[quote name='Cuzza40']Erased, but I'll answer your charge anyway.
That is NOT happening out of the goodness of Gamestop's heart; they know that when the new Madden launches in July or August, it's just as good as any other new release until the following year approaches. Sure, demand drops off as time goes on and Live hits in the winter, but you'll see that any game's prices change based on the demand. (the very day the next Madden comes out, the trade in value for the old one is $1-$3). Sure, at the front end, they may overpay, and lose something on the transaction, but that price will not drop until they recoup a certain amount of profit at price X, and they know they can afford to wait it out. Gamestop employs very, very skilled people to manage prices. They do not lose nearly as much taking in a flop title early at a higher price than they make inflating values on all titles across the board. Alternatively, think of it like this:
Gamestop takes in a game the day after it came out, let's call it "Game X". Game X will either be a flop, or a success.
Let's say they give you $30 on an expected sales for 2 months at $40; just for sake of argument.
If the game is a success, they will make the $10 profit on that title for two months.
If it is not, it will sit at that price for a month or so, and if sales are under a certain number of units out per units in, they will cut the trade-in value, and possibly cut the used price to $35, which will usually sell out the early trade-ins, and still net a $5 profit. They'll shift copies to markets that sell more to help ensure this. Also note that that $10 profit is a LOW margin for Gamestop; they drop used prices usually in $5 increments, and at a $15 discrepancy, that's 6 months to a year of occasional drops on many titles. Trust me, they do NOTHING out of altruistic motivations.
EDIT: Also note I mention Madden not because I have any love of sports games; I loathe them, but because you mentioned sports titles, and from Gamestop's perspective, Madden is the annual golden goose.[/QUOTE]
man, you must like to hear yourself talk......especially about things you have no idea about...... get your facts straight before you open your mouth