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Used Games <> Deal?
NofrikinfuN
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I don't know if I'm alone in this opinion, but it seems to me that used games are becoming less and less worthwhile. Case in point, I was standing in a Gamestop the other day looking at a used copy of RE4 (PS2) in one of their ugly, beatup placeholder boxes. The price? $17.99
Two steps to the left and I'm staring down a shiny new copy of the same game. No chance of scratches, no weird damage to the box or manual, all shiny and new. The price? $19.99
Is the used games risk factor worth saving the $2.00? I certainly don't think so. When did we start selling the used copies for a non-deal price? Admittedly, you can occaisionally find a much older game for a decent price... (I believe the original Ratchet and Clank will go for around $7.00 used. I found it for $15.00 new at Walmart though, and decided the convenience and new-ness were worth the premium once again.) My only recent success story was buying MGS2 for $5, though I did see several copies of MGS3 going for $10. Am I just missing the good deals, or are they really drying up?
On a side note, what happened to Shadow of the Colossus? It hit the greatest hits collection and disappeared. I can't even locate used copies now, though I'd be loathe to pay the $17.99 anyway. Is this kind of shortage going to become commonplace, or was SotC just one of those games destined for rarity/obscurity?
Two steps to the left and I'm staring down a shiny new copy of the same game. No chance of scratches, no weird damage to the box or manual, all shiny and new. The price? $19.99
Is the used games risk factor worth saving the $2.00? I certainly don't think so. When did we start selling the used copies for a non-deal price? Admittedly, you can occaisionally find a much older game for a decent price... (I believe the original Ratchet and Clank will go for around $7.00 used. I found it for $15.00 new at Walmart though, and decided the convenience and new-ness were worth the premium once again.) My only recent success story was buying MGS2 for $5, though I did see several copies of MGS3 going for $10. Am I just missing the good deals, or are they really drying up?
On a side note, what happened to Shadow of the Colossus? It hit the greatest hits collection and disappeared. I can't even locate used copies now, though I'd be loathe to pay the $17.99 anyway. Is this kind of shortage going to become commonplace, or was SotC just one of those games destined for rarity/obscurity?
NofrikinfuN on
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There are deals, though -- you just have to look. I got Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror for the PSP for $19.99 used when it still retails for $39.99. They also seem to vary by store. I got that game with case and instructions, but in another EBStop I saw a game-only copy of Dark Mirror (no case or instructions) marked at $24.99.
Most of the time it is perfect condition because someone brought it back within a week.
Used games is often the only way to get rare stuff too. Took me a fucking age to track down Ikaruga.
Which is to say, "immediately."
I don't even buy new games at EBStopBabbagesFuncoLand anymore, because I think what they do with pre-owned games is just silly.
sketchyblargh / Steam! / Tumblr Prime
especially their 4 for £20 selection, especially online. Great way to build up a collection for a console this generation you only just got recently.
America has failed me.
Wait, what's that equivalent to in US$ ?
PokeCode: 3952 3495 1748
4 for 40$.
$38. Bear in mind that new games in the UK are routinely priced at £40 ($76) and beyond.
Failed me.
Man, I could use a couple deals like that.
Argh, the nearest Target is like 50 miles away. Maybe one of the other Walmarts would have it... Hopefully when I have money.
It's the not-quite-so-popular stuff that'd be good to get used, though. Stuff that never made it to PC/GH and have been out for a little while, but are kept at an inflated price still, will sometimes be half off.
Thank you for shopping at Gamestop. Would you like to insure this game for an extra $2?
But more on the topic at hand, I haven't bought a new game in who knows how long, though I'm usually a generation behind the curve also. But I would easily buy a new copy of Mother 3. If Nintendo would not be idiots and release it here.
Your best bet is to try a regional or mom n' pop VG store (which typically have better prices), or try ebay.
Edit: As for Gamespot's trade-in/trade-out price ratio, I do agree that it is BS. But in the same token, the people who sell the games back for those kinds of prices must really not want to keep them. I mean...I'm not going to sell a game I brought for $50 for $10...but some people will, so not much can do about that.
I understand them wanting to make a little on the side cause normal margins are low, but they screw over the trader way too much. I'd like to be able to play through a game and then be able to trade it in for, I dunno, even HALF of its original price. To me the idea of trading in is to get people to come back to the store and *exchange* games...not to sell them so they can afford a double cheeseburger.
You know what's messed up...I actually had a friend who sold one of his old games just to get a double chessburger...>_>
but for example, where i am there is 9% sales tax, so the real discount on a used game here is only 1%.
the discount card does save you money, and if you are fine with buying used games that may or may not have a case or manual, then it will for sure save you the money.
although, the GS card is actually pretty great for used 360 games (i guess ps3 games too). the trade in rate on them is usually pretty good, we get used copies of new releases all the time, and if you happen to find them, 90% of them are just like new with box and manual, so with the card you save like 10 bucks off the cover price. (and honestly it only really takes 3-5 360 games to save the cost of the subscription)
a) It was really cheap, and
b) I was planning to buy a more recent version as soon as there was a sale on.
Usually, used games are terrible value. For me to consider one, it would have to be less than half the price of a new copy, and in decent condition (with case and manual intact).
My local EB's regularly try to sell used games for more than the new version costs. That is, they will drop the new version's price after a while, but keep the used copies at their original price. It's no wonder they have whole display cases full of unsold used games.
How is that not a crime? Sheesh.
Oh, also... The same Gamestop has 2 used old-school DS's on sale. (One red, one blue.) I inquired about the price, as I'm looking for a DS for my girlfriend.
W.T.F.
$110 for a system that doesn't even have a usable warranty. I could buy a brand new (Under warranty!) DS LITE for only $20 more! Are they stupid? I know they paid less than $60 for them! Probably less than $40! Bah!
I stand with everyone else here. While on occasion these stores will have good deals (Throne of Bhaal for $5 in the used games bin, for example), 19 times out of 20, their used games are hardly worth the scoffable "savings".
And the regular DS is sold for $110.
Dayum.
Close to 200% pure profit for a $10 savings on a new (regular) DS. Ripoff?
Indeed.
It would feel like going to a pawn shop. I can't imagine being desperate enough for cash that I'd sell my games for $5-10 each.
And if I was that desperate for cash, then I'd stick them on eBay and make at least twice as much per game.
They are also allowed to bring these games back if they're failing, we're pretty decent.
"And bring it back when you're done!"
While I agree that the best way to support the developers is to buy new, I don't think the economics of used game sales are quite as simple as you make out. Even if you buy a used copy, you take one used game out of circulation, while also demonstrating demand. The price of the used copy will be driven up, and those who are "on the fence" will be more inclined to buy new as the price of a new copy and the price of a used copy come closer together.
vote with your wallets, don't shop there....
but in the end, it doesn't really matter when come august when were pushing a couple hundred copies of madden, or in November when we are trucking out the Halo 3 release.
I've decided I won't sell games unless I really hate them. I made the mistake of selling my Nomad and my genesis collection way back when for enough money to net maybe 2 N64 games. I want my Nomad back.
On another semi-related topic, I found Shadowman for the N64 at Goodwill for $1. I bought it, but haven't bothered to gather up my N64 and play it. Good find? It launched so late in the N64 life cycle that I never really got an idea what the general opinion was.
They pay out and sell at what the market allows. If you don't like it, don't patronize them, but enough other people don't mind the values, or else they would be different.
Also, buying used gives you the advantage of returning the game within a week if it is absolute crap. That's definitely saved me from being stuck with a game I hated once or twice.
used game prices at retail stores rarely rise, but the point about demonstrating demand is true. A game that sells decently new, and then amazingly used may prompt the studio into deciding to make a sequel, or something else. If the developer really wants you to buy new then they need to find a way to incentivize that.