« | Main | »

RPG Deals 12/6 – 12/12

By Russ | December 6, 2009 at 5:10 pm

Toys R Us takes the lead with a ‘buy 1 game get 50% off second game.’

Traditional rules apply for the games – the second title must be of equal or lesser value than the first.  Also, the PSP version of Avatar is not accepted for some reason.  Beyond those rules, the latest Zelda game does come out Tuesday and will be part of the deal.

Best Buy is offering Dragon Age for the 360 and PS3 for $50 apiece, and Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes for the DS at a $20 price.

Target is selling Dragon Age and Borderlands on the PC for $40 each.

Amazon.com has been doing daily video game deals as part of their ’18 days, 18 deals’ shindig.  Most of them are a console plus video game deal, and if you are looking for a system you do not own it’s not a bad way to go.  Keep checking; the deals are different daily.

Donations are a regular part of the year.  During the holiday season, the request for donations increases tremendously.  Child’s Play is a notable charity which takes donations all year-round, but does a lot of work during the holiday season.  I have yet to give, consistently fooling myself I will do so next year.  I like the cause – hospitals are incredibly boring places for children, and the act does help a child’s self-esteem some.  Cancer research is also prominent; Penn State has students littering corners in my town asking for donations.  I’ve given a couple bucks to these tins.  Mostly because all I have at the moment is a couple bucks. This year I did go all-out a little and went Secret Santa shopping.

I won’t tell you to donate, because that is your choice.  Honestly, if anyone were tell you donating was an obligation, I’d laugh with you.  But for those who will donate, please be careful of which organization you are donating money toward.  There have been some odd organizations outside of Wal-Mart asking for money, and I’ve skipped over them for donations.  The cause is always decent, but I would not be surprised if the money went someplace other than what I was being told.  In general, my advice is to stick to organizations you know and/or can research decently.

GameStop has been donating a percentage of purchased gift cards to charity.  This donation is on GameStop’s end and is no extra charge to the customer.  This is not an uncommon practice during the holiday season.  Yet I still see customers giving employees crap because “their” money is being donated.  Customers: Don’t give the counter guys crap because of something they cannot control.  1) don’t buy the damn card, and 2) once it leaves your pocket it’s no longer your money.

Conversely, when asking for donations, I hope the person behind the counter does not try the argument that happened to me:

“Sir, would you like to give a dollar for cancer research?”

“No thank you.  I’ve already donated money to the people collecting for Penn State’s drive.”

“You should donate your money through us.  It will appear on your receipt.  Who knows where that money goes.”

While the associate had a point about documentation, telling me I was wrong did not help his cause.  Especially since this type of street corner donating is fairly common among organizations in my area.  Plus, I believe K-mart charges administrative costs on donations, which can sometimes run as high as 35%.  100% of donation drives, if not pocketed by the person collecting the donations, typically go to the organization.

I reminded the employee I will donate money where I see fit, and that his sales technique would have cost him a donation today if I had any inkling of giving one.

An employee should not tell the customer they are wrong in charitable giving.  It’s none of their business.  Similarly, a customer shouldn’t complain about being asked for charity.  It’s part of the company’s business.

Happy Hunting.

Disclaimer: Deals may not be available in all stores. Prices in each store may differ. You can try different stores to mitigate this, and always ask if a store has it before writing them off. You might be able to get a raincheck. A lot of these deals are in-store only, except where specified.

Topics: Uncategorized