Nobody is expecting them to take them back at $40. But damn sure nobody is expecting to offload to them at $15 or less either. Which is exactly what they do. And they actually would make some profit even if they did take the games back at $40 (depending on how new they are) because they sell used games at like $10 under the new price anyway. And when you take into account that they get a portion of the new game sales to begin with combined with the fact that get 100% of the used game sales they wouldn't go out of business. Sure they wouldn't make anywhere near as much money. But they'd still be in the green.
Gamestop, EB Games and Babbages are all owned by the same parent company, or at least they used to be. All their policies were pretty much the same, each one had their own little spin on them, but really they were all the same. My husband and kids are gamers in my home and stopped selling their games at GameStop years ago. When selling them they do use Amazon or EBay but for the most part they trade them through their network of gaming friends. Which is a win win for everyone.
All the stores that buy video games and turn around and sell it always seem to low ball a video game that is double to triple the value they gave you. I think you are better off selling you games on Ebay or local classifieds.
The reason they give you such a low price for your games is because the price will eventually drop. When it does it will be difficult for Gamestop to sell that item. That's why they give you so little, and they try to sell the game as fast as they can to get their money back. Most games drop in price within 2 months or sometimes it's sooner.
The margin on a new game is less than 10%. Ask anyone that works at a retail store what their discount is on media, it should be around 10%, because that is the most the store can afford to give their employees. They pretty much sell them at a loss to their own employees. They practically sell them at a loss to the customer. These stores don't have music and video game sections because they want to sell music and video games, they have them there to bring customers into the stores to buy other things. That's why there is such a push for the accessories as that is where they can really make money. You are only thinking about that one game being sold and resold, but the profit that they can make on the new game, the low price that they buy it back at and then the price they resell it at, floats the rest of the store. The games that don't fly out of the store, but are there when you do decide that you are willing to play it. I get that you don't think you get enough for your trade ins, but you can join the line with the other 250 people that come in ready to sell the game back to them. It would be crazy to give all of you $40 per game, so they can sell it for $55. They will not continue to stay in business at that rate and then guess what, you'll all be rushing to the pawn shop hoping that he's still giving $20 for games and is willing to buy all of them from you and the other 250.
You have to know how to work Gamestop. They frequently have deals on multiple trade ins that also stack with their Powerup rewards card which gives you another 10%. I never trade in under 40% extra and it is easy to do when they offer a 30% bonus when applying towards new reserves. Ebay is ok too but you have to pay Ebay then paypal plus shipping.
First off, I agree $40 trade ins even on a new game would be ludicrous. Making $5-10 per traded in game is NOT staying afloat in a large-scale retail business. Not when your original price is going to average to about $60. But the fact that you can trade in a brand new game for less than 10% of the original price is also simply absurdly low. When I buy a brand new Xbox game for $70 and trade it back in perfect condition; getting $4 for the thing is simply a complete steal. Especially when they sell it back for $66 instead of $70. Something like $10-15 for brand new titles is not a huge asking price and is still under what most private sales will give you.
It's a total rip off, but people will continue to do it because they are strapped for cash. What is worse is that people will steal games because they are strapped for cash and resell them to stores like GameStop or online.
Agreed. Video gamers are better off selling their games online to other gamers. This way, a proper price can be discussed and established rather than pushed upon the customer. However, it can be riskier than doing in-store trade-ins with GameStop. Your choice!
Well, I guess what you are missing is that if you don't want to sell to GameStop because they buy at too low of a price for you, then take the extra time to find someone that will pay you more. If that extra time of finding a buyer, shipping it to them or meeting up with them for the transaction is worth the time and that huge of a difference in price, then do that. I doubt very seriously if you'll be able to find a consistent buyer that will also buy on your schedule and price range. If that were the case, you'd never know about GameStop "underpaying" you. I also doubt that you will continue to believe your time to do all of that equals the difference in price that you are getting from a sporadic buyer and a consistent one in GameStop. It's a case of supply and demand. When you are in a buyer's market, which GameStop is, they can determine how much they will pay, because if the first one in line doesn't want the money, the next ten will.
I'm not sure what you guys are talking about - gamestop pays 25-35 for popular games that are new, but used. They pay something like 15-20 for popular games that are old. And they pay 2-10 dollars for games of varying popularity that may be much older. Personally I don't mind because if I'm selling then I need money right then. I don't have time or patience to wait for someone to maybe bid on my stuff on E-bay or to maybe get jumped messing around with Craigslist. Taking in a buch of old games that I picked up for like 80 and getting something like 35-50 dollars? That works great for me because I really don't expect better then that.
Agreed, GameStop is such a ripoff for selling games. I prefer to sell my games on eBay, but on the other hand you can't really blame GameStop, they gotta make a profit too.
Yes, you make more money selling your products to a consumer than to a reseller. That's how things work. The difference is convenience. If you were already going to GameStop to buy a new game and handed them the game you just beat to get $9 off the new game, that saves you the time of listing it on ebay, taking a picture, researching current prices, answering e-mails about the game, hoping the buyer pays, finding a box, printing up a label and taking it to the post office. You also pay eBay a fee and PayPal takes their cut, too. If nobody buys it, or if the buyer flakes out, you have to relist it. For some people, saving all that time and effort is worth the difference in price. I'd sell on eBay, though. I'm already doing that, so it's less inconvenient for me.
I don't blame Gamestop. I'd rather blame the people dumb enough to ALLOW themselves to be ripped off KNOWING what's happening.
But, what you fail to realize is that many people don't think it's a rip off. They've looked at the alternatives and have decided that GameStop fits their situation best. Personally, I think they have a better understanding of economics than you are claiming to. You are not going to find a local buyer that is more consistent than GameStop. If you can, name them.
I agree that its the best solution for people that don't have the patience to sell the games themselves. I personally place ads in news papers or even on a few classified ads websites to sell my used games/consoles.
Honestly, Gamestop operates like a pawn shop. You go in with something you bought for like $60 bucks, and can only get close to $20 for it. Then they resell it for about $40 or $50 dollars. I remember when I took my Nintendo Gamecube system to them a long time ago. Back when Gamecube was "the in thing". I couldn't believe I was offered just $25 for a system I paid over $100 dollars for. Needless to say, we didn't make a deal that day.
