I recently just bought a 360 (again) and was looking to buy Mass Effect 1 so I can have a perfect playthrough ready for ME3. I decided to grab a handful of PS2 games to trade in to bring the price down of ME1...I walk into Gamestop and hand the associate (really nice girl actually) and she went through how much each game was worth. I had about 7 games including God of War 1 and 2 and ZOE. Imagine my surprise when she tells me it comes up to $3.50.....3 fuckin 50....not to mention ME1 was $27.99 USED....saying Fuck this in my head, I go to a small owned game store not to far away...for all of my games I was able to get $30.00 (Store Credit) or $20.00 cash...not to mention ME1 was there for $14.99....

Moral of the story? FUCK Gamestop/EB Games

One good thing about gamestop is you can abuse their used game return policy, just buy a used game and return it within the week and you get a full refund. So gamestop isn't all bad, but they are quite the wieners. Take advantage of gamestop just as they take advantage of us. =p

Did you even bother trying to see it from their perspective. Before you came on here to tear them a new one. They are in a supply and demand business. Based on the huge bargain bins filled with hundreds of PS2 games. I have to go out on a limb here and say. Their supply of these games is far exceeding the demand. These shops are usually found in more affluent venues, and thus see more affluent customers. Which surprisingly enough probably are more keen on games for new consoles. Then old games for defunct consoles.

Meanwhile the small independent game shop in a less affluent market probably has a better disposition. They often are catering to a poorer demographic. Which is the same demographic that has a lot more last gen console owners. Which means they will probably see greater demand for your games, and they are probably not sitting on hundreds or thousands of these games collecting dust. Hell a lot of the time they have a captive market.

Look I am not outright defending all their practices, but you were living in a fools paradise. It doesn't seem to be the case that they are ripping you off. Seven bargain bin games that might fetch them ten dollars if they can sell them is actually pretty fair. Considering how much risk they are taking on. I applaud the fact that you shopped around until you could find someone that could pay you more. It just seems to me that EB is probably ahead of the curve while your local shop is behind the curve. Give them another year, and their prices will match EB. Hell in another year EB will probably not be taking PS2 games in for trade.

To be fair GOW 1 and 2 aren't rare games and they've been remastered. You might as well had tried to trade in Madden 09. Good for you taking your games to a local store and getting a much better price though.

People still like original versions of games, not download, not remastered, not even Platinum. Reason why FFX, X-2, XII still sell for higher values if the packet is the original one.

That said I agree with the article, while not as a big ripoff, my housemate recently took a load of games to get some cash. In Gamestation (along side Game as owned by the same people), one of the biggest game retailers in the UK, they offered him £85 cash for all his games, we then went to Playtime, smaller retailer with just a few outlets round the country if that, has a better selection of older games too, £110 cash. Quite a difference considering for most games they both sell 2nd hand for the same price.

Althought the smaller store rejected 2 games because they have too many already.

Why was ME1 so much used? The game was released on the platinum hits collection a looong time ago, so it should be at most $20 for the game NEW.

@smbu2000

That is a good question to ask, but it is fairly difficult to explain. Retailers basically sell games on consignment. They take stock to sell, but do not actually own the stock themselves. The stock actually belongs to the manufacturer. So they can set the prices for their good. The retailer will still get the same cut. Whether a game is sixty dollars, or a game is twenty dollars. So the retailer has little control of the pricing, and probably do not care all that much.

Used games are not owned by the manufacturer, and they have no liability for them. So a used game shop is on the line for the full purchase. Microsoft lowering the price of new games does not change what the store has paid for a used game. In this case the shop probably paid twenty five dollars for the game, and are still trying to sell the game at a mere twelve percent profit. Where as if they dropped the price of the game to a respectable fifteen dollars. The game would be selling at a forty percent loss.

This is probably one of those instances where they overpaid for a used game, and they haven't decided to write it off as a loss just yet. I know it seems a little distasteful for them to be selling a used game for more then a new game, but yeah they are hoping a idiot walks through the door. They may even hold that game until the game is out of production. Hoping that a constricted supply will increase the perceived value of the title.

That's why here in the UK I tend to buy my retail games from CEX rather than GAME/GameStation, though CEX is a chain store I tend to get about 25-50% more cash for trade ins (and 50-75% more if I get CEX store credit) and the games to buy are also 50% cheaper.

Nice deal, especially since it was local.

However, I get better deals on Ebay. Takes a bit more time plus having to mail stuff, but I will never use Gamestop and I don't understand why anyone does.

EDIT: Actually, browsing ebay.. it looks like your deal is right in line with the average pricing (incl shipping). You have a pretty good local shop there.

The only time I've bought a game from a local store was when they were selling Mortal Kombat 3 days early.