GameStop hurts gaming industry?

#1
utvolpj

utvolpj

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#1
Saw this article the other day and can kind of see/agree with both sides.

GameStop’s used business is said to account for a third of sales and almost a half of profits. It generates twice as much percentage margin on used games than on new games.

That’s an awful lot of revenue that isn’t being ploughed back into development or into marketing. All that money goes to GameStop, which doesn’t make games. GameStop opens stores in malls, sticks up shelving, hires inexpensive, unskilled local youth and sells product.

Worse, the used games business restrains the market by keeping new game prices high and by depriving the publishers of investment income. In the long-term, it’s not such a great deal for consumers.
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EDITOR'S VIEW: Used Games are Damaging : Next Generation - Interactive Entertainment Today, Video Game and Industry News - Home of Edge Online

Any thoughts?
 
#2
#2
utvolpj said:
Saw this article the other day and can kind of see/agree with both sides.

EDITOR'S VIEW: Used Games are Damaging : Next Generation - Interactive Entertainment Today, Video Game and Industry News - Home of Edge Online

Any thoughts?
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Sure. They charge $19.95 on the average for New Release DVD's for movies that have $50-100 million dollar budgets, which is significantly higher than any game that has been developed budget. Lower the prices and people will buy new. I would be willing to wager on the fact that Ebay pulls in alot as well. Why would I want to buy the newest game for $60-70 when I can wait 6 months and buy it used for $30-40?? That's the nature of the electronics industry, if they don't like it go take up painting.
 
#3
#3
I'm surprised so many people are willingly to trade in the games for such a low price. That's where all of Gamestop's margins are coming from. They pay gamers a fraction of what the used game is worth, and then turn around and sell it for $10 less than retail!!

A lot of the blame can be put right back on the gamers for selling back their used games so cheaply.
 
#5
#5
No, because most folks ensure they get their monies worth from their investment. Games shouldn't be any different, but they are.

Ford doesn't have a buy back program that attempts to rip-off consumers, either.
 
#6
#6
i'd say the majority of games i buy, i buy used. only the ones i have to have right when they are out like ncaa football do i buy new. i've never once bought a used game that didn't run properly.
 
#7
#7
What do you know...the same song and dance from another industry. RIAA has been whinning about this for years now.

Simple fact is games are priced too high. If you argue they aren't, then you'd have to argue the article presented here is completely bogus.

Love the movie rebuttal folks throw out. Guess they forget that movies are run through the theatres, then second run theaters, then DVD, on demand, licensed out to HBO/etc, licensed to networks, etc. That's quite a few more channels of revenue. Games pretty much go from developer to consumer, end of story.

If developers and so forth think they are losing money, it's their own fault and their own stupidity. Either lower prices or open up a store ripping folks off like Gamestop. Not exactly rocket science here.

I'm surprised so many people go through the screw-job of Gamestop used returns. It's just amazing that they take back pennies on the dollar. But, the more I think about it, the more you realize something is better than nothing. Still, I've started selling older games on ebay/craigslist for a few dollars more. Used to keep everything, but I've realized now I'm not going to play them again and should get something.
 
#9
#9
Gamestop is not getting anymore of my bussiness I traded in GH3 with the Guitar they gave me $28 dollars for the whole thing that they will sell for around $80 I'm sure.

It's nice to have a quick easy way to get some money back out of your games but the amount they give you keeps going down.

I traded in the Godfather game for PS2 about a year ago I had bought the game for 39.99 and when I traded it in they gave me $20 for it. That's reasonable and they still made money on the deal.
 
#10
#10
I'm surprised the article goes after Gamestop for their used game business, but doesn't take the rental business to task. I really doubt Gamestop is hurting the market worse than Gamefly.
 
#11
#11
I bought a Nintendo Wii at normal price(for son)for Christmas through them.Very hard to come by at the time. It came in 4 weeks early,day after Christmas.The manager even opened the store up an hour or so early so we didn't have to stay in line for raincheck.
 
#12
#12
ConMan said:
Gamestop is not getting anymore of my bussiness I traded in GH3 with the Guitar they gave me $28 dollars for the whole thing that they will sell for around $80 I'm sure.

It's nice to have a quick easy way to get some money back out of your games but the amount they give you keeps going down.

I traded in the Godfather game for PS2 about a year ago I had bought the game for 39.99 and when I traded it in they gave me $20 for it. That's reasonable and they still made money on the deal.
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you are very silly my friend. stop whining about trade-in values. you should be glad you even have a place to get cash for your crap. why in the hell would you expect to get what you paid for on a trade? and of course they will sell it for more than you traded in for, its a flippin BUSINESS. ever heard of the term "profit"? good luck getting your games and quality service from wal*mart.
 
#13
#13
rwemyss said:
I'm surprised the article goes after Gamestop for their used game business, but doesn't take the rental business to task. I really doubt Gamestop is hurting the market worse than Gamefly.
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Do you or anyone else in here subscribe to Gamefly? Is it worth it?
 
#14
#14
hey thanks for the info pal I never thought about it like that. That's why this country is going down the drain right now and over half of americans are in debt up to their eyeballs. I'm all for a company making a profit but there is no need for these companies to gouge prices on everything.
 
#15
#15
allvol@15 said:
you are very silly my friend. stop whining about trade-in values. you should be glad you even have a place to get cash for your crap. why in the hell would you expect to get what you paid for on a trade? and of course they will sell it for more than you traded in for, its a flippin BUSINESS. ever heard of the term "profit"? good luck getting your games and quality service from wal*mart.
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yep,Amen brother
 
#16
#16
allvol@15 said:
you are very silly my friend. stop whining about trade-in values. you should be glad you even have a place to get cash for your crap. why in the hell would you expect to get what you paid for on a trade? and of course they will sell it for more than you traded in for, its a flippin BUSINESS. ever heard of the term "profit"? good luck getting your games and quality service from wal*mart.
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I think you're silly if you let a middle man take 60%-80% of your profit you *could* have made if you sold the item yourself on Ebay or Craigslist.

But hey, to each his own.
 
#17
#17
ConMan said:
hey thanks for the info pal I never thought about it like that. That's why this country is going down the drain right now and over half of americans are in debt up to their eyeballs. I'm all for a company making a profit but there is no need for these companies to gouge prices on everything.
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yes americans are in debt because mean ole gamestop only gave them so much for their guitar hero. your logic is flawless.
 
#18
#18
ConMan said:
hey thanks for the info pal I never thought about it like that. That's why this country is going down the drain right now and over half of americans are in debt up to their eyeballs. I'm all for a company making a profit but there is no need for these companies to gouge prices on everything.
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please post a picture of the Federal Agent holding a gun to your head as you paid $80 for Guitar Hero III.

can't? hmmm, well there has to be a good reason for that.
 
#20
#20
Nope. Been tempted a few times, but have never tried. Times to Knoxville were less than stellar when a co-worker was doing it. About 5-7 days between mailing one back and getting the next game.

I believe they've opened a East coast warehouse now, though. Might be better.
 
#21
#21
look guys I'm not saying anyone forced me to do anything I'm just a little fed up with how companies are bringing in record profits while your average joe is living on borrowed money just to pay for these services.

We could argue economics all day long and it really has nothing to do with this topic. I was just trying to make the point that GameStop has been gradually lowering how much they give you for traded in games.

Yeah I understand that it's a cool thing to be able to get anything back for a video game. I had stacks of video games from old systems that just got thrown away when the system got outdated. So I like the idea of being able to trade them in but dont lower the trade-in value while the price of a used games is higher.
 
#23
#23
ConMan said:
look guys I'm not saying anyone forced me to do anything I'm just a little fed up with how companies are bringing in record profits while your average joe is living on borrowed money just to pay for these services.
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If Joe would quit borrowing and live within his means he'd be a lot better off in life. That's the real problem today...most people seriously fail at this.
 
#25
#25
NCGatorBait said:
Mason does..and I'm considering it..bought over 20 games last yr..too much $$
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yeah and i bet 90% of those you almost never play. when i think about it it's ridiculous i'm not on gamefly. even if you hold the average game for 2 months it still pays for itself.
 
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