The Exchange — Local services in West Chicago Township

As a former employee let me give you guys the low down of this store.

First and foremost always price check the games, there are a lot of games that are well overpriced. Especially retro nintendo games, and honestly if they’re cartridge based I’d just suggest buying off of eBay. eBay has a solid return policy and cartridge contacts are pretty durable. Just give em a swipe with some alcohol and a q-tip. I say buy off eBay because for example: The Exchange sells copies of Mario 64 for around $70 and you can easily get that on eBay for about $25-30. So the store charges you double for a game you could easily find somewhere else. It’s just not worth it. Disc stuff its gets a little trickier, so do what you will there, but at least always run a quick price comparison, and if the item has an old faded sticker ask if they can lower the price. They should be willing to work with you.

Secondly, I wouldn’t really recommend trading stuff in unless a) you really wanna get rid of stuff asap or b) you want to gain in store credit. They’re gonna give you roughly 20% of what the item is worth, and if you do the math most of the time its just not worth it. This goes for all items: consoles, records, games, movies etc. Sometimes for really desired items like a PS5 or Pokémon games they’ll shoot up to 45% but this is quite a rarity so do not expect it. 20% is the average for pretty much all items. So do with that information what you will.

The company is also starting to get Pokémon cards but they don’t really know what they’re doing yet so a lot of stuff is really overpriced as well. They were selling Obsidian Flame packs for around $12 which you could go to probably any card shop still today and get for $5. They even had some Sword and Shield packs, I think Crown Zenith, that was going for $20. Journey Together packs for about $15. So just keep your eyes peeled.

I will say that the employees are very knowledgeable, very kind, very cool, and very helpful people, and the inventory is quite vast. Some of the managers are a little too strict on “corporate rules” which can be annoying. They will not accept expired IDs and with passports you must have proof of residency. Also I think there’s a rule about not ordering in used copies of items if there’s a new copy in store? Just kinda ocasional asinine stuff like that. I will say the DVDs & CDs are quite cheap so that’s a plus, and sometimes you can snag a deal, but there are definitely some sneaky practices going on as well. So just be mindful of the market, always check eBay and Pricecharting,...

Decided to drop in since I was in the area and have been excited to see the selection here; however, that feeling quickly subsided. I picked up some loose games that were super cheap ($3 and below) and not in the cases that are locked and was listening to music, browsing, and holding the games in plain sight. Literally, every couple of minutes, a guy keep peering down the aisle, as if to make sure that I wasn't stealing the games. I wasnt. And i would never but he kept looking at me as if I were going to steal them at any moment. My hobby is playing games and collecting systems and I have a ton of games and was browsing for very specific games so forgive me for wanting to take my time in front of every different system case. Eventually, a young lady walked up to me and asked me if I was still doing ok, to which I replied, "yes, thanks". Before she left, she made it a point to say, "would you like me to hold onto these in the front?" And of course I said , "sure" because obviously it was a big deal. I know the deal, having been to the Lakeview location that they hold items in the front and the employees there were very transparent and non-accusatory in stating their policy, which I have no qualms with at all. I was just confused about the fact that the games were out in the open and still had to be held upfront but the Wicker Park employee that kept checking on me hadn't said anything about that, he just kept looking at me periodically. I would've been more receptive to him just flat out saying, "hey, we just have to keep the games in the front". Cool, no big deal. Anyway, that really put me in a funk so that being said, I think I'll stick with my regular location. Especially since they order anything that I'd need if it's not in stock. Who wants to feel like they're committing a crime or being accused of committing a crime by the way of someone staring them down every so often while they shop?...

Just Had the worst experience ever at this store I’ve been coming to this location for so long a lot of the usual faces have changed I ordered a movie that they said would be in today. I arrived at 3:30 they said they had not unloaded yet and it would take some time. I said no problem I’ll just shop around on Milwakee went to like 5 stores and awaited a call. Even after going to the stores shipment was still not unpacked. I then waited in my car because at that time my meter was min from expiring and luckily I did cause the motor man was passing my car while I was in it. Received the call that my dvds was ready at that point I didn’t want to pay the meter again so I went to the door with cash in hand and I could watch my car at the same time. The guy begins slamming the money on the counter as if he was bothered by something he counted it 3 or 4 times said I was short of the total by $2 at that point I gave him $2 and he begins to count the money several more time at that point it’s about to start raining I asked how many times did he need to count the money he says as many times as I want matter of fact I lost count I have to start again. I said do what you have to do but you’ve already counted it numerous times “why” if you say I was short $2 do you have to keep counting. He says you can just take the money back. I said I’ve been coming here before you ever worked here. I said please do your job I just want my items. He goes in and starts counting again🤦‍♂️ I decided I would write a email or review an...