How do you rationalize trading in?
 

How do you rationalize trading in games?

I'm constantly amazed at the people that are willing to get $2 to $3 (or even $10) back for a game that cost $50 or $60 (or more). I checked EB/GS lists of trade-in values (that are allegedly nationwide/corporate) and most Xbox 360 games I got $4 or $6. Give me a fucking break. Unless a game is so bad I want to give it away, I don't see the point of trading in. You can get more for it used, trade it for a similar game (here or elsewhere) or lend it to a friend. I lent a friend of mine eight 360 games last week. I could've traded them in for $25. I felt much better having him try them out.

It just seems that the values are so low that they're borderline insulting. And people come in with bags and bags of tradeins. One guy at an EB I was at got his PS3 solely through tradeins.

The only time I've traded in is when I was in a hurry to get rid of a game and I took a $27 loss on it after having it only a day (Monkey Ball on the Wii).

Seriously, I don't get it either. I think they're a much better value in just keeping them, or giving them to a friend.

Trade-ins for 360 games are not that low, unless we're talking about crap games like Gun or year old sports titles, even then I suspect you could get at least $10 for them. Last week I traded in Oblivion and Splinter Cell 360 and got $58 worth of credit.

Could I have gotten more on ebay? Yep, but for me it's not worth the effort of setting up an auction, then waiting for payment, then shipping the game out to someone. For me, an extra $20 is not worth all that hastle.

Plus when I pay $60 for a game and get a few months of entertainment, my $60 was well spent and anything I get for it after I've played and enjoyed it is a bonus.

Most who trade in here, take advantage of specials or bonuses when trading in to cut down on the losses from what I've seen.

I just sell games I don't want on Amazon.com...you get pretty decent value, generally.

We have a lovely trading forum here you can usually get a fair price through.

I only trade at the games stores when they have something like a trade 3 get extra $10 deal, and even then it's only old games I've tried to sell/trade in the forum here a few times with no luck.

I rationlize by noting that after fees these old games aren't going to make much more money on eBay, and that it's not worth the hassle with my busy grad student schedule (and the fact that I have no seller feedback) to bother.

Also, I seldom pay $50 for a game and the ones I do buy at full price tend to be things like Zelda, Mario, Metroid...basically my favorites...that I would never sell or trade anyway.

Anyway, though I probably lost out on $50-100, I was more than pleased to trade in a bunch of games, and my useless X-box and GC to entirely pay for my Wii and Zelda.

No hassle, and saved me a bit over $300 for something I'd just paid for out of pocket otherwise.

I've traded in a few games at FYE/GC/EB in the last few years, but only when they gave more than I paid. Like I bought Psychonauts at TRU for $5, traded it in for $9, bought Darkstalkers for $9, traded it in for $15. Other than that, I keep the stash for crazy trade in deals like 4 for 1 at FYE, or 3 for 1 like EB had at PSP launch.

I traded in the matrix game for gamecube and got like a buck or two. i think i got the better end of the deal.

I would be one of them. However the last time I traded in some games at EB was when the PS1 was at it's peak. FYE and Gamerush have done some very decent promos the last few years, if I'm too lazy too post on ebay that's where I usually go.

I only trade in when it profits me immediately, like the recent EB/FYE 360 deal.

Other than that, the collector in me doesn't let me get rid of games.

After regretting trading in SNES games for a N64 several years ago I have never traded in anything since. Most of the time if I no longer wish to hang onto a game for one reason or another I will hand it off to a friend who does want it.

Anything I trade is just collecting dust and I don't fell like checking people out on trading on forums. So most of the time it's no big deal even if I don't get that much.

I traded games when you could make some cash flipping them at GameRush... paid for my 360 so all was good :D

Haven't traded anything in a while though.

I usually hang onto my games until there is a deal like trade in 3 and get an extra 20% credit or get a particular game for free or something like that.

There are lots of games that I buy that I will never trade in, and the ones that I do are generally sports games that I'm done playing and know I will never play it again. I do hate that you pay $50 to $60 a game and only get maybe $10 to $20 trade in value, but if you trade them in at the right time you can get a bit more.

I only trade when there is a big bonus, like 2 for 1 deal and the games have to be either collecting dust or won't get much more on half.com.

I did the same thing Josh did though for the first time. I did trade/dump a bunch of Xbox games a few months back. None fetched more than $5 on half, so it was worth it to NOT mess with shipping those out. It should also be noted that was the only time in the Xbox lifespan, 5 years, that I traded in stuff for such a little amount. Considering none of them worked on the 360 I had no use for them anyway. I did the $10 bonus deal on these.

And like Josh, I used the credit towards games I will keep. Zelda and Gears of War.

I don't I sell them here/IGN/eBay. Much better profits that way. I don't go to an EB or Gamestop for anything actually.

I do have to say though, the local Rhino Games has a good trade in deal. Trade in any 2 games that are worth $10 or more store credit each (their trade in values are high) and get a $49.99 game free.

You want a new game but you don't have the cash. I've done it before. :shrug:

And if that's not enough, here's some extra rationalization:

Don't think of it as paying $50 for a game, think of it as paying $50 to play the game. Anything you get back from the game after you're done playing it is just extra. If you don't like this line of thinking, then you're probably a shameless game hoarder.

It all depends, I wouldn't consider trading new stuff in, but for example, I was tight on money and wanted a new 360 game. Now, I've collected games all my life and I 42 PS2 games that I hated and just had sitting in storage, so I dug those out, went to EB and traded them in, only expecting around $40 dollars worth of credit. What did I get? Damn near $200 bucks for those titles, most of which was PS2 launch titles! So, it all just depends on the situation and the games.

if you have the extra 10% card and a stack of games during their extra trade credit offers it's actually not that bad. But otherwise yeah, I've had them offer me $1.33 for a game before and I basically said "screw that"

Alot of people, myself included, will not pay 50-60 dollars for a game... ever

Yes EB/GS trade ins suck... I learnes last week, traded in a couple GBA games towards a games I was going to use towards a new game in Rhino video games 2 for one deal which is always going on... got 2.50... but it turned out good... I had picked up a buy 2 get one free, plus this other game paid about 53... returned the 3 used games... the idiot charged my card back 55 dollars...

Now I have no problems at Rhino, who allow you to trade in any 2 games worth 10 or more in trade in (according to their records) towards a NEW or USED game worth 49.99 or less... (does also work with pricier titles, but you simply pay the difference)... I generally only average 20-25 per 360 title... the thing with this is finding a supply of cheap games which qualify for the deal... getting harder with newer systems

I don't buy games at full retail anymore. Most games I buy nowadays are $20 or less. That's how I can justify selling/trading them in for under $10.

I disagree with that. Ownership is part of the draw. If one just want to pay to play the game, then they're stupid to not just join Gamefly, or get one of the memberships at Blockbuster or Hollywood and just pay $20 (or so) to play whatever game(s) they want as long as they want. Much better value.

I try to only buy games I think I'll end up wanting to hold on to. I didn't do so well in the past at that (hence having a bunch of shit to trade toward a Wii from buying too many hyped PS2 and X-box games that just weren't my cup of tea), but I'm being much more picky this go around. Hell, just sticking to only the DS and Wii well help a lot, as I traded very few GC games.

I take advantage of all the xtra trade in promos @gamestop/eb as soon a new title is released! why is that? because I can buy the same title down the road used for a lot less than the trade in they gave me & still get to play the game @ launch!! so unless I love a game I'm dumping it before the xtra trade in promo ends therefore getting way more than I would have if I waited.


the titles I trade in & rebuy later are only if gamestop/eb have there b2g1 free promo going on.


this method works for me & saves me the hassle/headache of trying to sell games on e-bay or waiting for little billy to buy ur games for $5 at a yard sale.

I sell games on eBay. I refuse to shop at EB/GS, and I get more money. Win-win.

With GameRushes around, my question is, "How do I rationalize holding onto them?"

I've only traded in games on some of the deals. For example, they had a deal where you could trade in an old system plus any 5 games and get $10 extra trade in credit on each game. I used this to get my slimline PS2 (replacing the flaky old one).

It has to be near the amount of money I'd get for it on ebay. Not as much, but I'd say it has to be about 75% of the ebay going rate. It takes time and effort to make listings, mail packages, deal with ebayers, etc - time that I don't have just to make an extra couple dollars.

And in general more than $5. I don't think I will trade a game in for less than $5. I'd rather keep it.

Plus sometimes you can make money on tradeins, especially somewhat clueless places like FYE.

I trade in DVDs to wherehouse.com because selling them on ebay is pretty tough except in lots, and even then it's not great money. Plus you have to compete with all the chinese bootleg discs. There's certainly bootleg GBA/DS games on ebay to compete with. Again, I won't trade it in unless I'm getting a certain minimum - normally over $3.

Forget the trade-in values. What amazes me when I walk into Gamestop/EB Games is that they're selling old, dog-chewed PS2 and XBOX games with missing manuals for the same price that you can buy them new at another store; and occasionally for significantly more.

It takes me so long to get through games, that I can hold out on newer ones to come down in price. Even then, I'll usually buy them from pawn shops. If a friend doesn't want to borrow the game, which none do since only one owns a gaming system, I'll put it in a stack to trade off. Once a game shows up that I want quickly, and I'm available to start a new game, I'll take them all somewhere to trade in.

I figure if I spend $30 on a game, and enjoy it for a few months, I got my money worth.

Tell me about it! I love when the used price is only $5 below the new price. :lol:


IMHO, anything over $15 for a used game is way too much.

You speak the truth. I would even say a used copy of a brand new game could be sold for $30 used, but not a nickel above that. However on the times I've went in to scan the used shelves, greatest hits titles were being sold for $18-$22 used. I can get the game BRAND NEW for $20.

That's why mom and pop shops are so much better with the used game system.

I traded in my XBox for $55 at Gamecrazy. Good deal!

Not really. You could've gotten more selling it on Amazon.

Agreed, I'd have ebayed it first, not quite enough IMO. I heard EB was taking gamecubes/xboxes a while ago for $80 tradein, I would consider that.

That said I hate selling electronics to people on the internet, too many morons out there that don't know what they're doing. I prefer to stick to video games, DVDs, etc: dummy proof stuff.

Plus boxing/packaging it, liability, etc. I'd rather take a little less (say 15%-20%) to just dump it off at a store.

Doh!!!!!!!!!

I was with you on that this gen. Up until a month ago I sold every game I beat to finance new ones. No sense of having a shitload of unplayed games this gen. Well that was blown to hell in November. I went into November owning Kameo, Dead Rising & LSWII. I sold traded everything else on the 360 that I owned and was done with as I finished them. Since then I have picked up Table Tennis, SC:DA, GoW, Zelda, Monkey Ball, Rayman, the three BK games and today I picked up Viva Pinata out of curiosity. D'oh. So much for that plan. :lol: To be fair, I'm halfway through SC & GoW and finished Rayman. I also have 3-4 games on my Christmas list. And so I easily slip back into old habits after 9 months of being good. :(

I'm still doing good, but I will get a bit bogged down with X-mas as I think between now and then I'll get:

Yoshi's Island DS
Castlevania: PoR
Guitar Hero I

But that's not nearly as bad as yours. :D I enjoy gaming more this way, I can focus on games I enjoy, and get the most out of them. I tend to rush through games to get to the next one when I have a backlog, and I also end up being not conservative enough in my game buying and getting annoyed playing games in the 7-8 score range rather than focusing on personal 9-10 rating games.

That's a bit confusing, but the gist is I enjoy gaming more if I do it less and stick to personal AAA games, rather than playing more (and thus inherently having to dip into below AAA games) as I get out of my "comfort zone" a bit in terms of playing games outside of the genres I like and below the quality standards I prefer.

I figure $5 is worth more to me then having a game sit on the shelf collecting dust.

Well, I dont know about selling stuff on Amazon and Ebay... The shipping always kills me and end up getting just about as much as if I traded in. From now on with bigger items I will do Craigslist and just give my old stuff to friends or maybe donate for a tax credit or to the library.

I only trade in when there's a deal, or the things I'm trading, I got for a really good price; especially if they're crap that don't sell on Amazon or Ebay.
I don't pay 50-60 bucks for a game, then trade it in for 3. For that little, I'd rather give it to someone I know who would appreciate it, or donate it to a charity. Or just keep it in case I want to play it years down the road.
I'm all for capitalism, but it also makes it worse when the tradein value is 3-5 bucks, and they sell it for 5 less than the new copy.