Does Game *want* trade ins?

whiskydry

I know they do them, but is it a pain for them? Do they make money or lose money on it?

The reason I'm wondering is that my dd is desperate for a DSi so we went today with both hers and my DS Lites, plus some games, plus her savings to trade in and get her one, and the guy at Game very very regretfully told us that both DS Lites failed the screen calibration test so they couldn't do the trade in. He even showed me the test, and it looked like it wasn't working to me too. He said both screens were clearly on their way out and suggested other retailers who may do a trade in without checking in that much depth. Therefore I trusted his word and left with no DSi and a devestated 8 year old.

Once back in the car I noticed my devesated 8 year old was insisting that the calibration does work! So I let her show me, and she's right, it does

So before I traipse back there tomorrow - am I wasting my time, do they not want a load of used DS Lites and so made it up about the calibration? My only alternative here seems to be Blockbuster and they currently have no DSi's in stock anyway, bit of course if we need to wait, we will!

freebiequennie

could you sell it on ebay and use the money towards a new one or maybe sell on netmums.co.uk or local gumtree.com or local free ads.

gamestation do trade in and also some local computer shops

in our experience you dont get a lot trade in price anyway and we tend to sell our games.

Sarahsaver

I have always had good service from Gamestation regarding trade-ins. give them a try.

Pete*G_4

did you go back into the shop and demonstrate that the screen calibration works ok?

I had similar when I traded in my DS, but when I took a chance and went back the next day I saw a different CSA and they didn't mention it, just ook it and got on with it.

Matt.D

I used to work for Electronics Boutique, which later became know as Game (although they were always owned by Game - long story I won't go into here). I can say without hesitation or doubt that Game/Blockbuster/Cex/Gamestation ect. only exist to sell you second hand games and equipment because they make far greater margins buying a game from you (even a new one at a relatively high trade-in value) than they can from wholesalers. Average mark up on new product is under 20% (only 10% for hardware such as your DSi). Whereas second hand goods are usually bought at less than a third of their RRP (or current selling price) and then marked up by 50%.

So lets say Call of Duty Modern Warefare 2 on Playstation 3 costs £40 new from Game.

The will only make a maximum profit of around £4.

Now if you trade in the same game, they will only likely offer you around a third of the games current selling price, which in this case would be £14.

They then sell the game at £28. Considerably cheaper than the new RRP for the customer and even greater profit margin for the retailer

This isn't the rule, but a guide. Newer, more popular games and equipment will sometimes incur a slight premium and so you'll get a better rate than my illustration shows for CoD MW2. If the retailer can make more than the 20% (only 10% on hardware), they'll more than likely increase the price paid for your second hand goods.

Most of the retailers I mentioned now buy second hand titles using up-to-date sales information from their head offices and the like. It used to be up to the store managers discretion at the prices paid for games, but this was a double edged sword as the consumer sometimes got a better rate than they would now (particilly if the manager actually wanted the item being offered or knew they could personally sell it on for more profit) but equally could lose out if the sales person/manager had particularly tough KPIs to meet than week (or they knew they could sell it on for more profit privately )

The employees you spoke to were more than likely only following company policy as no one wants to end up with duff goods. That said EB and I assume Game, don't require their employees to have degrees either.

Chester85

Sarahsaver wrote: »

I have always had good service from Gamestation regarding trade-ins. give them a try.

Sounds like a dodgy SA than a problem with Game

Game and Gamestation, the same company these days, you'd think would attempt some symbiance in the policies

whiskydry

freebiequennie wrote: »

could you sell it on ebay and use the money towards a new one or maybe sell on netmums.co.uk or local gumtree.com or local free ads.

gamestation do trade in and also some local computer shops

in our experience you dont get a lot trade in price anyway and we tend to sell our games.

Thanks, I might consider Ebay etc, but it seems quite flooded with consoles atm so I'm half worried I'd end up with a worse price instead of better!

whiskydry

Sarahsaver wrote: »

I have always had good service from Gamestation regarding trade-ins. give them a try.

I didn't think we had a branch anywhere near us, but have now found there is one within an acceptable distance so will try them today, cheers!

whiskydry

Pete*G wrote: »

did you go back into the shop and demonstrate that the screen calibration works ok?

I had similar when I traded in my DS, but when I took a chance and went back the next day I saw a different CSA and they didn't mention it, just ook it and got on with it.

I didn't have time yesterday, by the time we'd got back to the car we had to be getting somewhere else. But I was wondering if it was worth a second go. Glad you got lucky second time round!

whiskydry

Back from Gamestation, over the moon - they gave us a way better price than Game or Blockbuster, and price matched the bundle we had wanted, so we got a red DSi, Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics and a travel accessory pack, and handed over £34 cash.

Well worth a trip to the next town!

Chester85

whiskydry wrote: »

Back from Gamestation, over the moon - they gave us a way better price than Game or Blockbuster, and price matched the bundle we had wanted, so we got a red DSi, Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics and a travel accessory pack, and handed over £34 cash.

Well worth a trip to the next town!

It's interesting that Game are still operating Gamestation as somesort of alternative to the original company