GameStop Defends Expensive SNES Classic Bundles as ‘Convenient’

When the SNES Classic went up for pre-order, it immediately sold out. There’s no surprise there; we’ve all seen the headlines. I was barely able to scrap one by being at the right place at the right time. I hit that pre-order button on Walmart’s website during that magical one-second window that it was actually available, but many of you were left scrambling for alternative options. One of those options, for those of you desperate enough, was to seek out a bundled console through GameStop or its subsidiary ThinkGeek.

These bundles included an SNES Classic, along with tons of extra items, for really high prices. Some of you were paying in excess of $300 to grab your SNES Classic, and it was coming with lamps, mugs, posters, plushies… Basically loot crate type stuff that none of you really wanted. It was a fiasco, and message boards and forums were swamped with people spitting bitter over the fact that they had to shell out hundreds for extra swag, when all they really wanted was the SNES.

The two bundles you see pictured above were priced at $250 and $200. GameStop is defending its bundles, though, calling them “convenient.”

“We make it more convenient.”

In an interview with Glixel, GameStop’s senior director Eric Bright said that the bundles contained items the company knew gamers would actually want. “We really try to do a great job of paring up items with things customers like to buy,” he said. “In the case of the Switch, we know the customer is going to want a way to charge the Joycon (controllers), so we often throw in a charging device. We know the Switch has limited memory and customers like to download games, so we’ll add a memory stick. And then you need a game itself, because what good is a piece of hardware without a game to play with it? We make it more convenient.”

Paying extra money for a console accessory and charger is one thing, but paying more than double the price of the SNES Classic and getting it packaged with a Triforce lamp and Legend of Zelda chess set seems somewhat less practical. Still, beggars can’t be choosers, and this was the only way many of you were ever going to actually score a console.

Was it more convenient for you?