Toys R Us Muscles In On The Games Trading Racket
Kotaku reports that Toys R Us has gone nationwide with its video game trade-in initiative today. Now the chain is stepping on GameStop's turf. The site's Mike Fahey quotes a Toys R Us bigwig:
"The video game trade-in program is another way we're providing customers with additional value when they visit our stores," said Bill Lee, Vice President, Divisional Merchandise Manager, Toys R Us, U.S. "This program is designed to make the exchange process completely hassle-free for customers by accepting games from even the oldest systems, including the original Atari 2600 and 32-bit Sega Genesis."
This is good for consumers in a couple of ways. Not only does monolith GameStop have some significant competition, but there's now an outlet to get rid of older games and systems GameStop ignores. My Super Nintendo and Game Boy Advance collections may have found their final resting place.
Granted, trade-ins are rarely the way to get the most bang from your old games. Selling them individually online will almost surely get you more money, but whether or not that's worth the hassle is up for debate.
Toys R Launches Game Trade-Ins Nationwide [Kotaku]
(Photo: ThatBeeGirl)
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There's a lot of money to be made if someone finds that stash of Atari 2600 E.T. carts Atari buried somewhere out in the desert.
OTOH, while I do believe they will accept cartridges from older systems, I'd suspect they will be picky about what they take, and even then give something like $0.05 credit for each one.
That would be great if the Genesis was a 32 bit system. It was 16 bit. You only got 32 bit capabilities with the MegaDrive add on.
@Blinden: Super obsolete doesn't mean "not fun" I hope. I play Game Boy Advance games cause they're fun. I still own my SNES and NES because they're fun too.
Heck, you could probably make more money selling your SNES games online to people who are into old school games. I still have fond memories of playing Uniracers on my brother's SNES.
Phil please do not put your old systems into Toys R' Us as a final resting place. Sell them to somebody who appreciates the older systems!
Also, I thought consumerist was no longer part of Kotaku/Gawker/etc network?
Or are they just stating that they came across an article on Kotaku as part of journalistic research?
As an alternative to both trading in and selling outright - check out Goozex.
In terms of online game exchange systems, it's about the smoothest and best I've seen. It works off a points system instead of cash and is great if you are looking to receive more games instead of money.
@reservoir_dog: A good explanation of the ins and outs can be found in this blog post. [ppgeek.blogspot.com]
@rworne: I actually have a copy of that horrible game. Bought it new in the 1980's (sad to say). Every once in a while I get a bit nostalgic. Then I dig out the 2600 and have some Adventure playing Space Invaders while avoiding Asteroids.
@mazzic1083: "Or are they just stating that they came across an article on Kotaku as part of journalistic research?"
Probably this. You don't have to be part of a site to report on articles from that site.
This is great. I hate Gamestop trade-in policies. This will only work if they give above what Gamestop does though.
@pecan 3.14159265: I have a Nomad buried in a box in my closet. I dunno why I haven't dragged it out lately. I always loved that stupid thing. Then again, I go nuts when someone takes something and makes it portable. I'm stupid like that. :P
@reservoir_dog: It's good when it works. You can easily be scammed there though, so knowing what you're getting into beforehand is crucial.
@brain_grenade: The MegaDrive is what the Genesis was called outside of the US.
For the ultimate in gaming fail combine the 32X, Genesis, and Sega CD. Each requiring their own giant AC adapter! Did I mention that there were like 4 games for the CD that were worth playing, and like 1 for the 32X?
Poor SEGA.
@Blinden: I still play NES sometimes too :) But I play on my computer rather than having the consoles around.
I forget that Toys R Us is still around. That's mostly because these past 15 years or so, I've had little need to shop for toys. But I recall back in the late 80's/early 90's, they were THE store from which to purchase NES and Genesis games. They always had the best selection. Since prices on popular games rarely varied from store to store, there was little point shopping anywhere else.
My friend in college bought the sega CD. I think I recall him paying several hundred for it, and only got to play Dracula or something, and that game sucked.
They can pry my Intellivision from my cold, dead hands.
I traded a bunch of games in with BB for store credit. Gamestop still gave a better value on some games, so this means another place to shop around for value.
And I'm wondering where these used games end up? With Gamestop, you know they are going back out. But what about the others? I'm curious because maybe the seller of the BB and TRU stock will be cheaper than Gamestop's used selection.
@Deezul_AwT: I'm surious to see their used prices too. Gamestop only does games, but BB and TRU can rely on their sales of other items and probably be able to undercut GS, which would just be a win for cheap gamers like myself.
@GuinevereRucker: You should check Think Geek. They've got this nifty USB NES controller. I use it for NES emulation.
It's almost like playing on the console, only you don't have to drop a ridiculous amount for a 25 year-old system and the games to play on it. :D
Hah, I still have my NES with the three Super Mario titles, Duck Hunt, and a lot of other games. They all work.
Meanwhile, my Nintendo DS lasted about one year.
@BabyFirefly: Gah, I clicked "submit" too soon.
I don't think Toys R Us will be a huge competition for Game Stop. I don't know if it's only my local Toys R Us, but their game selection is very very very poor and can't see any hardcore gamers ever stepping foot in there.
@Blinden:
I'm with you on the deals thing. It sucks that there are only a few places around to check out games at, and its mainly all the same new shitty games. Luckily I found where my local targets put their clearance games out at, so I check there once every couple of weeks. Usually I can get games that are still 50 everywhere else for 30 or less.
I'm also looking forward to the old cartridge games. I'd love to pick up some games for my 2600, or intellivision etc... I have the emulators but there is still something about having the actual system.
This means they have to get a pawn shop license in certain states?
No matter how convenient it is, it is a waste of money for the user. if you heat to a store like game stop or any other one that allows you to trade in a old game, they may give you like $5 while that same game is on the shelf used for like $40
they do this because it is a quick moneymaking trick, you buy 1 game and sell it twice which gives much more profits.
also sites like amazon and ebay make the process of selling games insanely simple, their service does most of the work for you and all your left to do is print out the shipping label and ship it off to them.
and if your too lazy to do that then just keep the old game, if any family or friends come over they can play the games.
@mazzic1083: It's safe to assume that even though the Consumerist is no longer part of the Gawker network, because of the time Consumerist was, they have friends over there still.
Also, considering this is a consumer-oriented site, this news would be relevant to . . . wait for it . . . consumers!
@dragonfire81: They are only going to pay more for games they can re-sell. As was stated in the article, you are bound to get more money for an older title if you just sell it online.
TLDR Summary of the next paragraphs: Sell or buy games online = come out ahead in the long run.
I buy game X for $59.99. GameStop will buy it back for $30.00, then turn around and re-sell it for $54.99. (Don't believe me, go to a GS and find a recently released game new and used. I'm willing to bet that the price difference will be $5 or less.
OR, I can put game X on Ebay for $40-45. It will be bought because it would be cheaper than new or used at a store like GS.
@dragonfire81: Seeing as how I used to work there and I'm familiar with how it works, pretty much everything. You don't need to be snippy.
@Quake 'n' Shake: I remember doing the same thing as a kid, just whoring Toys R' US all the time for game demos and new games.
Wonder what happened and why they are no longer the powerhouse they once were? Did they just continue to focus on kids and not adult gamers?
@thereij: Resell policies can be hit or miss though. I brought a bunch of stuff that was cluttering up my house to FYE - dvds, games, cds, whatever we could all rustle up, just to see what we'd get. My big complaint was that the guy was hugely anal (wouldn't take some things due to "condition" when there wasn't a scratch on them, but I suspect that if I went back a different day somebody else would take them), but I couldn't have predicted what they'd take and the pricing - super random things paid out decently when some popular stuff got me nothing. Overall though, it wasn't a bad deal. Gamestop seems to buy everything for a quarter though, so no praise there.
@lmarconi: Popular = Easy to find. It's understandable that they would pay more for something off the wall that they could then re-sell due to rarity.
FYE is notorious for having strange, hard to find music, dvds, etc.
Does this apply only to games or to systems as well? I have a Gamecube that's doing nothing and my son is really wanting a Wii for his upcoming birthday - I wouldn't mind getting a credit towards the Wii by trading in the paper-weight Cube.
As someone who likes to buy used games (but not trade-in), I'm curious to see what they will charge for them. I really wonder because TRU's prices for new games (in my town, at least) are WAY out of touch with other retailers. They still have a lot of games at $60 that have gone down elsewhere.
Well I guess that pushes us one step closer to a online only distribution model. The more ubiquitous these game pawn shops become, the more likely and necessary to survival a move away from physical medium becomes.
@lmarconi: The reasoning behind popular stuff having low trade-in value is that they already have a ton of copies, why should they pay for more?
TRU is not selling used games, only accepting as trade-in.
(and no systems, only games)
@OmniZero: I don't know, it's usually just the console.
A quick search on half.com reveals good condition units available for $30. That's hardly ridiculous.
@squinko: I wasn't trying to be snippy, I was just curious about their reasoning.
Gamestop acts as a middleman between you and the end user, they buy your stuff and resell it.
If you go the ebay/craigslist route then you you are selling direct to the end user and hence will get more than Gamestop offers (no middle man).
Having said that, I agree some of their trade in values are ridiculously low. I've seen a game they sell for $17.99 carry a $2.50 trade value. That's about a 720% markup.
I think people use gamestop for convenience. If you really need $50 ASAP, you can lug in your 360, sell it to Gamestop and walk out with the cash a few minutes later. Other methods take time.
I've been told most pawnshops actually offer LESS for games than gamestop does, but I've never pawned my games before so I don't know if this is the case.
As always, competition is good for the consumer.
I don't have a preference or loyalty to where I purchase games, I go where the deals are. Got Batman:AA at TrU because of the $30 giftcard which I'll use towards NHL10, unless someone else offers a deal that makes me buy it elsewhere.
Would be really interested to see what htey are offering for these super obsolete games