[General Discussion] So, why is it that EB Games/Gamestop are so adamant about promoting used games?

After reading a few promotions going on for EB Games and Gamestop, why are they so adamant and eager about wanting to get your used games? I personally don't get games from the used section (hell I almost never looked on the used wall rack) unless I'm looking for a specific title that I have no hope of finding new. I think trading in games is basically losing out on the value you've paid for it. I would only trade in games that I thought was so bad and just wanted to get something out of it for nothing.
However, that is a rare occassion.

For example, there's the promotion for trading in 10 games for a $50 credit. Now think about that. If you did pay full price of $50 per game for 10 games, it'd be $500 that you'd have spent for those games, and now you're only getting only 10% of it's value back in store credit. It should be obvious (from what I'm seeing so far) that it's a rip off if you want to trade in 10 of your games for lets say a Wii or a PS3 preorder. Perhaps the mentality from the retailers' viewpoint is that, well, since you're "upgrading" to the next generation of gaming, why still keep your old games? If this is the case, then why bother with the backwards compatibility for your older generation games?

So if these specified retails are going to such lengths to get your used games, I'm guessing there's a pretty big demand for used games by a few gamers? Note that the topic for this thread is for why EB Games wants your used games, not if you think you would personally prefer used games over new games. It's more less just a question thread, and will be closed when appropriate.

Thanks!

How ya doing, buddy?

It's true that they'll give you store credit (which doesn't hurt their financial cash flow) for let's say $10 worth of merchandise, then put the price tag for probably 200%, to put the used game back on the shelf for $20, and therefore not have to worry about manufacturer costs nor shipping/logistics costs that is accustomed with new titles, however, I'm very surprised that people are willing to trade in such huge quantities of used games and get little in return. I mean, from the campaigning I'm seeing with all the posters "GET 10 FREE DOWNLOADABLE SONGS WITH EVERY TRADE IN", it's either they've tapped into this "used games" market without having to suffer any real cash flow hinderances, or that people aren't trading games in so much these days and they want to push that used games market up again.

Also note for Canadian EB Games, customers only get store credit with trade-ins, no cash.

How ya doing, buddy?

I mean, hell, if I see a used Valkyrie Profile 1, Lunar 1, Phoenix Wright, or even a Disgaea 1, I wouldn't mind getting those used. But at the same token, the retailer would probably recognize the difficulty of getting those games and jack up the price accordingly. But this is for another thread for another time.

Yeah, I already knew about the profit margin, but I was wondering if the whole "used game" was actually quite lucrative in practice, since it requires the consumers willingness to part with their used games and receive so little back. So either they're really ramping up on their promotions because:

1) Retailers are capitalising on gamers who are idiots and will trade in hundreds of dollars worth of games for a fraction for store credit, which really is the gamers loss and I couldn't be bothered that they didn't do some very simple homework.

2) The "used games" is really losing it's appeal and the retailer wants to get vocal about it and starts plastering posters EVERYWHERE to draw the consumers attention back at the whole "used game" market.

Also, Where's JagSouth when you need him.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Thanks for that. Good, now at least I have a little bit more concrete understanding with the motives of the forceful used game business strategy.

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