If you somehow thought this was a joke, and we don't blame you if you did, but GameStop and its “Trade Anything Day” promotional event is the real thing, and it happened on Saturday.
GameStop later clarified the promo to let people know that regardless of the item, everyone would receive a flat $5 in trade-in credit. In other words, trading in 10 rocks wouldn't magically get you a Nintendo Switch 2. But imagine if this happened?
The promo drew outrage from fans and staff alike, seemingly going viral overnight due to a detailed list of “dos” and “don'ts” that allowed the trade-in of taxidermy. In the lead up to the event, employees, understandably, began to fear the worst.
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However, now that the event has largely come and gone, we can officially say that it went exactly as you'd expect. Which means no one trades in taxidermy, but people try to get a ton of junk out.
Most of these items were said to go to charity. About that…
On GameStop's subreddit, employees and gamers shared things they managed to do at the store. In an employee shop, there is a phone cord, a map of Skyrim, a board game and what appears to be a birdhouse.
Elsewhere, someone traded in a Kinect, a baseball figure and an unused Jujutsu Kaisen figure. Another picture in the thread features a switch light buried in a pile of cloth, though it's unclear if the console is actually working.
In a separate post, someone noted that they were going to try to trade in two cans of the Pokemon x Campbell's Soup collab, only to have the staff scoff at their items.
The purpose of the program seemed to be built around people donating things they might not otherwise use, such as clothes that no longer fit, board games, old video games, as well as pantry necessities that could all be donated to charity.
Unfortunately, when you tell people they can trade in anything and have employees instead of making a pit-stop at the local charity centre, you get that combo, along with all the rubbish we've seen.
Of course, this was supposed to be a one-time business, get your $5 and leave type program, but that didn't stop enterprising “entrepreneurs” from sharing their escapades on Reddit and social media going to several different GameStop stores to claim the $5 credit.
In the case of the cutest trade-in, a child, along with his parents, traded a handmade piece of artwork at Us x GameStop. Hopefully, that $5 can help them achieve whatever is on their holiday wish list.
Finally, someone tried to trade his “friend” named Bobby, a leaf with a face made of marker. Unfortunately, GameStop doesn't accept leaves, and really, if they're your “friend”, why would you try and trade them in for $5. Aren't friends worth more than that?
All this to say, for many who work at GameStop, it was just another day in the life.
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