I started working at GameStop right when I finished high school and moved out of my parents house. Wages were atrocious (under 9$/hour. Canadian dollars), and all the managers I worked under were egotistical man childs.
You know how GameStop employees always push used games, Edge cards, and game warranties? (or used to – I don't know how it is nowadays because I'd rather get stabbed than set foot in a GameStop again) Well, we needed to hit quotas fo these things to not get shit on by the managers. You see, when these numbers were up for the store, the managers got flown out to conventions and got to enjoy the spoils of the lowly employees' hard work. So they were pretty uptight about it.
At some point, I figured how to be a GameStop Robin Hood.
Here's what you have to know: (1) Edge cards cost 5$. (2) Customers could have their Edge card scanned for a 10% rebate on used games. (3) The 10% rebate was available immediately. (4) The cards were really just a barcode printed on a label and stuck to the back of the card. (5) Customers could purchase a warranty on used games for 2$. (6) I got a 0.25$ commission for every warranty sold.
Selling warranties is the worst, especially when you know they're bullshit. But my managers were riding me, so I came up with a solution. I figured out a way to bug the label printer so that it would print 2 copies of the Edge barcodes instead of 1. Every time someone bought a used game for 50$ or more, I would sell them an Edge card and immediately apply the 10% rebate to their purchase and tell them they got a free Edge card. I would then give them the card with copy 1 of the barcode, and keep copy 2 for myself. As time went on, I amassed an insane amount of Edge barcodes which I carefully stuck (aligned and staggered) on cards which I kept in my pocket at all times. And this is where I started making money off of this little trick. Everytime a customer purchased a used game over 20$, I would discreetly swipe a random code on one of my cards, and apply a 2$ warranty to the game. When customers would notice it on their receipts, I would smile and say that I applied a free warranty because it was a promotion for easter, or christmas, or whatever. This increased my income by 15-20%.
I did this for at least a couple of years untill an assistant manager caught me. I told him to keep it on the down low and that he could do it too, but he had drank too much of the kool aid. I was asked to resign that week. In retrospect, I think I wasn't fired by the manager because it would have been horrible for him to admit to corporate that I had been scamming the company for several months without him noticing.
Oh, and for those who were wondering. I also applied rebates to used games under 20$ just to give free 10% rebates to customers without applying any warranties. Also, I would always honor the warranties I gave out.