I was excited to learn this week that GameStop is offering an additional 50 percent credit on all traded-in games. While rearranging our media shelves, Annie and I recently found 13 games no longer worth keeping. But what to do with them? Surely this opportunity would serve us well! Surely this opportunity would make GameStop's trade-in values better than what Amazon offers every day! Surely we could do no wrong! Of course, I should know by now that nothing in this life is a sure thing.The 13 older games I took to GameStop netted us $40.72 in store credit, barely topping the $40 that Amazon would have given me for the same games sans promotion. I was flabbergasted that GameStop's trade-in values have fallen so much that it took this unprecedented offer for them to compete with Amazon. Had the bonus not been in effect, GameStop would have given me just $27.15 for these games.
So this really wasn't a bonus, was it, GameStop? This was a lesson. We should take our business elsewhere.
2 comments:
It's really depressing when you look around the store to find the game they just bought from you for $2.50 and see it being resold for $10 or even $15. Holy markup, batman. Even counting 20 minutes to check the disc and stock it would add maybe ~2.67 to their investment in the game.
I feel I should weigh in just a little bit on this one.
Speaking as someone who has some experience in purchasing video games, much of what we're willing to pay for a game depends greatly on how many of said game we already have in stock.
The more we have, the less we're willing to pay, and the less we have, the more we're willing to pay.
At our store, we often base what we pay, and what we sell our games at on what Game Stop offers. Of course we adjust somewhat depending on our stock. So it stands to reason that what they offered you was based on how many of what you offered them they already had.
Once that is established and understood, then we're left with the always ongoing debate of internet versus storefront. And you know which side I'm on for that. :)
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