Earn (Nearly) +40% Cash – And Become Immortal (in 3D)

Now, they wouldn’t call me the “LoopHoler” if I didn’t know my way round some red tape

Install the Amazon App (GooglePlay/iTunes/Android – all available) and although -yes- it caps at 3 – the app allows you to place as many orders of 3 as you want (website/mobile site won’t!)

So that’s x18 ordered for me – just play the waiting game. If it drops, I have 6-11 days to cancel

lol nice one!! The only advantage of me ordering on the website is that I can earn more £££ because I can go via a friend’s affiliated link (we go halves).

Also, this will be the first time I’ve ever tried to trade in 9 copies of the same title in one go in CEX. I have a bad feeling they’re immediately going to think I’m dodgy and have a bad feeling the manager will get involved who’ll tell me they won’t take them…. that or they’ll tell me they have no cash.

I remember going in every day on my lunchbreak for a week trying to sell a mobile phone before I eventually gave up after they dropped the price so ended up posting it to them via their website).

Do you have any tips or suggestions other than selling them on the CEX website or via eBay?

For getting shot of stuff for a fair price and to a good market – no – not really.

eBay eats me up inside, because the fees are ridiculously abusive on the seller (as is the revisions to the feedback system) but you wont get more draw and attention then on eBay.

CEX should accept 9 copies without hesitation – as “that’s the rules” – but – going in at lunch is the worst time really.

First thing – when they all have their floats – so guaranteed to be packing £100/per till.

Or last thing at night, but before any banking requests come in – so 4ish (if your store closes at 5:30) or 4:30 if it closes at 6.

Also, never lead with the product – just calmly wait in the queue till you get to the front – and before pulling out a giant rucksack – ask “Are you guys still doing cash today?”

*Sometimes* they might say “Why? What have you got?” – which I’ve had in some CEXs in the North, but then I just reply “Some BluRays to sell”.

But if you ask if they have cash, you can then follow it up with “I’m looking for £200” (or however much you’re looking for) then they will nod or check at least.

If they say “Yes” to having cash, you might get 9 £10 selling BluRays out – and they’ll say “Oh, we only have £40” or something equally as awkward.

But establish they have cash – and if you want to make sure – ask them to double check they have plenty…

Then blam – out come the goods.

You need to be 100% sure whether they are a 5x or a 9x store – as turning up with 50 and they’ll dislike you straight away – but turning up once a day for 10 days running with 9 copies a day – that is just following the rules – and any crap they give you is PURELY from that person.

If they are a 9x store (for example) they are never told to turn away anyone selling anything in quantities of 9 or less.

They LOVE stock – they’ll move it round stores – they’ll sell it off later – but they’ll make money on anything 95% of the time – so I repeat – they LOVE stock!

Let me know how you get on

will do and thanks for the pointers!

Went in on my lunch break to sell Ghost Recon Future Soldier for £28 (paid £20) and 3x Halo: Combat Evolved for £13 (paid £7.99 and kept one for myself) and was successful

I know I could have bought more copies but I’m still a little wary of the risks (CEX price going down / not having enough cash etc). Even getting £67 from them today seemed somewhat difficult as they had to dig money out of other tills and were a bit put off with some titles still having cellophane wrapping on them (in case I had to eBay / return them) but were OKish when I showed them receipts.

You sound like you have your technique down to a fine art. They used to really annoy me when they told me they didn’t have cash (especially when I saw at least 3 customers pay with cash before I was served) as their excuses seemed to change with every visit but I’ve realised now the best thing to do is not to annoy them!

Ooooooo, don’t get me started on the whole “he just paid cash” mentality.

I needed (for a massive payout/return) £500 on one occasion ages ago – and some bloke in front of me bought an iPad (original) for something like £640 (shows how long ago that was).

But he literally paid with crisp £20’s and I asked for £500 and they said they “had no money”, which when pointing out that the person saying this had JUST been handed £640 cash (so would easily have £100+ left over) – he then changed it to “We’re not doing cash today”.

Its to do with management and head office (I’ve now been told by various head office staff/store managers).

They either don’t do cash (but still take cash and have plenty in the till) if they need to perhaps ensure bigger floats for the weekend (or if it’s a ‘big thing’ like a Bank Holiday and they will need more cash to cover everything etc). Or Head Office will ask them to bank £X that week if they perhaps haven’t got much physical cash in the business (all locked up in stock etc) then they issue these “banking” demands and expect sites to build up a nice pot of cash to bank.

The whole borrowing from each others tills is small fry – and they draw it out like it’s a pain in the butt – but its not – there’s not even paperwork to do – most of the sites treat it as one float anyway (unless they have LOTS of staff on tills – or 1 or 2 members of staff who are financial liberties and require float monitoring).

But press on, let them know that you only come in for ‘big hauls’ and that the stuff you’ll be giving them is all good condition stuff.

I would say however, to try and avoid cellophane where possible. I appreciate that if they say “No cash” and the price drops the next day and you’re stuck with them – you have to send them back – but best to try and look “genuine” rather than “straight up profiteering”.

If you get ‘tight’ enough – or at least well known with the staff – always try and keep them entertained or at least be overly friendly.

I would also advise anyone to “profit share”. If you make £100 profit on something, go to a Millies Cookies, Krispy Kremes etc – and get them £10 worth of something.

Its only 10% of your haul – and a box of donuts will go a long way.

Basically, you’re rewarding them for doing their jobs – so thanking them for NOT being a pain in the arse about it.

I live by this rule – but then I don’t think my three or four nearest stores that I use would ever give me jip about anything… They’re all so nice – and I don’t see the “profit sharing” as buttering them up – more maintaining the relationship that I thank them for always trying to sort me out.

If ever they are out of cash – they are never shirty about it.

Sometimes too – it can become a “You scratch my back, ill scratch yours scenario” – because they get good discounts in the CEX shop they work in – and no doubt each member of staff must hav oodles of credit saved up – if you bring in 9x copies of a good game/popular bluray etc, then I find a good deal of the time – one or two of the copies go into the staff box for later. So its sometimes in their interest to take the titles off you.

If you do chat with them and get to know them (or at least familiar) you’ll get to learn their likes, what they are playing and what they are looking forward to.

Then one day, you turn up (for example) with 18x copies of Future Soldier – and they are all dying to get it on the cheap so they can play each other – then they’ll bend over backwards to cash you out.

Then next time when it’s a “not-so-desired” item – and they give you some fresh shit – just remember that when you next come in.

It’s all a bit of give and take… They give you cash, they take your games… they give you fresh shit, you take your games elsewhere (another CEX for example).

I’ve been doing this for nearly 7 years (this September is my 7 year anniversary of LoopHoling) so you have to imagine they see me a LOT at all my local Gamestations, Games, CEXs etc.

So I’m vilified/revered/liked across a long stretch of shops in a number of towns and cities!

PS I’m more intrigued on how you got Future Soldier for £20. [jaw drop]

This box is getting very small so I’ll keep my reply short! I recently used my TCB Amazon credit up to buy a 320GB PS3 bundle for £149.99 and they gave me the option of adding a game for £20 so chose GRFS. I was about post a comment about it but the deal ended as I started writing it.

Thanks for the CEX info, that makes a lot more sense now that I know the bigger picture.

Ah, one of the infamous Amazon deals.

I got my first Slim Xbox with this – back when you could add as many as you like for £20 (or was it £25) but I got the 12-months gold, plus the “entertainment pack” which was a controller and two games.

But they do do some nice bulky deals.

I set myself a personal limit that everytime I reach £50 on TCB, I have it as an Amazon Voucher.

So just working out what to spend my next one on… As its currently getting processed. Usually its BluRays and jazz – but my back log now is MASSIVE

I also use the same rule on eBay. All the codes that I sell from LoopHoling sits in my PayPal and I use them to make all my subsequent eBay purchases with.

Nice little treat when you buy something and it comes up saying that the majority of the cost is being covered by “PayPal Balance”

Although – just an FYI to readers – its getting TOUGH going out their in code world. I think I’m currently running about 1 in 3 are reporting the codes not working and demanding their money back. Even though I personal unseal the boxes myself and take the codes out – keeping them in my draw at all times (its not like I leave them at work or anything?!) So getting bored of people on eBay screwing me over.

Cant even leave them feedback – all I can do is block them. I see some sellers have started giving Negative Positives – i.e. a Positive Feedback but writing in capitals “DON’T SELL TO THIS DOUCHE” haha!

But I cant bring myself to give a trouble make a +1 to their account – and they (of course) will just retaliate with a negative on yours anyway.

Urgh. Sometimes, I wonder why I even bother

(I’m sure my next few days of deliveries will put a smile on my face!)

Price is now back up to £11.97 at Amazon

that doesn’t effect existing orders @ £7.20, does it?

Nope – signed, sealed and (waiting for) delivered.

If anything – this heightens our chances of the price holding – as its now not available for ‘cheap’, so if their pricing team missed this price drop at Amazon – then they may never correct it (until Amazon make the deliveries and all around the country LoopHolers trade in boxes of 9 at a time!)

Nice little return on this one – and will fund the Smallville one nicely.

(Not to be confused with “I have no money”, I always ensure I have the funds to cover my ventures, but its nice when money goes into the account from another LoopHoler – and goes straight into another one!)

Essentially £7.20 for Immortals – returns £10 cash – which buys Smallville at £9.95 – and returns £15.

So £7.20 —> £15 = +108% Cash Return.

Times Eighteen

£129.60 spent – £270 returned (+£9.04 cashback – which has already tracked – im impressed!)

Also – if in doubt – keep your eye on the “Open Orders” tab at Amazon.

Its head and shoulders above the rest – because they have much more detail – and update in real time too.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/css/history/orders/view.html?ie=UTF8&ref_=ya_orders

Will let you know when they plan to dispatch (rather than other sites that just say “A Week”) and will even ball park when it will arrive.

CEX has dropped their price £9 and my Blurays order has gone to “Dispatching Soon”..

I saw this too, where as mine (when I saw the price drop) were still on awaiting stock pick.

However, £7.20 to £9.00 is still +25% cash – so happy with £20-30 free money! Also, with others in the post, I’ll be going there anyway

Really annoyed! Went in today on my lunch break and the first thing the guy says is they can’t take them because the digital disc is missing. After I explained that the price excludes that he said OK but needed proof of purchase. I showed him that, then he said fine but because I’ve brought 9 copies in they’ll have to give me a “bulk price rate” and would have to e-mail head office. I waited 5 minutes while he did that and in the end said, shall I come back in 10 minutes and he said yeah. Came back in 10 and the guy told me I had to join the back of the queue which was now acres long!! Didn’t have time to queue any longer (I had spent half my lunch break in CEX) so will have to try again tomorrow and hope the price hasn’t changed…

Sounds like they are bent out of shape.
 
Chances are – there are other loopholers operating in the area (wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been into my locals and seen that the 9x that I traded in have hit the shelf as 27x – meaning someone else has traded in 18x etc).
 
Also, have you used them before? You need them to confirm to you the max amount – its either 5 (franchise) or 9 (corporate) although they don’t *all* live by this and could be a 5 corporate.
 
But if they say they are giving you the bulk/trade price on 9, then tell them that you’ll only do 5. This way, they cant give you bulk on 5 – as this is never a bulk quantity value.
 
Also, they never require DLC/Codes – and I mean *neeeeeeever* so whoever broached you on this matter is talking out their bum piece.
 
Everything on their website regarding Console Games, BluRays etc will always be without DLC/Codes. If it’s a specific game that needs the code to play – then it will be on their site as a “(S)” implying the game/product has to be sealed to be accepted.
 
I don’t get the proof of purchase thing either… If you had X amount of copies – and judging by his Code comment – you’ve already unsealed them – so if you have a chunk of unsealed product – they should never need a receipt for that!? But *IF* they are being awkward and they do ask – at least you have it.
 
It could be tighter measures from certain stores if they’ve recorded a high level of stolen goods perhaps? But again, LoopHolers are not thieves, we’re not con artists – and we’re not “unethical” either – so whatever hoop they ask you to jump through, as this process is neither illegal or not allowed due to store policy – you should be able to jump any hoop they ask you too!
 
They are aware of the site, they are aware of this process, they are aware of the quantities allowed, but obviously, we have no control of how easy they will make it – or how accommodating they will be regarding our kind (lol).
 
Once you have them established as a 5 or 9 site – then at least you are up to date going forward. If you have 9 and they are a 5 store, then unfortunately you’ll just have to go in over 2 lunch times and hope the price holds
 
*BUT* lesson learnt for next time!
 
Trust me, in 7 years – I’ve learnt some BIG lessons and in bad times – these have cost me an arm, a leg and a bucket load of pride. Haha!
 
Over the time you spend doing these loops, as long as you show them the respect they deserve and follow whatever rules they outline (as long as they are not ridiculous self administered rules) then they should soon come to accept that you’re *that* dude who comes in with 5/9 copies of stuff every now and then.
 
They can try and be pains in the butt for as long as they like – but after a while, id like to think that most retail staff will realise it’s a lots easier to just do your job then be awkward.
 
Honestly, I’m amazed how much extra effort it takes to be awkward nowadays
 
Also, there’s nothing against what we do – so when you roll in and manage to catch them on a “Cash Day” and they’re processing it – why not share the knowledge with them. Tell them that if they’ll interested (in the above scenario) that “these dropped to £7.20 on Amazon the other day!” and let them know that you’re just like anyone else during a recession and adapting to make a couple of quid.
 
If they expect you to produce receipts everytime, then they know you’re simply playing a game – and trying your best to keep one step ahead of them
 
I dare say their pricing team takes great joy in plummeting the prices on us – so its like an elaborately massive game of cat and mouse – sometimes we win – sometimes they win.
 
I’m sure they don’t expect us to go in there and give them crap when the price drops – so why should we expect crap when we beat them to the punch
 
But anyway – I’ve droned on for *way* too long – so I leave the above as my food for thought on the matter.
 
Best Regards,
 
Looper

Actually I managed to get in just before they closed and I did exactly that. I sold them 5 copies because they said “head office” told them to knock 10% off. They tried very hard to say no and told me if I tried to trade in the other 4 copies, they would know about it as it’s on their system (not sure if that means I can’t sell them tomorrow??)

Anyway, to get the guy off my case I just told him I’d sell them on eBay and he grudgenly processed the 5x blurays.

Gonna be a pain selling the codes on eBay as I think you need the extra disc, is that right do you know?

For digital copies of BluRay – I think you do need the disc.
 
However, 2 possible ‘blessings’ in this case, I haven’t looked at the codes myself yet (I have a MASSIVE pile of codes still waiting to be sold – it goes as far back as “Ace Combat” which I got a billion copies of during the PC World 97p sale!)
 
But, if they are “Ultraviolet” codes – you don’t need the disc.
 
Then the second possible outcome, is that they are still *VERY* valid to sell, knowing people need the disc, because people will buy the Triple play second hand – and much like the preloved video game market – they will have the discs/gear/stuff – but not the code, so people who have bought the triple play and realise the code has been used – can pay a trivial sum to you (or me – depending who’s cheapest on eBay LoL) and get a fresh lovely unused code emailed to them!
 
A couple of quid on eBay will always be cheaper than any new release iTunes price!
 
Bit of a tangent, but I bought Johnny English Reborn brand new – and it had literally 12+ digital codes in the box!? Couldn’t work out why – I assume a boxing error or something – perhaps the machine jammed – but I sold those for £1.27 each – and I think they lasted about a week.
 
£1.27 – 10% – 25p – 3.4% = 70p’ish per code – x12 = £8.40

Sorry, to answer your question yes, I have used them before for the odd game and mobile phone, each time has been a real hassle though. This is the first time I’ve walked in with 9 copies of the same title though. They were willing to accept 9 copies but wanted to knock off an extra 10% as they classed it as a “bulk order”. I noticed they sell “franchise” magazines at the till, not sure if that’s all stores or just franchised ones..

Had to laugh when the guy the said they couldn’t take the blurays as they were missing the digital content disc / code. There was a sign literally RIGHT in front of him that said none their stuff includes digital codes unless it was a PC title and needed it).

Also, slightly off topic but I just wanted to say it’s like they purposely discriminate against those who just come in to sell stuff who are clearly making a profit. From my limited usage of the store, they seem to have a bias towards customers who are clearly getting a bad deal (trading about 20 of their DVDs or games and getting about £8 cash).

Exactly right (unfortunately).
 
There will always be *some* CEX staff who hate to see people make a bit of profit. Its nothing else other than jealousy.
 
At a (very) long shot – they could be the owner or manager – and the difference in sell/buy price is within their 8%+1% costs or something massively long winded.
 
So in certain cases, it could literally be hurting them financially to take them.

But nine times out of ten, you will be served by the standard customer service assistant.
 
I dare say, that when I decided to sell my entire 500+ DVD collection to them (for Trade/Credit) and got something like £850 for it – they must have made a tidy little profit on that – considering the low prices, its not like the sell price would have dropped massive – and never to below what they paid me for them.
 
Whenever I’m in the queue, I always see some poor chap dropping in a handful of games/DVDs or whatever, they scan, and tell them that all their efforts of getting into town and queuing for ages – has resulted in “£13.40 cash or £18 credit”.
 
Just gutting sometimes.
 
So yes – again – its tit for tat. Cat and mouse.
 
They win when I genuinely get rid of old DVDs, Games and other redundant tech – as I wont shop around or succumb to eBay, so I just get rid – quick and easy.
 
So when I’m the cat and manage to make £50+ off ‘em by risking a couple of hundred quid of my own money – then fairs fair.