There are a lot of different businesses that cover a lot of different niches. For gamers, there are only so many companies that exist to bring video games to them, and the biggest of these companies is definitely GameStop. GameStop was founded all the way back in 1984, well before the Internet became popular, though it was originally known as Babbage’s. For many, it is a lot more convenient to shop online instead of offline. But what are GameStop’s shipping costs?
Until recently, GameStop has had three shipping tiers: standard, two-day, and one-day. However, more recently, two-day and one-day shipping were dropped, owing to logistical issues with shipments. You have to pay $5.99 for shipping unless you pay $49 or more for an order.
But how long does shipping take? And has free shipping always been $49 or more?
What are GameStop’s Shipping Costs?
As discussed above, GameStop used to offer three different costs for shipping: the standard at $5.99, two-day for $7.99, and one-day for $10.99. However, the only one currently available of these is standard shipping, which costs $5.99. There are things you can do to reduce the price, however.
One method of getting a better deal is signing up for GameStop’s PowerUp Rewards program. Whether this deal is a good idea for you, however, will ultimately depend on how much you use GameStop’s services. Regular customers of GameStop have a lot to gain from being a part of this membership program, which costs $14.99 per year. By signing up for this, you immediately get a $10 reward for joining, plus $5 a month. Thus, in your first month of membership, you will have a discount equal to the cost of the service itself.
The $5 monthly coupon can also help deal with shipping costs, as if you pay for shipping, you can essentially get the cost of the shipping discounted for one order every month of membership. You also get exclusive access to first dibs on certain hard-to-find items or otherwise in-demand items (like new consoles and Pokemon cards). However, there are other things you can do to get the most value out of your order as possible. If you want to cancel your PowerUp Rewards membership, you can cancel at any time and still get the benefits.
Does GameStop have a flat-rate shipping fee?
This is a common question asked, especially by people who want to buy a lot of items at once. After all, some online stores will charge more for shipping depending on how heavy or large the items are. Regardless of how much you order from GameStop at any one time, you will always pay the same amount to have the items shipped. This incentivizes you to plan to buy everything you want to buy in one order. But is there any way to save more money on GameStop?
Is there any way to lower shipping costs on GameStop?
A common question on any store’s website, not just GameStop’s, is whether you can reduce the shipping costs of your order. As we discussed above, having the item or items shipped to a nearby store is a good way to be able to pick up your items without having to pay a shipping fee. Additionally, bundling more items in one order will save costs as well. But is there any way to get a lower shipping cost for items delivered to your address?
GameStop actually incentivizes you to spend at least a certain amount of money in order to get free shipping. In order to do this, you spend at least $49 on any order; GameStop will waive the shipping fee for those orders, saving you some money in the process. This could end up actually giving you value in the long run. For example, if you spend $44 on something, you will have to spend about $50 anyway, so you may as well spend $5 more on a game instead of paying the fee. Just make sure you don’t overspend on things you don’t actually want, as that can be a bad habit.
Has free shipping always been $49 on GameStop?
Hearing that it costs $49 or more to get free shipping on GameStop may seem strange for many people, and that is not without good reason. In much of 2022, it was entirely possible to get free shipping by only spending $35 on a single order. However, if you check now, GameStop requires you to have a minimum of $49. We couldn’t see exactly when this changed, and cannot find any articles or announcements regarding the increase in the floor you have to meet. With this change, the strategy of buying everything you intend to buy at once will require you to spend more money in each order to make the most of an order.
Why doesn’t free shipping work on GameStop?
One thing people have reported when ordering online at GameStop is that, despite the fact that they paid more than $49 for their order, they are still charged the shipping fee. There does not appear to be any rhyme or reason for why this happens, and there may be no better solution than to simply wait and try ordering another day. However, if you are still unable to get the free shipping, be sure to get in contact with GameStop customer service, who can help you get the fee waived.
How long does it take to get something shipped from GameStop?
When you go to your cart, the standard shipping cost will be shown to the right (unless it’s free), as well as the estimated time it will take to arrive (“2 – 5 days”). This range of time allows for certain delays and other variables, although while GameStop is usually pretty consistent, your items may arrive later than advertised.
There are a lot of factors that can cause your item to arrive late, regardless of which tier you selected. For example, if the weather prevents the item from arriving on time, or another issue prevents it from arriving on time, that 2-5-day shipping time won’t make much of a difference. Also make sure that you account for business days, as if you order it on Thursday, you probably won’t get it until Monday or Tuesday at the earliest (unless you can get Saturday or Sunday delivery). One big issue with shipping times for GameStop (and others) is that shipping companies are experiencing a shortage of drivers following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Can I get a refund on shipping costs if the item arrives late?
Having your item arrive after the time GameStop advertised can be pretty frustrating. If this happens and your item arrives too late, you should get in contact with GameStop’s customer service to see if you can get a refund for the extra cost you paid. One of the last things companies want to have happen is that you feel disappointed with their service and simply stop buying games from them.
Can you have your order shipped to a physical GameStop location?
One feature that a lot of businesses with both an online and brick-and-mortar store do is allow their users to place an order, but instead of having it delivered to their home, they instead have the item(s) delivered to one of their stores instead. The good news is, if you have a GameStop near you, you can have the order shipped there instead. Not only that, but you can check on the GameStop website to see if what you are ordering is available at a nearby GameStop location. The benefit of this is that you do not have to worry about potentially waiting a week for your order to arrive, and can instead just go to the store and pick it up on the same day.
The one thing that might give you pause about using GameStop’s Pick Up at Store feature is the cost. After all, what if the cost is even higher than the shipping costs? Well, the good news is that getting it shipped to the store is completely free – apart from what you are paying for the items, of course. So ship to store at your heart’s content.
Does GameStop have same-day delivery?
While being able to pick up your order at GameStop is nice, you may not be able to get to it easily. That’s where GameStop’s Same Day Delivery feature comes in. Now, this only applies to certain locations, but if you are near one of those locations, you can have your order delivered from a participating GameStop store to your home in mere hours.
Does GameStop ship internationally?
If you live outside of the US and want to buy something from GameStop, the bad news is that this is not normally possible. The good news, however, is that there are methods to get items shipped internationally through a shipping forwarding service, though this will be a lot more expensive. There are multiple shipping forwarding companies out there, so check to see which one works best for you. On top of the fee paid to this company, you also have to pay the shipping cost, unless you spend enough to get free shipping. The good news is that there are locations in many countries besides the US, including Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Germany, and several other European locations.
If you return your purchase to GameStop, do you get a refund on the shipping cost?
This is an important question for anyone to ask; as if you didn’t, that would certainly add up if you needed to make returns multiple times. The good news is that, so long as the item is returned in its original condition and is returned during the return window, you should not have much of an issue resolving a return and getting all your money back.
Why has the base order total for free shipping risen?
The reason why the shipping costs have risen can only be speculated upon, but one obvious reason why GameStop may have implemented this change is because of the status of its business. GameStop has been a struggling business for a while, but the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic did a lot of harm to its viability as a company. Lockdown orders forced many GameStop locations to temporarily shut down, meaning that the only revenue it had to look forward to was from the Internet. It would have gone out of business had it not been for the Subreddit r/wallstreetbets.
What is r/wallstreetbets?
More or less, r/wallstreetbets is a forum on the website Reddit where users discuss stock and option trading, and was instrumental to saving the company. In this period of GameStop’s history, GameStop’s stock had a number of short sellers at that time. Short sellers were people who borrowed shares, immediately sold them, and then waited until the stock price decreased before returning the stocks to the owner to make a profit.
Early in January 2021, the stock was worth $17.25, but because of people on r/wallstreetbets (and later others) rushing to buy stocks in GameStop, the value skyrocketed to $500 per share. Ultimately, things have relatively calmed down, but GameStop is doing significantly better than it was before becoming a “meme stock.” And for those short sellers, many of them wound up losing a fair bit of money on their gamble. Further, if you purchased stock in GameStop and did not sell back when it was at its best, you would also have lost a considerable amount of value in missing the mark there.
Is GameStop safe from going out of business?
With all this said, it begs the question: how is GameStop doing financially? Well, they’re certainly still doing all right, much better than they were before the pandemic started and during 2020. Yet, it cannot be denied that things are considerably slower than they were at the peak. GameStop could go out of business sometime in the future, but as it is, it seems somewhat stable.
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