Circuit City busts out the used games
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Feb 22nd 2007 at 1:26PM }
Cheap Ass Gamer points to Circuit City's new pre-owned games section on the retailer's website. GameDaily reports that an analyst from Lazard Capital Markets is doubtful the 'experiment' (Circuit City has less than 50 used games for sale) will do much to loosen GameStop Corp's grip on the used-games market. In order to be competitive, Circuit City would have increase its inventory of both new and used games, in order to restock its store locations to balance supply and demand; and a sophisticated inventory and pricing system would need to be put in place, headed by a sales team that could accurately appraise trade-ins. "Importantly, Circuit City is not the first 'big box' retailer to test pre-owned game sales, with Best Buy experimenting with used product sales as recently as last year, with limited success according to our checks," says Lazard.[Thanks, Yoon]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
tcc3 @ Feb 22nd 2007 1:35PM
Why would they need a sales team that can accurately appraise the games? Gamestop /EB doesnt have that. Their guys just look it up in the Big Book 'o Customer Ripoff to tell you that they'll give you $0.75 for a game you bought a week ago...
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 1:40PM
yes gamestop does have a dedicated team for trade-in values. just because you see us typing in the computer doesn't mean we didn't have someone upload that info every night. and i am so tired of hearing people complain about our trade values. if you don't like it, don't trade it in, it's that simple you whiny piece of shit. you have 3 alternatives: keep it, sell it to gamestop, or sell it privately. it's called a free market, so do what works best for you and shut up with all the damn crying.
Brian @ Feb 22nd 2007 1:44PM
Dapper Dan FTW!
Jack of No Trades @ Feb 22nd 2007 1:44PM
@ Dapper Dan
"if you don't like it, don't trade it in, it's that simple you whiny piece of shit"
Nobody likes to get ripped off. Giving someone $10 for a game then selling it for $40 is bullshit. You must like taking it in the ass by Gamestop/EB.
ALH @ Feb 22nd 2007 1:46PM
some stores over here did that. woolworths has a scheme which i doubt is very popular, they wouldnt take in half the games i offered because they were 'too old'. HMV was the best to trade into though. They gave me £12 for a preowned copy of jade cocoon 2 a few years back- im pretty sure i only paid £7 for it in the first place. Most dedicated stores are absolute ripoff merchants. Its a shame, because the idea of trading in is pretty cool...its the execution that sucks.
Psaakyrn @ Feb 22nd 2007 1:47PM
to #4 Jack of No Trades
In case it went over your head, it sounds like Dapper Dan works for Gamestop.
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 1:50PM
no, i love my careeer. and it's is providing a service with which you either like or you don't. i do not put a gun to someone's head and make them spend the money or take the trade value. one thing that perplexes me...why is gamestop/eb games such a huge success if everyone hates us? hmmmm...maybe because all of the people that complain contiune to shop there.
another thing...i love it when people complain about the 0.75 tade value on grand theft auto 3, or jak and daxter, we have TONS of these games...you really think we are going to pay top dollar to get it back from you? when people realize how profit margins, and bottom line sales work this world would be a much better place to shop in. until then, i will see you at gamestop and i will gladly accept your trade and offer you a reserve, a one year guarantee, and a magazine subscription...all while smiling ear to ear.
Dracula Jones @ Feb 22nd 2007 1:55PM
If they can refrain from putting ridiculous, permanent stickers all over the game cases and rubbing the discs with Brillo, they may get some business from me. It's not the tradein values or the cost of used games at Gamestop that really bother me, it's the shit quality of the discs and cases.
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:00PM
lol..ok dracula jones has a good point.
JJ @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:06PM
Well also dont forget that once you sell the game its on GS to resell it to make the money back they gave you. Granted they sell it more than what they paid you for it, but what did you expect? They have to make a profit somewhere.
Its a business afterall. Its almost the equivalent of villainizing Nintendo Sony and MS for wanting to make a profit on the hardware they make and the games they sell.
Now i too agree some of the prices are a rip off, but then, well, dont trade it in, or make sure you do your research on your games before you buy them. After all what other electronics can you trade in anywhere and get the price you paid for them?
Easy answer: There arent any.
Funky Fred @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:07PM
#7 no, i love my careeer.
Since when is working a retail register a "career"?
JJ @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:09PM
and jones usually the quality of the disc is the way it was brought in (although severely damaged discs should be repaired in any case). Hence the term "USED" games, they're not all gonna be pristine unfortunately.
Virtua Fanboy @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:12PM
Go Dapper Dan Go!!!
That's right Dapper Dan! Unzip that fly, pull down "The Mans" pants, pull down the boxers, and keep sucking that dick hard buddy! Yeah! Those corperate executives need money baby!
Go Dapper Dan Go!!!
baby sea tuna @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:24PM
Wow...Circuit City...home of the only employees dumber than EB/Gamestop's? Count me in!
Ibere @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:25PM
People who trade used games in Gamestop are retarded... It's much better to sell and buy used games from eBay.
It's just ridiculous to get like 5 dollars for a game that will be resold for 40 dollars (OMG! I can buy an used game for 5 dollars cheaper than the new one!). I cannot blame Gamestop though... they simply realized how many stupid people there's in this world and created a market out of it.
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:31PM
@ #11
i am not a register jockey, i am a store manager.
@virtua fanboy
isn't that what everyone does that works for a corporate company? nice try buddy, i am glad you got your 5 seconds of feeling like you crushed all my valid points today.
Vegan @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:41PM
"Manager of Gamestop" is nowhere NEAR a "career."
JodyAnthony @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:41PM
"Go Dapper Dan Go!!!
That's right Dapper Dan! Unzip that fly, pull down "The Mans" pants, pull down the boxers, and keep sucking that dick hard buddy! Yeah! Those corperate executives need money baby!
Go Dapper Dan Go!!!"
Yeah Dapper Dan! What were you thinking, having a job that you enjoy?!? How dare you have pride in the job that you have to go to 40 hours a week? We're on to you, you know! Thinking that you can actually enjoy working for any corporation, be they a retailer or a fortune 500 company! Whats wrong with you man?
christ you people are annoying.
I've traded games into gamestop before. Guess what, it was my choice. I didn't want game A anymore, I wanted game B. I gave them Game A and some cash and walk out with a new game to take home and have fun with. But then again, I don't bring in a copy of a 3 year old game that sold 3 million+ copies and expect them to give me $50 back for it.
John @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:56PM
@Dapper Dan
Still a manager at a GameStop is not a career. It is a dead end and a lesson in futility. I work at a Game Stop and can't help but notice how big of losers the managers are. They're just rejects from a real career that live in their parent's basement and dream of one day owning the car they drive to work and that hope that every night when they go to sleep that they don't wake up.
JodyAnthony @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:46PM
#17, Vegan, what makes his job/career/whatever any worse than anyone elses here?
(not going to ask what your 'career' is because you will spout off some bullshit lies about how you make a quarter million dollars a year, because you know, everyone that comes to joystiq in the middle of the day is making a ton of cash. Seriously, go back into past comment threads where someone was made fun of that they live in their parents basement or whatever, they will all tell you about their 6 figure salaries. I'm glad we're all rich.)
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:48PM
well vegan some of us were not fortunate enough to have your life. glad you enjoy what you do, i know i do. i hope it also makes you feel better to make fun of other people's CAREER choice. let me guess you are a lawyer, attorney, or dare i say...doctor?! seriously fuck off...it's people like you that i love pissing off everyday. oh, and one last thing...to everyone that doesn't agree with me...i hope you get a flat tire in the rain.
-dapper dan out
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:49PM
jody anthony-
thanks, you rock
John Gross @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:59PM
Also is it just me or does JodyAnthony really, REALLY, like Dapper Dan.
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:03PM
well john...that says alot for yourself man. you work at a gamestop, but your boss is a loser. wow, sucks to be you. also i do own my car, i do not live at home, and i hope that when you go to sleep, you never wake up. so there, how bout that bowl of hairy nuts for ya? douche...
JodyAnthony @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:03PM
When I was still in high school I got a job at White Castle. The manager of the White Castle I worked at refered to her job as her career. She was absolutely proud of the job she did and looked forward to coming in to work and serving people their tiny hamburgers every day. It was something she absolutely loved. Is that not a career? Is that less of a career than the lawyer that cant stand going to work every day? Just because they are making more money, does that make their job better than the burger joint manager? fuck no. It's obvious that you have little experience with work. Most people can only dream of having a job that they love to go to every day.
JodyAnthony @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:05PM
"Also is it just me or does JodyAnthony really, REALLY, like Dapper Dan."
No, I actually like explaining to dumbasses how the world really works.
Dickhead @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:10PM
"...i am not a register jockey, i am a store manager."
Way to respect your employees. Which one do you toil at, I want to avoid you at all costs.
Justin @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:13PM
Like I said over on Kotaku, they have a pretty decent selection and at very good prices. I always check there first.
It's nothing like the selection of EB and GS, but I feel so much better knowing I'm not getting r4ped from a single chain of stores. Two is always better than one.
Dickhead @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:12PM
"...i do own my car, i do not live at home..."
So you live in your car?!?
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:13PM
dickhead-
how very fitting of a name. nuff said
Justin @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:18PM
I've never gotten a bad disk used from EB or Gamestop.
And virtually every company that sells something is selling it to you at a profit. So get over the EB/GS bashing.
Dickhead @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:18PM
I'm not the one insulting my underlings, dickhead.
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:20PM
it wasn't an insult. you took it out of context. so...how about you go back to jockeying your register before your boss gets pissed.
dsub @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:22PM
dapper dan-
gotta side with you man. I work for EB, and tcc3 has no clue what he is talking about. That game that he got $0.75 for was probably Madden 2004 that he bought a week ago. The point is, if you have a title that is in demand, you WILL get good trade-in for it at EB/gamestop. Gears is still getting upwards of $30 last time I checked. It just amazes me when people come into trade in some shitty-ass game that they bought "a week ago" and they get pissed when they discover they only get a fraction of a dollar for it. Guess what. Prior to you buying that game it probably sat on the store shelf for 2 years.
The moral of the story? Old or Shitty games, ESPECIALLY 1+ year old sports titles and games that just flat out never sold well to begin with are not going to yield a good trade-in value. Because what you have to remember is that if EB is selling it for less than $10, that probably means they have an ass-ton of them in stock and they haven't sold one in ages.
Don't believe me? Call up Gamestop and EB and ask what they are giving in trade for a newer title like Lost Planet or Okami. I guarantee you you'll get AT LEAST $15-20 for Okami and $25+ for Lost Planet.
There is only one thing that I will agree on that EB/GS rips people on and that is Traded in Systems. You get $35.00 for a small PS2 and they turn around and sell it with ease for $109.99. Some of it just doesn't make sense...for instance, you'll get $22 for a GBA SP and it will sell for $59.99, but a big PS2, which earns you only $8 more in trade will sell for $99.99.
Amanda @ Feb 22nd 2007 9:32PM
Oh, for goodness sake...
First of all, I USED to work at Circuit City, I'm wearing one of their shirts to work today, even...we were not the stupidest employees and all that crap. Our store manager allowed us to open games and play and know what was coming out (even though a lot of that was against corporate policy). I managed the video game department through Christmas, and I would pwn the people at the local Gamestop with my 1337 gaming knowledge...we'd get people in all the time that appreciated being helped without feeling like the register jockey was an elitist prick (and unfortunately, the GS in our town had that reputation). I'm not saying that we owned our cars and the GS guys lived in Mom's basement, not at all...I'm saying don't put one store down over another because they are all the same/different depending on managers and employees, and how close to corporate policy they fall.
And...although I chose to follow a different path with a 9-5 network admin job and a career in an educational field (and a break in the middle of the day to read joystiq), I know some days I was happier as the VG manager of Circuit City...so I will never knock someone who chooses that for their career, as long as they are willing to make what the retail places are willing to give them.
Spread love, not hate, ok?
Vidikron @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:22PM
It's fine if Gamestop doesn't want to pay much for game of which they already have many copies, I just think they sell it used for too much. It's pretty ridiculous that they try and sell many games used for just $10 cheaper than a brand new copy. Why would anyone buy the used copy plastered with stickers that won't come off cleanly and the manual/disc in questionable condition when it can be had new for a few bucks more? I guess they have enough fools do it that it's worth keeping them at those prices, but I'm not buying.
Anyway, that's my biggest issue with their service. I've thought about about buying a used game several times, but I have yet to make the purchase for the reasons listed above. I can make a better deal elsewhere.
Dickhead @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:24PM
Register Jockey is almost as bad of an insult as being called a manager of a Gamestop.
uglypimp @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:26PM
@ Dapper Dan
No, I'm sorry, working as a retail manager is not considered a career. Career would imply you are skilled at a trade, or are considered a working professional, which you are not.
Anyone can be a manager at a retail store or fast food joint, it requires a pinch of common sense and the ability to stand up for an 8 hour shift. Try getting employed somewhere that requires a skill set, or a degree. Then you'll have a career.
AirIntake @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:27PM
The trade in value at EB is crap. And yes, I can say so, as I have never traded in anything because of it.
Also, their prices for used games are crap if the game near new. $5 off new retail for a scratched disc and a mangled manual is not a deal. I stick to the 1+ year old games that are $25 or less. That's where the only used deals at EB are.
JodyAnthony @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:32PM
anyone that is trying to buy a used copy of a game at ebgamestop that is less than 6 months old is stupid. Of course you're going to get ripped off for a used 'new' game. The real deals at gamestop/eb are the games that came out 2 or 3 years ago that you can't find new anywhere.
Vidikron @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:33PM
@38
You're an ass. Of course it's a career. There's a ladder to climb (regional manager, etc...) and decent money to be made. How is it not a career?
dsub @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:33PM
John-
you are an fucking moron. The manager at my EB has two children, OWNS a decent house, and is happily married.
JodyAnthony is right. Being an EB/Gamestop manager is not a career? It's a dead end? You are a tool. Try this one on for size...
My uncle works for Wendy's. He never went to school, and he started working for them at the bottom rung right out of high school. He worked hard and showed desire to climb the ranks and worked his way up to Store Manager, District Manager, and now he is in charge of QA for the entire company making $350,000 a year. Not a career? Shut your fucking mouth. How about my father? He started working as an auto mechanic out of high school, and eventually got a job for Auto Zone as an Assistant Manager, then a Store Manager, and now he is a District Manager making $75,000 a year. Not a career? My ass. I would kill to know that someday I'll be out of school and making that kind of money someday. Based on your thought and opinion I'd have to say you must still be in High School and are the one living in your parents basement. The real world is tough, it's not easy to get a job making a ton of money. My dad works for Auto Zone and he graduated college with a Bachelor's in Chemistry from WVU. My mom graduated from college with a degree in Child Psychology and started working at an AT&T phone store out of college...now she's practically in charge of Human Resources for the entire company making nearly half a million dollars a year.
You have to realize that everyone starts somewhere, and you have to take the path in life that works for you. If being a manager at EB is what you enjoy, and what you do on a daily basis, than it is your career. Money is not everything, and the older you get the more you'll realize that you'd rather have a job that you love going to making decent money than a job that you hate making tons of money.
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:36PM
@ ugly pimp
ok..i can understand your point (i do not agree with it) but it is still valid. except, i have gone to college for culinary arts where i landed a great career as a sous chef. i just got so sick of smelling like fish and blood, not to mention looking like i just left a murder scene, i decided i wanted to try retail management. which i did take a pay cut for oddly enough. the reason i see you point as being valid is because that could very well apply to many gamestop managers, just so happens not myself.
on a side note, sitting at a desk doing "data entry" or "clerical work" also only requires a pinch of common sense. which would you rather do for 8 hours? talk about video games or sitting on your ass staring at a cubicle wall?
Muku @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:39PM
My only thing with EB/Gamestop is they would check the damned merchandise when it comes in. (Even though they take some of the most scratched up crap in history only to try to sell you a disc repair kit to go with it, which costs extra..) Put the game in to see if it loads. Try the system. I know they probably get lots of systems in, but at least try to put it to the test.
I never use to have a problem with them until as of late. Course this was when Gamestop bought EB and things only went downhill. RIP the EB I once knew.
James @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:45PM
Circuit City was only mentioned 1 time in all the comments. I just doubled that.
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:52PM
@ugly pimp
well, that and i love working with teenage boys. they're all soft and pretty.
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:53PM
ok...wow that was so not me. funny as hell though!!
Virtua Fanboy @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:54PM
@ Dapper Dan
Try not to take anything I say on here seriously man, normally I put a "LOL" or "/Sarcasm" at the end of my remarks and just forgot to. I mean don't get me wrong I don't care if your butthurt or anything because my point still stands, not just for 5 seconds like you say, lol. Don't take it personally bro. And in case your wondering I do work for a corporation but it is a a hospital. I don't kiss corporate ass, I help and hope to do my part in saving peoples lifes.
P.S. heh, heh, I never had a post that started a frenzy before, lol.
Dapper Dan @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:56PM
virtua fanboy-
good for you man..seriously. hospital workers deserve alot of respect. notice i didn't say doctors...it's the hospital staff that gets more shit than anyone.
Virtua Fanboy @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:57PM
@ dapper dan
LOL