A man who claims to be a GameStop worker gave an insider’s preview into the retailer’s upcoming “Trade Anything Day.” As you can guess, it’s not pretty.
Wintertrainride (@wintertrainride)’s TikTok has been viewed 1.5 million times.
He declares that “GameStop is an evil corporation” in the text overlay of his video. His clip spotlights the gap that often exists between the people running the stores and the C-suite suits. Wintertrainride says he feels that his dignity, safety, and privacy are in danger of being violated.
“Today, GameStop announced a ‘Trade Anything Event.’ Mind you, they announced this to the public before they announced it to staff,” he claims.
This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
“Almost immediately,” he says, managers across his district were slammed by calls. He says people began asking about trading in weapons, bodily fluids, and other inappropriate materials. “Customers were also asking us if they could film us for TikTok so they could go viral off of our reaction,” he says.
Newsweek has already reported on what can and cannot be traded during the Dec. 6 event. The list of excluded items includes:
- Hazardous wastes
- Weapons
- Ammunition
- Dead or live animals (taxidermy is allowed)
- Sexual and explicit items
- Items resembling body parts
Still, Wintertrainride says that when the weekly manager video conference was held, he heard multiple managers voiced concerns. The alleged response from the company was to fall back on the disclaimers outlined in the Trade Anything Day rules.
But, if employees feel unsafe, he notes they are “highly encouraged to call 911.”
Further, he says that upper management suggested employees “wear a mask and gloves to conceal your identity from people filming in the store as well as to protect yourself from potential biohazards.”
“I believe that no one who works in any retail environment should ever be asked by the company that they work for to come to work prepared to deal with biohazards. Prepared to call 911. Or prepared to conceal their identity from an onslaught of filming customers. These things are always a possibility, but they should never be a likelihood,” he says.
Everybody Is An Influencer…
People were not just confused by items GameStop is willing to accept but also by what customers assume they can trade in during the event.
“TAXIDERMY IS ACCEPTED?” hollered Lyn (@asenkutruther)
“I hear ‘trade anything at GameStop’ and I’m thinking ‘trade anything that’s a video game,'” another user said.
Another viewer took aim at GameStop’s higher ups, writing, “It’s a humiliation ritual for these billionaires at this point. The marketing ploy is just cruelty to the workers. You CANNOT tell me different.”
Wintertrainride replied, “I actually firmly believe corporate is aware that GameStop workers getting pranked for trade in goes viral every time. So they engineer events that create these moments. Knowing it costs [us] our dignity.”
Tax Break?
Beyond the safety and dignity issues, Wintertrainride alleges that GameStop’s stated plan to donate everything that is not game-related to charity is a tax write-off tactic. “We all know what that means,” he says. He doesn’t spell it out, but the implication is clear: He’s suggesting that GameStop will be taking a massive fourth-quarter tax write-off.
NerdWallet gives a clearer picture of what GameStop’s plan might be (besides racking up a ton of publicity). “In general, you can deduct up to 60 percent of your adjusted gross income,” reports the site. Additionally, contributions that exceed the limit can often be deducted from your tax returns over the next five years.”
The process is called a carryover.
Final Straw
Wintertrainride says he turned in his two weeks’ notice the day he created the video.
“This company is the worst company I have ever worked for,” he says.
So now, on his way out and fed up with what he sees as completely unacceptable behavior, he’s calling for a boycott. And if you think he’s being dramatic, he says to take a peek at the “GameStop Horror Stories” on Reddit.
BroBible reached out to GameStop via its press portal and to Wintertrainride via TikTok direct message.