How do you get rid of stuff...

mxmarks

So I thought this thread may help out more than just me...

I want to pick up the Rock Band 2 guitar, but Im broke. I have a TON of XBox games that I never play, and some 360 games I could part with. I also have a Rock Band 1 guitar, and just various random gaming stuff (some old Nintendo games, an NES, ect) that Im thinking, could get me my new RB2 guitar if I played my cards right.

But how do I play the cards? From what Ive read, I shouldnt go the gamestop route. I dont know a lot about EBay selling, but I could give it a shot. And craigslist has always freaked me out a bit. Goozex seems awesome, but when it comes to getting a peripheral, I doubt it would be too handy.

So whats the best way for me to get rid of my stuff, and end up with something I want? The thought of trading straight up is gone, because its such a hard request to put a value on...

So where do you guys go? Does everyone just submit to Gamestops horrible policies, and go there anyways? Or is going an alternate route going to benifit me in the long run? i'm not looking to make a profit or anything -- just looking for the best way to get a Rock Band 2 guitar and willing to trade in Original XBox Games (I seriously have over 30 Im willing to part with) and other things I have around to make that happen.

So how do you guys get rid of stuff?

Skeet!

Craig's List or Ebay would be the best way to go for selling. Gamestop is bad stuff, dun do it. It's a trap, iirc. Also, how does a RB2 guitar differ from an RB1 guitar? o_o'

And keep in mind that Craig's List is cheaper for both shipping and posting adds, but your buyers become limited. Ebay is endless possibilities but you have to pay for adds and extra for shipping.

Dehumanized

If I'm not mistaken, you're wanting the new guitar mostly for the auto-calibration. Why not find someone who has one that lives near you, use their guitar to calibrate, then worry about getting one for the other improvements later down the line?

I usually end up regretting any game trade-ins I do.

mxmarks

Yeah - its the auto calibration feature Im after, and the wirelessness. But as not to derail my main point - as much as I want those features, Id really like just to own that peripheral for the game. For its features, yes, but as of right now no one I know has it, and I'd just like it. And with more than enough stuff I'd think to get me an equal value to it, I was wondering how people around here tend to get rid of stuff.

Even if I could find someone to borrow stuff, I still think I'd like to own one on my own, and I have 2 piles of XBox games after cleaning the house - my "Must keeps" and my "ehs?"

I wont be trading in anything I think I'd ever have a desire to play again, but Ive built up quite the collection Im willing to unload, and was just looking for some input on the best way to do it. Since I'd end up using this money for a video game peripheral anyways (and maybe even more. I'm all about this money going to new games, new peripherals, ect... (Im not trying to pocket any cash. Just trade old for new.) So I was wondering the best avenue to persue it. If going through EBay and getting cash just to funnel into more gaming stuff is the best way, thats cool. I just wasnt sure if any place offered a better store credit deal than Gamestop, as Ive heard many tales of its evilness.

mastrius

Just try to find someone near by and borrow it, Im not so sure if its worth it yet. And I mean you CAN trade games to Gamestop (I do) but just be aware that you can get REALLY screwed on em, and sometimes it just really blows. Sometimes you can get some good money (like when I usually do my 6 month clean-out of games I get a good 200 dollars or so) so I dunno it really depends...what games were you thinking of trading in? Price depends on age and rarity.

mxmarks

In terms of specifics nothing super rare or anything - just a decent amount of games. Stupid fighters like Bloody Roar and X-Men Mutant Academy on the XBox. Tomb Raider Legends. Dead To Rights, Dead To Rights 2. A lot more just generic games (Some of the Splinter Cells). And on the 360 I guess I'd part with Burnout, Viva Pinata, Fight Night, Kameo, Perfect Dark...

I mean, nothing really great. I just have a TON (Im not at my house to list them all), and Im trying to find a way to score that RB2 guitar for like $30 because of a lot of trades.

I just had a friend trade me a surround sound system for RB1, RB1 drums, GH2 and an X-Plorer, so that bug of using what I'm willing to part with to get something cool I want is in me. I have a lot of stuff I want to get rid of, and weather I get store credits, cash or a clean trade isn't an issue. I just figured since I have no friends who have an RB2 guitar to trade with me, it would be a good time to start a thread on what everyone does with the things they want to part with.

Since all I hear is gamestop is evil, I was wondering if everyone just KEEPS everything, or if theres other avenues. I don't want to screw anyone over for big profits, just looking for the fairest way to get a peripheral out of some old games -- I'd go the Goozex route otherwise.

Inzigna

How much is a RB2 guitar? What's this auto-calibration all about?

If you are willing to pay 30, and its around the price of say, 150, you could possibly just sell everything at gamestop. It's a trap, and they pay little, but if you don't care for those games, and just need money, I suppose with enough of those games you could rack up enough cash in a short amount of time.

Samuel

Just eBay it all, it's pretty straight forward to do.

I have an enormous pile of mostly gaming-related shit I gathered up from around my house and put it all up on ebay a few days ago - I made close to 200 quid yesterday from selling only a tiny fraction of it.

Organichu

GS often has bonuses for trade ins. In general they're a rip off but there are deals like: trade in 3 360 games, get an additional $15 in credit, etc. Or anything you trade in has a 20% greater value if applied to the purchase of RB2 (just an example, not sure if that deal's still active). Keep your eyes peeled.

theclam

If you wait for good deals and if you are ok with store credit, then Gamestop will be about as much as ebay or craigslist and it's a lot easier. You're going to get basically nothing for original xbox games no matter where you go, unless you've got stuff that's pretty rare (I'd expect less than $30 for 30 xbox games).

mastrius

Exactly organ, sometimes they have some great deals going on with the trade-ins, and its best to take advantage fo em to get as much as you can. I love when they do those like, 20 more dollars deals or 20% off a game if you pre-order it from trade-ins, its all those types of things, you just need to know when and well, really, if you dont care about the games, why the hell not? You may be pleasantly surprised by how much money you can sometimes get, I know I ALWAYS am. I go in expecting maybe 30-40 bucks and then hes like "ok you have ...$127.68." Im like...O.O SWEET.

Norfair

Generally I think it's better to go the eBay/Half.com route (if you live in the US, anyway; I don't know what eBay has against Foreign, but it seems to be NA only). However, I will occasionally go the Gamestop route if I just want the money to go towards more games. This is why I keep the Edge card active--because that bonus usually stacks on top of whatever other promotions they're running. I try not to trade in anything that sells for less than $10 used unless I really, really hate it, though.

Anything that sells used for $17.99 or up will get you an OK amount of money in store credit if they have the 10, 20, or 30% bonuses active, as long as you have the Edge card.

If you just want cash, though, I wouldn't even bother with Gamestop. It's intimidating at first, but it's not really that hard to sell it yourself on eBay.

mastrius

Well yeah but when I trade games in Im only getting games, if you try and take flat-out cash from gamestop they take off like ...20-30% of the money youd get and give it to you, so Ialways keep it in store credit. I trade things in pretty often but lately not so much. Still when I did I made a lot. And listen to Norfair when he says to keep it as Store credit, do NOT take it as money like I said above or theyll deduct a LOT from what youd get. So if you just want games, then go for it, if you want actual money, dont do it.

spookymuffin

There are unconventional ways to get ahold of gaming stuff as well, like Cheap Ass Gamer and other forums like that. I've gotten a couple of things through trading and buying that I would've paid a lot more for, and they're populated by people who keep their stuff in good condition, so they can sell and/or trade it to someone else. I've gotten a few rare gems brand new in the wrapper for a fraction of eBay prices.

SkutSkut

People mention Ebay so I thought I'd bring up Amazon which is basically the same thing but you can get a bit more for a bit less shipping if I've read their faqs right.

tsmvengy

Look up how much the games you want to sell go for on ebay/amazon marketplace. Anything that's actually worth something you should sell individually there. The crap games you can try to sell in a bundle to somebody who's starting a collection.

The_Scarab

I get rid of all my old stuff by mailing it to The_Scarab in a big box

Raijin Quickfoot

I use Gamestop. I tried Goozex and it worked ok, but the queue for new games is ridiculously long. I now only use it to get rid of games I know have no value at Gamestop. With the Edge card and special offers I don't feel I'm getting ripped off. I may end up going there today to get Rock Band 2 by trading in some old PS2 and DS games.

apotheos

You are totally getting ripped off Quickfoot. Post some numbers for your last few trade ins.

To the OP: the VAST majority of games and accessories are worth next to nothing on the aftermarket. I regularly purge my obsessive compulsive collecting on Craigslist and its popular Canadian cousin Kijiji, but I only get traction when I post a list of games, $10 for anything on the list, discounts for bulk purchases.

SkutSkut

Yea Gamestop doesn't give much and shouldn't be used if you can help it. Here's their trade in list.

Here ya go

Lunker

I honestly use GameStop a lot, because if you do a bit of research and wait for trade-in bonuses you can usually make some decent cash, especially for older games. It also helps that I typically don't buy games brand new at retail, so I generally get my games for half off anyway. A giant boatload of PS2 and Gamecube games netted me the original Rock Band bundle for about $20 out of pocket. eBay will generally get you more money, but you have to weigh that versus the time/effort of listing each individual game, tracking the auction, waiting for payment and then mailing out the games.

Here's the CheapAssGamer wiki guide to trade-in values for a shit-ton of games. Take a peek and see what's worth what. Most last-gen games will be $1 to $5, sadly, but if you make up for it in bulk and would rather have $2 than $0, sometimes it's worth it.

Right now GameStop has a promo where if you trade in two Wii/PS3/360 games, you get an extra $10 in credit total, so that adds $5 to the value of each game. I don't think there's any promos for last-gen systems, though.

thepassenger

If you have some current gen stuff a place you might want to think of unloading stuff at is Blockbuster video. They tend to give slightly better trade-ins than Gamestop/EB. Question is whether or not your local Blockbuster carries the RB2 strats. But I agree with Lunker, Gamestop isn't necessarily teh evil, you just need to find out when they have promos and reap the benefits.

As for older stuff, I would say use e-bay or craigslist to unload it. If you're just looking to get rid of clutter and not necessarily make a bunch of loot of the older stuff, make some bundles with a couple desirable titles and a couple stinkers.

Raijin Quickfoot

apotheos wrote: »

You are totally getting ripped off Quickfoot. Post some numbers for your last few trade ins.

To the OP: the VAST majority of games and accessories are worth next to nothing on the aftermarket. I regularly purge my obsessive compulsive collecting on Craigslist and its popular Canadian cousin Kijiji, but I only get traction when I post a list of games, $10 for anything on the list, discounts for bulk purchases.

I don't feel like I'm getting ripped off since all of the games I ever trade in are old and have been sitting unplayed for months and will never be played again. I like the instant gratification of the trade in process at gamestop. I can go home with new shit. Like today, traded in about 8 old PS2 and GC games and got home with Rock Band, a new Explorer for the 360 and still enough credit to get Rock Band 2 when they have it in stock...fuckers.