Decker

For those of you who, like me were worried that the end of 2004 would see the end of $5 discounts can rest easier. Just saw today that Best Buy has put ont new Gamer cards. They're silver and sparkely with a card that has a picture of a green controller on it. They come with the same $5 off $19.99 or more coupon, but expiring 12/31/05. Another year of cheaper gaming; woo-hoo!

1998Nole

Cool, I just used an old one 12/31/04, and was wondering if they were going to have new ones.

eatntae

My local BB sucks! I went earlier this week to see if they had Street Fighter. First thing I did was check to see if they even had Gamer Gift cards, and they did. But when I checked the expiration on the coupons, it was 12/31/03. They had a bunch of them too. A couple months ago they had tons of the coupons that expired 12/31/04, I can't believe they ran out of them so quickly.

sniper308

You can still use the old ones I believe. They do not seem to enforce expiration dates on coupons.

Trevor

BB coupons never expire.

Decker

1: That's not correct. The coupons have to be manually entered now. It's up to the checker to allow them. If they refuse on the grounds that it's expired, you're SOL (though most checkers will let it slide, I've had some refuse old green coupons of mine)

2: If nothing else, this should allow for an abundance of coupons through the Christmas season and into the next year.

Good news either way.

Trevor

I should have added YMMV, but that should be a given when it comes to anything in life pretty much.

eatntae

Not at my BB

Josh H

I've not seen any of the new ones with the 05 exp. date at my BB yet, and today I couldn't even find any of the old ones witht 04 exp.

Michael Corvin

I picked up 8 of the new ones over the weekend. $19.95, exp. 05. I went to 2 Best Buys, I wiped one out buying 7 of them, and I had to return something, I went to another locale. Behind the CS desk there were probably 100 of the new ones hanging up, but none out on the floor. Anyway, she put my return on one of those gift cards, so I got another coupon out of it.

BeckysBoy

At most of the BB's around here, the general GGC is going to way of the dodo, 2005 expiration date or no. I've been seeing the 2005 versions for months, but lately the supply has dwindled. Some stores have pulled them completely, replacing them with the useless EA, PS2, or Xbox GCs. Two days before New Year's I found five or six 2005s and two 2004s at another location that had been shoved under the Game Boy software rack and bought them up (using the 2004s immediately).

Clearly they're phasing these out, even though they produced some with a 2005 expiration. They're not new, and they probably won't be around long.

fujishig

I wouldn't call the new ones useless, but with their higher pricepoint (29.99) and their more limited use, they aren't as useful as the old ones, especially if you want to buy GBA or GCN games. Still, five bucks is five bucks.

Actually, thinking about it a little more, with the fact that YMMV when it comes to using them in conjunction with a sale, and the fact that there are so many incredible deals on videogames these days, I really struggled to find games to use these on before last year's ones expired.

GoVegan

I'm pretty cheap when it comes to game buying, so I used a bunch of those cards in the past year, exclusively on $20 games. I've only managed to find a few of the new cards, so I think I may have to make due with the three I've picked up so far.

The only benefit would be if Best Buy lowered their game prices a bit, since there won't be as many people using $5 coupons, but I doubt that'll happen.

milo bloom

Let me get this straight, buy a gift card, it has a coupon. Go back in the store, use the coupon and the gift card to get a discounted game?

fujishig

If you're lucky (or want to deal with the hassle) you can buy the gift card in one transaction, then while still at the register use it on the game in a second transaction.

Decker

You don't have to be lucky, just ballsey. I do it all the time. Over the weekend I did this and the clerk responded by asking her coworker "Can employees use these coupons?"

Unfortunately, the coupon closet is pretty bare right now (except for the higher denomination coupons ($5 off $29.99 Xbox, PS2 and EA ones). Hopefully more will come in soon. I need to re-stock.

Decker

The black ones with the 12/31/04 date won't work at all anymore. As I mentioned above, the new ones are pretty scarce right now, but I'm hopeful that more will be out soon.

tek2k

is there a minimum to how much you have to put on the cards?

jackepstein

I put 1 cent on each card... When the cashier looks at me funny, I tell them that I'm playing a joke on my friends. Then they laugh.

nemein

I noticed the new ones have a "one per household" disclaimer on them. Has anyone tried using multiple ones yet? I mean it would be easy to track via the bonus card (assuming you use that ).

tanman

I really need to snatch these up as they are my primary means to purchasing GB games. Usually these don't go down in price and can be had for $20 on release week.

BeckysBoy

Yeah. GGC's are usually a last resort, but it's nice to know I can get a GBA, DS, or GCN title for five bucks less than retail (Quite a boon on $20 player's choice titles) if the game isn't on sale anywhere else or if I miss buying it when its first week of release. I'll miss that if it goes away.

mr.snowmizer

My two local Best Buys are buried in the new, green, 2005 GGCs.

I've done my part as predator, trying to thin the herd, by buying ten of them so far.

Decker

OK, Bringing this thread back from the dead thanks to some good news!

No need to worry that our $5 off fix might be over anytime soon. BB just put out some new Gamer cards. They're silver with blue highlights and with a blue gift card. Same deal as before "$5 off any Video Game Software $19.99 or more". This couon is good, curiously enough, from 8/28/05 - 6/30/07. Enjoy! (I know I will!)

tanman

Wow, that is good news. Cool.

Although I must admit that even with this ongoing deal I find myself shopping less and less at BB.

But they will probably always be my staple for GB games as those don't seem to drop in price very much, and usually they are around $20 after the gift card.