Why do people sell their second games to stores like gamestop instead of selling them directly to other consumers?

[Dodece]

Others have highlighted the simplicity, but it should go without saying that there is also greater security involved with secondhand sellers. You can be secure in the knowledge that they will buy, and secure in the knowledge that you're buying quality merchandise. The reality of peer to peer transactions is that there are real risks. You can easily end up being overcharged, undervalued, or outright burned. In the end it is entirely a higher risk higher reward scenario.

There is a lot that can go wrong, and you are entirely alone if it does go wrong. You are placing faith in the decency of another person who may not have scruples. You could end up buying resurrected merchandise such as a console with its mother board soldered down, or a game disk that has been buffed paper thin. You could end up overpaying for something. It isn't uncommon to see peer to peer copies of games being sold for more then what the secondhand stores are charging. While games that are short priced will sit unsold forever.

I am not arguing against peer to peer trading. Hell I have bought, traded, and sold peer to peer over a hundred times in my life. That isn't to say I haven't done well with that, but it also doesn't mean that I haven't been burned. I think I came out better for the hands on wheeling and dealing, but thanks to secondhand stores there are some things I am never going to take a gamble on again. So in the end I am not just against second hand stores. There are things I will only buy there, and there are things I will not sell or buy there.