Gamestop to begin taking credit/selling retro consoles/games

[Teh Lurv]

Last month Gamestop began accepting trade-ins on PS2 consoles. Today IGN is reporting that Gamestop is rolling out a pilot program to begin accepting trade-ins and selling retro consoles and games:

"The systems and accessories that you will be able to trade-in and purchase include the NES, Super NES, SEGA Genesis, PlayStation, N64, and SEGA Dreamcast. This will increase the number of games GameStop offers either for sale or to purchase by "about 5000.""

I'm not surprised by this news; its been in the rumor-mill for a long time that Gamestop was mulling about getting into the retro game market. I'm curious to see what will happen to the retro game prices with a large retailer stepping into market. More than that, what will happen to independent retro game stores that may soon have to compete with a retailer that can survive on much thinner margins than a mom-and-pop store?

The IGN article:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/04/15/ ... -and-games

[Josh]

As a dumpster diver I'm excited about the possibilities of finding retro cases, games, posters, or what have you, in the dumpster. But on the other hand, I'm bummed because then my local brick and mortar will be essentially rendered obsolete. All I can hope is that the community atmosphere developed by indie stores will be enough to continue forward, because the odds of Gamestop having classic gaming nights or tournaments or tabletop gaming nights are pretty slim.

[dsheinem]

it is upon us

[Xeogred]

They'll do anything to survive now.

Why would anyone want to give them retro stuff anyways?

[Gunstar Green]

M.U.S.H.A. eh? Yeah that brings you to about $1.50 in credit.

Why would anyone want to give them retro stuff anyways?

I guarantee someone. But will it be enough someones to actually make a business out of it? I've already heard conspiracies that Gamestop has been sitting on a big pile of retro games already that they were waiting for the right time to sell off. I don't know about that though.

I'd like to know what they intend to do in regards to refurbishment. Replacing batteries? Going as far as replacing labels or even cartridge shells? That could cause havoc in the collector market if they don't go with labels that clearly identify as Gamestop refurbishments.

[Xeogred]

^ Yeah I'd find that hard to believe, from the stories I've heard from people here, and just seeing how awful they treat systems at their end life (ie Wii games in nothing but paper sleeves and no cases in sight!) Sounds like they go out of their way to destroy games.

[Exhuminator]

Gamestop is hoping to undercut ignorant consumers by offering them peanuts for their "old games" and then making a massive markup profit on reselling via online markets. (They will sell the less valuable games in store.) Capitalism 101.

[Jmustang1968]

Gamestop is hoping to undercut ignorant consumers by offering them peanuts for their "old games" and then making a massive markup profit on reselling via online markets. (They will sell the less valuable games in store.) Capitalism 101.

How is this different than any other brick & mortar retro store or online seller of retro games? I guess GS will still push pre-orders.

[Exhuminator]

How is this different than any other brick & mortar retro store or online seller of retro games?

I agree, it's not. That's what I was saying; capitalism 101. Gamestop finally decided they wanted a piece of that retro gaming pie is all.

[Ziggy]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Say what you want about GameStop, the good, the bad, the ugly. But there's no denying this: They're gonna put stickers all over the carts and help keep the price jacked. I don't care if you love or hate GameStop, you have to admit that this is bad news for us retro gamers.

How is this different than any other brick & mortar retro store or online seller of retro games? I guess GS will still push pre-orders.

Because GameStop has a LOT of stores and brand recognition. Mom and pop shops are generally not well known, and they're far and few in between. There's a GameStop every where you turn, and every one knows who they are and what they do.