How Often Do You Trade-In Games?

[PracticalAl]

I rarely ever trade in games. But.. With so many great ones coming out this holiday, I find myself staring at my game shelf, contemplating what I can do without. How often do you guys trade in games? Right after you complete them? Never?

[Jill4EverSTARS]

I trade games all the time. I figure I'll never play it again so it can still be useful by chipping off the price of a newer game.

[Darkmoon]

I rarely trade is games. Years later, I'll often replay something, although that's getting more difficult these days as I'm slowly swamped with new games I wanna play. If I don't like a game, or don't like it enough and something I really want is coming out, I'll trade it in.

[Enrico Marini]

Usually depends on one thing, if I have a job or not. If I have a job I usually have the money to fund my game playing but not enough time to play everything so pick my games more wisely and usually end up being ones I really like, and I do not trade anything. When I'm unemployed, I get through lots of games, so I tend to only keep those that are either worth nothing or I would likely play again. But with many rental services out there offering unlimited rentals, 2 games out at a time and free postage for £15 a month, never really need to buy a game.

[nemesiswontdie]

Depends on the game. If its a game I just love like MK or Dragon Age: Origins I wont trade it in. But if its a game I played and enjoyed but wont play it again such as Dead Space 2 or Killzone 3, I'll trade it in so I can get some money for another game I'm excited about.

[Beanovsky Durst]

I rarely trade games on retail stores, since they give you like 20% of the game's price... However, I do sell & trade my games via eBay type websites, there you can obtain a little more profit than a trade-in store.

[Dracarys]

Never. If I don't like a game or think I'll never play one again it just finds a permanent home on a shelf. For the price you get selling games on most of them aren't worth selling, at least not to me.

Maybe it is more a benefit in the US, I noticed game prices stay higher over there for a long time, in UK a month or two after a new games released you can probably find it for 50% of the release price at least, still new. Very few games break this trend. The new Dues Ex I've already spotted for about 60% launch price.

[Stu]

All the fucking time. I'm generally bored of gaming aside from a new release every now and then. Got Gears 3 last week, completed it, will be trading it in this week for FIFA 12. Then that'll be gone in in a few weeks for Arkham City.

[Rombie]

I love the idea of trading in games, but find I rarely ever do... so now I look at my shelf and it has about 250-odd games on it and then I get depressed about it being so full. So in short, no.

[REmaster]

I trade in games all the time unfortunately, because I am poor. It's really depressing trading in a game for me because nine times out of ten I ask for the money instead of in-store credit...which is usually 40 bucks less. I traded in Dead Space, Fight Night Champion(which I was ranked 312 best player in the world ), Mortal Kombat, Heavy Rain, all the COD's and many other games I liked just because I was hard up for cash. I probably made thirty bucks from all those games, most of which I traded in not long after they were released.

Fuck.

[Xander Ashford]

I have actually never traded in a game. I actually hate the concept of it financially. I'm actually referring to companies like GameStop that buy back at probably 10-20% of the overall cost, yet sell for nearly 90% of the game's original value.

Example:
I buy Dead Space 2 the day it comes out; I own it for roughly a week, trade it in and get about $25 when I paid $60 for it last week. GameStop the next day sells my copy of the game for $55.

Now, I'm not trying to offend anyone if you've actually done this, but what idiot would buy a used copy of game for $55 when they could get a new, sealed copy for $60? I understand the business behind companies like GameStop and obviously, they make a fair share of money from buy-backs...But the concept of it all still sickens me.

I have actually been thinking about selling some games back just to actually have the room (like you're complaining about, Rombie). Some games I will definitely keep forever (I.E. anything Resident Evil or Silent Hill), but others are just collecting dust and I will probably never play again...*cough*Castlevania: Lords of Shadow*cough*

[Inferno04]

I will never again unless I really dislike it. I sold all my SNES games back in the day an regreted it, and re-bought them all back. I'm big on replaying things.

[PracticalAl]

I hear you Xander! Gamestop's trade in values and resell values are a rip off! I only have traded games there when I was very, very desperate.

I wish I could be financially savvy and trade in games I no longer play, but I have this.. Pack-rat mentality! I just can't let go..

[Beanovsky Durst]

I will never again unless I really dislike it. I sold all my SNES games back in the day an regreted it, and re-bought them all back. I'm big on replaying things.

One of the reasons I try to keep as many games as I can. I remember having a HUGE library of Gamecube games and I sold them to try to get a Wii at launch. One of the biggest mistakes of my life. Oh Timesplitters 2, how much I miss you

I have actually never traded in a game. I actually hate the concept of it financially. I'm actually referring to companies like GameStop that buy back at probably 10-20% of the overall cost, yet sell for nearly 90% of the game's original value.

Example:
I buy Dead Space 2 the day it comes out; I own it for roughly a week, trade it in and get about $25 when I paid $60 for it last week. GameStop the next day sells my copy of the game for $55.

Now, I'm not trying to offend anyone if you've actually done this, but what idiot would buy a used copy of game for $55 when they could get a new, sealed copy for $60? I understand the business behind companies like GameStop and obviously, they make a fair share of money from buy-backs...But the concept of it all still sickens me.

Exactly. That's why I think Trade-In's sucks. But sometimes you can find good stuff on trade-in sales. I bought a few games really cheap.

[Xander Ashford]

I hear you Xander! Gamestop's trade in values and resell values are a rip off! I only have traded games there when I was very, very desperate.

I wish I could be financially savvy and trade in games I no longer play, but I have this.. Pack-rat mentality! I just can't let go..

Watch the television show Hoarders, and you'll be wanting to get rid of everything. Seriously, I watch the show and I have to clean, and then I think to myself "Do I really need this?" I also love the psychology behind the show; they generally bring in a psychologist to help the person mentally work through the cleaning process. Absolutely fascinating that some people just simply cannot let go of things...But I hear you, PracticalAl. What if you do want to actually play something again later down the road? You would have to re-buy it.

Exactly. That's why I think Trade-In's sucks. But sometimes you can find good stuff on trade-in sales. I bought a few games really cheap.

Oh, I agree. Generally, you can get some good deals if you wait around. I know GameStops around my area from time to time run a promo of buy 2 used games get one free or something along those lines. Trade-in also is good for finding rarer games...Though they tend not to stick around for too long, obviously.

I just recently tracked down Silent Hill: Origins for the PS2 (which if I'm not mistaken was substantially rarer than the PSP version), and got it for under $20. If you go to eBay and Amazon, most of the PS2 copies are fetching near the $30, and you don't even want to know what a sealed copy costs.

Not to derail the topic too far, but let me just further explain how much GameStop actually pisses me off to no end. When Dead Space: Downfall was new for the Wii, I picked it up at my local GameStop. I paid for a "new" condition game, yet the employee pulled the game out of one of the used game envelopes and put it in the box. Now, maybe I'm old-fashioned, but once a game is open and the original sealed plastic is breached, is the game no longer considered "new?" I most certainly do not consider something that was already opened to be new; I don't care if the game was never put into a machine, it is still NOT new. I actually wrote a letter explaining my frustrations to GameStop's corporate people, and was contacted by the district manager. I could have probably gotten a free giftcard or something out of that if I had actually returned his call.

I hate GameStop with unholy passion.

I seriously only use their services when it is in full benefit to me or there are no other options to acquire a particular game.

[Bertha]

I only just recently started trading in games....but that's because for a couple of months money was tight.

[REmaster]

Some games I will definitely keep forever (I.E. anything Resident Evil or Silent Hill), but others are just collecting dust and I will probably never play again...*cough*Castlevania: Lords of Shadow*cough*

Everyone has abandoned you Gabriel

I will never again unless I really dislike it. I sold all my SNES games back in the day an regreted it, and re-bought them all back. I'm big on replaying things.

When the RE1 remake came out, I wanted it so bad. I didn't have enough money for a Gamecube at the time so I pre-ordered it, paid in full, then lost my job at the movie theatre soon after. I got the game, and would just stare at the cover for hours, wishing I had the console to play it. It was then that I realized Gamestop had a *trade* deal.

So, I went to the basement and got all my old video games. I went up to Gamestop with three backbacks full of stuff. A N64 with Super Mario 64, RE2 and Goldeneye...all great games. I also had a bunch of NES games I had since I was a kid like: Black Manta, blades of Steel, Ninja Gaiden, TMNT, Paper Boy, Shadow of the Ninja, Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, 3, Duck Hunt, Castlevania, Contra, Duck Tales...I got the Gamecube, but I regret it still. I need to find Duck Tales BAD. I kept Mike Tyson's Punchout because it was the first game I ever bought when I was three (with my birthday money lol) and Majic Johnson's fast break because me and my dad used to play it together when he was still around.

[Xander Ashford]

Everyone has abandoned you Gabriel

Yes, I have abandoned Gabriel long ago. The game is nothing like the Castlevanias I have enjoyed throughout the years on the DS and SNES.

So, I went to the basement and got all my old video games. I went up to Gamestop with three backbacks full of stuff. A N64 with Super Mario 64, RE2 and Goldeneye...all great games. I also had a bunch of NES games I had since I was a kid like: Black Manta, blades of Steel, Ninja Gaiden, TMNT, Paper Boy, Shadow of the Ninja, Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, 3, Duck Hunt, Castlevania, Contra, Duck Tales...I got the Gamecube, but I regret it still. I need to find Duck Tales BAD.

Is this the DuckTales you're talking about because it memory serves there were actually two of them for the NES? I actually still own this. I even had the original box, manual and everything. I was an OCD child...We threw nothing away that I deemed important...It still probably even has those cards to send away for Nintendo Power or whatever that magazine was called back then.

I think aside from Super Mario that came with the system, that was actually my first video game. And I never even knew that was by Capcom.

EDIT:
I've got to stop reading your posts, REmaster. You always make me feel old...*remembers Nostalgia thread*

[REmaster]

Yep that's it, there was a sequel but I liked the first one better. Damn, didn't know it was by Capcom though....now everything makes sense.

[DarkMemories]

I used to do so quite a bit (even traded my original XBOX and its games for a 360) but these days I can't get myself to get rid of games, not when I bought and resold KOTOR so much that it pains me I'll probably never find a decent copy again.

I won't say Gamestop is as terrible as its made out to be; they are a business and have to make profit somehow. I'm more annoyed by their employees than anything, which generally range from "obvious pothead" to "may I help you sir x15?"