RCBH928 wrote:I don't understand their business model, they sell videogames and so does every major market. They sell used games, but it more convenient to get it online, I am sure the selection is larger and you can pick the price you like. They buy your used games, but if you sell them on ebay you can get the price you want not undervalued one. I imagine only little kids are in awe when they go into a full videogame store, and unaware parents find used games for cheaper than new in their local Walmart, maybe thats what keeps their business going?
For Gamestop itself, preowned items are preferable as they make more money selling them. IE, for sake of example, they might sell a recent game for $60 new and $55 used, a little less if you have their rewards club card. The wholesale on that $60 copy was probably $50-55 (per
this article), whereas they probably gave $20-25 in credit for the used one. Obviously, the store would rather make $30+ on a sale rather than $5.
On the customer side, sure, you're almost always going to get more if you go sell your stuff yourself. At that point though, you need to go through the trouble of listing your items, waiting for there to be interest, and then meeting up with buyers or shipping them. Not taking that copy of
The Last of Us 2 with you to the store as a $20-off coupon, which is more Gamestop's model.
It's a system that works fine for some customers, usually repeat ones. They're spending less out of pocket to head home with a fresh set of games. While the customer experience will vary, having at least some good Game Advisors (or whatever they're called now) actually doling out decent advice isn't that uncommon. The ideal situation is sort of that old-school video rental, where you might have a knowledgeable staff helping customers find something they'll like.
Obviously, not everyone wants or needs that, and may prioritize New or mint condition merchandise that is less important to Gamestop's model.
I never got that point, why through something of value?
They don't tend to do that for valuable items. I've only seen them do it for things like under-$10 games for a previous generation console, because they simply don't have the space for them otherwise. Nice as it might have been to go buy 99-cent copies of Madden purely for the cases, it wasn't an option for long
What I hear is that Gamestop branches are very badly managed, the place smells, the workers are incompetent, the selection is bad, and no price advantages, AKA last days of Radioshack stores. Just the impression that I got.
There are good and bad employees there. The consistent thing is that corporate treats them all like garbage. Ultimately though, their business model is simply dated. Other companies offer a form of trade-in or preowned prices now too, but the real thing is the shift to digital. Setting aside the convenience, the folks that might otherwise be going in and fueling Gamestop's stock of used games can now subscribe to PSNow or Games Pass, or have a library of games they got free from PS+ or XBL Gold.
You really had it right initially - Gamestop is facing a lot of the same problems that Blockbuster did. They're likely going to go the same way, though there's still the chance they'll figure out a different niche.
