Over the past ten years, Gamestop blossomed from a small subsidiary of Barnes & Noble into what is arguably the most dominant force in the gaming marketplace. Partially impart to the mainstream acceptance of gaming, and the company’s strategy of simply buying up most of their direct competition, Gamestop is now a juggernaut in the industry, facing little to no competition in the game-focused retail market.
In 2010, GameStop officially launched their PowerUp Rewards Program, now said to be approximately 34 million members strong. In exchange for divulging a certain amount of personal information, consumers can sign up for a free standard membership to earn “points” on purchases that can be redeemed for rewards. For only $14.99, they can upgrade to a “Pro” membership, which comes with additional perks such as earning 10% more on trade-ins, 10% off used games, and a year subscription to Game Informer (owned and published by GameStop). While GameStop claims to give “power to the players”, do they really? Do they truly offer a “best-in-class company loyalty program”, or does the program exploit consumers who feel they have no other options? To find out, I crunched some numbers.
After randomly choosing 10 games from each major console (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U), all of which released in 2013 and scored a 70 or higher on Metacritic, I compared Gamestop’s new, used, and trade credits for each of them. According to GameStop, these values are standard nationwide. It should also be noted that whereas GameStop provides an average of $0.30 to $2.00 more in store credit than cash when trading in games, I went with the store credit.
The Markup
To turn a profit of course, GameStop prices used games lower than new ones, but also higher than what they offer for trade credit. When I reached out to GameStop to ask how they set their used game prices and trade credits, I promptly received the following comment from GameStop’s PR Coordinator, Kyle Stephenson.
“GameStop determines the value of a used game being traded-in for credit based on a few criteria credentials. These credentials criteria include the age of the title and how long it has been on the market, the popularity of the title, and the amount of supply for the title (if it is a rare title it will have higher value). All three are taken into account when determining the trade-in value of a game.”
This is where things get murky. Unlike with new game sales, 100% of the proceeds from used game sales go directly to GameStop. As none of the proceeds are carried on to the publisher or developer, there is no Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) to follow, allowing GameStop to set their used game prices and trade-in credits however they see fit.
Currently, the console to suffer the highest markup from trade credit to used game price is the Xbox One, averaging a 556% markup. The PS4 is a close second with an average of 445%. Last gen came in a bit lower with Xbox 360 games averaging a 336% markup and PS3 games at 282%. Wii U games came in lowest, but still averaged a 209% markup. Specifically, first-party Nintendo titles were found to have the lowest markup, with The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD marked up only 102% and Super Mario Brothers 3D World at only 83%. Annual sport franchises seem to suffer the most with Xbox One’s FIFA 14 marked up 800% and the PS4 copy of NBA 2K14 marked up a whopping 1,099%! Yeah, you read that right, quadruple digits.
New Games
As expected across all five consoles, new games at GameStop were found to be more expensive than their used equivalents, with new PS4 games averaging $11.59 more expensive and Xbox One games at a close second with a difference of $10.53. Coming in next was the PS3 at $9.18, followed by the Xbox 360 at $8.97 and the Wii U at only $7.65. Despite its popularity, GameStop isn’t the only place to buy games. With an Amazon Prime Subscription, all new games, for every console, were found to be cheaper on Amazon. For PS4 titles, Amazon was not only found to be an average of $11.91 cheaper for new games, but its new game prices were also found to average $3.22 cheaper than GameStop’s used prices! However, for the other four major consoles, GameStop’s used game prices were found to cheaper than Amazon’s new game prices, with Xbox 360 being the biggest difference at $21.87.
Used Games / Selling Games
If you prefer to buy used games and trade back titles you’ve finished, again, GameStop is far from your best option. On average, used Xbox One games were found to be $13.46 cheaper on Ebay than at GameStop, with PS4 games right behind that at $13.37. The differences of last gen games were not quite as significant, but always cheaper on Ebay, with the difference of Xbox 360 titles being $6.46, Wii U games at $6.11, and PS3 games cheaper by $5.26.
While GameStop does offer the convenience of in-store trade credits immediately available to go towards another purchase, this instant gratification will cost you big. On average, PS3 titles sell on Ebay for an average of $13.70 more than what Gamestop offers for trade-in credit, followed by Wii U titles, which sell for an average of $11.51 more. Xbox One games are the next biggest value, selling at an average of $9.70 more, followed by Xbox 360 titles, which average $9.17 more on Ebay. PS4 titles showed the smallest difference, but nonetheless averaged $7.78 more on Ebay than what GameStop has to offer. Furthermore, by selling on Ebay. you receive cash (which can be used anywhere) rather than a trade credit redeemable only at GameStop.
I’m not going to tell you where or how you should buy and sell your games, but to avoid being ripped off, it’s important to know your options as a consumer. Regardless of flashy sales campaigns, membership programs, and company slogans, GameStop, like most retailers, have your wallet in mind, not your best interest. Therefore, it’s important to make retailers price their games competitively to earn your consumer dollar. If you insist on selling back games, use GameStop’s app or website (or just call the store) to check what you’ll get for trade credit before leaving home. This way, you can avoid the pressure of agreeing to an embarrassingly low and unjust trade credit after driving all the way to the store and you’re standing at the counter. Selling your games to friends, or online always fetches a larger, and much more reasonable price than what GameStop will offer.
GameStop has denied that the majority of their profits stem from used game sales, yet their website proudly claims that each year, they provide “approximately $1.2 billion in trade credits” to consumers. With GameStop pocketing over 1,000% profit on some of these trades, it’s apparent to whom the “power” really goes.
how does GameStop fare when it comes to comparing them against Best Buy trade in values or Target? Dealing with ebay/paypal is no small picnic as there are fees and deadbeats.
I think the best time to trade in is when you can get 30-40% more. Often times, they’ll run a deal like that, I’ve been more than happy with my return when taking advantage of these specials.