Amazon Starts Video Game Trade-Ins - Get 10% Off a Future Gaming Purchase

[CheapyD]

[img-r=4876]5461[/img-r]Looks like Amazon is following Toys R Us in testing out the used video game business. As part of their service launch, until March 19th, receive 10% off a future single game or accessory purchase when you trade-in a game.

Amazon Video Game Trade-in Page (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FVideo-Games-Trade-In%2Fb%3Fie%3DUTF8%26node%3D979418011%26ref%255F%3 Damb%255Flink%255F83643391%255F1&tag=cheapassgam08-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957)

1) Games must be undamaged with manual and original case and be postmarked no later than 7 days after submission.

2) Print a pre-paid shipping label (provided free by Amazon) and packing slip, package your games, and ship them to Amazon.

3) An Amazon.com Gift Card will be deposited into your account upon receipt of games

CAG Shipwreck has discovered that the games are actually being purchased by a third-party merchant called NorAm International (http://www.norampartners.com/index.html). NorAm seems to mainly deal in media sales (mostly books, DVDs, and CDs) through online storefronts on both Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/shops/index.html/002-9826679-1352860?sellerID=A1BXFHVPTXH2Q3) and Half.com (http://shops.half.ebay.com/pieceofmindbooks_W0QQ).

[Master Shake]

Holy crap.

[ticalmc2k2]

You said it Master Shake. This could be amazing.

[ticalmc2k2]

Gamestop is gonna sh*t their pants.

Sorry for the double post.

[dan13l858]

Wow, this is going be bad for me. lol

[Master Shake]

I was surprised about Toys'r'us but this could be great. 10% off a game plus the credit seems worth it to me.

[DemonGamer24]

The values look like ****.

[matthewhsh2002]

O_O... wow...

[Saix_XIII]

The prices are pretty similar to GS, but what I am interested in is how much Amazon is going to sell these for...finally a good alternative to eBay/GS!

[agentxricky]

Their tivs aren't more than GS. I wonder what the prices are. It's cool that you can spend the credit on more than videogames though.

[Strider Turbulence]

They're paying $8 for NHL hitz 2003 on gamecube (which is $1.99 at gamestop). I got some gamecube and ps2 games I wanna dump here, should cover a couple of new releases at least.

[sotc1988]

Wow, I think that amazon might pull a great deal out every once in a while as things don't look very good or diff. from other tiv's.

[VipFREAK]

I dunno... I guess I could try it out with Too Human.

[Master Shake]

My question is are they actually going to check the games that they get before they're sold.

[TDAGARIM]

Hm...very interesting.

[WTFer]

No trade in for Blue Dragon? Only shows the DS version.

[Kingfalcon]

This is exciting news. Not only will this put pressure on Gamestop, but this is going to be a huge story = more exposure for CAG.

[Oktoberfest]

might be useful

but really, trading in games is still the worst way to sell games that have a value over $10

[WuGgaRoO]

well at least u know their markup...

as of now.. i personally think the values are pretty bad.. especially considering u have to buy bubble wrap + shipping + Dc to cover ur but

[RandyTsai]

you could just sell the games in amazon's marketplace yourself and get more $.

[KingBroly]

uh...can't say I saw this coming.

[killabeez22]

Exciting news, but have any of you taken a look at some of Amazon's trade-in prices on their games? Street Fighter 4 for $26.50? Call of Duty 4 for $13? It's probably worse than Gamestop's trade-in value. I know I'm stating the obvious, but if you're going to sell through Amazon, you're better off putting the game up for sale as a third party seller.

[Thraka]

well at least u know their markup...

as of now.. i personally think the values are pretty bad.. especially considering u have to buy bubble wrap + shipping + Dc to cover ur but

Pay for packaging? Yes
Pay for shipping? No - looks like they give you a pre-paid mailing label

[WuGgaRoO]

one thing i do like is that this creates potential competition with gamestop
THUMBS UP though for the "we need manual, case, etc".... i am a completist... so i will defiantly be buying off this site without hesistation
Also... i think shipping should be included

[Master Shake]

as of now.. i personally think the values are pretty bad.. especially considering u have to buy bubble wrap + shipping + Dc to cover ur butShipping is free but the credit offered doesn't look that great.

[Wario64]

wow, developers aren't gonna like this one bit

[Smallville123]

hmm wonder what their buy back price range is gonna be.

Edit:

Eww not so great. Blockbuster still has the best trade in values imo!

[dizee]

im gonna try this on the force unleashed PS3 copy i got for 14.99 from gamefly. it is going for 17.00 on amazon and that doesnt include the 10% off future purchase.

[ddrlenz]

This could be epic if they sell these at decent prices too!

[Hostile]

Meh. Went to check Call of Duty 4 and the price was horrible.

I don't use Gamestop in the first place and selling straight to someone else makes more money.

[InfiniteNine]

Hope people send in a few SNES games I can pick up.

[Spybreak8]

This is good news indeed since I usually grab most of my games off Amazon but I think over the years I've just decided to collect games more so than selling them back.

[dan13l858]

Now, this is real competition for Gamestop. I have some extra games from various clearance sales.

[etcrane]

Trade-in values are weak ... I don't see this doing much besides taking a piece of the pie away from Gamestop ... I prefer Amazon as a company though, so if I were to trade I would definitely do business with them from that standpoint. 10% off is a somewhat weak incentive ... now if they had some sort of points card or rewards system that accrued credit over time, I'd be all over that. As it stands now, there's no real reason to jump on the bandwagon or be even remotely excited. Both TRU & Amazon need to not just compete with GS but completely undercut them in order to change people's attitudes and habits. Guess it's a wait and see thing ... I'll have my eye on it but for now it doesn't seem worth much ...

[jdeluis]

Cool. All I know is this thread is going to huge.

[dm877]

i'm sending 4 games. I'll let you know how it goes.

[groundskeeper]

I gave it a shot. Traded a few older PS2 games in to see how well it works and to get the 10% code.

[Loudminority80]

Whats so grand about this one?

Phantasy Star Online, Episode I & II Plus
GameCube
Trade-in Value: $34.00

I still have mine new. Is there something of importance that makes this worth more than $7?

[safire]

TIV's are half on par with GS, half crap. I will be hunting for some Hitz 20-03 for GC, though haha

[gunm]

What I like besides the 10% off pre-orders is that shipping is "free" so far. I have a feeling though that this feature has/will have some affect on the TiV.

I dunno, GS has the benefit of instant gratification and I'm not sure I'm willing to wait on the whole process to go through when I can do pretty much the same thing @ GS w/Edge + whatever promos they have.

I'd rather just stick with amazon's discount prices on new games, DoTD, FSSS, etc.. Now if Amazon brought back the Price Protection in any form, I'd be singing their praises for sure.

[Jay]

Nothing special here.

[dg7md]

Trade-in values seem decent but not good enough to bother doing this over a trip to GS.

[Vitality X]

In the broad sense, this could be epic. What makes this so attractive is the fact you can use the gift card for anything on amazon.

[doodofdoods]

Whats so grand about this one?

Phantasy Star Online, Episode I & II Plus
GameCube
Trade-in Value: $34.00

I still have mine new. Is there something of importance that makes this worth more than $7?

It goes for $40+ on ebay, last I checked. Guess it's rare, the xbox version goes for considerably less.

I'm trading in two games. We'll see how this goes.

[arnoldhead]

Let's see, I got NBA 09 for free from Amazon and now they're offering $14 for trading it in? Amazon ftw!

[namtrahj]

Bottom of the page says "Trade-in titles are purchased by a third party merchant." So much for big Amazon sales on used games.

[doodofdoods]

Let's see, I got NBA 09 for free from Amazon and now they're offering $14 for trading it in? Amazon ftw!

haha, yea those would be the two games I'm trading in to them.

[musha666]

Anyone who would do this is a fool. Like was said before you can sell them for at least twice the amount. If youre going through the effort to have an Amazon account why wouldnt you just list the item and wait a day to sell.:S

[shipwreck]

So it looks like this is going through a company called NorAm International. I'm not at all familiar with the company, but here is their homepage: http://www.norampartners.com/index.html

On that page, they show their seller IDs on both Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/shops/index.html/002-9826679-1352860?sellerID=A1BXFHVPTXH2Q3) and Half.com (http://shops.half.ebay.com/pieceofmindbooks_W0QQ).

They seem to mainly deal in media sales (mostly books, DVDs, and CDs) through storefronts on those sites.

I'm still trying to find out more info on them.

[ryuu]

Here are the details on the 10% off coupon with the important parts bolded.

Details:

-To qualify for the 10% off coupon code, you must create a trade-in order during the two-week promotion period (March 6, 2009 - March 19, 2009). Items must be postmarked no later than March 26, 2009 to qualify.
-Coupon code applies to games and accessories in the Amazon.com Video Games store, excluding console or handheld hardware.
-Trade-in submissions not accepted and returned to you do not qualify for the promotion. Your trade-in submission could be returned to you if the items are damaged or non-working, incorrect items are included in your package, or accessories such as artwork or manuals are missing. Any submission postmarked later than 7 days after a mailing label is printed will be returned to you automatically. You should receive returned games within 14 days of receipt via the U.S. Postal Service.
-Qualifying customers will be emailed their coupon code within 30 days after the promotion period has ended.
-Coupon code applies only to items shipped and sold by Amazon.com. Does not apply to items sold by other merchants on the Amazon.com Web site. Does not apply to any products purchased in Amazon.com's other sites, including Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, or Amazon.co.jp, or in Marketplace.
-Coupon code applies to the lowest priced qualifying item.
-Coupon code valid on purchases shipped before 12/31/09.
-Applies only to complete orders shipping to a single address that meet all other promotional requirements.
-No substitutions or rain checks.
-Offer must be redeemed through the Shopping Cart. Does not apply to orders placed with 1-Click.
-Tax, shipping, and handling charges may apply to all products.
-Offer may not be combined with other offers, including promotional certificates.
-Void where prohibited.
-Limit one discount per household.

[bones56]

very interesting and gamestop is going to have a lot of competition. I haven't been in one in over a month. Well this is the future of gaming buying and selling used games.

[soliddragon]

you could just sell the games in amazon's marketplace yourself and get more $.

Absolutely Randy, that's what i do. although I do agree the market for trade ins could use more competition. This goes to show all of us the MASSIVE amounts of money these companies are making off of us, by trading in the games at HALF what they are turned around and sold for.

DONT do it bro!

[Mogambi]

Very...very interesting ;)

[Z_meista]

hmm.. this could be interesting

[FroMann]

Just them requiring a Case and Manual undamaged is good enough.

[addicted2games]

I will just sell my games like usual (with exceptions), but kudos to Amazon for requiring box and manual.

[GunstarRed]

It goes for $40+ on ebay, last I checked. Guess it's rare, the xbox version goes for considerably less.

I'm trading in two games. We'll see how this goes.

I heard the XBox version is completely unplayable now since they took the servers down and that one REQUIRED you to go online even if you were playing offline mode.

[phear3d]

great! ill try this out.

[Monsta Mack]

Hope people send in a few SNES games I can pick up.

I don't see SNES on the list to trade in things, but I'm pretty blind as is.

I think this is a great way to stick it to Gamestop, but I don't think a lot of people will take advantage of this because of the waiting game and lack of promotions Amazon will offer outside of the current 10% off future gaming purchase.

Also this is going to possibly make more and more developers angry and perhaps garner a bigger push towards possible console DRM or digital download. Not that I blame them.

Also, even with paypal fees and eBay fees I'm still getting anywhere from 10-30% more in "hard cash" versus credit. But that's just me. Other games It's a lot more.

[LiK]

nice, GS needs some competition. i like this new trend.

[phantomfriar2002]

This is a better idea in concept than it is in application. Most of the values are HORRIBLE. As others have mentioned you are much better off selling them direct through Amazon Marketplace yourself!

Even some of the lousy second-tier titles I tried come out that way. Take DEADLIEST CATCH for the 360 even --

Trade-in Value: $8
Current Marketplace Lowest Price: $19.99

I mean, that's a $10 difference right there on that one title! You're basically THROWING money away selling it directly to them.

[blackdog60]

wow, I guess a new standard in used game trade in value has just been created.

edit: better than Gamestop or Hastings have offered me for some titles I checked.
I just wonder about the trade in value to how much Amazon plan on selling it for.
How much of a profit are they planning on each traded in game.

[Akira119]

Tell you guys what, you PM some of your games and I'll PayPal you Amazon's trade-in price and pay for your shipping.

[xrayzwei]

This is a better idea in concept than it is in application. Most of the values are HORRIBLE. As others have mentioned you are much better off selling them direct through Amazon Marketplace yourself!

Even some of the lousy second-tier titles I tried come out that way. Take DEADLIEST CATCH for the 360 even --

Trade-in Value: $8
Current Marketplace Lowest Price: $19.99

I mean, that's a $10 difference right there on that one title! You're basically THROWING money away selling it directly to them.

But at 19.99 how long has that marketplace listing been on the site? That's the real gamble.

I would have thought Amazon (or the subsidiary that is handling this for them) would have reduced their margin somewhat for this to compete with GS, maybe even through the promotion period, but we'll know for sure when the game start selling. Right now it seems more like a crapshoot as to who will give you a better trade. I also don't like the idea of the company not accepting the trade (for whatever reason) and then waiting 2 weeks while the value is dropping even more before I can try and trade it in elsewhere. I also looked up somethings that GS has paid higher for in the past, and they don't have them listed.

I do agree that an amazon giftcard is nice, gamestop credit isn't as useful sometimes.

[bsesb2003]

Not sure this will be worth it unless there is some big mismatch in pricing, but I suppose its another option. I'm somewhat suprized by this considering it doesn't appear that gaming has been too effected by the downturn in the economy yet.

[dg7md]

This is a better idea in concept than it is in application. Most of the values are HORRIBLE. As others have mentioned you are much better off selling them direct through Amazon Marketplace yourself!


That is very true, but is always the case with selling to a company over selling to another person. Most of us here will take a ~10 dollar loss over the time and effort it takes to sell to another individual, especially if you got a bunch of games you're trying to unload.

It's so much easier to just take a bunch of games and sell it to a company that won't refuse it or ask questions over individually packaging up and selling each game up, with no real guarantees the person buying it will pay.

I'll stick to GS unless Amazon really ups their game for most of these values, not to mention it's just much easier to wheel and deal by doing it in person with stackable promos over shipping things in the mail. Games that are B-titles are not that easy to sell unless they're rare or a cult hit, so I welcome more game trade-in possibilities, but GS will still be the first place for most of us.

It's really cool though that you can use that credit on anything at AMZ and might be an option in the future if I want to unload some things to get some DVDs or something.

[popeye]

something tells me that this is a bad thing, i don't know what, but i keep saying to myself that this will add more competition to gamestop. and sticken it to the folks at gamestop is never a bad idea.

[dg7md]

Oh yeah, this broke on Kotaku just a while ago. Link: http://kotaku.com/5164720/amazon-entering-used-game-biz

[xrayzwei]

if we only had a way to compare the trade-in values on CAG ...

[Bookninja]

Remember to cut out commissions when comparing prices in Amazon Marketplace. A regular seller (not pro seller) will be charged 15% of sale price and a $1 fee. Shipping cost and reimbursement tend to break, but you tend to make a little money on shipping a video game with Amazon's reimbursement. In most cases the trade in is much lower than the corrected sale price - but for LittleBigPlanet they are offering $29 when the low used price is $33.88. Figuring commission and fee, you can only get $27.80 for the low price copy of LBP.
A more typical example is Mirror's Edge (PS3) - trade in offered is $13.50 and low used price is $28.95 at time of post. Corrected 3rd party sale is ($28.95*.85)- $1 = $23.61, so you are losing $10. The 10% off coupon is only good for video games and accessories sold by Amazon (excluding consoles), so maybe you could order a limited edition of something to make up the $10.
Generally, you are giving up value for certainty. I've sold a bunch of video games as an Amazon seller and they sell FAST - under a day if you describe them right. I think most CAGs would be better off getting more value, faster, and in cash instead of credit by selling on the Amazon marketplace.

[AwRy108]

At the bottom of the page it says: "Trade-in titles are purchased by a third party merchant"

I wonder if GameStop is the 3rd party merchant?

In any event, this is great--I'd so much rather get store credit at Amazon.con than at GameStop, especially since games usually ship for free and I don't ever have to pay sales tax.

[xxnike629xx]

something tells me that this is a bad thing, i don't know what, but i keep saying to myself that this will add more competition to gamestop. and sticken it to the folks at gamestop is never a bad idea.

+ No need to deal with annoying GameStop employees and customers
+ No need to drive out and wait in lines with a backpack full of stuff only to get low returns
- Need to spend money on packaging and shipping it out
- Takes time to get money back
- Trade in Values are about the same as GameStop (for the most part)
- Not that many games that you can trade in right now
- Can simply sell the games yourself on Amazon Marketplace (like i do) at a much better rate

IMO, it might sound nice and make it harder for GameStop to compete, but I'd rather not do any business with GameStop (never did any business with GameStop for about a year or 2 now), buy my games normally on Amazon, sell games and stuff on Amazon normally and get more money back...

This isn't that surprising as Toys R Us (to my understanding) is owned by Amazon.

[shipwreck]

At the bottom of the page it says: "Trade-in titles are purchased by a third party merchant"

I wonder if GameStop is the 3rd party merchant?

In any event, this is great--I'd so much rather get store credit at Amazon.con than at GameStop, especially since games usually ship for free and I don't ever have to pay sales tax.

No, the third-party merchant is a company called NorAm International. I posted the details on the last page.

This isn't that surprising as Toys R Us (to my understanding) is owned by Amazon.

Toys R Us is not owned by Amazon. They just used to have a partnership for their online sales.

[xrayzwei]

This isn't that surprising as Toys R Us (to my understanding) is owned by Amazon.

This isn't correct, the TRU site broke away from the Amazon site sometime ago as a merchant partner. I'm pretty sure they're not owned by Amazon.

[popeye]

+ No need to deal with annoying GameStop employees and customers
+ No need to drive out and wait in lines with a backpack full of stuff only to get low returns
- Need to spend money on packaging and shipping it out
- Takes time to get money back
- Trade in Values are about the same as GameStop (for the most part)
- Not that many games that you can trade in right now
- Can simply sell the games yourself on Amazon Marketplace (like i do) at a much better rate

IMO, it might sound nice and make it harder for GameStop to compete, but I'd rather not do any business with GameStop (never did any business with GameStop for about a year or 2 now), buy my games normally on Amazon, sell games and stuff on Amazon normally and get more money back...

This isn't that surprising as Toys R Us (to my understanding) is owned by Amazon.

word has it theres a 3rd party thats doing the sales. if its gamestop i dont think ill be using this, but if not i might pick up a few things.

EDIT: No, the third-party merchant is a company called NorAm International. I posted the details on the last page.

sweet i am all for this. lets hope there trade in values are fair.

[xrayzwei]

I think Ship's info on the third party merchant NorAm International should be in the OP

[shipwreck]

I think Ship's info on the third party merchant NorAm International should be in the OP

I made it so.

[itachiitachi]

This seems bound for failure, most people use gamestop because they are lazy so I don't see them going through to hassle of mailing in a game to get about the same TIV. People who already use the amazon will usually get a better deal by just selling the game for cash.
Are the gift certificates good for anything on the site or just video games? If there good for anything I can see that being an advantage over gamestop.

[crunchewy]

Well, the big advantage to this is that your credit is good on much more then just games. One downside is that you can only trade in certain games, not just anything. It is fairly convenient since you can print a shipping label and shipping is free, but you do have to have a shipping envelope, and that is an expense. As far as how it compares to selliing it on your own, well, there is less risk, but it doesn't have the convenience advantage of Gamestop, that's for certain. I hope it works out as I'd like to buy used games from Amazon, plus there may be occasions when there are flipping opportunities.

[Riskbreaker23]

i hope thing does well so that TIV in general will go up as competition increases

[mercilessming]

My Concern is we have all read the issues some Publishers/Studios have with USED market, they whine about USED market cutting into profits. Now Toys R US testing and Amazon going forward with it, I am afraid this will push the console market via Publisher/developer studio complaints to go digital distribution, meaning the end of good prices (I doubt much digital distribution gets Clearanced LOL ) the end of physical resellable games.

[dg7md]

Where will this "used" trend stop? Will they move on to DVD trade-ins also or is the DVD market just so saturated that it wouldn't be worth the hassle?

[Galego23]

Where will this "used" trend stop? Will they move on to DVD trade-ins also or is the DVD market just so saturated that it wouldn't be worth the hassle?


Last time I checked, there was already a DVD trade-in market...

[Haggar]

Also... i think shipping should be included

For the second time, you do not pay for shipping. It tells you right at the top of the page.

[monogoat]

For a regular current gen video game case (same size as DVD), I use padded envelopes I get from Dollar Tree with great success for shipping. They come in 2 packs, so $0.50 each before taxes.

[awp]

Let's see, I got NBA 09 for free from Amazon and now they're offering $14 for trading it in? Amazon ftw!

Guess I missed how people got NBA 09 for free from Amazon.

[dg7md]

Last time I checked, there was already a DVD trade-in market...

I meant at Amazon, that is why I said "they", but I should have been a bit more clear.

[Bazylik]

picky system... or I'm doing something wrong but when I try to find Haze it won't find it.. not even motorstorm.

[A_FITZ]

My Concern is we have all read the issues some Publishers/Studios have with USED market, they whine about USED market cutting into profits. Now Toys R US testing and Amazon going forward with it, I am afraid this will push the console market via Publisher/developer studio complaints to go digital distribution, meaning the end of good prices (I doubt much digital distribution gets Clearanced LOL ) the end of physical resellable games.

Well if thats the case... ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS!!!

[slidecage]

you could just sell the games in amazon's marketplace yourself and get more $.

Funny thing is you could sell in the marketplace and get amazon credit BUT there was massive problems with this so they stopped it

Expect to either see very low trade in vaules or Massive problems...

I got around 20 games i was going to trade into Gamefly Tomorrow but i just wait and see what happens


LOL EDIT THEIR PRICES SUCK

[Nirron]

picky system... or I'm doing something wrong but when I try to find Haze it won't find it.. not even motorstorm.

Quite possibly. I just did a search on a few games seeing if I could find a few nice trade-in values, and a majority of the games I searched had no results, or the results were completely unrelated games (Metroid Prime for instance isn't on there, though 2 and 3 are, but it shows No More Heroes and Okami). While I'm an enormous enthusiast of complete games, and Amazon does have the benefit of the marketplace being a better place to sell new/rare releases, taking ALL games and taking them with/without cover art/manual gives GS a nice boost.

They're roughly equal in my eyes considering you have to make sure the stuff is complete, though Amazon credit is tempting. I've been browsing looking for good GS to Amazon flips, but haven't really come up with anything. I'd make a thread but I'm not on here enough to update that thing.

[MSI Magus]

Could you imagine too if this worked with Amazon Prime? Could be pretty sweet.

[MattVid]

This should be interesting, though, the TIV's don't excite me at all. I would rather just hold onto my games than spend time packaging and dropping them off in the mail to make 10 bucks. I think I will stick with eBay :P

[WonkyToad]

The one thing that really bothers me about his is that it will instantly set a standard pricing on used games on Amazon.
Instead of Amazon sellers selling their goods at what they feel is a fair "market value", the price will pretty much be dictated by whatever Amazon's 3rd party company says they are selling it for.
So, a seller will have to sell it for less than them or hope the other company goes out of stock.

[ConfuciusCag]

Well if thats the case... ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS!!!

I like my physical media :cry:

[Squarehard]

some of their trade in values arent too bad, like for some older games the values are actually higher than gs, but a lot of the newer games that just came out arent really worth trading in. not to mention these dont exactly stack with my edge card, and if i did want the option to just cash out, there isnt one. i can probably make more selling it on ebay even with the eye gouging fees or just selling it on amazon marketplace myself. not sure if its worth all the effort to ship, and if the conditions arent what they expected they ship it back, and may have to charge me shipping to ship it back, etc etc. ill believe it when some people actually do it and give some feedback i guess

[Treythalomew]

I'm hoping that they undercut all of gamestops prices and have great combo deals. I live for amazon and all it does

[ConfuciusCag]

The one thing that really bothers me about his is that it will instantly set a standard pricing on used games on Amazon.
Instead of Amazon sellers selling their goods at what they feel is a fair "market value", the price will pretty much be dictated by whatever Amazon's 3rd party company says they are selling it for.
So, a seller will have to sell it for less than them or hope the other company goes out of stock.

Didn't even think of that. I usually unload my games on amazon because I can squeeze a few more bucks out of them. I guess I won't have much of a choice now, we'll see how it works out.

[shinryuu]

Sucks you can only get one discount coupon. I think it's worth trading in one game just for that coupon though.

[Thunderscope]

Why would I trade in a copy of my game on Amazon for $5 when I can sell it on Amazon for $15???

[kube00]

Hmm I dont use Amazon that much...
The trade in values are on par with GS, although GS usually has better better stacked trade in values.

Might give it a shot with some older games.

[shinryuu]

That's weird. I was going to trade in the Orange Box for the 360. It said I could not because my trade-in submission was less than $10. So, in order to trade in your games, the total value of your games has to be over $10. werd.

[Scrubking]

Good to hear. Hopefully more retailers jump in on the used game business.

[groundskeeper]

picky system... or I'm doing something wrong but when I try to find Haze it won't find it.. not even motorstorm.

Yes, no Haze in the system. PS3 has a short list of games.

[omyard]

I'll pass. If I wanted to deal with online transactions I'd deal with eBay.

I use Gamestop because they're convenient and I can use my trade-in credit on something else right away.

[Yartac]

I don't think game developers can fully switch to digital downloads without the consumers consent. If the consumer doesn't like it, and doesn't buy the first digital versions, that sends a strong message to the game developer.

Perhaps one day it will work like the music industry now. Digital downloads of CDs are a little cheaper than the physical thing, but you can't resell. I think that would be a happy medium. You pay a little more, but can resell, or you pay a little less and save them production cost. Especially in the world of 'going green' I could see it happening.

[dg7md]

Since we're talking about digital downloads here as a possible replacement for actual physical discs and how that might affect the used game industry... I wouldn't count on it anytime soon (http://www.edge-online.com/blogs/online-business-heats-up) to replace disc media. Looks like we'll be able to buy/sell our stuff used for at least another generation without worry.

[phear3d]

its easier to move things physically. what they can do later on is release it as a physical format, and within a certain time frame make it available as a digital format (maybe a year or 2 after its release, maybe sooner). maybe eventually making it available again in-stores but as one of those over-the-counter gift card like format (where you scratch the code in the back).

[rvdrock]

I'm a big fan of Amazon, but those trade in values are pretty bad....

[cheeky]

Wow. That's a major score for NorAm.

[halofreak64]

some prices are crap than u got good prices on bs games im going to try it with ufc for the ps2 16 bucks is awesome.

wish I had the manual for dark alliance 2 for the ps2 20 dollars would be nice.

[rodeojones903]

Is the coupon one use only, or does it work like the HD DVD coupon where you can use it as many times as you want until it expires? If it was a multiple use coupon this would be worth trading in atleast once.

Estarland gives better credit on every game I checked though.

[smashngrab77]

TIV's are crap and most games arent even in the Database

[dubbfoolio]

holy crap. wonder how much of a ripoff this will be.

[itachiitachi]

The one thing that really bothers me about his is that it will instantly set a standard pricing on used games on Amazon.
Instead of Amazon sellers selling their goods at what they feel is a fair "market value", the price will pretty much be dictated by whatever Amazon's 3rd party company says they are selling it for.
So, a seller will have to sell it for less than them or hope the other company goes out of stock.
I'm not really worried since the TIV is comparable to Gamestop I'll bet the prices on they sell used games at will be comparable too.

[gobz]

I just find it so hard to part with games. Even crappy ones

[BShea]

There's potential for a hot deal on the RB: AC/DC trackpack. I don't know if they are still on sale at Wal-Mart for $20, but tiv is $10 on Amazon. Bringing what most paid $40 for down to $10.

[punkmaggit]

Shoot - $14 trade-in value for Xenosaga III? I'm there!

[chakan]

Like many have said, the TIVs aren't that great. I'm going to do it once for the 10% off.

Is it thought that Amazon will be offering used games directly, or will it just be NorAm International's storefront? With my Amazon Prime, I hope its Amazon directly.

Good scoop, CAG!

[FlyingMonkey9]

The only good TIV is Left 4 Dead for 26.50, but even then, GS is 24 right now plus edge card is almost the exact same

Plus, do we need to pay for shipping?

[Galego23]

The only good TIV is Left 4 Dead for 26.50, but even then, GS is 24 right now plus edge card is almost the exact same

Plus, do we need to pay for shipping?

You need a box, and to print the shipping label yourself, so maybe.. but I'd rather physically go into a store and Trade-In a game then send it in the mail...

[jacknicklson]

You need a box, and to print the shipping label yourself, so maybe.. but I'd rather physically go into a store and Trade-In a game then send it in the mail...

Its been said numerous times that they pay the shipping. The printing label is pre-paid

[filanime03]

The only good TIV is Left 4 Dead for 26.50, but even then, GS is 24 right now plus edge card is almost the exact same

Plus, do we need to pay for shipping?
read the op they will pay you for your shipping you can print the shipping label on the amazon website.

[expane]

Worst deals EVER!

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Sony PSP

Trade-in Value:
$9.00

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
PlayStation2
Trade-in Value: $6.00

You are way better off using GOOZEX IMO

disgaea is a 700pt game on goozex, that will net you many current release PS3/PC/XBOX360 games. $6 will get you a McDonalds value meal.

[MSI Magus]

Another up side of this that no one is thinking about is that gamestop employees making it impossible to find anything of value. If a game sells for $50-$100 gamestop employees buy it before anyone else has a chance to. This might make it easier to find older games that those douches are picking up.

[aihuman]

Death to gamestop.

[farfus]

Thanks, as always, Cheapy, ive already found a ps2 game called Trapt that is based on the Deception series from Tecmo, one of my favs! I love Amazon and anything they want to do is almost always consumer friendly!

[expane]

I don't think people uderstand, this is TRADE IN VALUE not how much the games sell for. There is no magical online store that is going to sell you these used games for cheap. You trade into to amazon via the 3rd party merchant... good luck even finding that merchant's stuff via the amazon storefront (garbage)

[acsguitar]

Meh the prices are lame. Goozex.com FTW

[crewj]

noram reseals games and sells 'em as new on amazon marketplace. i've already experienced that twice and have brought it to their attention

[lokizz]

when you trade them in can you use the giftcard for anything or just games?

[karkyco]

noram reseals games and sells 'em as new on amazon marketplace. i've already experienced that twice and have brought it to their attention

Wow that's a serious accusation! I hope Cheapy reads your post and considers updating the front page/original post with that information. Do you have any proof, such as your invoices and perhaps email discussions with them?

Not that I don't believe your claim, in fact I'd much rather get the word out about something like that. It's just that CAG would need verifiable proof.

EDIT: Wow, Wii Sports trade in value is $14. What a fat load of fail.

[Tom Ato]

I got rid of some Gamecube and GBA crap. They seem to have around a $5 minimum so that beats the $.75 I would have gotten at Gamestop for this stuff. I don't think I'll be using the service again though, certainly not for new stuff.

[mrnivek]

Wow, now with Toys R Us and Amazon in the used game business I bet Gamestop becomes a bit more competitive with their pricing and trade credit they give out. Sorta feel sorry for the independent used game stores in my area since they are probably going to take the worst hit from this.

[Schwowsers]

Not sure if it's been pointed out already, but the site says that to qualify for the 10% off coupon, you need to do your trade in order between the 6th and 19th. I was going to send in 4 games today, but now I'm gonna wait until tomorrow.

[gmagnus]

I heard the XBox version is completely unplayable now since they took the servers down and that one REQUIRED you to go online even if you were playing offline mode.

Not true.

[anthonyd46]

i think www.estarland.com is a much better trade in site as they take games from any system dating back to nes ive had alot of sucess with them

[gmagnus]

EDIT: Wow, Wii Sports trade in value is $14. What a fat load of fail.

Yeah, that's way too much for a free game that comes with the system. It shouldn't even sell for more than $5.

I got rid of some Gamecube and GBA crap.

How many people still have GBA game boxes?

[riptidewahoo]

Yeah, that's way too much for a free game that comes with the system. It shouldn't even sell for more than $5.

You are incorrect, sir. Wii Sports trade-in should be at least $100. You can only get the game with a Wii System, and a Wii System without Wii Sports becomes a paperweight. ZING!

[rocky007]

Once amazon.com and their few preferred featured merchants have collected enough used game inventory they will start Mass-Booting and Closing accounts of small sellers. Amazon applied a similar strategy to their Booksellers. They will use their ridiculous and unfair to sellers’ performance rating to boot you. Don’t send them your inventory; once they have your games they don’t need you.

[dinobot]

i think www.estarland.com (http://www.estarland.com) is a much better trade in site as they take games from any system dating back to nes ive had alot of sucess with them

they do have awesome trade in prices.... are they reliable though?

[cozinator]

they do have awesome trade in prices.... are they reliable though?

They actually have a store right near me, in Fairfax, VA that I've been meaning to stop by. Any NoVA CAGs been there?

[Waterhouse]

Expect more of the same from other retailers that deal in video games. They've seen Gamestops insane profits off the used market and want a piece. And its not likely GS can just buy out their competition this time. As far as amazon goes, they will obviously have to get more competitive with their trade in prices to seriously compete with GS.
Personally I try to stay away from trading in games but I actually did bit this year when GS had that add extra 50% to wii games promotion (or was it 40%?). Even after you accounted for them lowering all the trade in prices that week to make up for it, was one of those few times where it wasn't a total rip off.

[Nirron]

Wow that's a serious accusation! I hope Cheapy reads your post and considers updating the front page/original post with that information. Do you have any proof, such as your invoices and perhaps email discussions with them?

Not that I don't believe your claim, in fact I'd much rather get the word out about something like that. It's just that CAG would need verifiable proof.

EDIT: Wow, Wii Sports trade in value is $14. What a fat load of fail.

How does one even trade in Wii Sports to them with the case/manual criteria? The game doesn't come in a case, only a small sleeve, and has no manual. Do they just take it disc-only?

[gunm]

Amazon might be able to get away with meh TiVs, if they can pair it up with unbeatable promos on trades towards new games.

I agree Amazon needs to step it up a lot if they want to make themselves more competitive with GS in this area.

I wish they would just focus on giving us the best deals and promos on new games, though, but oh well times are tough.

[Scrubking]

How does one even trade in Wii Sports to them with the case/manual criteria? The game doesn't come in a case, only a small sleeve, and has no manual. Do they just take it disc-only?

Yes it has a manual.

[anthonyd46]

they do have awesome trade in prices.... are they reliable though?

i have sent over 50 games to them over the last year and only had one deducted price cause it was badly scratched no issues with them at all

[goosedude]

I am wary of this working well for mail-in outlets.....just reminds me of the companies I used to mail my games to for trade-in credit along time ago in the 90s.

NOW...if they produced an actual TRADE-IN VALUE Sheet like those ones from the back of the EGM Mags and they used to have at FUNCOLAND.....well I would consider it.

Until then......IMO its more profitable to sell your games on EBAY or via AMAZON Marketplace or CRAIGSLIST.

I never trade-in my games to GAMESTOP.

For example...I sold all my DS Carts on EBAY this week.........sold SUPER MARIO 64 DS for 20$......how much do you think GAMESTOP would have given me?? 5$ MAX

[paddlefoot]

Yeah, that's way too much for a free game that comes with the system. It shouldn't even sell for more than $5.



How many people still have GBA game boxes?

Have you lived under a rock for the last 2 years?

[Lucci YaYo]

Wow that's a serious accusation! I hope Cheapy reads your post and considers updating the front page/original post with that information. Do you have any proof, such as your invoices and perhaps email discussions with them?

Not that I don't believe your claim, in fact I'd much rather get the word out about something like that. It's just that CAG would need verifiable proof.



EDIT: Wow, Wii Sports trade in value is $14. What a fat load of fail.

Actually this is true, I bought brothers and arms hell's highway on Amazon from the lightning deals, and sold it to someone on Ebay, and he commented back to me that the game was resealed, and it was not brand new, in fact he found scratches and various fingers prints that led him to believe it's used. This is pretty freakin scary, and as a matter of fact, I bought girls next door season 3, and one of the disc was used, scrached, but other discs were not. It's strange that even circuit city can do some shaddy things.

[popeye]

so eh... get this (http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/03/05/toys-r-us-best-buy-amazon-entering-used-game-market)

Best Buy is jumping into the used game market as well. if you ask me, something fishey is going on.

EDIT: gamestop profit records must be the envy of every other corporation out there in this economy. all i can say is that with all the new used game markets i expect to get a GREAT deal on used games. if not I'm sticking to e-bay.

[safire]

They actually have a store right near me, in Fairfax, VA that I've been meaning to stop by. Any NfieoVA CAGs been there?

I went to their retail store when it was still open, which was located on Braddock Road in springfield. I remember buying lots of fun stuff there, including my Neo Geo Pocket Color, some Saturn imports.

That store has since closed, but they recently opened their warehouse for customers. According to the website, it's located right near Fairfax Circle (where 29 and 50 meet). I haven't been there yet, but I have researched their TIV's thoroughly and many of them for PS1 and Saturn titles meet or come quite close to their market value.

[lifeinthefridge]

I guess this is good for people who actually trade in their games, but after looking at some of the values I dont see how this is good for anyone.

No company including gamestop's values ever seem worth it. Some times I feel like with some of the vaules your just giving them the game to take it off your hands and youll get a few bucks. Plus why why would you go through the hassle of sending the game in when you could do the same by selling the game on ebay and getting much more money.

[Galego23]

Its been said numerous times that they pay the shipping. The printing label is pre-paid


Cool, thanks cool guy!

[Frythan]

Wii sports is worth 14.50??? that doesn't make since, every wii owner should have one since it comes with the system.

[Jay]

they do have awesome trade in prices.... are they reliable though?

I traded in some games to them a couple of times,if you have over a certain amount they will play for shipping.

[dan13l858]

Wii sports is worth 14.50??? that doesn't make since, every wii owner should have one since it comes with the system.

Some people bought there Wii systems used so sometimes it didn't come with Wii Sports. Since you can't buy Wii Sports in the store alone unless it is used which makes it have some value. Ebay was selling Wii Sports @ one time for 50 bucks.

[popeye]

Some people bought there Wii systems used so sometimes it didn't come with Wii Sports. Since you can't buy Wii Sports in the store alone unless it is used which makes it have some value. Ebay was selling Wii Sports @ one time for 50 bucks.

that and it is in the top 5 wii games out right now.

[jdlmm80]

The values look like ****.


Yea they are worse than gamestop!

[onapartyrock]

so eh... get this (http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/03/05/toys-r-us-best-buy-amazon-entering-used-game-market)

Best Buy is jumping into the used game market as well. if you ask me, something fishey is going on.

EDIT: gamestop profit records must be the envy of every other corporation out there in this economy. all i can say is that with all the new used game markets i expect to get a GREAT deal on used games. if not I'm sticking to e-bay.

There was a Best Buy in Southern Atlanta, GA (by the old CompUSA) about three years ago that was doing this, they had the game section in its own room (like Toys R Us) and took trades and sold used games. That was the last time I was in Atlanta, not sure if they kept it going but the guy in the section said they were testing it out.

[gmagnus]

Have you lived under a rock for the last 2 years?

Yes, what part of my post are you referring to, and what has happened?

[Vegan]

I welcome anyone into the used game market who only deals in complete, manual-and-case games. I'll never buy online from places like Gamestop where I don't know what I might get.

[crunchewy]

For example...I sold all my DS Carts on EBAY this week.........sold SUPER MARIO 64 DS for 20$......how much do you think GAMESTOP would have given me?? 5$ MAX

Actually, right now you can get $15 for it via the tiered trade deal (trade in 6 games for +40% then an additional 10% with Edge for 50% total) and in any case the base trade-in value for that game is $10, so $5 is off the mark to begin with. Did you get $20 for SM64 really, or did you have to pay fees to ebay and paypal and perhaps even shipping that brought your actual take down? And what about the cost of the shipping materials? Were you considering those? How much did you really get for the game?

I wouldn't be surprised if Gamestop's trade-in values would have been competitive given the tiered trade-in deal going on now. You just have to take advantage of trade-in deals, and take advantage of them properly.

[Tomeeboy]

Pretty bad values on pretty much everything... Of course, that's how they make their money with it.

I've always thought that trading games in to any store was a huge mistake. If there's a game I absolutely must get rid of, I'll sell it outright or stick it on Goozex before trading it in anywhere. No sense in just giving away money out of laziness.

[Shady3011]

Interesting. They'll even take the Rock Band track packs. I basically paid $10 for the AC/DC tracks then.

[SlaughterX]

So... this 10% off thing, is it only good for one purchase or what?

[cochesecochese]

Kind of a rocky start but definitely a slap in Gamestop's mouth. We'll see how this goes.

[Coyotezeye]

Interesting. They'll even take the Rock Band track packs. I basically paid $10 for the AC/DC tracks then.

I saw that too was wondering how that works. So I can go to Walmart.. buy it for $20 or w/e the price is.. export the songs off then sell it to Amazon for $10.. + a 10% off coupon.

[Rouzhokuu]

Haha, this is classic.

Everyone trying to jump on the Gamestop bandwagon.

And it looks like their trade-in values are only slightly higher than Gamestop, but still pathetic. Oh, wait.. this is CAG, and since it's Amazon doing it, it's acceptable.

Oh well, too bad nobody is going to come close to Gamestop's success in the used game market. :)

Somewhere, a Gamestop executive just looked at this page, laughed, and went on about his day.

[efmchico]

Does anyone know if GBA games need the boxes and manuals?

[Scrubking]

I welcome anyone into the used game market who only deals in complete, manual-and-case games. I'll never buy online from places like Gamestop where I don't know what I might get.

I agree.

[lllGurulll]

Some of the TIV seem awfully low. I don't know how they really compare to GS though as I rarely trade in games as it is. Plus, do they mark down the worth for every little thing like some other stores do? Like minor scratches?

Seems like GS is still the way to go since you have the option to turn down the TIV in person if you don't like it.

[Richard Longfellow]

This is silly. First, the green recycling symbol is laughable (as if they're doing it for the environment, rofl). Second, they already provided this service through their Amazon Marketplace. You could already buy used games from third party sellers, often dirt cheap if the game's been out a year. And you sell to other people if you want to start a seller account. Not that it's harmful to have more trading venues, but it's just superfluous.

[Nirron]

Yes it has a manual.

Oh whoops, I'd totally forgotten. I actually lost my sleeve and what not so completely forgot. I just vaguely recalled what the little sleeve looked like, but completely forgot about that. Oh well, didn't really want to part with my copy anyhow.

I'm almost tempted to spend some of my GS credit on some of the even flips just because of how much better and more frequently Amazon tends to have deals on stuff I actually want, not to mention I could use it to pay for those times when I find Amazon's marketplace has some of the best prices on used stuff (though whether this used trade stuff changes that status, we shall see)

[gunm]

Nice job, shipwreck on sleuthing out the third party responsible for this. Not too surprising, but certainly good to keep in mind.

I wasn't planning to participate in this, and now it seems like promos won't be too spectacular unless NorAm is willing/able.

[Shady3011]

I saw that too was wondering how that works. So I can go to Walmart.. buy it for $20 or w/e the price is.. export the songs off then sell it to Amazon for $10.. + a 10% off coupon.

Yep. In fact, you don't even export the songs from the disc since you just use the code they give you to download them from Live.

[ianoid]

They're paying $8 for NHL hitz 2003 on gamecube (which is $1.99 at gamestop). I got some gamecube and ps2 games I wanna dump here, should cover a couple of new releases at least.

There are so many extra cheap GS titles, it seems like an easy flipping fest for someone with the time. Although I haven't confirmed much in the way of Amazon's buy back prices.

The biggest risk for all used game shops is paying too much for their stock. And then a close second is managing the stock, so that they don't end up with 13 trillion copies of Madden '0last year. 99% of interest in used games is probably accounted for by the last 3 years top 20 sellers, sports games excepted. Everything else is filler. I hope Amazon knows what they are doing.

One more way for me to support this site. Provided that the quality is there. Cheapy probably booked another trip to the love hotel to celebrate.

[safire]

Thinking more about this, I don't understand how it's going to work. GS has the convenience and immediacy factors favoring it, Amazon has the ability to buy anything on amazon with the credit. But if I'm going through the trouble of packaging and mailing my stuff, why wouldn't I just sell it on half.com or ebay, when those avenues would provide the greater benefit of cash, for about the same amount of work? For this to work, Amazon would have to provide highly competitive promotions.

[Capitalizt]

Anyone want to sell their used copy of MGS4 for $15 to me instead? ;)

[kennistond]

I shipped two games out today in order to pay for my Pinocchio Blu-Ray I'm buying next week.

$27.50 - $2 Mailer isn't bad considering how I won't go to Gamestop anymore, plus using the credit how I want is great.

[smarkbran]

It is pretty neat of amazon to do this...hopefully it turns out out be a good business venture for them. I wonder if they will do like extra trade in deals for say prime membership? I also like how they have all of their trade in values listed on their page, it seems to be competitive with Eb/Gamestop's trade in values which is good, hopefully it gets better as amazon has been amazing to us gamers the past couple of years.

[Taboner]

This isn't going to end up well.

[bigdaddybruce44]

I love how these types of thread inevitably turn to "GameStop sucks" nonsense.

Anyway, the more the merrier, as far as I am concerned.

[fairtrade]

I'd LOL if Amazon's 3rd party merchant is Gamestop. :lol:

[Rictor]

Looks like they sell the games on Ebay and Half.com, as well as Amazon and other outlets: http://www.norampartners.com/

[lllGurulll]

There is no way I am accepting trade in money when I still have to purchase packaging and take the time to go to the post office.

this is a joke. If I wanted to go to all that trouble I would list my games on ebay or half.

[Distrato]

Man I sure do hate getting screwed by Gamestop with their trade ins :bomb: What's that Amazon lets you send in games for credit? HOLY CRAP BEST IDEA EVER!!

[crunchb3rry]

Gamestop is fuuuuuuucked. Amazon doesn't even do anything more than simply giving people what they logically want. They bit iTunes ass just by providing no DRM. Now they're giving people more for trade-ins, less to buy used games, and requiring box & manual with all trade-ins. I'd say it's sheer genius, but it's simply common sense that Gamestop's raggedy ass outfit refused to adopt.

[bigdaddybruce44]

I really hate defending GameStop, but look at the numbers. No "raggedy ass outfit" would pull in the kind of profits they do. And you can complain about whatever you, including how the consumer base is stupid, but guess what? It's the same consumer base everyone is marketing to. And GameStop has been very, very, very successful with it.

It seems like every, single time someone enters into this market, the first words out of everyone's mouth is "Oh, GameStop is done." Hate to break it to you, but GS has been through a lot and put a lot of stores out of business. They obviously cannot put Amazon out of business, but they might not last long in the market.

I'm not gonna run down every, single TIV, but I decided to look at the front page and just compare some of the games that randomly came up. I took games that had recent TIV updates in the GS thread. Here's what I got. Little Big Planet gets $3 more from Amazon, The Force Unleashed on the 360 gets the same TIV, Animal Crossing on the Wii gets $2.50 more from Amazon, and Pure gets $.50 from GameStop. Yeah, yeah, it's just a few games, but the point is...these aren't mind-blowing differences.

People are still going to go to GameStop for a number of reasons. One, it is way more convenient than this. Walk in, scan games, walk out. Two, with some of GameStop's offers, you'll still get more from them, and again, with far less effort. Three, a lot of people are just dumb.

[Vinny]

Am I the only one who isn't really anxious to use this? Their trade in prices don't really seem that good to me. And the 10% off a future purchase isn't that great especially since Gamestop gives you 10% extra with EDGE and they frequently have trade in offers (though it's still a rip off) so that balances that off.

But competition is always good. Here's hoping Amazon starts selling used games... I'd be all for that.

[eep]

It will definitely be interesting to see how this shakes out. Competition is always a good thing for the consumers I guess. if nothing else maybe it will let Gamestop know they can't screw people anymore! http://wiigamerdeals.com/outgoing/img/1807/p08w1220pvsj/transparent_pixel.gif

[io]

Um, yeah - looking at several trade-in values in comparison to GS I see them being pretty even, with maybe a very slight edge to Amazon. Heh - I said "Edge" - well, when you factor that in (the Edge card that is) for GS trades then are pretty dead even. But wait - GS also has continuously running trade-in promos (like the tiered one that can net you 50% more on 6 or more games traded along with Edge). Given that and the need not to mail them in, I see this Amazon thing having very limited use unless you really want to trade the games in for non-gaming purchases (reasonable - say you want Blu-rays or electronics or books or whatver) or you only ever want to trade a couple games a year (and thus have no use for an Edge card or trips to GS).

(But yes, the competetion is great and I always welcome any and all outlets for trading and/or buying games!)

[bigdaddybruce44]

I think io brought up one of the better reasons to use this over GameStop: the ability to use the credit on a variety of products. Another one might be avoiding the GS employees.

[Chemosh013]

I'm going to do this just for the 10% off coupon. 10% off a TE stick will make it 134.99 no tax and free shipping which is a great deal!

[help1]

I am more excited to see how amazon prices used games than actually trading in games.

[RelentlessRolento]

honestly, if their game acceptance program actually functions well this will be huge. I'll finally have a new retail place to trade in crap other than gamestop when I can't trade things here on CAG.

[laaj]

Finally read the entire thread and there sure are lot of anti trade-in CAGs out there. Look, we all pay for conveniences and people differ on that is. Why eat out when you can just cook at home, learn to change the oil in your car to save money, etc, etc.

[Devion]

look like gamestop going to get some competitors

[ninja dog]

looks like about the same TIVs as Gamestop, aside from a few rare games.

[expane]

I am more excited to see how amazon prices used games than actually trading in games.

amazon is not selling them. This is a TRADE IN only, the games go to that crappy 3rd party merchant.

[sleepy180]

hopefully they will do some promo's after this 10% one. Then i could get in on this. Also you better be able to ship like 5 games in one box rather then having to buy a bunch of envelopes.

[ninja dog]

amazon is not selling them. This is a TRADE IN only, the games go to that crappy 3rd party merchant.


Anyone can be a 3rd party seller on amazon. They're probably selling these themselves.

[crunchb3rry]

I really hate defending GameStop, but look at the numbers. No "raggedy ass outfit" would pull in the kind of profits they do.

I'm not talking about their brick & mortar or preorder business. I'm talking about the online element of used games that Amazon is now competing in. Gamestop is poor at listing what they have available (way too many fairly new games show up with no results) and for what they do have they can't manage anything else beyond "we can't gaurantee a case or manual is available" when it's a problem they could have handled easily by taking Amazon's stance of not even accepting a trade-in that doesn't have the case or manual to begin with. They don't even give you a lower price if you're just buying the disc.

[dg7md]

I welcome anyone into the used game market who only deals in complete, manual-and-case games. I'll never buy online from places like Gamestop where I don't know what I might get.

Granted I don't know how it'll work, but I have a feeling Amazon will receive quite a few disc-only games. What are they going to do? Decline credit and send it back just because it doesn't have a booklet? Not likely over something as minor as that.

I think that them requiring case/manual is just a loose regulation because I am pretty sure there will be some submissions given without case or manual and I don't see them being sent back or refused credit over a manual. And, like many have said, these games are being sold to third-party outlets and not AMZ themselves so we won't be seeing a used department on AMZ it seems.

[polly]

I think it's great. Welcome to the game Amazon, TRU & BB. Maybe Gamestop will straighten their shit out now.

[expane]

Anyone can be a 3rd party seller on amazon. They're probably selling these themselves.

Take a look for yourself, Amazon is *Not* selling or even buying these games. It's a 3rd party merchant who is buying the games.

People are making assumptions that Amazon is going to sell these games, and at good prices. It's simply not the case.

[expane]

Granted I don't know how it'll work, but I have a feeling Amazon will receive quite a few disc-only games. What are they going to do? Decline credit and send it back just because it doesn't have a booklet? Not likely over something as minor as that.

I think that them requiring case/manual is just a loose regulation because I am pretty sure there will be some submissions given without case or manual and I don't see them being sent back or refused credit over a manual. And, like many have said, these games are being sold to third-party outlets and not AMZ themselves so we won't be seeing a used department on AMZ it seems.

Amazon is contracting this out to a 3rd party. They clearly stated case and manual are required in the policy. You are suggesting they are not going to bother following their own policy?

They can simply refuse credit and wait for you to pay for shipping before they even send it back.

[jalopez86]

this deal is awful. you thought the gamestop trade in values were bad. a whole 10% yeah! so if i bought a 60$ game that would amount to a whole 6$. amazing!

[io]

this deal is awful. you thought the gamestop trade in values were bad. a whole 10% yeah! so if i bought a 60$ game that would amount to a whole 6$. amazing!

I'm not sure I get the connection - I mean, you don't get 10% off new games when you trade at GS either. You do still get the trade-in value to apply to that new game (if you want) in addition to this one-time 10% off coupon. The 10% off is just to get people started trading in games. Granted, it isn't enough for me to choose them over Gamestop given the much better overall deals at GS.

What is this about Best Buy and TRU taking game trades? This is news to me. I know the TRU I went to the other day had no such thing going. And BB (and CC before it) were always doing test marketing of used game trades, it seems. Hell, I remember people taking advantage of the Best Buy one years ago. As far as I've seen, it's never expanded anywhere I've ever been though.

Actually, with Blockbuster nerfing their trade-in values down to Gamestop levels (but without the Edge card or deals or anything worth buying), I figure Gamestop will be stronger than ever. I don't think this will effect them too much.

[illini1010]

Amazon is contracting this out to a 3rd party. They clearly stated case and manual are required in the policy. You are suggesting they are not going to bother following their own policy?

They can simply refuse credit and wait for you to pay for shipping before they even send it back.

secondspin.com has the same policy, yet out of 4 games i ordered from them, 2 of them came with no manual. i wouldnt be suprised if amazon didnt care either.

[pezdukie]

this deal is awful. you thought the gamestop trade in values were bad. a whole 10% yeah! so if i bought a 60$ game that would amount to a whole 6$. amazing!


You completely do not get the promotion and once you figure this extremely complex (:roll:) promo out, you will realize how dumb that post you wrote is.

[io]

secondspin.com has the same policy, yet out of 4 games i ordered from them, 2 of them came with no manual. i wouldnt be suprised if amazon didnt care either.

I could very easily see not having a case/artwork being a much bigger deal than no manual. So probably manual-less copies will slide by. But that isn't the same as disc-only.

[jalopez86]

You completely do not get the promotion and once you figure this extremely complex (:roll:) promo out, you will realize how dumb that post you wrote is.
I got it now. Thats a bad promo then. Shouldn't they have an "and" somewhere in there. "Trade in your game and get 10% off future purchases."

[PaRappa/GMRTAG]

GS has been monopolizing used game market and glad to see other companies like Amazon and TUR jump in this huge market where tons of money can be made. Me...I'll stick with eBay.

[T3kN]

you could just sell the games in amazon's marketplace yourself and get more $.

Indeed

[TripMasterMunky]

Wow, just think about when you have a bunch of games piled up that you want to play...just send them in all at once. Awesome. Trade-in values look pretty decent too. I wonder how they sell them?

[popeye]

i just talked to somebody from BB, sounds like there used game market will be online just like amazons. because of that i think its bound to fail.

and i hate to say that because i would love to see gamestop offer better deals than what they have right now.

[Vinny]

GS has been monopolizing used game market and glad to see other companies like Amazon and TUR jump in this huge market where tons of money can be made. Me...I'll stick with eBay.

They've had competition for a long time now... GameCrazy has been around long before EB and GS merged. And then I know my BlockBuster (or GameRush for some) have done trade-ins as well. My CC bought/sold used games too.

But the thing is, GS is already so far ahead in the used game market... I just can't see any other store competing unless they're drastically better.

[Shady3011]

Oh hey, GS stock fell 13%.

[Gourd]

I honestly might consider using this. Basically the print out shipping label and mail system makes this a bit easier for those of us who live out in a rural area. The Post Office or UPS depot is a lot closer than Gamestop.

Plus I generally /like/ Amazon more than the brick and mortar stores. Never underestimate the power of garnered good will.

[bigdaddybruce44]

They've had competition for a long time now... GameCrazy has been around long before EB and GS merged. And then I know my BlockBuster (or GameRush for some) have done trade-ins as well. My CC bought/sold used games too.

Exactly. They've had competition for a long time. They are just better at getting people to come into their store and do business with them.

But the thing is, GS is already so far ahead in the used game market... I just can't see any other store competing unless they're drastically better.

Agreed again. Someone would have to pull off some very drastic moves to get a big enough share of the market, like have way better TIVs. And that could obviously only last so longer. Eventually, they would have to settle into a system similar to GameStop's, or else they would simply fold.

[crow3232]

wish i had known a day earlier
just went to Gamestop w their pathetic trade in amounts even w a coupon for extra credit & the card.
i wasnt going to do it either. Would have much rather dealt w Amazon, as customer service at Gamestop is bad, and Ive bought much more from Amazon

[Chronis]

It seems like they don't have a full listing of games ready for trade ins. I wanted to see what was the TIV for a copy of Dragon Quest 8 and they didn't even have it listed. Tried Every Extend Extra, not there. No Mega Man Battle Network 5.

[roguejedi5]

Alot of the prices are comparable to GS, but l like that you can use your credit on anything on Amazon.

[Scrubking]

Alot of the prices are comparable to GS, but l like that you can use your credit on anything on Amazon.

I was going to post the same thing. With amazon you aren't limited to buying games with your credit and that automatically makes it better than most other places.

Also people saying that Amazon can't beat GS need to take into account that Amazon is a way bigger and well known retailer than GS is. If Amazon plays their cards right they could easily become a major player.And again you aren't limited to games and I'm sure a lot of people will take to that.

[killer9]

117.50 in trade in credit for my games but i cant stack codes to get stuff cheaper at amazon

[bigdaddybruce44]

Also people saying that Amazon can't beat GS need to take into account that Amazon is a way bigger and well known retailer than GS is. If Amazon plays their cards right they could easily become a major player.And again you aren't limited to games and I'm sure a lot of people will take to that.

Amazon is bigger, but GameStop is no small company (something like 6000 stores worldwide). More importantly, they are firmly entrenched in the market. The first big step Amazon needs to make is for people to even realize they are taking in trades. Everyone and their uncles knows GameStop deals in used games.

[Loonknight]

I'm going to have to go through my collection of games I don't use to send to Amazon. The fact that Amazon has great deals, and I can use the credit on anything it is a win-win for me. Plus, Amazon gives me a sealed copy of a new game and doesn't try to sell me one that was on display.

[kearns710]

Although I prob won't trade in any newer games, this is def a Better alternative to gs because of the somewhat better TIVs + amazon is always offering better deals on games and preorders. Not to mention we have a wider selection of what we can buy

[xdl]

When Amazon begins to offer trade in promotions like Gamestop does, I will give them my business. But as of now, their near Gamestop or worse trade in values will not cut it. It's a nice near-cash alternative to Gamestop, but they simply don't offer enough for most games to make it worth the while.

[shadowkast]

They've had competition for a long time now... GameCrazy has been around long before EB and GS merged.I can't say how long gamecrazy has been around but; long before the EB / GS merge there was a store that was bought out and turned into either EB or GS (can't remember)...

...any way, anyone remember Funcoland!!!! *shadow shows his age* They were around berfore gamecrazy I'm sure.

[Galego23]

I can't say how long gamecrazy has been around but; long before the EB / GS merge there was a store that was bought out and turned into either EB or GS (can't remember)...

...any way, anyone remember Funcoland!!!! *shadow shows his age* They were around berfore gamecrazy I'm sure.

I remember funcoland... it's not THAT old, lol.

[fakero]

I miss Funcoland...they actually sold retro games.

[MSI Magus]

I miss Funcoland...they actually sold retro games.

Hehe anyone remember the days when they had like grey sheets that looked like big news papers that listed all their prices for games? I used to go in and get those newspapers and sit and circle all the games I wanted to buy like once or twice a month.

[jacknicklson]

I miss Funcoland...they actually sold retro games.

I miss them too but I can guarantee that if they were still around, the retro games would have been cleared out by now much like gamestop

[Shady3011]

Hehe anyone remember the days when they had like grey sheets that looked like big news papers that listed all their prices for games? I used to go in and get those newspapers and sit and circle all the games I wanted to buy like once or twice a month.

I remember when they actually gave pretty good prices on some games. I got $70 from a copy of MegaMan X3 cart only.

[oasisboy]

Those TIV suck ass, moving on...

[expane]

Funcoland, those were the days... guy near this place I worked back then who ran the Funco was a classic open shirt italian big shot used car salesman

[bigdaddybruce44]

Hehe anyone remember the days when they had like grey sheets that looked like big news papers that listed all their prices for games? I used to go in and get those newspapers and sit and circle all the games I wanted to buy like once or twice a month.

Oh my God, yes! Those were the best. I loved going through them when I was a kid.

[Vashthefool00]

This solves one of my biggest problems I had with trading in games to GS. It is not fun to have to go in person just to see how much a game would be worth. Rarely would they give a price or a general idea of a price of a game over the phone. Plus, the Amazon funds could be used to buy bacon. Enough said.

[stoned99]

Another advantage is using the credit to download MP3's. Amazon's prices for new albums beat the hell out of itunes. I picked up the new U2 album for 4$ this week. Every day they sell a different album for 2$. And all there tunes are DRM free.

[MSI Magus]

Oh my God, yes! Those were the best. I loved going through them when I was a kid.

Ya I was probably in like 4th-6th grade at the time. I think going through the Funcoland papers was as much a part of my childhood as playing the games themselves or running home from school to watch the Super Mario Brothers show.

[Nirron]

Hm, I read the short blurb they have about the condition of trade-ins, and it left me a bit puzzled due to the vagueness. They make it clear you need manual/cover art/case, but they say it must not be damaged. I don't know if they mean the game, or the whole package. Picked up a copy of NHL Hitz 2003, and the disc is fine, the manual is fine, and the cover art is fine, but the case itself has a hole on the front. As per what I expected from most GS employees I'm not friends with, they would not let me switch out just the case to get one without a hole in it. Now I'm wondering if I can even trade this in to Amazon.

I guess worst case I'll do what I usually do to get the old switcheroo and just buy some game at GS, switch the cases, and give them back their case with a hole in it while I keep a decent one. No profit lost or gained, but I get a decent case.

[MikeHoncho]

The only upside is that you can buy a variety of non game related stuff with the credit. With that being said the TIV is horrible, worse than gamestop. If I'm going through the trouble of online trading, I might as well spend that time getting real money on Ebay or a quick trade in at a local Gamestop

[skubish]

i love download mp3's on amazon. however, i buy more at itunes because of how it works and because of the fact that i have an iphone.

Amazon takes no more effort than iTunes. 1 click buy and boom. It downloads and is put into iTunes automatically. No effort on your part. It works great.

[Organ Donor]

I very rarely trade in games because its always a kick in the nuts to see how much they resell things for. As others have already said, its probably better to just sell yours games in Amazon marketplace .

[wampyrii]

Hmm, not impressed so far. I looked for the TIV of Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and Timeshift, both for Xbox 360 and I guess they don't want them for any price (at least, I couldn't find them in the system for trading in). :( Oh and $13 for COD4 or $30+ selling it myself through the marketplace? Pfft!

[groundskeeper]

Sent mine trades in Thursday, received the credit today. That was pretty quick for media mail shipping. i will defiantly keep an eye on the trade in prices.

[Doomstink]

NorAm International? That sounds like the company Fred Savage's dad worked at on "The Wonder Years".

[Young Deezy]

Why is everybody so pumped up for this?

It's like the cheaper version of GS.