Dogg, and a carnal Netflix disc for the Nintendo Wii.

But, it turns out, the database of items GameStop couldn't accept was adjacent weirder — and unit person present recounted however they had to woody with customers looking to origin occupation oregon spell viral connected societal media by filming their store visits, each portion carting a scope of dubious items successful tow.

Numerous examples person been posted to TikTok and X showing encounters betwixt customers and tired-looking GameStop unit arsenic they are presented with objects intelligibly designed to origin them discomfort.

One specified enactment sees a pistillate worker get told they person "something big" for her, earlier the lawsuit hands implicit a tiny potrait with the words "I Love Epstein" connected it, implicit with a photograph of President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein together. "I privation astatine slightest $5 million," the lawsuit states, arsenic the worker responds that she's unsure what to bash with it.

Another illustration sees a lawsuit bring successful a Sonic the Hedgehog plushie, which a GameStop worker past begins the trade-in process for. "It's hard to springiness up, I usage him each night," the lawsuit states. It's yet revealed that the Sonic plushie has a Fleshlight inserted successful its bottom.

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"Had idiosyncratic travel to the store and they afloat connected slapped it connected the table," yet different GameStop worker wrote connected reddit, recalling an incidental wherever a antheral had brought successful a dildo. The antheral was told to leave, though the incidental escalated to the constituent wherever the worker said they were present disquieted they were successful occupation with their determination manager.

"There were a batch of kids successful the store and truthful I got upset and kicked him out," the worker continued. "I don't attraction if I get fto spell astatine this point. How tf is this antheral going to support a dude for bringing a literal dildo into the store?"

Many employees person suggested that GameStop absorption intelligibly encouraged this behaviour by designing a deliberately jokey promotion that prompted customers to propulsion the boundaries of what was acceptable to trade-in.

Others called retired the chain's determination to play large dependable effects and inheritance sound passim the day, annoying some customers and unit alike. "To the firm geniuses who had the often sped up dependable dependable effect, alarms, and klaxon sound connected GameStop TV for Trade Anything Day," wrote 1 employee, "I anticipation you each stubs your toes truthful hard. I had to enactment 11 hours contiguous and it was horrible proceeding this crap successful the inheritance portion trying to process 4 twelve trade-in games."

Amid each the atrocious experiences, determination were immoderate much affirmative interactions. GameStop has said that immoderate customers brought successful "canned nutrient donations for section nutrient banks and favored shelters." Another worker said a lawsuit traded successful a container of donuts for store unit to enjoy. Still, with the likelihood that Trade Anything Day volition present beryllium repeated, determination remains interest among galore unit astir what whitethorn beryllium brought successful adjacent time.

Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social