Trade-in or Sell Used Games [Gamestop Vs Ebay]

As I count the days until the Playstation 4 and Xbox One release dates, i’m left also keeping a close eye on my bank account.  Like many gamers, I am going to have to figure out some extra ways to save money in order to be sure I can buy the games I want at launch.  My first step in preparing for next-gen is to clear out my current inventory of 26 old games.  I held onto a few titles that I still enjoy playing, but the other games I felt I could live without.  So then the question is: What should I do with my old games?

Trade-in or Sell?

 

Most of us realize that trading in used games normally means you are going to get less money in return.  But the added benefit of  trading is the convenience a customer has by simply walking into the store with games, and walking out of the stores with cash.  But how much are you paying or willing to pay for that added convenience?

 

Selling used games may net you more money, but is it worth the added work you have to put in to list, package, and ship your items?

 

This commentary isn’t meant to persuade you of either choice.  As an individual, it is your responsibility to make the decision that best suits your lifestyle and needs. This experiment simply provides a real look at the raw numbers between the choices.  I first took my games to a Gamestop to get the Gamestop Trade-In Values, and then I listed all of the games on Ebay and started the auction price at $0.99 for each game. Below are the results.

 

Game Title	Gamestop Trade-In Value	Ebay Sold Price	Gamestop Used Price
Tom Clancy’s Endwar	$0.30	$0.99	$2.99
Call of Duty Black Ops	$6.00	$8.50	$24.99
Call of Duty Black Ops	$6.00	$9.01	$24.99
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved	$4.00	$4.25	$19.99
Halo Reach	$4.00	$3.76	$19.99
LA Noire	$2.50	$5.50	$14.99
Medal of Honor	$.50	$4.00	$4.99
Max Payne 3	$3.50	$10.00	$17.99
Sniper Elite V2	$6.00	$12.50	$19.99
Prototype	$3.00	$8.50	$14.99
Left 4 Dead 2	$10.00	$10.88	$29.99
Golden Eye 007	$10.00	$15.31	$34.99
Tom Clancy’s Future Soldier	$3.50	$4.25	$17.99
Transformers Fall of Cybertron	$9.00	$17.50	$27.99
Dance Central	$1.50	$3.25	$9.99
Operation Flashpoint: Red River	$5.00	$6.50	$19.99
Tom Clancy’s Future Soldier	$3.50	$9.00	$17.99
Homefront	$1.00	$0.99	$9.99
Red Dead Redemption	$4.00	$7.55	$19.99
Killzone 3	$1.50	$4.72	$9.99
Medal of Honor Warfighter	$4.00	$8.50	$17.99
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction	$1.50	$10.00	$9.99
Prototype 2	$7.50	$8.50	$24.99
Amazing Spider Man	$10.00	$13.50	$27.99
Crysis 2	$3.00	$2.75	$14.99
Sega Superstars	$0.40	$0.99	$2.99
	TOTAL GAMESTOP TRADE-IN VALUE: $111.20	TOTAL EBAY SALES $192.19	TOTAL GAMESTOP USED GAME PRICE: $415.77   (“Profit”: $304.57)

 

I charged $4 shipping which gave me an additional $104.  From this amount, I paid my ebay fees ($23.82) / Packaging materials ($15.39) / Postage ($62.83) – which left me $1.96.

 

So in total, I walked away with $194.15 by selling my games on ebay.  Which means I made $82.95 extra by selling instead of trading in.

 

Keep in mind that this is only one experiment, and you have many options when it comes to trading or selling games.  I used Gamestop and Ebay.  But there are a number of different companies and websites that you can go through when offloading games.  I probably could have made more money for instance by selling on Craigslist and would have skipped shipping costs.  Either way, i’m happy to have some extra cash that I can apply towards the next Xbox One or PS4.

 

The biggest lesson I think I learned from this experiment, is that I won’t be buying pre-owned games in store anymore.  As noted on the table, if you had purchased these games in store, you would have spent $415 (Pre-tax).  The people who purchased the games online received a much better deal. *NOTE* I do want to add that Gamestop does offer deals occasionally where you can get more for the games you trade-in. However, they were not running any extra deals that would aid me in getting more money for a next-gen system the day I went in the store.  If you have a PowerUp Rewards card, you can get an extra 10% on values.  But the reward card costs $14.99, so I wouldn’t have saved any extra money.  The amount saved would not have even covered the cost of the card.

 

What is your favorite way of getting rid of old games?  And how are you saving money towards the next-gen?

 

By: The Red Dragon

VGN: Video Games and News