Reduced Price Guide Thread XIV (FAQ in 2nd Post)

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The Reduced Price Guide FAQ/OP has been moved to the SECOND post. Read this first!
[customspoiler="Disclaimer"]
All credit goes to IAmTheCheapestGamer, floormat, and guinaevere. They ran this thread for years, and I can safely say we would not have penny guides here without them. Thanks for your work!
[/customspoiler]

Private message me if there is something incorrect or needs to be changed in the non-wiki pages.
Below is two years or so of guide drop info. If you want to see the full list, please refer to the third post of the Reduced Price Guide Thread XIV that can be found HERE.​

Note that date may be of confirmation, and not of drop.

CE/SE/LE=HARDCOVER GUIDE
Red=Gamestop drop
Blue=Best Buy drop
Pink=Toys R Us drop

 

Recent Drops (Last Six Months)

Dropped 3.23.16 at GameStop

Game Stop 1 Cent

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate CE

Just Cause 3

Halo 5 CE



Dropped on 3.26.14
 

Gamestop

Battlefield 4

Disney Infinity

Grand Theft Auto V

Remember Me

Super Mario 3D World

Dropped on 2.26.14

Gamestop 

Assassin's Creed IV: CE

Battlefield 4 CE
Grand Theft Auto CE

Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds CE

Skylanders Swap Force CE

Wonderful 101

Dropped on 2.14.14

Toys'R Us

Rage
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Mass Effect 3

Star Wars The Force Unleashed II

Dropped on 10.31.13

Gamestop 
 
Animal Crossing
Assassin's Creed 3
Borderlands 2 LE
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Cheat Code Overload: Winter 2013
Codes & Cheats Vol. 1 2013
Dead Island Riptide
Diablo III

Disgaea D2

Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Legendary
Epic Mickey 2
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Halo 4
Hitman Absolution
Injustice: Gods Among Us

Injustice: Gods Among Us LE
Last of Us

Last of Us LE
Lego City Undercover
Madden 25
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Ni No Kuni
Pokemon Black & White 2 Pokedex
Resident Evil 6 LE
Resident Evil Revelations

Wind Waker LE
Dropped on 9.25.13

Gamestop
Army of Two The Devils Cartel
Dead Space 3
Metal Gear Rising Revengence
Star Trek
Super Mario Bros. Wii U
Epic Mickey 2 Limited Ed
Halo 4 Limited Ed
Hitman Absolution Limited Ed

Dropped on 9.04.13

Gamestop
 
Call of Duty Black Ops II CE
DMC: Devil May Cry
Dishonored
Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider CE       
 
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[quote name='confoosious']You're lucky you got 1 when they easily could have denied you. Stop crying about it.[/QUOTE]
at my local best buy today the guy in front of me was buying the dragon age 2 guide and ncaa football for $10. he obviously knew his shit because ncaa football wasn't advertised anywhere in store. he got denied the guide because it wasn't in the system. it was off-putting. i hope i don't have competition here.
 
It's not greed. They will throw away the guides. If I knew that the guides were going to people that actually wanted to use them, I would only take one, or maybe two. But when I know they're headed for the junkyard, I'd rather take them all and maybe sell them.

And really, which Resident Evil?
 
[quote name='Lord Izanagi']It's not greed. They will throw away the guides. If I knew that the guides were going to people that actually wanted to use them, I would only take one, or maybe two. But when I know they're headed for the junkyard, I'd rather take them all and maybe sell them.
[/QUOTE]

They're supposed to destroy them to get credit back from the publisher. When you "buy" them for a penny, they are losing money on that sale.

You are being greedy.
 
[quote name='Lord Izanagi']Which Resident Evil? Raccoon City?[/QUOTE]

I think it's the Resident Evil Archives: Volume 2 considering it was on the pull list posted awhile back. It's definitely not Raccoon City as that guide is still on the BB website for $19.99.
 
This is the original pull list that Lox posted in late April / Early May:

Pretty weird that some on the list did penny and others are now not in the system:

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (regular and LE) - Both Pennied
Brink - Out Of System
Bulletstorm - Out Of System
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Out Of System
Donkey Kong Country Returns - Pennied
Dragon Age II LE - Pennied
Epic Mickey - $19.99 according to IATCG price check link
Fallout: New Vegas LE - Pennied
Homefront (regular and LE) - Both Out Of System
Infamous 2 - Out Of System
Mortal Kombat LE - Pennied
NCAA Football 11 - ???
Pokemon Black/White LE - Pennied
Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver Volumes 1,2 and 3 - ???
Resident Evil Archives II - ???
Resistance 3 - Out Of System
The Sims 3: Medieval - Pennied
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - ???
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - Out Of System
White Knight Chronicles II - $0.01 according to IATCG price check link but rang up $19.99 for me
WWE All Stars - Out Of System
 
The link I provided last week to check SKU's isn't working at all now. It's coming up to page not found.

FYI: THIS is the correct link, the one in the FAQ post seems to be coming up as a jumbled mess now for some reason.

http://www.bestbuy. com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17098&skuId=3550046&type=page&index3=index3&hideTBPSavings=true&active=rwz

Just copy/paste everything above and remove the space between the dot and com and you should be good to go.
 
[quote name='Lord Izanagi']They're all now out of the system as it seems that Best Buy has stopped pennied guides.[/QUOTE]

No. Ones that have been confirmed to ring up as a penny I believe still do. I picked up 7 guides that rang a penny when scanned last weekend.
 
[quote name='Lord Izanagi']They're all now out of the system as it seems that Best Buy has stopped pennied guides.[/QUOTE]

I don't know if they have or not, but it's guaranteed to happen some day. After all, there's no such thing as a "penny guide". A penny is the placeholder they use for pulls. Some stores either don't care or don't know enough to pull them and instead sell them (or put $.01 price stickers on them, which is pretty funny). But whenever penny guides disappear, it won't be because of some major shift in supply/demand or company policies, it will be because they updated that tiny bit of their computer code and replaced "$.01" with something that says, "Do not sell. Pull and destroy."

Until then, we enjoy the ride. :)
 
[quote name='coopscohen']No. Ones that have been confirmed to ring up as a penny I believe still do. I picked up 7 guides that rang a penny when scanned last weekend.[/QUOTE]

Which 7 are those?

[quote name='Zippon']I don't know if they have or not, but it's guaranteed to happen some day. After all, there's no such thing as a "penny guide". A penny is the placeholder they use for pulls. Some stores either don't care or don't know enough to pull them and instead sell them (or put $.01 price stickers on them, which is pretty funny). But whenever penny guides disappear, it won't be because of some major shift in supply/demand or company policies, it will be because they updated that tiny bit of their computer code and replaced "$.01" with something that says, "Do not sell. Pull and destroy."

Until then, we enjoy the ride. :)[/QUOTE]

There have been multiple confirmations that most of the guides from the last 2 drops are removed from the system, making them impossible to sell. Except for a few exceptions that might trickle through this gravy train is dry. Oh well, we knew it had to happen eventually.
 
[quote name='neocisco'][quote name='coopscohen']No. Ones that have been confirmed to ring up as a penny I believe still do. I picked up 7 guides that rang a penny when scanned last weekend.[/QUOTE]Which 7 are those?
[/QUOTE]

I'm assuming coopscohen meant guides from previous confirmed drops (before this past week). Otherwise, definitely a Helpful Post of the Year nominee.
 
[quote name='gantt']I'm assuming coopscohen meant guides from previous confirmed drops (before this past week). Otherwise, definitely a Helpful Post of the Year nominee.[/QUOTE]

Previous guides that were confirmed pennied. I posted them earlier:

Red Dead Redemption
Thor: God of Thunder
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Fallout New Vegas CE
Dragon Quest VI
Red Faction Armageddon
Pokedex Gold/Silver

These were confirmed to ring as a penny and still do. The newer pulls is where the "not able to add item" arises.
 
Got the SKU site to work for me. Couldn't find any SKUs I wanted online though, so I just rummaged this forum till I found it! I've been hunting for the Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One guide and I confirmed it as a penny and not OOS, but is there a way to check if it is in my local store? I'm not a BB goer, so I'm quite savvy on their site yet.
 
[quote name='coopscohen']I think it's the Resident Evil Archives: Volume 2 considering it was on the pull list posted awhile back. It's definitely not Raccoon City as that guide is still on the BB website for $19.99.[/QUOTE]


Yes, its resident evil archives. When scan, it's item not found. Its so sad that this will be the end of penny guides
 
[quote name='Devil May Cry']Got the SKU site to work for me. Couldn't find any SKUs I wanted online though, so I just rummaged this forum till I found it! I've been hunting for the Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One guide and I confirmed it as a penny and not OOS, but is there a way to check if it is in my local store? I'm not a BB goer, so I'm quite savvy on their site yet.[/QUOTE]

The guide will not ring up for a penny unfortunately. Its like others where the sku has been deleted. If you do find one, the store has to be nice and give it to you.
 
[quote name='coopscohen']The guide will not ring up for a penny unfortunately. Its like others where the sku has been deleted. If you do find one, the store has to be nice and give it to you.[/QUOTE]

Hmm, so its more along the lines now of finding which guides are pennied/pulled from the SKU site and then checking your local BB to see if they have any and are generous?
 
For what it matters, I can reiterate what others are saying. Today I found R23, DA2, and FONV all on the shelf at my local store, and all (for the first time) marked with stickers below each that stated they were a penny. I asked about this and of course they tried to ring them up again and again with no luck.

I never made a stink about this, but the store went out of the way to make this work and in the end they just gave them to me. For what it's worth, I'm Premier Silver, Gamers Club Unlocked, and I have the BB Mastercard. I also get complimentary back rubs and mojitos in the Magnolia area.
 
I think toys r us is getting wise too. The few tru's around here have pulled all the guides the night before and theres been nadda. Which is sad because theyve had a few of the ones that dropped . Sucks when you think you will get lucky and get a few only for the heartbreak of the pull to get you :-({|=
 
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Toys R Us is funny. They were great in 2006 area when I worked there. Lots of guides. Then in the middle they didnt really do any. Then the last year or so it seems to have picked up. We need to hang onto what we got :)

Circuit City, for those of us that remember, was also pretty good for penny guides.
 
No they weren't. I worked at CC for years and they rarely pennied out guides. They were actually one of the hardest places to get a .01 guide.
 
The last time I read about TRU drops I headed to my only one here in Hawaii, and I didn't see ONE guide for any game not even newer ones. The worker said they got rid of everything, guess I won't be checking there anymore heh.
 
[quote name='Lord Izanagi']It's not greed. They will throw away the guides. If I knew that the guides were going to people that actually wanted to use them, I would only take one, or maybe two. But when I know they're headed for the junkyard, I'd rather take them all and maybe sell them.
[/QUOTE]

The other guys already explained why this is wrong, but I can add from personal experience that reselling the guides is a tremendously bad idea. I used to get guides from GS all the time. But some dingus was grabbing multiples and taking them to all the local used book stores the day after they pennied. Long story short, the GS district manager noticed this, realized the guides were coming from his stores, and instituted a policy where he physically visited every store the day or two after a drop and grabbed the penny guides so he could destroy them himself. If a store couldn't account for every guide (or if they rang up any for a penny), they were punished. This went on for over a year. :whistle2:(
 
[quote name='neocisco']No they weren't. I worked at CC for years and they rarely pennied out guides. They were actually one of the hardest places to get a .01 guide.[/QUOTE]
Yeah. The only guide I ever got there for $.01 was :ps2:Rogue Galaxy. That one I just happened to stumble onto completely by accident too. I had the one clerk price checking every single guide on the floor the one day to check for pennied stuff and that one came up a cent when scanned. I was shocked when they allowed me to get it too.

By the way, if you still have a Transworld Entertainment store(FYE/Coconuts/etc/etc) that sells a decent selection of games and guides, they also do penny guides and even games sometimes. I found a couple guides a few years ago with them as well as some Everquest Online MMO game for the PS2 that was clearly marked $.01 .
[quote name='Zippon']The other guys already explained why this is wrong, but I can add from personal experience that reselling the guides is a tremendously bad idea. I used to get guides from GS all the time. But some dingus was grabbing multiples and taking them to all the local used book stores the day after they pennied. Long story short, the GS district manager noticed this, realized the guides were coming from his stores, and instituted a policy where he physically visited every store the day or two after a drop and grabbed the penny guides so he could destroy them himself. If a store couldn't account for every guide (or if they rang up any for a penny), they were punished. This went on for over a year. :whistle2:([/QUOTE]
I wish we actually had a used book store around here that took these fuckin' things, since I woulda gladly dumped my 400-500 guide bulk lot I had from years of grabbing them thanks to CAG on that place rather than the local game shop which gave me $.25 apiece cuz I brought them in in bulk.:cry: But I just didn't wanna bother fucking with doing 1-5 guides a trip, so that was my own stupid fault.:whistle2:#
 
I don't mean selling them to a bookstore. I sell guides online for a little more than the cost of shipping to people who want them. I don't profit off of them.
 
[quote name='phantomphoenix']Found The Sims 3 guide pennied yesterday at TRU. Got two for a penny since one rang up free with the B1G1 75% off coupon. Yipee!!!:whee:[/QUOTE]

The regular Sims 3? Not the Pets or Medieval or Prehistoric Sims?
 
[quote name='Lord Izanagi']I don't mean selling them to a bookstore. I sell guides online for a little more than the cost of shipping to people who want them. I don't profit off of them.[/QUOTE]
Awesome. Lemme know when you get a Skyrim or Dead Island guide and I'll take one for your usual cost then.;):D
 
I don't mind. But let's hope that Best Buy will continue to penny guides instead of deleting them from the system, as that is the only place I'd be able to get them. I have my eye on both of those guides as well.
 
At Best Buy, I tried buying the guides for Resistance 3, Bulletstorm, and Red Dead Redemption GOTY. The skus were deleted, but the employee asked the manager if he could give them to me. The manager said no, but they'd sell them all to me for $30. I took the deal and bought all 3 for $30. Was this a good deal? It looks like it would have cost me about $30 to buy them all from Amazon.

I guess I should also mention that they let me buy Donkey Kong (x2), Fallout New Vegas CE, Dragon Age 2 CE for 4 cents. I already have these, so I'll have to trade them.
 
[quote name='Lord Izanagi']Why don't you find the help online? GameFAQs should be able to help you.[/QUOTE]
I've done that before and right now I'm using a couple of the Dead Island Wikis out there. But it's so much nicer to flip through an actual guide for the game.
 
[quote name='Lord Izanagi']The regular Sims 3? Not the Pets or Medieval or Prehistoric Sims?[/QUOTE] Yep, regular The Sims 3 at TRU (hence pink).

[quote name='SonictheHedgehog1337']At Best Buy, I tried buying the guides for Resistance 3, Bulletstorm, and Red Dead Redemption GOTY. The skus were deleted, but the employee asked the manager if he could give them to me. The manager said no, but they'd sell them all to me for $30. I took the deal and bought all 3 for $30. Was this a good deal? It looks like it would have cost me about $30 to buy them all from Amazon.

I guess I should also mention that they let me buy Donkey Kong (x2), Fallout New Vegas CE, Dragon Age 2 CE for 4 cents. I already have these, so I'll have to trade them.[/QUOTE]
I'm surprised they let you buy the four penny guides all the while charging you $10 for the other three. Maybe they tried to increase the price on the four but it didn't take? I came across a ton of penny guides at a BB once. Took quite a few of them to checkout and it was quite clear to the cashier something was up when they all rang up a penny. Manager came over, said they can only be sold at full price, so I said I would take all the LE/CEs that I brought up. Cashier went ahead and changed the prices, hit total, only to find that the prices automatically dropped back down to a penny a piece. :rofl: I guess the system would not allow it. Manager agreed to let me have them at a penny. I was thankful for just that. I can only imagine the cashier's frustration had she upped the price on ALL the guides I grabbed. :lol:
 
[quote name='neocisco']No they weren't. I worked at CC for years and they rarely pennied out guides. They were actually one of the hardest places to get a .01 guide.[/QUOTE]

Maybe I lucked out because before they went under, I got a few large hauls (well decent hauls not compared to BB ones)
 
I loved this thread for a longtime and i finally joined here to let you guys know about the best buys near me. The last pokemon guide that you added was deleted out of their system when I went to buy it the day after it was posted here. The Disney guide CE was never deleted at that time. I was able to pick up the donkey Kong guide for a penny since it was not deleted from the system.

One best buy had a ton of guides. Read dead redemption goty, spiderman, xmen and more. All were deleted. They would not let me buy them for a penny but they entered them all back into the system and offered them to me at 25% off retail.

This week I will go to a store that should have many deleted books and Since they have always been nice to me I am hoping to walk out with a ton of books.

Toysrus has been my goto spot lately: super scribblenauts, zelda spirit tracks, star wars clone wars republic heroes and more.
 
I actually saw a Fallout New Vegas Sc sitting on the shelf and brought it up with me to customer service. After my pickup I asked the girl to see what it rings up at and she said it is not coming up. I told her I thought it was one of the penny guides (they know I look for penny stuff) and she said "Oh, well now they are free, do you want it?" I said "Yes!", and went on my merry way.
 
[quote name='nosalenobuy']I loved this thread for a longtime and i finally joined here to let you guys know about the best buys near me. The last pokemon guide that you added was deleted out of their system when I went to buy it the day after it was posted here. The Disney guide CE was never deleted at that time. I was able to pick up the donkey Kong guide for a penny since it was not deleted from the system.

One best buy had a ton of guides. Read dead redemption goty, spiderman, xmen and more. All were deleted. They would not let me buy them for a penny but they entered them all back into the system and offered them to me at 25% off retail.

This week I will go to a store that should have many deleted books and Since they have always been nice to me I am hoping to walk out with a ton of books.

Toysrus has been my goto spot lately: super scribblenauts, zelda spirit tracks, star wars clone wars republic heroes and more.[/QUOTE]

Great! It's nice to see a new (virtual) face around! Welcome to CAG!

On another note, it's a real shame BB has finally smartened up. Hopefully a new GameStop drop is imminent.
 
Tried to get Resident Evil archives 2 for the hell of it while I was picking up Uncharted 3 CE. Asked her to check price at CS desk and she said a penny, so i asked to get it. Obviously it didn't ring up, so she said I need to buy something else with it to get for a penny. Knew it was a lost cause then so said nevermind.
 
[quote name='Pookymeister']Tried to get Resident Evil archives 2 for the hell of it while I was picking up Uncharted 3 CE. Asked her to check price at CS desk and she said a penny, so i asked to get it. Obviously it didn't ring up, so she said I need to buy something else with it to get for a penny. Knew it was a lost cause then so said nevermind.[/QUOTE]
That's when I would've grabbed an overpriced bottle of soda or iced tea from the front of the store and brought that over.;)
 
i havent been following this thread but whats the point of grabbing multiples of one guide? Is it profitable to sell these guides online or something for like 10 dollars each? I was just wondering why people grabbing all of them probably raised the red flag at bestbuy
 
[quote name='bringerofdeath']i havent been following this thread but whats the point of grabbing multiples of one guide? Is it profitable to sell these guides online or something for like 10 dollars each? I was just wondering why people grabbing all of them probably raised the red flag at bestbuy[/QUOTE]
Because you never know which guides will become valuable eventually. Not to mention that they toss whatever you don't grab in the compactor if their agreement with the publishers is anything like Gamestop has, where the remaining guides people don't grab end up mutilated(covers torn off, guides sometimes ripped in half) and tossed in the dumpster.

So many of us were trying to justify grabbing multiples by saying we were saving them from being dumped in a landfill.

Personally I still think the destruction/trashing of perfectly good products is completely asinine and super wasteful.:roll:
 
[quote name='bringerofdeath']i havent been following this thread but whats the point of grabbing multiples of one guide? Is it profitable to sell these guides online or something for like 10 dollars each? I was just wondering why people grabbing all of them probably raised the red flag at bestbuy[/QUOTE]

I typically sell the extras to people who want them for the shipping price. That or I get ones that might be wanted by others just in case they have one that I'm looking for and want to trade. As for getting multiples of ones I'd actually keep, one for display, one to read. Simple really.
 
walked into best buy last night to pick up some orders and for the b2g1 free and saw new vegas guide still there.

so i picked up

new vegas collection
dead island goty
and
red dead collection
+
a free guide new vegas guide.

manager had to come in and override (man he looked pissed and yelled at some guys in the video game department about not doing there jobs.)

shook my hand and said, it looks like this is your lucky day.
i thanked him and paid for the rest.

psst, luck has nothing to do with it, it's preparation meets opportunity.
 
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