PLAY N TRADE: MI Bankruptcy Auction

17 thoughts on “PLAY N TRADE: MI Bankruptcy Auction”

• I bet their franchise sales department loves all the store closings posted on the forum… and all the pissed customers ranting about their lost store credit.

  Tustin, CA Orange, CA
  http://66.172.50.140/msgboard/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=937

  Grandville Michigan “I discover the closed sign on the door, saying that the Michigan State Department of Treasury has seized the building and anyone inside is breaking federal law.”
  http://66.172.50.140/msgboard/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1801&p=7629&hilit=closed#p7629

  Jackson, NJ “The other day I grabbed a couple games and headed down to the store in Jackson, NJ and found the store empty with a “For Rent” sign on the door.”
  http://66.172.50.140/msgboard/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1330&p=6356&hilit=closed#p6331

  Orlando2 “I believe that the Orlando2 store did close. However, there are more opening in that area in the next month or so.” http://66.172.50.140/msgboard/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=873&p=4194&hilit=closed#p4194

  Washington Township, MI “I’m sorry to say that the Washington Township PNT has closed.” http://66.172.50.140/msgboard/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=755&p=3809&hilit=closed#p3809

  Elk Grove “The Elk Grove Store’s Closing” http://66.172.50.140/msgboard/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1345&p=6433&hilit=elk+grove#p6433

• Also
  Irvine, California, Sacramento
  http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=1265911

• Oh no I loved the play n trade store. I didn’t know that they were going out of business.

• All intresting articles, Does anybody know how many of these stores actually closed or are in the process? List if you know please

• I talked with one of the owners after I closed my store and asked him point blank how many stores had closed. He told me he did not know. I told him that was hard to believe since you own the franchise. He balked at the quesiton and told me it was in their latest filing. If anyone has the latest filing or knows where to obtain it, the answer would be there. When I closed my store I did not receive one call or question as to why I closed. I asked for assistance for over a year and never received it. Stay far away from PNT and do it yourself.

• yuvi shmul and jeff harris runs scams now they have another scam http://www.talkingbio.com go read the ripoff report they should be in jail

• All I can tell you guys is I agree with one of the previous posters. In the early days it was a great franchise until the Yakety Yak gang got rid of the original owners.I don’t agree that it is a scam or fraud, I just think the new gang doesn’t have the expertise the original people had and they got rid of all of them.

• What happened to the regular Pnt thread with the 490 posts?

• The site was hacked and the PNT thread was deleted. However, we re-posted a saved copy here on FranchisePick.com:

  PLAY N TRADE: The BIG Franchise Discussion

• What happened to Shed some light, a few weeks back?

• We all knew who is behaind the website hack, even we do not know exactly who did it.
  This means that this site really desclosed the darkside of Play N Trade and hurts it hard. It probably like a sprint or thorn in the EYES of PNT corporate.

  Guys, continue our work and unveil the truth to the public about this fraudulent business. If we can reduce only ONE person to be PNT’s victim, then it is a great victory.

  Thank the Admin of this site. Your efforts and contributions are highly appreciated.

• Ben Played:

  Thanks for your support and participation. Play N Trade is not on the top of my suspicion list, for while a lot of PnT stuff was deleted, a lot of negative stuff was left behind. Read http://www.bizzia.com/franchisepick/did-actioncoach-hack-unhappyfranchisee-com/

  However, the attack was an attack on all of us, an attack on free speech and an attack on the right of franchisees to openly discuss the issues that they are grappling with. The Internet has, for the first time, enabled some of the truth about franchising to bypass the advertiser-controlled hype-filled newstand franchise media and leak out.

  The Internet has the promise of providing rewards for the best franchisor practices and warnings about the worst. Cheap, illegal scumbag tactics like this are not going to prevail (If I can help it).

  For whatever faults the Play N Trade franchisor may have, I’d be very surprised if they were involved in this (I could be wrong). And I do hand it to them for coming on the site and contributing a few comments early on.

  If you want to see the main Play N Trade post with most of the comments intact, it’s been republished on FranchisePick.com:
  http://www.bizzia.com/franchisepick/play-n-trade-the-big-franchise-discussion/

  Thanks to everyone who comments and contributes here for exercising their 1st Amendment rights. Thanks for the words of support. If anyone wants to contribute a couple of bucks to hasten the rebuild of the newer, more secure site you can do so here:
  http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/support-franchise-fairness/

  If not, that’s cool too. Just keep coming, keep commenting and keep fighting for what’s right.

  Have a great day… Sean

• Can someone post the upcoming Pnt court dates.

• Hi ADMIN,

  Can you start up a new Play N Trade Fraud Thread since the old one was deleted.

  I believe the court date was moved to this coming Monday and I would like to know if compensation is in order.

• The thread has been reposted on Franchise Pick with almost all comments intact:
  http://www.bizzia.com/franchisepick/play-n-trade-the-big-franchise-discussion/

  I’ll repost one here shortly, too, but feel free to continue the discussion on the link above – also my site.

  Note to hackers: disrupt one site, your dirt will reappear on 2-3 others at least ;)

• Pingback: PLAY N TRADE: Recruits Multi-Unit Video Game Franchise Owners : Unhappy Franchisee

• Since I am no longer in the system, I thought I would share my experiences with anyone considering getting into the video game industry and if there is any significant benefit to being involved with The Big Bad Play N Trade franchise system in the hopes that you don’t make the same mistake that I and the hundreds of others that got duped into believing that you’re making a good investment.

  If you ask 5 people at corporate how many stores they have open your likely get 5 different answers. Also, if you asked the same 5 people how many stores have closed, once again you’ll get 5 different answers if you even get an answer at all. I think its fair to say they currently have app. 160 stores open in the US and Canada, app. 15-20 of those stores are in Canada through a recent merger During their peak, they boasted about having 240 operating stores. In the past couple of years, I would guess they’ve still opened 20 new stores to new franchisees (that’s probably on the high side). . Let’s do some quick math…. So of the 160 current stores, roughly 40 of those stores were open in the last 2 years, app. half new franchisees and the other half through the merger. So they where at 240 at their peak and now app. 160, with 20 of those being through the merger which translates into 120 stores that have closed. Roughly HALF or a 50% success rate (I would say this is a generous figure if anything). These statistics are off the charts!! So while they are opening stores, they are closing more than they are opening.

  There are some key factors that I would be willing to bet everything I lost on going into business with them that I promise you they will not share with you. Unless your name is Gamestop, Best Buy or Wal-Mart, you are limited to purchasing your games from a 3rd party distributor. The Big 3 buy direct from the video game manufacturer. What does that mean? It’s pretty simple… Big Bad PNT offers zero, zilch, nada assistance in the ability to purchase new games. If you are going to try and compete with the big boys, you have to not only sell new releases, you have to push pre-orders. It’s part of their montra and its true. In order to push pre-orders, you have to have great relationships with these distribution companies. What this means is that its critical to get your titles prior to release date. This varies by location and distributor. Some distributors are not even able to service certain parts of the country based on where they are located and how many copies of these titles they are allocated. Allocation is a very important term in this industry. Just because you want 500 copies of Call of Duty doesn’t mean you’ll get it. By no means am I saying that its impossible. Here’s how you can improve (but still not guarantee) your chances… You have to find a great distributor in your area, if there is one that has the clout to get their hands on enough titles to appease all their clients, not just BBPNT. There are 2 ways of getting these titles, 1) you leave a revolving line of credit with said distributor and when you’ve used that line, you have to put money back in to able to get future titles. In other words, you have to pre-pay for your games, not COD, not net 30, PRE-PAY!! The other is based on your credit worthiness, just like applying for a loan. It’s based on your credit history, collateral, etc.. Even the best credit will not get enough inventory, especially for the bigger titles and during the holidays so that really only leaves the 1st option. Most if not all of these franchisees (existing and former) find it difficult to tie up enough funds to get the inventory they need. While you are taking $5 deposits on these titles so that the consumer is “assured” of getting their title on release date. These people don’t want to wait, they are going somewhere else to get that game. Many times these titles come in later that day or the next day and you’re pissing off and/or losing customers. Imagine going to see a movie on release date and someone coming out saying we never got our movie and doing that repeatedly. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t go back, or at least not to get a new release. This is where the fun starts. Not the recipe for success to say the least.

  BBPNT does not own any corporate stores. They used to own 1 in Orange County and closed it down due to poor sales (at what seemed like a very good location so you can’t blame it on the real estate), so in essence they are just in the business of selling franchise’s when they have no clue how to run a profitable store themselves. They are telling you how great their franchise is and you should put your hard earned money into their business when in fact they know the difficulties/challenges that are waiting for you after it’s too late. Pretty cool huh?

  If they tell you that they have buying power collectively through all the franchisees, it’s a crock!!! You do not get better pricing because you belong to a franchise model unless there is 1 buyer. That’s the way the world works, buy in bulk, get a better deal. Until recently, they didn’t touch anything (new/used games and accessories). Now they are nice enough to get you pennies on the dollar to buy back your used inventory only to turn around and sell it to another franchisee or on their e-commerce site for a profit. That’s nice of them isn’t it? I haven’t even gotten into how volatile the industry is or the tremendous turnover they’ve have with their corporate “if you wanna call them” executives in the past couple of years. Or how none of them have any video game industry background of any relevance. You are paying a franchise fee and royalties for the POS system and some nice marketing material. Translated, that basically makes you an independent that’s paying a franchise fee and royalties.

  While there are some franchisees that are successful and making money, the vast majority are barely making any if not losing and simply can’t continue bleeding. Again, I would be willing to bet everything I lost that there are indeed more casualties in the not too distant future. So after you’ve lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, they will still come after you if you have an outstanding balance to the extent that they can. They may seem nice and sweet while you are paying them royalties but once the faucet gets turned off, they flip the switch and turn into vultures and will pick at as much of the carcass as they can. In my opinion, these people belong in jail next to the Bernie Madoff’s of the world. Please, please, please, I am begging anyone who reads this before its too late to proceed with extreme caution unless of course you have a few hundred thousand to burn like our friend Mr Chesney above. If you are interested in hearing more, please post your comment or feel free to send me an email at [redacted*]. And oh by the way, speaking of class action, nothing would serve them justice more than an army of us to put them out of business and stop destroying peoples lives. You would be better off giving me the money, at least you know where its going and it would be for a great cause…lol. Sadly, there’s more truth than humor in that last comment.

  *NOTE: We don’t allow posting of personal info in comments. If you wish to exchange info with another commenter, please send an email request to UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com. Thanks. ADMIN