Hi all! Bryan the owner back again with a Covid update and some highly-anticipated Used Game news! But don’t let the headline create presumptions – read this post!
Covid Update
On Monday, Dane County is moving to “Phase Two” of the Forward Dane plan, which for us actually doesn’t mean a whole lot of changes. Store traffic has consistently been well within safe parameters, and everyone who has shopped in the store has been very cool about required masks and are doing a good job with physical distancing. While we can “officially” let more folks through the door, we’ve rarely needed to ask people to wait outside even when the restriction was five shoppers. So for our customers and staff, Phase Two really doesn’t impact what we’ve been already doing for the past few weeks. Of course, there are still rules to follow, but really the main one is that masks are still required for all customers and staff. We have disposable masks available at as you enter the stores if you need one, and we discovered they are surprisingly comfortable!
Covid-Related FAQs
May I wear a face shield instead of a mask?
No. Dane County now requires cloth masks covering both mouth and nose.
May I touch the games?
Yes. We have bottles of hand sanitizer at the front of the stores, and customers are asked to apply some as you enter the store. Hand sanitizer plus face protection is an excellent one-two punch against potential spread.
What if I can’t or don’t want to wear face protection?
You are welcome to shop using our online portal for curbside pickup.
What about events or in-store gaming?
The short answer is we simply do not know when in-store gaming and events will start up again. The longer answer is that it is probably going to be a very long time. Based on current protocols and the supporting science, public gatherings of non-family groups of any size is not recommended. But beyond that, the highly interactive nature of game events — required proximity, talking toward one another, shared touching of components, and extended time together — is completely against the science and common sense of transmission avoidance. In all honestly, I doubt we will be seeing in-store events until there is a vaccine. This is certainly not desirable to any of us, but as with everything related to Covid, what we want to do is not as important as what we need to do. But until then, in-home restrictions are lifting for those who are careful and respectful of this disease, and we’ve got the materials for your own in-home events.
Also Monday, We Are Accepting Used Games (and Puzzles) Again!
And now the news you’ve been waiting for! Our number one question has been “can I bring in my used stuff yet?” We thought a long time about how to continue our Used Game Program during this time, especially in terms of safety and accessibility. One of our big concerns is making sure any item coming in to the store is virus-free before we process it. Here is now it will work going forward:
Used Game and Puzzle Submission Changes
- Sellers are highly encouraged to have their paperwork completed and ready to go before they come in. You can download blank and form-fillable PDFs of our submission form, which you can fill out for each item.
- Sellers are encouraged to wipe down their items with disinfecting wipes before bringing them in. Of course, exceptions can be made if this will affect the condition of the item.
- We will have a station in the game room where you can fill out paperwork if you did not bring your own. Please apply hand sanitizer before you begin.
- When you enter with your games, let the staffer know, and you will be directed to an area of the game room where you can place your games and paperwork. We will have several of these areas rotating to accept new submissions, where games will sit in quarantine for a number of days (at least three). Make sure you place your items on the table that is specifically labeled “Place Used Items Here” and nowhere else.
- We will not be signing your paperwork upon submission going forward. Our acceptance of your games and paperwork is our agreement to abide by the program. We will contact you if there are issues.
- After a section’s quarantine period has passed, we will process the games as usual and place them on the Used Game shelves where they can be shopped as normal.
- Everything else about the program will remain the same, including the five-item limit.
Used Game FAQs
Will you add Used Games to the online shopping portal?
No. We thought of many ways to try to make this work, but in the end we just couldn’t come up with a system that would not in some way be problematic to the sellers, the buyers, or the staff. We have so many items coming and going so quickly, often multiple copies of the same items, and further compounded by two locations, that there is not an efficient way to make it work. Putting everything online would mean transferring condition reports, taking pictures, and identifying and tracking each specific item in both our online and in-store systems. And while we certainly could come up with a system that would allow all that, it would be so time and resource consuming that we would have to significantly reduce the store credit commission we give to sellers. So, you’ll have to come in to the stores to shop the Used Games as normal.
Can You Post Pictures of the Used Game Shelves Every Day?
Sorry, no. While this seems reasonable on the surface, unfortunately it will create more issues than it solves. Again, because items flip so quickly, shortly after we post pictures they will become incorrect and obsolete, and we’d hate for you to come in thinking a game is there only to find that it was just sold. For example, the picture we used for this post is very out of date!
Thank you again for all your continued support!