In case you somehow thought this was a joke, and we don't blame you if you did, but GameStop and its “Trade Anything Day” promotion is a real thing, and it happened on Saturday.
GameStop later clarified this promotion to let people know that no matter what the item is, everyone will get the same $5 trade-in credit. In other words, trading 10 stones won't magically get you a Nintendo Switch 2. But imagine if it did?
The promotion drew the ire of fans and staff alike, seemingly going viral overnight thanks to its extensive list of “Dos” and “Do Nots” that somehow allowed taxidermy to be exchanged. Before the event, employees understandably began to fear the worst.
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However, now that the event has largely taken place, we can officially say that it went as well as you'd expect. Which means no one was in the taxidermy business, but people were trying to give out tons of junk.
Most of these items were to go to charity. About that…
On the GameStop subreddit, employees and players have shared the types of items that have been traded in their store. In one employee's shop was a phone cord, a Skyrim map, a board game, and what looks like a birdhouse.
Elsewhere, someone traded in a Kinect, a baseball figure, and what appears to be an unused Jujutsu Kaisen figure. Another image in the thread shows a Switch Lite buried in a pile of clothes, though it's unclear if the console actually works.
In a separate post, someone commented that they were going to try to trade two cans of the Pokémon x Campbell Soup collaboration, only to have employees allegedly scoff at their stuff.
The purpose of the event seemed to be to have people donate things they would otherwise have no use for, such as clothes that don't fit, board games, old video games, along with pantry items that could be donated to charity.
Unfortunately, when you tell people they can trade anything and also have employees who would rather do anything than stop at the local charity center, you get that combo along with all the junk we've seen.
Of course, it was supposed to be a one-time, get-your-5-dollar-and-walk-away deal, but that didn't stop enterprising “entrepreneurs” from sharing their escapades as they went to several different GameStop stores to claim $5 in credit on Reddit and social media.
In the case of the cutest counter-bill, a child accompanied by their parents traded in a Mezi námi x GameStop handmade piece. Hopefully the $5 will help them get whatever is on their holiday wish list.
Finally, someone tried to replace his “friend” named Bobby, a sheet of felt-tip pen made with a face. Unfortunately, GameStop didn't accept the letter and really, if they're your “buddies” then why would you try to trade them in for a measly $5. Aren't friends worth more?
For many who probably work at GameStop, it was probably just another day in the life.
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