John-ShepardThe used game business is insanely lucrative for GameStop, so it's no surprise that other huge retailers want a piece of that expanding pie.
Game publishers are still waging war against the second-hand game market – the game makers would like to actually make some money when their game is sold again and again – but that's not the issue, here. All you need to know is that GameStop is no longer the only used-game retailer in town: both Target and Best Buy have started their own second-hand game programs . GameStop CEO Paul Raines mentioned in a conference call that his company hadn't been affected by other retailers like Amazon, Toys R Us, and Wal-Mart entering the used game market, but maybe Target and Best Buy can have an impact. Target's program is part of a "larger consumer electronics service program that also includes a new product-support helpline and mobile-phone business." For now, the used game part is only available at Northern California store locations, but Target plans to make trade-ins possible at all of their 850 stores across the country before 2010 is over. You got one nearby, right?
Target will offer in-store credit for their games, depending on the title and its condition, and they'll also do online trade-ins. Best Buy will allow gamers to buy and sell used titles in their 600 stores as of August 29; you'll get your compensation in the form of a gift card, which can be used for anything in the store, and any used games purchased will be covered by Best Buy's return policy. Of course, what's most important to us is how much these retailers will give us for those trades; GameStop used to offer about half of what they'll turn around and sell it for, but they're down to about 1/3 of the used sale price. …sort of annoying, and one of the reasons the retailer has made billions from the used game market.
I stopped trading my games because Gamestop gives you dirt for perfectly good games. Sometimes in as good condition as a new game. I'm anal about keeping my CDs, movies and games clean and scratch free.
A buddy of mine bought Resisntance Fall of Man for 30 new. He didn't like it so he went to trade it a week later at Gamestop, they gave him $6. Lame.
It will be interesting seeing how Target and Best Buy approach this. I like Target. Best Buy not so much.
Last edited by Jawknee on 8/26/2010 9:52:37 PM
Ebay or nothing I say.
if i sell it's alway on amazon. screw gamestop.
Talk about it man! – I had a game called Kingdom of Paradise for the PSP IN BRAND SPANKING NEW MINT CONDITION – have I played the game, yes about 2-3 times but then I didn't really like it.
So there I was at the Gamestop store and I saw a new Kingdom of Paradise for about $40. So I thought hmm…it should fall around that price…$27 at the least for my game.
"Uh….we'll give you $3.49"
Me inside the store: Uhh nevermind then
Me outside the store: GO **** YOURSELVES you just lost a potential max of $13.
Now of course that sounds kind of pathetic – but honestly – sell online, screw Gamestop with their M$ fanboys here and there, their lies, and their underpricing of your games.
But hey – I love buying used PS2 games from them – STEAL every time. And I remember about a year or so back…I got Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions for $9.99 – they were having some sort of special sale then. But hey it was a pretty good steal.
Its basically Game in the UK. they give you sh*t for your games. ebay is the way
Best Buy Canada has been trading/selling used games for some time up here. I didn't know that they hadn't brought the program to U.S. stores yet.
Last edited by n/a on 8/26/2010 9:50:52 PM
brighat1971,
So how are their trade-in prices, are they fair or not?????
There are a few national retailers that have been accepting trade-ins for as long as two years now. In addition to Best Buy there is Future Shop, Rogers Video and I've even heard Walmart (though I've only read that about Walmart once, as I never shop there). Mostly they advertise a $40 trade-in value in store credit for a recent ($60) game.
Walmart also has a new game store, inside several Super Walmarts over on the east coast. They're trying it out there before they consider adding them across the country. I saw pictures of GoW III C.E. for $30. Crazy stuff.
I think this is all good because it provides what Gamestop needs most: competition. They bought out every used game store, but they can't buy out Target and Best Buy.
However, I wonder how long it will be before they just make it so each game will only work with one system. Hell they already do it with saves. That would guarantee full price sales. I like companies like ubisoft whose games fall in price quickly anyway, unlike Actipoopvision whose games are full price for years.
Wait, there's only 800 Targets in the nation? I can't swing a dead cat without hitting one nearby.
i have at least 4 by me within a 5 mile radius.
I did a double take when I saw that 850 number too. I've got 10 that I can hit up locally. If I go an additional ten minutes further, I can hit another 10.
I think that this is an incredibly stupid move by the retailers who are literally biting the hand that feeds them. This is a bad move for the industry as a whole.
You all know how I feel about used game sales, this news simply reinforces my concerns about whether developers and publishers are getting their fair share. This will drive developers and publishers to make more of their games with online only components that used buyers will have to pay directly for. It will also spur more downloadable games on Live and PSN.
I shall say *nothing* more on this topic.
locking games and giving them way more restrictions
I can definitely see this messing up the industry
Gamers are too simple minded, "OMG it's so cheap let me buy it!"
Meh. Every other industry in the world is getting along just fine with 2nd hand sales. And they arent even trying to screw over the 2nd owner!
Good news though, Gamestop needs some competition. $55 for a used game is BS, even if it is only a week old. Seriously, i saw a copy of Bioshock for $55 used at my gamestop.
used game sales is nothin new. where were these game industries years ago? i can tell you i don't recall ever buying a brand new genesis or snes game.
I remember as a kid, saving up change in order to buy a used copy of Sonic 2. I'd be pissed if i got it home and Sega disabled the last 3 levels until i sent them some cash. BS.
it's like now the companies are so greedy. they've already recieved money from the first person buying it. if games were 50 dollars instead of 60 dollars more people would buy new.
Well, in truth, the music industry already made their moves to remedy the second hand industry. It didn't kill it, but second hand sales certainly isn't a powerhouse.
Movies and tv dvd's don't care because the income is just gravy anyways. They've already made their killing or lack thereof in theatres and prime time, and dvd sales simply create a little longevity on their return. But it's never been substantial. So they'll do nothing for a long time. In many cases, they've simply ridden on the coattails of music. (Movies and tv on the itunes store, for example)
Games used sales is proving to be an incredibly huge market. Their mistake is partly that they're dealing with it a little poorly, but mostly their mistake is not dealing with it AGES ago in a better way. Music started countering this stuff like 10-15 years ago. Why the hell is gaming only starting NOW!?!?
There's a lot of people to blame for these charges.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 8/27/2010 3:15:07 PM
They're adding stink aisles to my favorite stores? This is sad news indeed. I hope it's in the back somewhere so I don't have to see and smell all that trash while I'm trying to buy my new games.
::teehehehe::
You buy your games at brick'n mortar stores!?
I didn't know you could by games at Home Depot… ; )
I know this has been a growing story but did you guys ever mention Amazon is doing this too? I forget.
They do, but the value really only comes with wii games for some reason. You can still get almost $30 for the New Super Mario Bros., but most PS3 games aren't even close…example RDR trade in value with amazon is only $26…so maybe wii games resell better?
I think selling/trading in your Used games at retailers is stupid. They always sell it for 4 to 5 times as much for what they give you.
It's better to sell it your self on craiglist or something.
Ebay is your friend.
eBay is the best for both buying and selling used games. I bought something used on ebay once (i cant remember what it was) and i paid $30 for it. That means i spent $30, the seller made ~$28 and eBay got about $2. And USPS made about $2 too, lol.
Had i bought that at Gamestop i would have paid ~$40, the original seller would have gotten about $15, and gamestop goes home $25 richer.
For the most part i dont really care who makes money on the sale (yay for capitalism), but there are so many better ways to buy/sell games than Gamestop.
I can't bring myself to trade in any of my games. For one, they will never give me enough money to make it worth it; and then SOMEDAY in the future I will want to play it again and I will kick myself for getting rid or it.
I like my games sitting on my shelf where they belong. (Screw you too digital download man!)
Good, while I'm usually reluctant to sell my games to said businesses,–their buy-back rates are absurdly low–I'll enjoy having more locations supplying used games for purchase. Heck, I just picked up DMC4 for $9.99 used, in decent condition, too.
Temjin001,
Good deal!
I often stop guy's just before they get into Gamestop to trade in their games & stuff.
And so far I've picked up DMC 1,2,& 3 for only $15 off of one guy.
A mint PSP1000 with a memory stick inside for $20 off another.
And another guy recently sold me 15 xbox games, 6 GameCube games and a bunch of gaming accessories for $10.
Damn, I wish I had the time to stand in front of Gamestop all day long, I'd be a lot cash poor'er than I am now, but much the richer in gaming inventory.
"And I'd need a bigger truck"
Used games in Target and Best Buy is going to look tacky.
I've never traded in any game, anywhere, and I'd especially never trade one in to Gamestop.
And I only buy either when they're older & down to my $20 price-point, or when they're either having a power sale, or a buy 2 get 1 free deal on new games.
And even then buying new, I've never paid more than $80MAX for all 3 brand new games together.
Anyway, just as Worls stated, I believe Target & Best Buy's new used sales will "FORCE" Gamestop into doing a much fairer trade-in & used re-sale policy too.
I stopped selling my games in JrHigh thankfully. A lot of my friends are now upset that all their old game collections were sold long ago for booze or McDonald's.
lol @ game collection being sold for booze and mcdonalds.
u sold games 4 me??
u shouldn't have! 🙂
I bought Trinity Universe off ebay used for $40, as soon as I realized it sucked blue donkey balls I promptly sold it off (on ebay) for $45. Gamestop would have given me like ten bucks. Nuts to that, I hope the competition makes them sweat, but I will keep to my used games from online I think.
I hated Rogue Galaxy and listed it on Ebay the same day I bought it from Gamestop (what was that like early 2007?) and made all my money back plus the 2 or 3 dollars I overcharged for shipping.
lulz
LV,
If those guys are still around soaking up the brewski's & slurping down at the burger barns, tell em I'll trade em a Whopper, Big Mac, AND a Quarter Pounder too, for their mint copy of ICO.
Oh hell, I'll even throw in a FREE $1 fries with that…
Last edited by BikerSaint on 8/27/2010 12:08:33 AM
Really? I love Rogue Galaxy. It does have some lengthy grinding but it was still sweet imo.
I tried to get into it (put in 10hrs the first day I bought it) but I hated the characters. I think after DragonQuest8 I was expecting more. I love(d) that game.
When I was young, I sold off my Atari 2600, Intellivision & Colecovision console to somebody, and I've been forever pissing & moaning about my younger stupidity every since then.
So now I don't sell off anything, even the crappiest games. Yeah, I still need that 1.6 Ben-rated, Barbie's Riding Academy for my collection(but I swear, I'll never play it).
Anyway, I guess that's what really pushed me into collecting gaming stuff.
And I will be re-buying those 3 MIA consoles I had sold.
I'm upset that I sold my Jaguar. Bad bad move.
You bought a Jaguar?–"Do the math."
For what games?
I remember renting one with my bro and with a couple games. We weren't impressed.
We'd buy most every game system, but that one and the 3DO didn't make the cut.
It didn't have an onslaught of awesome games, but Alien VS Predator was ahead of it's time at the time, Iron Soldier 1 & 2 were great straight forward mech games. (I think Playstation got an Iron Soldier but it sucked) and there was that one interactive puzzle solver I forget the name… ummm…. MYST! It also had the best versions of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D.
Craigslist and Ebay is enough for me when it come to buying used games.
Retro-good times!!!!
I've still have my Jaguar, plus the 64 bit CD adapter unit that attaches to the top of it, w/ 25 cartridge game & 9 disc games
Also, I still have my Panasonic branded FZ10 3DO (the streamlined sexy model out of all the different & much uglier fat-bast*rd 3DO's) along w/ 45 games for it.
Anyone want to buy a copy of God of War 3: Ultimate Edition for $50? I cannot make a funnier joke sorry!
sweet!
i cant understand why developers are complaining about used game sales, i mean if there were not used games sales most people would of not bought the game in the first place!
allot of people i know buy every game they know they will like new to make sure it lasts, but if there not sure on something they will buy it used than if they like it they will return it and get a new copy.
so if anything devs should be thanking this because its getting them more sales!
I don't know a single person in the world that would buy a game used, and if they like it, would buy it new… if people do that, then they are the minority, and devs can hardly bank on that.
I can imagine used game sales actually do help new sales quite a bit.
If someone bought Uncharted used because they didnt want to spend $60 on a game they werent 100% sure about they may end up loving the crap out of it and buying Uncharted 2 on Day 1. Had they not been able to pick up Uncharted for less they probably wouldnt have bought it at all so they wouldnt care about Uncharted 2 either.