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A look at Best Buy's new trade-in kiosk
After learning that Best Buy was testing new game trade-in kiosks in some areas of Texas, we visited our local location to find that one of the new stations had just been set up right by the front door. In fact, a nearby employee informed us that we were the first to use it. Shortly after we experimented with it, we watched a group of Best Buy employees gather around the kiosk in quiet awe.As it turns out, the kiosks aren't just for trading in games for store credit -- you can buy, trade, or even rent used games or movies from the device. The one we looked at had a tiny selection of both games and movies available (less than fifty total offerings), but that's most likely because of the early stage of the program. We snapped some pictures of the kiosk while we were trying it out. Head into our gallery if you ever wanted to see what a game case deposit slot or a disc dispenser looks like.%Gallery-66916%
Best Buy tests used game trade-in kiosks
It's unclear why it's taken Best Buy nearly four years to inch its toe deeper into the lucrative used games market, but an unstable economy has a way of nudging business toward untapped reservoirs of cash. In September 2005, the big box retailer reportedly launched -- and apparently shelved -- a modest trial to buy back and resell used games. This week, Best Buy is rekindling the effort by installing trade-in kiosks in several of its Dallas and Austin locations, blogs CMO Barry Judge.Judge explains that the kiosks scan inserted games for "functionality," and then issue vouchers that are "instantly redeemable" for Best Buy gift cards, which can be spent on any item in the store. In addition, some of the kiosks will double as rental stations for games and movies, and participating stores will also resell used games (presumably those dumped into the kiosks).Best Buy's new initiative follows similar actions taken by Toys R Us, Amazon and Wal-Mart earlier this year, and as predicted by Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian. Sebastian continues to view the surge of business ventures into the used games market as an expansion of GameStop's existing foothold (though GameStop shares briefly tumbled today after the Best Buy news, as reported by WSJ) and argues to Gamasutra that software and hardware companies aren't necessarily being fleeced by the practice. "While many video game software publishers and console manufacturers view the used exchanges as cannibalizing sales, we note that consumers use a large portion of trade-in credit to purchase new products."[Image credit: kylemac]
Thumbprint required to trade in games in Florida
Most of us are probably used to giving away a large amount of personal information to trade in video games. Many stores ask for all kinds of info. Phone numbers, zip codes, possibly even your home address will be locked away in some GameStop data vault. But what about your thumbprint?According to Florida's Broward / Palm Beach News, local game retailers are now required to collect the thumbprint of anyone selling their used games. The practice has been enforced by the Broward County Sheriff's Office since October of last year, thanks to a new law enacted by the Florida legislature. The law essentially elevated used games to the same status as items sold to pawn shops, meaning that anyone that trades in a used game will have to provide a thumbprint "along with a bunch of other personal info."Our hearts go out to all the game traders whose controllers are now blackened by the ink of oppression.[Via GamePolitics]
Analyst: Wal-Mart game trade-in kiosks are no threat to GameStop
Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald doesn't believe Wal-Mart's new automated game trade-in program will pose a threat to GameStop, calling the new kiosks "more of a traffic driver to Wal-Mart's stores ... than something that will take meaningful share from Gamestop's core consumers." Greenwald believes that the instant-gratification factor of GameStop's trade-ins will insulate the chain from losing its market to Wal-Mart's machines. He also said that the credit offered by the kiosks "doesn't seem to be significantly higher than what GameStop is offering to pay."He believes that these Wal-Mart kiosks are just the first of many such automated movie and game kiosks to appear in the near future, some of which, he expects, will not just buy and sell, but also trade products. Despite the oncoming competition, Greenwald calls GameStop "nearly bullet-proof," explaining that the company has several thousand copies of 50 Cent: Bulletproof. Okay, he didn't actually say that last part.[Image via Neocrisis]
Wal-Mart wants your copy of NFL 2K1: Now accepting trade-ins
Adding to the already robust list of big box retailers offering game trade-ins, Wal-Mart is apparently entering the fray with a variety of less than fantastically functioning trade-in kiosks (read as: robots). Some photos were snapped by the folks at NeoCrisis and, according to the writer's experience, GameStop probably shouldn't be too worried, as no games were actually able to be traded in.Gamasutra spoke with Wal-Mart and has found out that the kiosks belong to E-Play, a company that specializes in game rental and trade-in kiosks that are hosted in a variety of locations. The current set of machines are part of a now running pilot program, found in only 0.02 percent of Wal-Mart's 3,656 US outlets. Good news, though! The machines are said to accept games from the Xbox and PlayStation 2 era as well, so you can finally get rid of that copy of Blinx you were really hoping would become rare some day!Source 1 - CheapAssGamerSource 2 - NeoCrisisSource 3 - Gamasutra
Extensive overview of GameStop reveals rising profits, world domination plans
Looking at this examination of GameStop's sales over at Gamasutra, it's hard to not get frustrated thinking about how much money the used game monolith is making on our undying urge to play "the next big thing." Pulling figures from the 10-K filings made each year by the company with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Gamasutra noticed some interesting figures. Notably among those: "between 41 and 46 percent" of the company's gross profits are coming from used game sales alone.And how much is the company making, on the dollar, for each dollar they invest in the used game market? According to the analysis, GameStop is making 48 cents on every 100 spent in the used games trade -- a nearly 50% profit margin on a service that accounts for "22 percent to 28 percent of GameStop's revenue." Though GameStop's plans for world domination weren't explicitly spelled out in the 10-K, we expect to hear more about them in the coming months. Alright, alright -- fine, you got us. GameStop isn't planning global domination ... yet.
Analyzing resale prices of franchise games
Video Game Price Charts has posted an article detailing how older entries in game franchises tend to go up in price as a new sequel nears release. For example, the average resale price of the original Resident Evil for Playstation saw a marked increase in the months leading up to the release of Resident Evil 5. The same holds true for other series, though the article notes it isn't always the case. For instance, the average price of Super Smash Bros. Melee quickly began to decrease after the release of Brawl.Given the usual trend in resale price, the article notes that it's best to sell franchise titles within a month of a new sequel release. Collectors looking to buy a franchise title will find lower prices a few months before any sequels release.Frugal collectors should also check out the VGPC Price Tool, a Firefox add-on that calculates the average price -- and links to the best price -- for games across Amazon, eBay and Half.com.
Amazon trade-in values lag behind GameStop
According to a quick and dirty sampling done by What They Play, it looks like Amazon now offers significantly less than GameStop does for many used games. The study was conducted by looking up several popular titles for each major platform and comparing the trade-in values offered by GameStop, Amazon and Game Crazy. For many Wii and PS3 games, Amazon seems to offer much less than GameStop, while it curiously offers more for Xbox 360 games. Amazon trade-ins do have a few advantages over GameStop trades; one being that trade-in credit can be used to purchase anything on Amazon and not just games. Another advantage is that Amazon accepts trade-ins for many more platforms, going so far as to even accept NES titles.Perhaps the biggest lesson of the study is that Game Crazy seems to offer more for used games than either GameStop or Amazon. Left 4 Dead is one of the more extreme examples, with Game Crazy offering $27.25, while Amazon and GameStop offer $20 and $17, respectively. Game Crazy isn't as big as GameStop and doesn't have as many stores, but it might be worth seeing if there's one near you.
RadioShack expands trade-in program to stores
RadioShack has announced that it plans to expand its online electronics trade-in program to 4,400 of its company-owned stores. The program allows consumers to trade in electronics, including consoles and games, for cash credit toward more purchases at stores we didn't even know existed anymore.RadioShack joins an ever growing list of companies getting into the used games market. And, if the analysts are right, don't expect that trend to slow down -- especially with potential revenue being in the billions. [Via GayGamer]
GameStop's employee checkout policy may be illegal [update]
[Update: We've received notes from a few GameStop employees telling us that their stores only allow the checking-out of used products. The company policy as reproduced in the Kotaku article does not specify that only used games can be checked out, so this seems to be a store-by-store decision.]GameStop's practice of gutting new games and placing empty cases on the shelf has two side effects beyond prevention of theft: first, that a lot of customers are outraged when they receive an open box, and second, it allows employees to try out games without having to open a new copy expressly for that purpose, a practice that the company has allowed since before the store was called GameStop. We can personally attest to the policy being in place at Software Etc. stores in late 1998.Kotaku contacted the Federal Trade Commission to determine if the policy of selling things as new that, in the strictest sense, were used, was unlawfully deceptive marketing. The FTC declined to comment about the practice or even if it is conducting an investigation.
UK man finds ecstasy tablets in used copy of GTA
A UK father of two said he found four tablets, which police say is likely ecstasy, within a used Grand Theft Auto game that he purchased at a Gamestation in the county of Gloucestershire. Richard Thornhill, 34, found the pills wrapped in plastic and hidden inside the instruction manual of one of two unspecified GTA games when he returned home from the store, reports the Telegraph. While still shocked at the incident, Thornhill was thankful the pills were discovered by him, dreading to think "what the consequences" would be, had his children found it. In the wake of the strange discovery, Gamestation reps maintain the company's policy is for staff to follow "rigorous procedures" when accepting trades. Perhaps the new company policy would add a four-legged employee into the mix to sniff out any future issues. Both Gamestation and the Gloucestershire Police are investigating the incident. [Via GamePolitics]
Analyst: Expect more to get into the used games business
With both Amazon and Toys R Us now dealing in pre-owned games, these days it seems like most everyone wants in on the used game racket. Now Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian has come forward, telling Gamasutra that he expects even more companies to soon dive in for their own slice of the lucrative secondhand pie. Without naming names, Sebastian says that a "large consumer electronics retail chain is rekindling efforts to sell used video games," while another "general merchandise 'big box' store" is already trying out a program to buy back games for store credit. We just hope folks are wiping their feet before stepping all over GameStop's coattails.
Reggie on why used games are not his problem
Speaking to VentureBeat, Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime attempted to dismiss the proliferation of used game sales as not only something that Nintendo isn't worried about, but as something that consumers shouldn't think about, citing the long life of some of Nintendo's games."We don't believe used games are in the best interest of the consumer," Fils-Aime said. "We have products that consumers want to hold onto. They want to play all of the levels of a Zelda game and unlock all of the levels. A game like Personal Trainer: Cooking has a long life. We believe used games aren't in the consumer's best interest."While it may be true that designing a game that can be replayed enjoyably for years is a good defense against used games, many consumers will still fast-track their way through games to trade them in as quickly as possible for something totally new ... just because. Reggie follows up this argument with an odd point -- that other forms of media don't have significant used markets."Describe another form of entertainment that has a vibrant used goods market. Used books have never taken off. You don't see businesses selling used music CDs or used DVDs. Why? The consumer likes having a brand-new experience and reliving it over and over again. If you create the right type of experience, that also happens in video games."That strikes us as just wrong. There have been used book shops worldwide for as long as there have been books, and there's even (at least one) chain of stores devoted entirely to it. And stores like Hastings and CD Warehouse trade heavily in used DVDs and CDs.
GameStop doesn't see recession's impact on gamers
GameStop's senior vice president of merchandising, Bob McKenzie, doesn't think the recession has had much impact on gamers. Speaking with Venture Beat during the Resident Evil 5 launch event in San Fransisco, McKenzie said people are staying in more often (presumably awaiting further financial ruin) and turn to video games and other entertainment to pass the time. But has GameStop seen a spike in the lucrative -- yet controversial -- used game market since the recession? McKenzie wouldn't say "yes," but quickly pointed out that gamers today are even more aware about "tightening their wallets." Even though traffic at retail has slowed, McKenzie reiterrated that GameStop continues to post solid numbers -- recently reporting a 24 percent increase in year-over-year sales to $8.8 billion. Unfortunately, the rest of the industry isn't fairing as well. Perhaps video game publishers should get into the used game market. As long as they vow to keep all of the profit for themselves they should be able to dig themselves out of this whole "economic apocalypse" thing.
'Amazon is of little threat to GameStop's core business' says EEDAR
Citing an Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) report released in the past week, GamesIndustry.biz is reporting today that, while the announcement of Amazon.com entering the used game trade triggered a 13% drop in GameStop stock, "Amazon is of little threat to GameStop's core business." According to EEDAR, this doesn't mean Amazon is doomed to fail, but that "Amazon and GameStop can co-exist peacefully," which sounds awfully nice to us on the consumer side of things.How did they arrive at these rather broad conclusions, you ask? "EEDAR conducted a survey and recorded the trade-in value, used price, and new price of 79 game SKUs (57 that applied to the survey) at Amazon and GameStop." After doing so, they arrived at this, possibly shocking, revelation: "On average, GameStop offers a better value on trade-ins by over 3%." Seriously?To round out the EEDAR report, we'll leave you with this one, astonishing truth: "Amazon's entry into the used gaming market will expand the used market into new territories and make available to new consumers rather than steal share away from GameStop's core business." So, what's the lesson here? Competition: good for consumers, (apparently) okay for retailers.
Amazon vs. Toys R Us vs. GameStop: Which is the best trade-in service?
Amazon and Toys R Us have set their sights on some of GameStop's market with their new trade-in programs. But will they succeed? Is there any reason for customers to offload their junk with any of these new services? Cheap Ass Gamer's Shipwreck compared the three services to try to arrive at an answer.Shipwreck examined each of the three services in terms of factors like commitment to used games, locations, ease of transactions, and, of course, price. The conclusion is a favorable one for GameStop: Shipwreck notes that GameStop has had competition before, and "Toys R Us and Amazon aren't positioned in ways that are significantly different than those who have already thrown their hats into the used game business ring."
GameStop: Amazon trade-in program has zero percent chance of working
Thanks to advances in internet technology, inflammatory retorts between industry figures can now be developed and distributed at the speed of light. For instance, when Amazon announced today that it'd begun experimenting with a trade-in program for video games, GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo formulated his response and fired it off to Edge Magazine in the blink of an eye: "I give the probability of this working at zero," he promptly declared.DeMatteo explained that Electronics Boutique attempted to apply the same mail-in trade offer that Amazon is working with several years ago, reaping unfavorable results. "With consumers, there is an immediacy for currency when they want to buy a new game," he explained. He also stated that -- okay, listen, we'd love to finish this post, but we've got this copy of Ty the Tazmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue sitting on our bookshelf, and if we don't trade it in within the next few minutes, we are going to totally freak out.
Amazon testing trade-in program
We like buying games on Amazon, because we like saving money and we despise the nightmarish no man's land called "anywhere outside of our house." But sometimes we must brave the elements and go to GameStop: specifically, when we have some junk to trade in. Amazon is working to correct this issue: like Toys R Us, the retailer has started a trade-in program for video games!To trade a game in to Amazon, all you have to do is visit the trade-in section of the site, select the games you want to trade in (at least $10 worth), print a free shipping label and send it out. You'll get a gift card in return -- plus an extra 10% if you do it before March 19. Unfortunately, the trade-in values seem roughly commensurate with GameStop's, which means they're pretty low. But sometimes eBay is such a hassle! We wonder about GameStop's future if enough retailers band together to provide GameStop's services without requiring people to visit GameStop's stores.[Via CAG]
Toys R Us testing the waters of the used games business
When you happen to stumble upon a $2 billion sales arena which requires almost no initial investment to enter, it makes sense to jump right into it -- regardless of the tremendous girth of said arena's reigning champion. This appears to be the modus operandi for the giraffe-fronted retailer Toys R Us, who is currently entering the used games racket for a trial period in select stores nationwide, as evidenced by an in-store advertisement snapped by Cheap Ass Gamer user phear3d.Speaking to a clerk at the store which contained the promo (embedded after the jump), phear3d learned that the trade-in program is being tested at certain stores over the next few months to see if the company wants to incorporate it on a wider and more permanent scale. We spoke with a corporate Toys R Us representative, who confirmed the program is being tested "in a couple New York stores." He informed us the used games program is not occurring at the Times Square location, but wouldn't give specific locations when asked, as the company doesn't "really give information about tests going on in [its] stores." Furthermore, he couldn't discuss the details of the program, as that also falls under the purview of "testing," which the company won't elaborate on. If you've seen a sign for the program at your local store, please feel free to let us know the location and we'll try to get the details.Hopefully, we'll see a return to the now-defunct "Geoffrey Bucks" system of the late '90s -- we've always thought the one thing missing from modern used trade practices was tangible, non-transferable paper currency.
Microsoft's Lewis on used games, Windows 7 gaming
Speaking to GI.biz, Chris Lewis, VP for Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division in Europe, managed to put a positive spin on used game sales. Typically maligned by the industry for hurting sales of new games, Lewis noted that used games offer gamers the opportunity to play games they might not ordinarily play. According to Lewis, used games get "more people touching, playing, experiencing a game," which he believes is a good thing for the games industry. Naturally, that doesn't stop Lewis from suggesting that the promise of premium DLC might be a good way to keep gamers from selling their games, though he reiterates his belief that used games are "a positive thing." Given GameStop COO J. Paul Raines' recent comments suggesting that most consumers sell their games to help pay for new ones, Lewis may be right.Regarding games on Windows 7, Lewis notes that the upcoming OS will be "great for games." He adds, "It's all good news - it's even more robust, it's quicker relatively, and the early testing cycles are proving very promising overall." We hope that's true, though the "relatively" bit has us a little nervous.
