When GameStop explained its “Trade Anything” day event policy in mid-November, most of it made complete and logical sense. For example, do not trade hazardous waste, chemicals or weapons.
Yes, I see.
But on that same list, there were a few exceptions to the rule that made everyone lose their minds. Chief among them is that “taxidermy” items have been confirmed as “valid for transaction.” That means if you buy food from a long-dead animal and likewise want a $5 in-store transaction credit, you can totally bring it with you.
Back last Saturday, when there were reports of what actually happened on “Deal Anything” day, taxidermy was nowhere to be found among the list of items GameStop employees had begun listing and sharing online.
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Think about it. In fact, it happened not once, but twice! Plus, the official GameStop Twitter account is proof!
There were also some questionable items they tried to trade in, but they don't list them.
On Twitter, GameStop confirmed not one, but two instances of actual taxidermy transactions. The first involved a bird in all its dead and taxidermied glory.
This is the second of its kind, a seemingly perfectly posed mountain cat.
Again, these were once living creatures and were paid to be taxidermied and preserved for display purposes.
Now, as several people have responded, it's worth noting that GameStop's own terms state that whatever these items are, they have to fit into a 20x20x20 box. I'm not going to pretend to be a mathematician. (I was really bad at math as a kid.) Very little actually fits into the box that employees have to adhere to.
Of course, if they had stuck to it, we wouldn't have evidence that anyone was actually trading taxidermy. It's also an item that would have been perfect for just donating to charity, considering the staff seemed to have a problem with anyone donating a can of soup. AKA if that's part of the whole point of this thing, it's a bit backwards to only allow stuffing elsewhere if you're making a joke.
Eventually, at the end of the day, GamStop went viral and the guy won $5, which was enough for both parties. There's no word yet on whether GameStop will try to run this again with different parameters, but if they do, I'd venture a guess that things will be a lot stricter, even if it means turning people away.
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