Here's a thought....

Being more selective on your purchases= Less Trade-Ins

It's more business than laziness. I work and go to grad school in the top program in my field, thus I try to minimize any hassles as much as I can.

Thus it was better "value" for me to trade off all my useless X-box stuff and some old games from other systems to pay for my Wii than to sell it online even though I'd have made more.

My time is worth more than getting more money out of shit gathering dust in a case like that were I'm getting rid of a ton of shit.

For just a game or two I don't mind the hassle of walking to the post office and mailing it out. But it's a bigger hassle when you're getting rid of a couple consoles, accessories and 20 or so games.

As noted, that's my strategy this gen. Pretty much sticking to first party Nintendo games and known franchises that I like for third party games will solve that problem for me. Just throw in the occasional offbeat DS or Wii game and I should maximize my enjoyment and minimize ending up with crap games I'll never replay.

Not to mention those type of games are very easy to trade in the forum here if they happen to lack replay value.

GameRush trade in deals in the past basically paid for my XBOX360 and I still have $400+ in credit. Although, I trade games in because I don;t play them anymore and I'd rather get something than dust calloecting. I mean, I have NBA/NHL 2K6 and I will upgrade to the new versions...do I really need these old games?

Also, I got many of my games with trade in deals at GameRush...so, I didn't pay $60 for ANY game I own.

I pretty much only buy used games anymore, but I rarely trade in games unless they are total crap and I just want to get rid of it quickly. I do sell them on ebay though and can usually get 50-60% of what I paid for them, which is OK by me.

Ain't great when you are working in a field where a your hourly rate is equal to the purchase of one video game.

I could work 8 hours and have enough to buy a Wii, 3 extra controllers, and 3 games... But my wife won't let me.*



* Until we get completely out of debt... and then I can get a Wii and a widescreen TV to play it on!

I think the last straw for me was when I bought NHL 07 for the 360 for $60, and wanted to trade it in the next day. Gamestop offered me $25 for it. After one day. No joke.

This is a game they'd turn around and sell for $55. A total joke.

But, but, but,...the corporation is losing money. If they pay you more then they'll have to have mass layoffs.

Just buy a padded envelope at the post office, and then figure that into the cost of shipping.