eBay and Toys R Us Give Best Prices on Trade-ins

jjgames

jjgames

CAGiversary!
Now that Toys R Us, Best Buy, and Amazon accept trade-ins I decided to do some research to see which sites offer the best prices. I looked at 100 randomly selected games and found the prices all those sites offer in trade along with eBay, Amazon Marketplace, GameStop, and GameCrazy.

eBay had the best prices (after subtracting seller fees and paypal fees) and Toys R Us offered the best prices of the trade-in websites.

Gamestop was by far the worst.

All the info is available here:
http://blog.videogamepricecharts.com/2009/08/wheres-best-place-to-sell-your-games.html
 
Very through and well detailed- great article.:)

I'm surprised that BB is so high on the list... but more surprised about TRU.
 
[quote name='Vinny']Very through and well detailed- great article.:)

I'm surprised that BB is so high on the list... but more surprised about TRU.[/QUOTE]

I was really surprised that Best Buy didn't offer prices on more than half the games. That's a real pain when they don't even offer prices.

TRU was a surprise to me too. I don't know if I want their gift cards though because there aren't any TRU stores near me.
 
TRU is great with prices. They gave me $43 for Batman, I game I originally bought from them that came with a $30 giftcard. They basically paid me to play the game.
 
[quote name='Link927']I knew this looked familiar ;)
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=237248

However, I will still say that there is some sort of slant with these types of comparisons. Again, there are pros and cons that not mentioned, such as the fact that GS can give you a B&M transaction with instant credit[/QUOTE]

Sorry, I didn't see that thread. We can close this if it is too much of a duplicate.

There are lots more variables to deciding where to trade than just the price (I mentioned some in the article). Things like instant credit at GameStop and more selection of games offered at some stores vs others. I think price is generally the most important factor though.
 
Not really a surprise. GS's base TIVs are generally pretty awful, and they get even further dragged down by crappy games that they give a $1 or less for for that you can probably get $3 or $4 for elsewhere. Of course, GS also has the EDGE and almost always has some kind of promotion running. I know Amazon, for instance, had some really great promotions at first, but I don't think they've done anything at all lately. Another factor is that your game might just sit on a marketplace site for weeks before it gets sold at the price you think it's worth.
 
Toys R Us huh?

63x2kh.jpg
 
[quote name='Ye0ldmario']Toys R Us huh?

63x2kh.jpg
[/QUOTE]

I think that is the most ridiculous part of the Toys R Us trade-ins, their classic game prices. Fixed prices are going to get them a bunch of Madden 94 games, not Earthbound.

The study was done with just current gen games, but I think everyone knows those are crappy prices for lots of the classic games.
 
Hopefully nobody sells earth bound for 50 cents. If you do, I'll take it lol. They're gonna cash in big on soccer moms I bet.
 
[quote name='Ye0ldmario']Toys R Us huh?

63x2kh.jpg
[/QUOTE]

So TRU thinks Earthbound is a generic SNES game. I'd say it's at least average.
 
[quote name='Ye0ldmario']Hopefully nobody sells earth bound for 50 cents. If you do, I'll take it lol. They're gonna cash in big on soccer moms I bet.[/QUOTE]

The children of today's soccer moms don't have SNES games.
 
[quote name='SEH']TRU also does B&M transactions with instant credit.[/QUOTE]

Again, there are many pros and cons for each store that was listed, including TRU. I just pointed out that they failed to mention it for GS as well.
 
[quote name='jjgames']Gamestop was by far the worst.[/QUOTE]

Thank you, Captain Obvious.:lol:

Anyone who doesn't know that by now is an uninformed consumer and/or a disgrace to CAG.

As for counting Ebay and Amazon Marketplace in this whole thing, those are not trade sites/stores where credit is issued, so they really shouldn't count imo.
 
With the current promo at Gamestop, I've traded in around twenty games that have netted me the same price that they would have sold for on Ebay... before Ebay/PayPal fees and shipping costs.

Can't speak for Amazon's fees, but when Gamestop has a decent trade in promo, they're hard to beat.
 
Pretty much all the time. Different promos are good for different things, though. The 4 games/$20 bonus is good for flipping crap or trying to get rid of older games. The high percentage bonus deals are really good for newer stuff with a higher TIV. Plus, it definitely helps if you have the EDGE card.
 
Another thing to consider is what you want out of your trade in's. If you just want more games you might want to go with TRU or GS. If you want cash go with ebay.

One big thing I look at is what am I going to be able to buy with my credits, because both TRU and GS often inflate the prices of video games. If I have to pay significantly more for a video game than what it is selling for at other stores just because I have store credit to a store, then it may not be worth it for me to do trade-in's at that store.

For example game x that I want to buy routinely sells for $20 or below on ebay, but sells for a solid $44.99 used at GS. It would be better for me to sell my old games on ebay, get cash and then buy the game off there instead of trading in at GS and paying their inflated price for the game.
 
[quote name='Feeding the Abscess']With the current promo at Gamestop, I've traded in around twenty games that have netted me the same price that they would have sold for on Ebay... before Ebay/PayPal fees and shipping costs.

Can't speak for Amazon's fees, but when Gamestop has a decent trade in promo, they're hard to beat.[/QUOTE]

But that's only because you are flipping garbage games. If you're selling newish games that you bought to play then eBay is always going to get you a better price.

Quality stuff goes on eBay right away, the garbage goes in a drawer and waits for the next GS trade 4 or trade 5 deal ..
 
[quote name='donkeydrop']But that's only because you are flipping garbage games. If you're selling newish games that you bought to play then eBay is always going to get you a better price.[/QUOTE]

Not necessarily. When they have the 30% or 40% bonuses, you can do quite well, if you have EDGE. I have traded in newish games for between $40 and $45. After fees, you really aren't gonna do much better on eBay. I haven't sold anything on eBay for a long time, but I remember you lose a couple of bucks from both eBay and PayPal. So, I mean, what's the absolute most someone is gonna pay for your used game on a lucky day? $55 shipped? And that's stretching it, considering you can just buy the game new in any store nowadays. After you take away about $3 to ship and about $5 in fees, you're only getting a buck or two more, and you have to deal with potential headaches from buyers.
 
[quote name='Ye0ldmario']Hopefully nobody sells earth bound for 50 cents. If you do, I'll take it lol. They're gonna cash in big on soccer moms I bet.[/QUOTE]

About 7 years ago, I found one (cart and book only) at a Community sale for 3 bucks.

I have traded in newish games for between $40 and $45. After fees, you really aren't gonna do much better on eBay. I haven't sold anything on eBay for a long time, but I remember you lose a couple of bucks from both eBay and PayPal.
Click to expand...

I haven't sold any games on eBay in quite a while either either. The "collector" market for games is not as it once was 5 years ago and ebays fees are alot higher. But it is still your best option when it comes to value.
 
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