GameStop Exec Defends Used Game Sales (and Somewhat Succeeds)

It's long been known that game developers hate used game sales; for each used game sale, the developer gets nothing. GameStop, the primary video game reseller, has been getting a lot of hell from developers about this, most recently Epic's boss Mike Capps controversially saying that one day developers may have to charge extra to play the ending of a used game, whereas the ending would be free to those who bought the game new.

Well, we haven't heard much from GameStop's perspective on this situation. Obviously, they want this trend to continue because it constitutes much of their business. In a recent interview, GameStop Chief Marketing Officer Mike Hogan tried to defend his company's stance on the used game market.

And - surprise, surprise - he doesn't completely fail

[edwineverready]

We are not even allowed to rent games in The Netherlands that sucks. we do have second hand games but it takes a while for good titles to go second hand.

[Sprudling]

Same here in Norway. The market for used games has been long dead, and there is no renting games. I don't really mind though. I wouldn't rent or buy used even if I could. Money just isn't a big concern.

(Even renting movies is slowly dying, but that has more to do with piracy I guess.)

[Arsenic13]

$60 for new and $55 for used?! What a steal!

[00]

the used are $64

[TIKUP]

over here in the uk new games are £40 and used are £35 ahahaha

[Marceles]

I don't know who disagreed with 00 but he's right. Alot of used games cost only 5 bucks less than the retail value, but the store only give you half or less credit for it...what a ripoff

[Taco_Waffle]

My favorite is when they try to sell an open game as new.

[Sangria]

@2.4: Sadly, it happens. A consumer buy a sealed game, two days later he goes back and want to sell it. We take it for half the price, and as the game still looks new, it goes i a "New" box and sold as a new game.

And if a consumer asks why there is no plastic protection, we can say that the game has been emptied for anti-stealing reasons, but we say the game has never been used and the consumer buy it.

[thats_just_prime]

yeah gamestop is a complete rip off. I'd perfer to just pay the extra 5 dollars or sometime its more like 5 dollars less. I been in gamestop a number of time and comapre the prices of their new and used games and there is always a hand for of new game that they sell for less the the used copies. As for trade in your better off selling it on ebay

[timmyp53]

i'll never trade in or buy used. support the devs! =*)

[GlibGamer]

Your store is wrong, wrong, wrong. My wife's a Manager of a GameStop and that practice is no bueno. Just because your store does it (illegally and against GS policy), doesn't mean it's the norm for the rest of the company.

[Tempist]

Honestly I only get used freaken old games which can't be bought for new. and if most of us aren't getting the used games at high prices, then the arguement of used game sales cutting into dev profits would be moot.

However, his used Car idea sounds awesome. Lets convince publishers and devs to take back their old used games for new ones!

[cryymoar]

-it is against store policy to take in a trade and sell it as used. Audits will get you fired for that.
-Last copy of the game is better than no game at all. It is still a new copy. I don't see how you think you're paying $60 for just a piece of plastic wrapped over it when the internals are the exact same thing. AND they still have the defective warranty just incase ANYTHING goes wrong.
-Buying used is best for EDGE card members, on a new game, you usually pay $10 less for a new release found used.
$59.99 MSRP ; $54.99 Used - 10% = $49.49
$59.99 - $49.49 = $10.50 difference.
-Gamestop saves people the trouble of finding buyers that will pay more than the retailer will.
-My current beef with the company is the crappy wage, then again i'm standing around in A/C all day not doing much work, just selling stuff.
Might quit soon, might not, its an easy job.

[SaiyanFury]

@Vudu above

I HATE that!! I totally know where you're coming from. Their open display boxes, which are again, OPEN and they try to sell you the unsealed game at the same price as a sealed copy. They've done that to me so many f*****g times it made me want to throttle the monkey working the register!

Moving on...

Yes, but what about the old games which few people want to buy new? Like the original Motorstorm for instance. Does anyone want to pay 60 dollars for a new copy of the original Motorstorm when it's sequel costs the same? Who here would rather pay 30 dollars for the original used? I know I would.

[Kleptic]

The only time I have bought a used game was when it simply wasn't stocked new anymore...I purchased some old PS2 games like Twisted Metal: Black, MGS2, a Devil May Cry back in 2007 for like $10 each...and only because those games were not stocked anywhere in town new anymore (I did find a new 'greatest hits' copy of TM Black a while later, but oh well...too late)...

all but devil may cry I had purchase new at one point back in 2001 though anyway...so I can't feel that guilty about it...I simply gave it away as I never owned my own PS2...was always using a roommates or something in college (lived with 4 other guys at one point whom all owned a PS2...seemed silly to buy my own when they never used them anyway)...

I see both sides of it...where it helps when its a hard to find title...but sucks for new titles...there are 34 used copies of Gears 2 at my local gamestop...discounted to $45 now that the holiday rush is over (why there are 34 copies of Gears 2 is an entire other story)...but if any of those sell, that is straight to GS...and not to MS or Epic...if developers don't want this to happen...there is a very simple answer...discount the cost of your games SOONER...$60 for a year old title is simply unexceptable...hell $60 in general is too expensive...as a cheaper cost would most likely heighten sales to the point where the devs and publishers are making more money anyway...no matter what any video game publisher tries to tell you $60 is not some magic sweet spot...they could have new games at $40, and I guarantee the increase in sales would make up for the $20 they lose per disc...everyone would benefit from that...more people would get to buy it and enjoy it...and the publisher would most likely always make more profit...

I would probably own 10 more games this generation if they were sold new at around $40...Far Cry 2, Battlefield: BC, Dead Space, Motorstorm PR, etc. are all great titles worth owning imo...but not one of them is worth $60 at launch to me...and the fact that they stay at that high cost for so long, I end up forgetting about them by the time they do drop in price...Fear 2 is most likely the next game that will fall into this exact same category for me personally...

[kornbeaner]

Not all of the used price is entirely profit. I used to work at a GS
and this is the way the manager broke it down for me.

Out of every new title GS only makes on average $5.

Now lets say that new title comes in a week later, that person on average will only get $20 to $25 and thats in store credit less if you opt for cash (which I recommend if you're not looking to buy anything new).

Now those titles usually sell for for $55 dollars, GS in turn makes $30-35 bucks in net profit.

the only way to change this is trade in your game for store credit but when you go to buy another game, don't buy the used copies the employees push on you, instead sell your used games for store credit and buy new titles, that way GS is stuck with the overhead of used games that don't sell in turn causing sales to occur on those games.

Sell used, buy new is the best way to stick it to GS. and also support devs.

[Nesu]

"He then claimed that 90% of trade-ins take place over 90 days after the release of a game"

Then why all these copies of Gears 2, MSG4, Little Big Planet, and Prince of Persia are poping up used less than a week after their street date?

[thebudgetgamer]

fdable for 10 the origanal halo for 3dollars stuff i cant pass up.
but back to the point.
you dont see ford getting angry at used dealerships. anything you buy new there is a used alternative why should games be different

:)

[hydro-lx]

gamestop and eb games rip the S@#T out of you! buys games like RFOM, Def Jam Icon, COD:4, Heavenly Sword for like $2 each and sells them for like prices from $15 to $40! what kind of mega rip is that?

[GlibGamer]

No one's forcing you to trade in your games. Stop being lazy, put them up on Craigslist or eBay, and purchase games you plan on playing and keeping a good long while. It all comes down to STOP BEING A LAZY, WASTEFUL CONSUMER.

[gameraxis]

how else will Capital G get his heroine money!!???

[WorseCase]

used ps3 games are basically new due to the blu ray scratch resistant coat.. so save urself 5 bux buying your ps3 game used..

[vShinobi]

interesting I never knew that.

[crck]

The manual and case is new too.

[ViceKingz]

id rather dish out the extra $5 to get the game brand new and sealed

[jakethemuss]

the thing is gaming is a cheap form of entertainment when able to sell the product used after completion. in nz games are $110 to $140 for a brand new game. I then can sell it used for $60-70 than means if the average game is 10 hours long about about $5 per hour of entertainment not bad in compared to other entertainment. if I am unable to sell 2nd hand games that doubes the price of this entertainment an causes a massive money sin, thus if I can't sell 2nd hand games I will stop buying them. Considering I spend around $3k a year or so on games its the developers loss. I don't play to many games on multiplayer cept halo 3 so there no point in me keeping a game after I finish it.

[gta2800]

People who buy a brand new 60 dollar game only to beat it and then send it to Gamestop to get something else are stupid. They get deserved to get ripped off. They should just rent games instead. Much cheaper and more convenient for people who get rid of their games as soon as they beat them. Why they never even thought about just renting their games is beyond my knowledge. I never trade in my games. I just keep them all. I know some people can't just keep buying games like that, but don't trade your games at gamestop. Sell them to a buddy, sell them on craigslist, or even ebay. Those places will get you more money and you won't contribute to gamestop. Personally, I used to trade my games at my local flea market. The guy there always gave great trade in values. And in cash too! If I took him a brand new PS2 game he would give me 35(if it was a hot game) and he would resell it for 40. Maybe some of you should consider checking out your local swap meet. Might find someone with similar deals ;)

[hendersonman]

Okay when you trade a game back to gamestop for half of what you paid for it, then its not all pure profit. Gamestop still has overhead. They still have copies that sit there on the shelves long after price drops. Its a business. And $5 from every new sale is not going to keep them afloat.

There are too many games out there that are 6 hours long, and honestly they do not need to be charging $60 for a game that short. I loved Mirrors Edge, but that is not a $60 game.

I get so aggravated when people hate on gamestop. No one is asking you to buy the used titles. Me I always try to buy new because I am usually a day one purchaser.

[skyfire2261]

I loved Mirror's edge too. But the cost of a game is not related to it's length. Not too mention everyone has different levels of skill so just because you may have finished Mirror's edge or whatever else in less then 10 hours could take someone else 20 for example.

If the system worked liked that then top players would get games cheap and not so good players would pay top dollar. Not only does that not make sense but it's not fair.

[anubis12]

i work at gamestop...and sometimes it is a rip...but you know what...no matter what people will still go there.....where else would people be able to buy used ps2 games???????????

or the poor people who own a ps2/xbox/gamecube get there games?????

madden 03 04 05.......99 cents

powerdrome .99 cents ...........lol

[f789790]

Both the seller and buyer benefit by taking gamestop out of the picture.

[40cal]

I don't ever buy used games, but I do trade games in when I'm done with them. If I could not trade games in at GameStop then I would not be able to buy the 10-20 games I buy a year.

As for the people whining about the trade in value. If you buy a $60.00 game, play it and beat it did you not get your $60.00 out of that game? So you get your moneys worth (depending on the game you bought) then GameStop is like hey, if your done with that we will give you money towards your next game purchase. Works for me.

And as for the $55.00 used games, these are new titles most of the time, and if you trade and buy used then you better have a EDGE card, oh look that $55.00 used game is now $49.50, that's ten bucks you just saved not to mention the money you got back for the games your done with.

Its all in how you look at it, and how you trade in your games. If you keep your games for over a year until there not worth crap that's your problem. Buy, Beat, Trade, Buy, I think It works beautifully.

[likedamaster]

Gamestop are thieves, gamefly does it right. Rent game keep it for $44 brand new. Gamefly will replace any copy you purchase if scratched for free also.

I only do reserves that I have to have on day of release at Gamestop, nothing else, even Gamecrazy games are cheaper than gamestop's.