PLAY N TRADE Franchise: Honesty Still Eludes Embattled Franchisor
November 6, 2011
(UnhappyFranchisee.com) Dear Play N Trade*: How can you be the “fastest growing video game franchise worldwide” if you are not, in fact, growing?
The current Play N Trade press release states that you are the fastest growing video game franchise.
In fact, in most of the 29 press releases you’ve posted on PR.com since January, 2010 you tout the growth of the Play N Trade franchise chain with such statements as:
- Play N Trade Franchise, Inc., the largest and fastest-growing franchised video game retailer in the country… January 17, 2010
- Play N Trade is the largest and fastest-growing video game franchise worldwide. It is also one of the fastest-growing franchises worldwide across all industries… February 17, 2010
- Play N Trade Franchise, INC, the fastest growing franchise worldwide… opened over 5 new stores per month in 2009 and expects to continue to see growth at that pace or even faster throughout 2010. March 13, 2010
- Play N Trade Franchise, Inc., the fastest growing video game franchise worldwide… Play N Trade is the largest and fastest-growing video game franchise worldwide. It is also one of the fastest-growing franchises across all industries. April 01, 2010
- Play N Trade Franchise, Inc, the largest video game franchise worldwide, is excited to announce that 13 new Play N Trade stores have opened for business this year and another 13 are already scheduled to open by September. New Play N Trade stores are opening their doors in more than a dozen different states and provinces throughout the U.S and Canada. Play N Trade is the largest video game franchise worldwide. It is also one of the fastest-growing franchises across all industries. July 13, 2010
- Play N Trade Franchise, Inc., the fastest growing video game franchise worldwide November 03, 2011
PLAY N TRADE: Tens of Millions in Franchise Investments Lost in Past 2 Years?
The problem is, throughout 2010 and 2011, it seems that Play N Trade has experienced only negative growth, with the number of operating U.S. franchises declining from 241 in 2009 to 174 in 2010 to 146 in 2011.**
As you stated that you were to open 30 stores in 2010, it would seem likely that more than 125 PNT franchise locations have gone dark in the past two years, representing 125 franchise investments equalling tens of millions of dollars have been lost.
At the upcoming Franchise and Business Opportunities Expo, will Play N Trade Vice President of Franchise Development, Charles Franklin, really be telling prospective franchisees that Play N Trade is growing?
Do you think that is an honest and ethical representation that meets the guidelines for franchise advertising mandated by the Federal Trade Commission and the State of California?
We eagerly await your response.
* We submitted a link to this open letter to Play N Trade PR representative Rosaline Halversen
** According to Entrepreneur.com
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE PLAY N TRADE VIDEO GAME STORE FRANCHISE? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
For more on Play N Trade franchise, read:
PLAY N TRADE Video Game Franchise Ends in Bankruptcy
PLAY N TRADE Franchise Stores Closed & Closings
PLAY N TRADE Franchise: 30 Stores to Open in 2010
PLAY N TRADE: Recruits Multi-Unit Video Game Franchise Owners
PLAY N TRADE: MI Bankruptcy Auction
PLAY N TRADE Forum Gets Spammed N Slammed
PLAY N TRADE: Video Game Franchise Played Out?
PLAY N TRADE Video Game Franchise Ends in Bankruptcy
June 27, 2011
(Unhappy Franchisee: Uncensored Franchise Information) Franchise ownership was not new to Jason Manning when he opened his Play N Trade video game store in Butte, MT in August, 2007. He and his mother already owned and operated a successful Express Personnel franchise.
And Manning had done his homework. He had formulated a full business plan & secured the necessary financing before opening his Play N Trade franchise.
When interviewed for a local Business Profile article in February, 2008, Jason Manning was gung ho on his business.
“I think franchises are great,” he was quoted as saying.
Unfortunately, Jason Manning’s love affair with the Play N Trade franchise was short-lived.
Play N Trade Franchise Game Goes Bad
Jason Manning recently gave this account of the meteoric rise and fall of his franchise business so others could gain the benefit of his experience.
He wrote:
“I am glad I closed the store! I was a long 4 years. Aug 2007 – Aug 2008 The first year was great! Sales were better than expected. I bought into 3 more stores in my state.
“Year 2 saw a downturn in the economy…I also saw 2 more CEO’s and numerous changes in corporate staff. Sales were slipping quickly.
“Year 3.. the challenges were unexpected and HUGE. Suppliers (we were and never will be direct with publishers) couldn’t get product on time, didn’t have the needed products in stock after day 1-4 release. Sometimes we would wait 2-3 weeks for replaenishment. That meant Hundreds to thousands of dollars lost to competition and a loss of credibility.
“Year 4 was dismal. sales = 1/2 that of 2007/2008. no choice but to close. Asked PNT Corp for help but an unwillingness to help was the answer and I was forced to close bankrupt.
“Corporate support was lacking at best…some of their answers included “get it at Target, call your competition and see what they have left”. Amazon became my 3rd largest supplier of video games.
“Unfortunately, I do not believe that the corporate team has the skills to do the job that they want to…industry contacts, buying power, marketing, social networking…all of these things combined are setting themselves up for disaster not success.
“For the most part, The franchisees themselves put their lives into the franchise and were duped into a system that has major and very evident flaws.
“Opening a entertainment based franchise in this type of market will surely go down in flames.
Will the Play N Trade chain survive?
In 2008, Play N Trade had more than 100 stores open, more than 400 franchises sold, and “expected” to have 1000 locations by the end of 2011.
According to Entrepreneur.com, Play N Trade peaked at 241 U.S. franchises in 2009, then fell to 174 franchise locations in 2010.
More than 70 locations went dark shortly after Jason Manning closed his Montana Play N Trade stores.
“I am glad to be disenfranchised with Play N Trade.” wrote Manning on UnhappyFranchisee.com. “I expect that PNT will see more closures in the future with less store openings. Expect less than 150 stores open by year’s end.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK? ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE PLAY N TRADE FRANCHISE? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
PLAY N TRADE Franchise Stores Closed & Closings
June 25, 2011
(UnhappyFranchisee.com) The Play N Trade franchise opportunity may seem like a safe, risk-free investment because of the well-known brand name, the great product and positive media hype (which includes rankings and awards from publications that survive on advertising from franchise companies like Play N Trade).
Some Play N Trade franchise owners may have a different opinion on how risk-free buying a Play N Trade video game store franchise really is.
Play N Trade, San Mateo, CA
“Orlando and Misty Megia opened Play N Trade on B Street in downtown San Mateo four years ago but they are closing its doors June 26. Spending money on video games is something people are doing less of in the poor economy, Misty Megia said.” The Daily Journal, June 20, 2011.
Play N Trade, Squamish, BC, Canada
“Squamish Play N Trade has joined ranks with the legion of Play N Trade stores that have closed across Canada and the United States and is embroiled in a lawsuit with the California-based company. The Squamish video gaming store closed on Labour Day weekend…” Squamish Chief, December 3, 2010.
Play N Trade, Butte, Montana
“Play N Trade closing doors. Play N Trade, a retail video game store in Butte, will close its doors Saturday. Owner Jason Manning said the business had been operating in Butte for almost four years, but heightened competition and a down economy forced the closure. It will result in four full-time people being put out of work.” MT Standard, Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Play N Trade, New York, NY
“Play N Trade – CLOSED. 137 E 13th St, New York, NY 10079, Neighborhood: East Village” Source: YELP
Play N Trade, Alexandria, VA
“My local Play N Trade in Alexandria, VA was apparently shut down yesterday. I had only gone to this place a few times, because frankly the people there were unfriendly, appeared to make fun of you behind your back…” Jamisonia, Feb 01, 2011
Play N Trade, Florida
“My local Play N Trade is going out of business. Sadly it’s the last one in the area… I frequented this store and the owner was a great guy, as is his mom. They just weren’t making money and had no choice. The sad day of close is on the 15th of September.” prot8to on Sep.02, 2010. Graphic by prot8to.
Other Play N Trade Reported Closures:
Palmdale Alabama 93551
Avondale Arizona 85323
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109
Smithtown, New York (32 East Main St. 11787)
Elk Grove, CA (2513 Riparian Dr. 95624)
Tustin, CA
Colonie Center, Colonie, NY
Sarasota, FL (4013 Clark Rd 34233)
Miami Lakes, FL
REPORT A PLAY N TRADE FRANCHISE CLOSING OR ADD A COMMENT BELOW.
Email Play N Trade closing photos to unhappyfranchisee[at]gmail.com
PLAY N TRADE Franchise: 30 Stores to Open in 2010
July 19, 2010
Embattled and controversial franchise video game chain Play N Trade continues to sell franchises and boast about its new store openings.
The Play N Trade franchise has been widely criticized on the Internet for its franchisee recruitment practices and the viability of its retail concept. Franchise owners have reported widespread store closure. After its investigation, the California Department of Corporations suspended Play N Trade’s franchise marketing and sales activities in its state.
Play N Trade has maintained a steady flow of positive press releases boasting store profitability and the benefits of its franchise opportunity. Here’s the latest release:
“Play N Trade On Pace to Open 30 New Stores in 2010
“Play N Trade Franchise, Inc, uses exceptional customer service and a unique retail experience to ensure success. Plans to open 30 additional stores in 2010.
“Play N Trade Video Game Franchise
“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“PRLog (Press Release) – Jul 12, 2010 – San Clemente, CA – - Play N Trade Franchise, Inc, the largest video game franchise worldwide, is excited to announce that 13 new Play N Trade stores have opened for business this year and another 13 are already scheduled to open by September.
New Play N Trade stores are opening their doors in more than a dozen different states and provinces throughout the U.S and Canada.
Canadian franchisee, Justin White, opened his second store in British Columbia in July with plans for a third to be up and running by 2011. White projects to have six to eight stores open within the next 3 years.
“’The best thing about Play N Trade is being able to run a store myself,’ says White. ‘Customers can see that we are not just another huge corporate entity like our competitors.’
“Play N Trade has set itself apart from competing retail video game stores by offering a unique experience for customers upon every visit. A “Try-Before-You-Buy” policy literally allows gamers to play any game in-store prior to purchase and the new store design, complete with a “Player’s Club” consisting of numerous consoles and flat-screen TVs, is a perfect place to host in-store tournaments and events.
Play N Trade foresees the success to continue with a tremendous slate of titles set to release on the year like Halo: Reach, Madden NFL 11 and the motion-sensing peripherals of Microsoft’s Kinect and Sony’s PlayStation Move.
“About Play N Trade
“Play N Trade is the largest video game franchise worldwide. It is also one of the fastest-growing franchises across all industries. The company provides exceptional training, support and marketing systems to its store owners, who in turn provide an outstanding customer experience for their shoppers that is unmatched by any other gaming franchise. Play N Trade sets itself apart from competing video game retailers by allowing customers to try any video game prior to purchase, participate in local and national tournaments, have their consoles and games repaired as well as buy, sell and trade video games. Please visit www.playntrade.com or call 1.888.PNT.GAME for more information.
— end —
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE PLAY N TRADE FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY? WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
PLAY N TRADE: Recruits Multi-Unit Video Game Franchise Owners
March 23, 2010
There have been many contentions online that the franchise graveyard contains the dreams – and financial wellbeing, savings, credit scores, etc. – of many a failed Play N Trade franchise owner. For that reason, many might find the name of the Play N Trade franchise contact (Miles Coffin) ironic, if not appropos.
When writer Sean Kelly posted the question IS PLAY N TRADE A GREAT FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY? on the blog formerly known as FranchisePick, the 130 responses were predominantly negative. More than 300 comments, mostly negative, have been posted on this site. Allegations of fraud, franchise disclosure violations and a hopelessly flawed business model have been posted on numerous sites, especially when the California Department of Corporations suspended Play N Trade’s registration in its state ( see PLAY N TRADE Franchise Registration Revoked)
However, in 2010 Play N Trade has mounted an aggressive franchise PR push, with numerous press releases citing increased same-store sales growth and claims that Play N Trade is “one of the fastest-growing franchises worldwide across all industries.”
Here’s the press release issued by Mr. Coffin today:
“Play N Trade to Attend and Sponsor 2010 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference
“San Clemente, CA, March 23, 2010 –(PR.com)– Play N Trade Franchise, INC, the fastest growing video game franchise worldwide, is excited to announce that not only will it be attending the 2010 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference but will also be a sponsor for the event.
From March 24th-26th, one of the only conferences in the nation focused exclusively on multi-unit franchising will be held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, NV.
“On Thursday, March 25th Play N Trade President and CEO, Larry Plotnick and Vice President of Franchise Development, Charles Franklin will be in attendance to discuss owning a Play N Trade franchise and the resources Play N Trade provides every franchisee to succeed.
“’Play N Trade defines all that is exciting and revolutionary in today’s gaming culture and is the only company operating in this space that has successfully positioned itself as ‘the Ultimate Gaming Store’,’ says Franklin. ‘The store design, wide selection of new and used games, accessories and consoles, in-store tournaments and ‘Try-Before-You-Buy’ policy create a community atmosphere that makes Play N Trade the preferred destination for gamer participation, discussion and competition.”’Play N Trade Area Developer and Franchisee, Ken Leese will also be on hand as a panelist to discuss his former success as a massive multi-unit operator with Jackson Hewitt and his current successes with and the future potential of Play N Trade. Mr. Leese will be presenting primarily on the evaluation and selection of new brands for portfolio expansion.
“Prospective franchisees who are serious about growth and interested in new concepts, opportunities and unique service solutions can find Play N Trade at booth #5 to learn what makes it such an exciting franchise opportunity.
“About Play N Trade
”Play N Trade is the largest and fastest-growing video game franchise worldwide. It is also one of the fastest-growing franchises worldwide across all industries. The company provides exceptional training, support and marketing systems to its store owners, who in turn provide an outstanding customer experience for their shoppers. Play N Trade customers can try any video game before they buy”
“Play N Trade Franchise, Inc. Miles Coffin 888.PNT.GAME Miles.Coffin@playntrade.com playntradevideogamefranchise.com
Also read:
PLAY N TRADE: Video Game Franchise Played Out?
PLAY N TRADE: MI Bankruptcy Auction
PLAY N TRADE Forum Gets Spammed N Slammed
PLAY N TRADE’s Franchise Registration Suspended (Michael Webster’s blog)
PLAY N TRADE: Execs Respond to Blog Critics
WHAT DO YOU THINK? IS PLAY N TRADE A GREAT FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY? WHY OR WHY NOT?
PLAY N TRADE: MI Bankruptcy Auction
August 10, 2009
Play N Trade: Sad end to someone’s franchise dream. Notice of bankruptcy auction, liquidation of closed Play N Trade store.
Aug 21, 10:00 am 
Auctioneer:
M & W Inc. Asset Recovery
979 West River Center Drive NE
Comstock Park, MI616-785-5310
BY ORDER OF SECURED CREDITOR:
NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE FOR FRIDAY AUGUST 21ST AT 10AM
A COMPLETE LIQUIDATION OF THREE RETAIL VIDEO GAME STORES
THOUSANDS OF SLIGHTLY USED VIDEO GAMES, NEW VIDEO GAMES, NEW AND USED GAME SYSTEMS, FLAT SCREEN TVS, STORE FIXTURES, VIDEO GAME SUPPLIES, STORE FIXTURES.
COMPLETE LIST below (first pdf has THREE SHEETS).
* BULK BIDS WILL BE ENTERTAINED UNTIL TUESDAY AUGUST 11TH 5:OOpm (ALL ASSETS)
Here’s a partial list of items to be auctioned:
|
RIVAL MICROWAVE CIVILIZATION REVOLUTION XBOX 360 GAME |
SHAUNWHITE XBOX 360 GAME |
Click here for a complete list of items to be auctioned and photos
Image: M & W Inc. Asset Recovery
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
PLAY N TRADE Forum Gets Spammed N Slammed
August 10, 2009
The Play N Trade franchise website prominently links to its Official Play N Trade Video Game Forum.
It’s a great idea for Play N Trade to establish an open community of gamer enthusiasts to gather, trade ideas and tips, and build their relationship with Play N Trade. It’s a great opportunity for Play N Trade to demonstrate how highly it values its gamer customers and how actively it supports and promotes its franchise stores.
Unfortunately, the only thing the Play N Trade forum communicates is that the lights may be on, but ain’t nobody home.
As of this morning, Of the Play N Trade 100 most recent forum topics:
98 of 100 most recent posts are spam.
The vast majority of the recent posts on the Play N Trade forum are spam advertisements with titles such as “cannabis growing lamps,” “probation drug tests,” “drug detox facilities,” “adulterated cannabis,” “Check out these hot euro babes in these hot sex pics and vid,” “swinger party milwaukee,” and “belly button piercing info.”
1 of the 100 most recent posts is titled “FUK PLAY N TRADE Corporate”
Matt Average on Tue Aug 04, 2009 7:51 pm how many days can i keep this active without it getting modded?
Matt Average on Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:29 am bump
Matt Average on Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:11 pm to the top
Matt Average on Thu Aug 06, 2009 5:08 pm pushed off the 1st page by spam in about 8 hours
Matt Average on Sat Aug 08, 2009 8:28 am just remove the board from the website
Matt Average on Sat Aug 08, 2009 7:57 pm fart
pizz_excellence on Sat Aug 08, 2009 11:19 pm LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
U finally see the way FUK PNT CORPORATE THEY SUCK AND DONT GIVE A FLYING FUK
To all customers i apoligize for the vulgar language you see but Realize PNT corporate will never care about the customer or franchiseeMatt Average on Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:28 am !
pizz_excellence on Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:39 pm point proven!
1 of 100 most recent posts call for the resignation of CEO Larry Plotnick & demise of the company.
The only other actual post out of the most recent 100 (When Will Corporate GO OUT OF BUSINESS) not only calls for the resignation and demise of the company, but includes internal communication between corporate Franchisee Support Specialist Micah Thomas and a franchisee or franchise store manager. Allegedly, the manager’s detailed complaints have gone unanswered.
Please quit already Larry Plotnick !!!!!!!!!!!! Go start another failing business and screw over another unknowing group.
email i received
Subject: Please email or call me so we can talk about your complaints
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:43:45 -0700
From: Micah.Thomas@playntrade.com
Hi, I’ve seen your posts on the PNT Forum complaining and making accusations against Play N Trade corporate as well as against other PNT stores, and I sincerely would like to speak to you about your complaints. Although I’ve deleted a few different posts, I hope that you have noticed that I have not deleted all posts or your profile for that matter. Please reach out to me via either email or phone – both of which are listed below, beneath my signature line.
Micah Thomas
Franchisee Support Specialist
3400 Irvine Ave. Suite #205
Newport Beach, CA 92660
*NEW NUMBER* 888.768.4263 – “Region 3″
F: 949.474.6005
My responce
From: Anonymous for personal reasons
Sent: Sun 6/21/09 4:05 AM
To: micah.thomas@playntrade.com
Yes, I would like to start off by keeping myself Anonymous, For various reasons.
First off i would like to know how long you personally have been with the company. In the time that i have been managing my pnt i have gone through 3-4 regional contacts on corporate end. Some were really good in the begining to really bad current to the point that is why bother.
Second I would like to know how many pnt’s have closed down. since opening. I know of 2 near me that have already closed in the past year and 2 more that will be closing in the next 2 month (ones i’m sure you have o idea about).
Third How does corporate expect their franchisees to turn profit if they are expected to pay royalties on all items sold. Now i understand that royalties should be paid on all used games. The new though makes no sense. We buy xbox 360 from our vendors for 290 then have to pay for shipping $15 then pay royalties on the total amount. royalties 5% so let’s do the math. 290 + 15(shipping)+ 15(royalties)= 320 – sale price of 299.99 total is negative $20.01 …. You got to be kidding me right! But lets move on to new games cost 52. shipping 3 royalty 1.8 total 3 dollar profit…. Yah!!!! have you ever done break even analyst. I have to sell 20 new titles to make up for every one that does not sell while trying to stay competitive. Impossible. Corporate makes half my profit while sustaing absolutely no risk. SEE MY COMPLAINT but i cntinue…
4. I have never had a corporate rep come into my store to see if their is anything they can be doing to lend a helping hand. at this point i would probably call security to escort them out because of the frustration of never seeing them before.
5. Pos is so screwed up with trade values it makes me sick. I constantly see where corporate wants to trade a game for 7 when it sells for 12.99. (Are you trying to put us out of business< Seriously) On average trades are 50-60% of sales price. That business model will not be able to stay afloat in these economic times where price drops occur daily. Their is no hedging future losses.
6. Other local pnt’s ( the ones going out of business give us bad reputation for numorous reasons. 1. customers call us to complain that their local store has been repairing their system for over 6 week now and is refusing to call them back. 2. Customer”I traded all my games at X location but they never get new games in or always are 3 weeks behind.” 3. The employees at x location never show the customer the respect and service. they find it necesary to play their video game instead of greeting the customer. 4. The store is disorganized and everything is scattered about making it confusing for the customers.
5. other stores refusing to inform the consumer that we are all independent and have no connection to each other. Most customers tell me that the other stores suggest that they are the onlypnt’s in the area and go to thm only.
I know you have started on site reviews which is steps in the right direction but really doesn’t mean anything. I can get all loweest scores but nothing will ever come to fruition nobody is going to make them change.
I’ve already had the pleasure of explaining to customers why they can’t use their credit from location x who deided to jus close up with no warning even though they had $300 credit. Always getting the F’ this store i’m never going to another pnt again. That is bad pr and bad news travels faster than good news. so now i have to try to overcome the bad tastes in peoples mouth’s that other stores have left.
These are not Accusations but the day to day reality that i go through. Trust me Our store is ranked top 20 every month (tha was before you stopped printing the rankings because someone sold the info to gs which is another head ache) So we make it happen the best we can but we still struggle to stay afloat. So if we are at the top struggling their is no way others are even surviving which should tell u something.
I can tell you i’m not brain washed in the whole pnt is awesome idea because it’s not the logo but the people who make it good. We are the place we are because of the way WE not corporate run our store. In all honesty pnt franchisees are not together but against each other because we all independently want and need the business to stay alive. Wether thats cutting the legs out from another franchisee. It’s bad because it creates distress in the consumer because the lack of consistancy.
Also the website is so horrible a 4th grader could do better, Trust me i have customers come in and complain to me about it.
The forums are a joke, Delete my comments they were not obscene jus very truthful. You let porn continue to flood it so kids can see and loose another family of customers becuase mismanagement on your end. Everything i said is honest and from the heart. And yes our perfered distributors refuse credit lines because we do business as PNT. Trust me i have heart to hearts with my vendors. We had our credit line cut in half because some pnt’s stop paying them even though it had nothing to do with us.
So yes Micah please inform me if shed any light on any of these issues. I will stay anonymous because i am the manager but i feel the pain of the owner and the fear of going out of business.
Suggestions cut all royalties in half
No royalties on new products.
Give us some monetary incentive to continue carrying your name because what your doing now is not working.
Stop finding these cheap vendors who offer us flea market products, we are i retail not a tent shop.
Share your discounts or kickbacks that you get from vendors so that we can turn profit. (you do i know it you may not) All i ever hear about is new stores opening do these people even know what they are getting into????
I’m looking forward to hearing your responce on these issues.
A Very concerened individual, nothing to do with my owner
sorry bad grammer it is late
——-No responce so i write
From: Anonymous for personal reasons
Sent: Thu 7/23/09 1:23 AM
To: micah.thomas@playntrade.com
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my email (Sarcasm), This just proves again how helpfull you guys really are. The vegas trip was frustrating to say the least. Great new ideas (changing the entire store floor plan like i said prior to the event) only one problem no help on the cost. Here’s my idea make a fund for everything you guys think will be cool (las vegas convention example) then use that money to hand out to the franchisee’s to help with the new store change cost. Oh wait why bother giving my input u don’t bother responding to my first email but who knows maybe you got fired as well. respond if u still want to keep communication was interested in hearing the honest failure ratio for pnt.
Still no responce he was probably fired or quit because of all the Chocolate Rain. Fraggle off Corporate.
Franchisees rise together to give them Hell!!!!!!!!
Advice to Play N Trade: If you want to declare yourself a gamer community, you’ve got to commit the resources necessary to maintain an active forum. If you’re not committed, you might want to take down your forum because you are making your franchisees look out of touch and apathetic.
Social Media Lesson: Kwiqq, an webbuilder company, just posted Play N Trade as a social media success story (Retail Industry: Increase web traffic through social media (Play N Trade)). Kwiqq might want to update its case study to show what happened after their initial increase. Because Play N Trade failed to allocate needed resources to keeping up with their forum, it got overrun with Spam and negative comments.
This further fueled the unrest from their unhappy franchisees: http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/play-n-trade-ca-revokes-pnt-franchise-registration/
This is not necessarily a negative reflection on Kwiqq, as the strategy was sound. It just illustrates the point that using social media requires a committed and consistent effort or it can backfire.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
PLAY N TRADE: Video Game Franchise Played Out?
August 10, 2008
Are you familiar with the Play N Trade video game franchise? The franchise owners buy and sell used video games and video game related supplies and merchandise. At FranchisePick.com, Dale, an MBA candidate who is researching the Play ‘n Trade business model had some disturbing things to say about the Play N Trade used video game franchise :
I will graduate with my MBA in 6 days and my thesis is on Play N Trade. My professor has his PH.D. in management and we have been working on the PNT UFOC and financials for 4 months. I called corporate for information and researched everything I could find. The Play N Trade I went to did not have a play before you buy policy because the owner needed batteries for the game stations and he could not afford to buy them. He told me, a potential customer, that he was losing money. I felt so sorry for him I asked it I could buy a Wii but he did not have one in stock. As I looked around the store, “Out of Stock” signs were everywhere. I went to another store and had a similar experience and at the third store the owner tried to sell it to me.
I have a co-worker opening a Play N Trade. I wish she had not bought the hype. I have heard it as well and it is good hype but unrealistic.
My professor told me to tell my friend to “get out if she can.” It is not your business skills effecting your business. I have to defend my thesis and we can not even find a way to make the organization work. When I presented the company to my professor I thought it was great and he just smiled and said, “Let’s see how you feel at the end of the semester.” He was right.
Have you had any experience with the Play ‘n Trade video game franchise opportunity? What have you heard? Share a comment below.
