How good a deal are used games in your country?

[ZeroAX]

I was reading this article at next gen (link at the end of the post) about how big a part of
gamestop's profit are used game sales. And I was shocked by this following part:

"Let me offer some perspective. GameStop is currently selling a new copy of Halo 3 for $60 and a used copy for $55"

5 dollar difference?

In my country (Greece) I got to this used game store and they usually buy my Wii games (well store credit not real money) for 20-25 Euro. And then they resell those games I sold them for 30-40 euro tops (new games cost usually 50-60 Euro) but the thing is they give me a big enough credit that I always go to them and they actually sell their used games cheaper enough than a new one so I go for the new one.

My question is the difference in price between used and new in the US so small? Cause it's really not worth it. I'd give those extra 5 dollars for the new one. Also please talk about your experience with used game sales around the globe.


Link: http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8697&Itemid=2

 

[brabz]

It's a huge racket. I was thinking of selling BioShock back after seeing it was selling used for $54.99, new for $59.99.
They offer only $20 for a used copy trade-in, and that's only if you take the trade-in cash in Gamestop dollars. It's less than $20 real money for a game they turn around and sell for $54.99. That's almost $35 of profit per trade-in, and I refused to sell back my game for such a rip-off.

 

[GrowlersAtSea]

Gamestop does it's best to sell you used titles, even over a new one that you may be going to purchase. Last time I was there to buy something, the first thing I was asked is if I wanted the same game, used, for five dollars less.

Five dollars to me isn't worth a used case (or even a cheap Gamestop case) a used (or missing) manual and a disc that may have scratches or other problems running. Five dollars saves a lot of hassles, but they make more money off the things, so they try it.

What offends me most though is how little they purchase games from people and then turn around and sell them. They'll usually buy the games for half the new game's price, then turn around and sell it for five dollars less than the new game. That's quite a finders fee, really.

Most of the used games sold around here aren't worth the risk or quality, in my opinion. I usually go with a new purchase to avoid potential hassles and a lower quality product.

 

[Smokescreen]

This is one reason I wait so long before getting a game; you can get a deal, if you're willing to put in the time.

I got Assassin's Creed for the PS3 for $40.00. That's pretty good, for a $60 new game.

 

[CyberAkuma]

Trade'ins in this country (Sweden) is virtually non-existant.
We had a huge local gamestore that traded in games, but since they started to rip people off for used games they got less and less customers (gamers aren't stupid) and now they finally had to shut down.

We don't have any more trade-in market stores anymore which is kind of sad.
The only place for that we have nowdays is online.

I have to agree with Smokescreen however.
I'd rather wait 1-2 months for the game to drop 30% price off the original price instead of buying it used or trading old games for them.

I bought a lot of games for real cheap prices 1 month after release.

 

[jedimario]

It's a huge racket. I was thinking of selling BioShock back after seeing it was selling used for $54.99, new for $59.99.
They offer only $20 for a used copy trade-in, and that's only if you take the trade-in cash in Gamestop dollars. It's less than $20 real money for a game they turn around and sell for $54.99. That's almost $35 of profit per trade-in, and I refused to sell back my game for such a rip-off.

Buying new isn't much different, you know what the profit margins on games are?

 

[werepossum]

In my area (Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA) and dealing with only PC games, used games are not a very good option. Often the used price is higher than the same game at WalMart or other place - PC game prices usually drop pretty quickly. The only exception is that sometimes I can find a game not available new locally. But even then it's usually cheaper at NewEgg.

 

[Giddi]

My situation is pretty specific to this as I'm not a new game buyer, based on the fact I bought my first XBOX (large) a year ago. I play some newer games on pc (fear, civ4...), but not much of a console gamer.
In Australia I find ebay is the best, often from UK sellers. The shops around here have the standard $15 for a 2nd hand XBOX game, although I dropped into a store on the weekend called gametraders who were trying to sell them at an average of $40 - $50 dollars. huh? these games are 4 years old...
keep in mind they also had a copy of killer instinct for SNES on the shelf for $30. I'm not sure if that is an antique thing or if they really were expecting people to buy it... /

 

[ZeroAX]

omg you guys are really getting ripped off. it's not worth it trading in or buying used games. like I said at my store even brand new games (like a week after release) get a 20 euro knocked price from the brand new copy. Though I don't get the risk about scratched games just look at them when you buy them since they are used the box is already open ain't it. I guess best place to buy used games is e-bay. I wish I had an actual income so I could afford a credit card.

 

[jaisimar_chelsea]

i dont know about second hand but in my country video game piracy is very high so the government drops the price of the games,
e.g. orange box = 50 $ in usa but in india 1000 rs i.e 25 $

 

[Giddi]

I guess best place to buy used games is e-bay. I wish I had an actual income so I could afford a credit card.

why a credit card? paypal allows standard bank accounts to be attached to payments these days.

 

[EzraPound]

Canada seems good, or atleast southern Ontario. I bought Half-Life 2 used for Xbox six months ago for $5, and I picked up Morrowind the other day for $7.

 

[brabz]

It's a huge racket. I was thinking of selling BioShock back after seeing it was selling used for $54.99, new for $59.99.
They offer only $20 for a used copy trade-in, and that's only if you take the trade-in cash in Gamestop dollars. It's less than $20 real money for a game they turn around and sell for $54.99. That's almost $35 of profit per trade-in, and I refused to sell back my game for such a rip-off.

Buying new isn't much different, you know what the profit margins on games are?

I know that every game sold represents a substantial profit as far as the overall cost of materials to assemble it, but you're also paying for the cost of development, advertising, and the updates/downloads the developer may release at a later date(i.e. New Bioshock Plasmids).

With Gamestop, the only cost to them is a shelf that's already in the store and a sticker/barcode to label the price. They're not contributing or adding to the creativity or development of new games, simply profiting from gamers' shortened attention span and desire to make a few quick bucks toward the next purchase.

And yes, obviously some gamers are willing to do this, and in theory, it's a good idea, but the thing that bothers me, and most gamers I speak to, is the low buyback cost versus the turnaround for what they sell it for. Best bet seems to be to take it upon yourself and sell it on eBay.

 

[tiredinnuendo]

Gamestop discovered some ages ago that it was more cost efficient to buy a game used for $15 (or $20 store credit) and then turn around and sell it for $54.99 than it is to buy it from a distributor and sell it new.

I can't argue with their point, it is more cost-effective. That said...

The (hopefully unintended) result of this is that Gamestops have become classed up pawnshops. They rarely have more than two or three new copies of a game, and bear in mind that store policy allows their employees to take games home, play them, and then put them back on the shelf as new. So are you really buying a new one? Who knows?

Now, Gamestop's policy seems to actively punish people who don't buy used or people who don't want to have to come to the store twice (once to pre-order, once again to buy). They even go so far as to punish employees who don't push these same core values. You may be a great employee, always there on time and knowledgeable about a range of your products, but if you don't have enough pre-order sales, the guy who always shows up late and hasn't played any video game other than Halo will keep his job while you get canned.

I'll admit that there's a huge part of me that really wants to see the company hurting as a result of this business decision. I'd like to think that gamers can tell the difference between a good store (Best Buy) and the worst store in the whole wide world, but apparently it's working out for them.

Shows what I know.

- J

 

[Eudaemonian]

Best bet seems to be to take it upon yourself and sell it on eBay.

Hassle.

That's really the name of the game, for Gamestop. In between undergrad and law school I took a job there for a few months, largely to kill time and get a discount, since their paygrade is pretty awful unless you want to spend the rest your life hocking used games.

It's a lot of hassle to sell your game on eBay, ship it around, etc. A lot of our trades were from kids for whom that just wasn't an option. And the fact of the matter was, yes, if you trade in a new game the day after, you get 30 bucks and they resell it for 55. But on the other hand if you trade in some random game, you'll get 5 bucks or more based on their plethora of gimmicks to rope in trades. And let's be honest, is anyone going to buy that game on eBay? Probably not... it's not worth the cost of shipping. Is anyone going to buy it at Gamestop? Slightly more likely, but still a likely no. Now for real losing bets you won't even get 5, you'll get like 40 cents for Madden 03, but what do you expect?

As much as I hate to advocate their little strategy, it works well for them, and it can work well for the consumer, if they aren't stupid. Gamestop and a lot of other companies have extremely rough return policies for new products these days (which with PC games is largely unavoidable because of copy-fears). But buying used, you can return things for pretty much no reason with relatively little hassle, as long as the clerks don't think you're turning their store into a free rental shop. Keep them happy by buying the little card and occasionally pre-ordering stuff with them only to cancel it on someone they don't like, and you're home free.

Speaking of the little card, honestly that's the only way that buying used there makes any sense... if you're buying a used 360 game (which are usually in decent condition), like we've all said it's likely to be 35-55 dollars. The little card takes 10% off, which once again is only 3.5-5.5 dollars, but it adds on to the 5 dollar cut you're already getting. Honestly, 10 dollars off every time I buy something, with the ability to return it *gasp* after opening it... that's good enough for me.

Conclusion: It is a huge scam, but for every person being scammed, there can be another consumer benefiting from that idiot trading in the new game for 20 bucks. It's a shame that the used market has become such a massive force, but that's capitalism for you, and given the alternatives I won't complain.

 

[end_boss]

The reason that the margin is so high between trade value and re-sale is that GameStop and EB make pretty close to zero profit on new games, and actually take a loss on systems (except the Wii), because the couple dollars profit on selling a new system isn't even enough to cover the shipping costs. Used titles, and new or used accessories are how the stores make money. Between those things, they have to pay of staff wages, as well as the wages of the people at head office, they have to cover store costs for supplies, etc etc.

Now, personally, I do agree that the gap should be a little less, to encourage a steadier flow. Make the profit on each item a little less, in order to encourage more sales of it. But, what do I know?

 

[Eudaemonian]

I'll admit that there's a huge part of me that really wants to see the company hurting as a result of this business decision. I'd like to think that gamers can tell the difference between a good store (Best Buy) and the worst store in the whole wide world, but apparently it's working out for them.

Shows what I know.

- J

I'm definitely not going to argue that Gamestop's employee practices are awesome, but what makes you say that Best Buy is an awesome store... It's basically WalMart's electronics section stretched to the size of a store. I've never been wowed by the customer service, and all the store policies seem largely in-line with every other major retail outlet. Their selection of games is usually fairly limited, only marginally better than a Target or WalMart.


Just as an added thought, I love the idea of what digital distribution will do to these places. Unfortunately, their current power has pretty much kept that problem stamped out, except when it comes to PC games which are getting some headway.

 

[monodiabloloco]

Yeah, we get raped here in the US on the used titles. (not even a kiss before hand)
I usually stick to the smaller mom and pop shops around my area for that though. A place called Dave's video still buys used games for more than Gamestop gives for even in store cred, so i can sell them at Dave's then take the cash elsewhere if Dave's doesn't have what I want. Not all towns are as lucky though. I was also pretty pissed off that GS stopped buying/selling used PC games. (in my area anyway) That was where I often got a whole bunch of the titles I missed out on new. Now I have to get them online, or at scary flea markets.