Why trade in games?
 

i was at my local EB earlier this week and when i bought a copy of Starwars KOTOR and they asked me if i would like to trade in any old games to pay for this new one. so this got me thinking WHY do people trade in old games. im not exactly a pack rat but i can never see the point of getting rid of old games. for god sake i own 2 copys of luigis mansion (dont ask). but dosent trading in multiple games to pay for a new one seem pointless to anyone elce? now if your going to say " it helps me afford new and better games" then i think that you have no appretiation for your proporty i mean i spend like 75 bucks to buy a new game (im canadian) and to me an old game is even more valuble then the latest flashy new thing gummy to roll on to the block ... im rambling as usual.. what do you think?

Well, most people that trade their stuff don't have any use for it anymore. They usually don't give a damn about collecting and just want to keep current with new releases. Thus, the prices of new releases are lowered and they get something back for their game which they have no intention of playing anymore. It has nothing to do with not appreciating their games; Quite the opposite. They've appreciated them all that they can within their personal capacity, and they move on to something else.

Either that or it's stolen and they just need drug money. I see that stuff every day (My store is located right in the middle of two high-crime state subsidized (read: welfare) housing projects). 'Course I try and turn that stuff away whenever possible.

The people that do have half a clue as far as selling off rare/valuable stuff generally use eBay, since you can actually make decent money that way... Most of the trade values at EBGames and Gamestop are a ripoff (I should know, i've worked for Funco/GS for 2.5 years).

If you trade in a a video game at any gamestop owned place, I think you get rougly 15% of it's current value. I say that because I once returned a game about a month after it came out (so that it was worth $50) and they gave me $7 dollars for it.

It it is still sealed, they usually give you something around 50% of it's current value.

Either way it's a rip-off. You'd be better off selling it on EBay or just keeping it. Though it you have a second copy of something and it is still sealed, it'd be worth it to trade in, IMO.

First...
...nobody start freakin' out, "OMG! Canada is more expensive that the U.S!" No, Canadian money is less value on the Currency Market than American money(1 CAD = 0.758040 USD). In reality, he's spending the same amount of money we are. While the Japanese spend USD $64 on video games.

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

Okay, now that I've educated people about the Currency Market, I'll get on-topic.

I think people are just bored of their games and know(or think they know) they'll never play 'em again. And...

Nevermind, InfernalStorm just zapped this thread of any ability to have a conversation. He's got all the bases covered.

Yeah, InfernalStorm, like tradng in strategy guides for a quarter and then GS sells 'em back for $30?

And Atma, it depends on the game, the genre of the game, and how much of that game the store has in stock.

I used too but no longer trade in my games. I will forever regret trading in my PS1 Library in.I miss Final Fantasy Anthology and Chronicle. I yearn for my Xenogears. I ache for Breath of Fire 3. My hearts weeps for all the nostalgia.

Although I did get around $200.

P.S. What is the Canadian bill called?

If you trade in 3+ games they give you an extra 20$ for them (at the Gamestop.com store I go to). Usually the money I get for the games is around 8$ a game cash. However, this is trade in money and not real money. I traded in 3 games so I could buy a captain herlock DVD (which I payed for in Change) and with cash I would have got about... 30 something dollars game credit. I got like 15 in cash.

I believe I just got owned. But you have to admit, either way, it's still a rip off.

Nope, has nothing to do with the store's on-hand quantity. The trade values are absolute regardless of being sealed, complete or just the disc. It all comes down from the corporate offices, and is the same in every store across the country.

Sometimes retail prices vary differently depending on a number of different factors, but it's never more than +/- $5 from the base price.

The only things that modify trade values are refurbishing fees which are usually charged for poor condition discs, but sometimes the store manager will instruct employees to charge it for missing cases/manuals (Which is $2 subtracted tops depending on the platform the game is for). Policy says that it should occur for damaged discs, but a lot of managers implement their own rules as far as when to use the fee is concerned. Sometimes there are promos that boost trade values, such as what Atron mentioned (Though the promo was trade 3 XB, PS2 or GC games and get an extra $10 in credit). Generally trades are done for store credit, however if you're 18 with state ID, you can deduct 20% off of the credit value to get cash instead. That's about it for that subject though.

As a rule, newer games are generally worth more. Trading a game that retails at $50 within the first few weeks of release will get you about $20-30 in store credit, and depending on it's popularity from there out it will either drop or stay up in the 20-30 range for a while. Trade values are usually anywhere between 1/5th and 1/3rd of the used resale value, but every title differs. I don't know if it applies to the whole company, but I know that in my region/division we're not accepting used strat guides anymore, but when we did it was usually .50-2.00 in trade, and they sold at $3.99.

Okay, then explain to me this: my friend called up several GameStop locations in town before selling one of his games. Two of them gave him one price, another gave him another price, and anoher yet gave him another price. Additionally, they also gave him another price if it was still new.

[Edit]EVILNess, it's called a Canadian Dollar. Haven't you noticed we call our money American Dollar? And then there's Australian Dollars. Then over in Europe, you've got your British Sterling Pounds, your French Pounds, Italian Pounds. And then there's Chinese Yen, and Japanese Yen...just go look at that currency convertor if you want to know![/Edit]

75 bucks?

Be glad you don't have to pay 300+ Rand, as we do. Predictably, piracy is rife over here, and probably will remain so until someone lowers prices.

On topic, I've come across some shops that buy and sell second-hand games. Given the high price of new games, these stores are a real boon.