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Major Retailers Tap Into Used Game Market

by Warren Riddle on April 12, 2009 at 07:21 AM



GameStop, for years, has monopolized the corporate-level, used game and trade-in market, but, in March, several big-name retailers muscled in on the action. Amazon (which had previously allowed only third-party, used game sales) and Toys 'R' Us initiated the movement, and, according to Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets, several other major corporations will soon enter the fray, as well. He told Gamasutra that one "large consumer electronics retail chain is rekindling efforts to sell used video games." At least one other source, GamePolitics, believes that chain to be Best Buy, who tested the practice in 2005 but never implemented it.

Don't feel too concerned, though, about a potentially negative impact on GameStop, who rakes in $2 billion annually from used game sales, according to Michael Pachter of Wedbush-Morgan; Amazon, for example, is only projected to earn 2-to-3-percent of that total. To further ease GameStop worries, Hal Halpin, President of Entertainment Consumers Association, told GamePolitics that "Toys 'R' Us and Best Buy getting into the used game business makes sense because they really serve very different markets than GameStop, demographically speaking."

We've been loyal GameStop shoppers for years, trading in the impulse buys and unplayed gifts that inevitably gather dust on folks' shelves. But, competition is rarely a bad thing. Especially if it enhances trade-in values, and helps you keep a couple extra dollars in your pocket. [From: GamePolitics and Gamasutra Via: Joystiq]

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Tags: amazon, best buy, BestBuy, gamestop, retail, sales, toys r us, ToysRUs, used, used games, UsedGames

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