Does Gamestop have a future?

As much as I want Gamestop to fail now that it’s marginalized PC games and turned into a pawn shop, I don’t see any evidence that it will fail. Jake Plane’s thread doesn’t help convince me, either.

Do any of these stores let you trade in games? People have called GameStop a pawn shop for good reason, they would rather buy your old game and sell it used for far more profit than they could selling it new.

Try buying a new game at a Gamestop on anything but release week, they always push the “we have a used version of that for $5 less”.

Oh yeah, that’s another reason why I quit going to EB. Trying to get a game on release is impossible unless you pre-order. Which I find really odd because in every EB I’ve been to there’s been a Wal Mart, Future Shop, or Best Buy within walking distance.

I guess this just highlights the fact that they’re a glorified pawn shop. They don’t really want you to buy a new game, they want you to buy it from BB and then trade it in for another used game at EB/GS.

Actually, it’s better for them if you do all your transactions there. What they do is get you to pre-order something and then use your “old” games as a downpayment on the new one via trade-ins.

Then other people (like me) come in and buy the used ones where they make their profits.

…although they don’t like me all that much either since I only buy the used ones when they’re $20 or less for the most part. I’m not their highest profit customer, though they make out ok on me too.

One thing is certain, without the used game business, there would be about half as many Gamestop stores as there are now, and Gamestop doesn’t deserve the real credit, Electronics Boutique pioneered pre-owned on a national basis. I was working in one of the ten original stores that ran the program when it was brand new. They got some of their ideas from a guy here in Reading that did a killer business in used games waaaay back in '93.

Hopefully that helps save this black hole of a thread from collapsing in on itself.

So explain why some GameStop-like entity in the CD world hasn’t taken off? Is it just because music is essentially free on the internet? How is this different from games (although you could argue that games, unlike CDs, are locked to a single manufacturer’s console)? Or is it because margins were lower? What’s the basic difference between buying/selling used CDs vs. games? There’s more churn of the latter (you finish games), but easier churn of the former (buy/rip/sell).

Jake’s got a pretty decent point – we don’t see too many dedicated retail music stores any more, it’s been integrated into the big chains, and the siren song of ‘more indie and import stuff too!’ that CD stores used to justify their existence won’t apply in the world of downloadable indie games and massive publisher consolidation.

I’m in and out at Gamestop. But the one I usually go to also has knowledgable and friendly staff so maybe it’s an anomaly.

“I don’t know what the answer is. I am looking forward to direct distribution of all gaming content. Let the developer control his assets from start to finish. I used ot be scared of losing the local gaming retailer, now I cant wait for that day to come.”

Unfortunately, direct distribution seems to be simply another publishing avenue controlled not by the developer but by a distributor. You still have someone else taking a cut of the sale instead of 100% of the revenue going to the developer.

“So explain why some GameStop-like entity in the CD world hasn’t taken off? Is it just because music is essentially free on the internet? How is this different from games (although you could argue that games, unlike CDs, are locked to a single manufacturer’s console)? Or is it because margins were lower? What’s the basic difference between buying/selling used CDs vs. games? There’s more churn of the latter (you finish games), but easier churn of the former (buy/rip/sell).”

I think it’s because there never has been as much money in used music sales. The difference in price between a music CD and a game is significant. Also, games are more of a throwaway item than music, so reselling a game is an easier decision than reselling music. Most of us like to hang onto music we enjoy because we will listen to it again. Not so for many with games.

As a consumer, I’m glad we can resell our games. They are very expensive and the reuse value is minimal. Why would I want to hang onto a $50 purchase I will probably never use again when I can get $15 in credit for it?

As someone said earlier, big boxes often use cds as a loss leader. And they’re a shitload cheaper as well. You’re not going to get a huge markup on these, like you can with used games. It’s really not comparable.

There are used music stores around my area, and FYE does it on a national basis.

It’s less appealing because it’s a cents game instead of a dollars game, though. Gamestop buys back for $25 or less and resells for $55 or less. The customer saves as much as $5 on every game they buy used. Many used games also are simply not available new.

Plus new games are more easily purchased using trade-in credit from used ones. Publishers should take some time and look at the numbers. This industry grew by leaps and bounds when EB and later Gametop/Babbages/Software Etc. started their used programs. Publishers are selling more new games because of the used market, not less.

You take away used games and I guarantee you most publishers would feel it big time in their bottom lines. You’d essentially have the PC games market as it exists today.

Dude… it’s 2 days before Christmas. Whatsay you put a moratorium on being a douche for the next 48 hours or so?

Hey Mark, you know about [quote] tags, right? And the buttons that automatically set them up for you?

I’ve only been posting here for a month and even I know better than this.

Anyone in the service industry knows that that holidays only ramp up everyone’s doucheness, usually to an extreme, while their generosity suffers by an equal margin.

And I’m amazed that people actually look for things on shelves at EB/Gamestop. In my experience, the best and quickest way to do the Gamestop is to simply get in the checkout line as soon as you walk in, and then tell them what you want. They always have to get it from the back or some drawer, and the odds of getting new sealed shit are greatly increased when you don’t hand them a case in which to put open stock.

Sure, if you’re going for something specific. You never wander into a game store and look around for nothing in particular until a game grabs your attention? I tend to do that a lot, obviously I’ve heard a lot of word of mouth before I buy a game but a lot of times I just go in and take a look at what a shop has.

Gamestop as we currently know it is d0med, but what d0mes it is digital distribution (not Best Buy) and their actual for reals d0medness is many years away from right now.

I think the OP is right to question Gamestop as a good investment opportunity though… they’d have been a great one a few years ago, but I’m not sure they have much higher to go from here.

Actually, this thread was a pretty interesting topic. I was interested in what people thought, considering the blacklash gamestop is enduring right now, yet seem somehow they still seem profitable. I think its a decent question, why they endure when there are alternatives…

Primarily because, as Dave says, they’re the only place doing the used game trade-in thing. A lot of people constantly rotate games in and out of their library, so for them Gamestop/EB is the only game in town. I try not to spend any money whatsoever at Gamestop/EB, but sometimes they’re the only ones with something obscure.

Locally I buy most of my games at Target/BestBuy or a local chain that sells used records/movies/games but without all of the annoying bullshit that Gamestop brings to the table. The local store also employs humans in their stores instead of those strange EB/Gamestop drones, and they tend to have better stock too.

There’s also Gamecrazy. (Part of Hollywood Video.)