Wii all love GameStop in tough times

Stopped by GameStopyesterday to trade-in a few things.

Lo and behold, it was packed on a rainy Saturday afternoon, and there were so many people that the entire store was hot from just the body heat. What was interesting to note is that GameStop’s value for game buy-backs has gone down while they keep the sell price up. A long time ago, it used to be pretty much that they would pay half price of whatever they sold as used. For my three PS3 games, I only got around twenty five dollars for them. The sell rate was almost twenty six to twenty seven per, so the trade-in has gone from around fifty to less than thirty percent. This was even with bonus coupons.

Yet, people still pack the store and I still love that place. They are one of the few brick-and-mortar stores that I do peruse from time to time, and it’s still a great deal for used games versus buying new (unless you hit upon some great deal for the new).

The other side of it was that while in the store, there were two women in their fifties or so talking about gaming. What was interesting was the conversation (as best as I can recall):

Lady 1 – “And this here is the Wii. You don’t have to play the games the kids do. You see here? This one [game] helps you get exercise with this gal… who is she?”

Lady 2 – “…”

Lady 1 – “You know, the one from the big fat show.”

[Biggest Loser]

Lady 2 – “Oh yes, I do know what you’re talking about.”

Lady 1 – “And here’s one where you can play a guitar in a rock band.”

Lady 1 – “And when the kids say that they’re giving up their games, they’re not really giving up their games. They’re talking about selling it back here.”

Lady 2 – “Like recycling?”

Lady 1 – “Yeah.”

This scenario itself proved two things. One was the fact that indeed Nintendo has hit on a great thing by bridging the generation gap. No longer do older generations actually just watch the youth gaming, but also participate. There are games specific to all age groups and the fact that Nintendo has kept the supply low for practically two years has definitely made it a commodity that is sought after. That in itself is amazing. The second is that while gamers have known for a long time about the used game markets, now the general populace and even older generations are finally looking into this too. Obviously these women were not avid gamers or else they wouldn’t be here checking out the used selections. Which means that in tough times, there’s going to be even a larger push for the used market to step up.

Knowing that it’s purely a profit market for GameStopmeans that they could really capitalize by pushing even more deals and different bonus gigs. Either way? It was a wonderful fifteen minute epiphany that I found myself in.