Although digital storefronts like Steam are generally favored now over the traditional in-store experience you used to have to go through in order to get whatever video game you were looking for, GameStop, does, in fact, still exist. And they seemingly really wanted people to remember that, despite the hundreds of stores they have closed across the US in the past few years. Recently, for one day only on December 6th, they expanded their trade-in policy to include anything. Yes, anything barring the obvious–including a literal piece of paper with “67” written on it–like dangerous materials, weapons, and illicit novelties. Besides the capacity for amusing trade-ins, there was something in it for customers; one item for $5 of store credit, seemingly irrespective of the item’s actual value. Although it seems like people were far more interested in the former hook, and thus followed a string of X posts from GameStop showing off some of the funniest items customers hauled in on the day. Some notable examples include: a speed limit sign, an entire taxidermied bobcat, a customer’s dog, a gasmask, a singular plastic spoon, and one user even wondered about bringing in a… bottled fart.

Greg how did you capture the fart? Picture that… https://t.co/hhIfYMXD8H

— GameStop (@gamestop) December 6, 2025

By the looks of it on Reddit and X, people broadly enjoyed this event, and had fun getting creative with their trade-in items. Which was probably what GameStop was looking for, judging by their promotion of the weirder trade-ins on their social media. It was by all means an roguish idea for a PR stunt, but perhaps not one that was fully measured. As one can imagine, there were many instances of people flaunting the company’s guidelines and bringing in prohibited items. A GameStop employee who was working the event describes one such occurrence on Reddit:

Had someone come to the store and they full on slapped it [a dildo] on the table. There were a lot of kids in the store and so I got upset and kicked him out.

The employee alleges that the management staff did not like his reaction very much, which he believes is odd considering the circumstances of the event, not to mention the official wording on the company’s website concerning such items. There are also several videos of other dubious trades that have done rounds on TikTok, such as a man attempting to trade in his grandmother’s bra and their social security card, or handing an employee a portrait of Donald Trump and Jeffery Epstein, or even giving away a Sonic plushie with a sex toy inserted into it. GameStop clarified that customers needed to ask before filming reactions of employees and that they must be polite; but this didn’t stop these clips from getting tens of thousands of views. Guerilla marketing strategies like the trade-in-anything-day GameStop hosted make for some good engagement (and sales numbers), but one can’t help but wonder if encouraging customers to bring in “anything” wouldn’t prompt some devious behavior towards the people who have to complete these transactions to make a living.