[Videogames] Weird price drop... new cheaper than used

This happened a while back at Wal-Mart.com when they came out with the new Super Smash Bros:

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=140722&highlight=super+smash+wal-mart

 

You should print that out and take it there

 

Kinda indicates that they jack up the prices on their used games a lot, doesn't it.?

 

Think I've seen it maybe a few times, but only when some rare games get reprinted. The "new" price may have been $19.99 or something, but due to limited stock, used prices might be $40 or so. I think when some of the Shin Megami Tensei games were reprinted, Gamestop listed them as used in oder to get by with charging more for them. Or at least, that was my speculation.

Of course, this is a completely different case, although it doesn't necessarily surprise me. I don't recall seeing it before, but I never really paid much attention in cases like these. A few games do bomb big time at release, and might see a $20 cut or so shortly after that. As I said, I didn't really look at the used game game prices at this time, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were priced higher than the new prices due to the unusual circumstances.

 

Nooooo....Not Gamestop!

 

When Smash Bros was released for $19.99, I immediately thought typo. It has to be because of the proximity between the 1 and 4 key on the keyboard number pad.

Same case scenario, only difference is it's between 2 and 5.

These guys must not care about their jobs if they don't even bother checking.

 

I wouldn't doubt it. The game didn't really get much hype, and reviews looked kind of mixed. Certainly not enough to push people to get it instead of waiting for COD, R2, Gears, ME, Fallout 3, Fable 2, etc. Didn't help that it was in development for so long with relatively little to show for it. I was somewhat surprised it wasn't canceled at some point to be honest.

I think that is Gamestop just being Gamestop, and I doubt they'll actually give you $40 for the game. More like $20. I think they're just counting on some people not paying attention to the new price (thinking it is $50-$60) and going straight to the used section, paying $25 more. Yes, I'm pretty sure they're that evil.

They might adjust it in the next week or so. The $30 price cut barely started going into effect this past week I think.

 

Its pretty obvious these game companies don't want us to profit any way or possible on their products. Not to mention that they make more money if you buy NEW as opposed to USED. I don't think they get any percentage on USED sales. NBA Live didn't something similar in that you couldn't use the Live 365 thing unless you had the usused code from the game box.

 

Do you know who you're talking to? Although we're probably the only two.

I do think lack of hype killed BiA more than anything though. I want to say they started doing previews and playable demos in late 2005 or maybe early 2006. I think if they could have gotten it out shortly after, they might have been able to get some decent sales. Of course, WW2 setting never helps these days either...partly why I'm not really interested, although that pretty much goes for any "realistic" FPS. Might give the demo a try sometime, but I'm so backlogged with demos as it is. I think I have 3-4 demos that haven't even been installed yet.

They may or may not have someone like that, but I don't really see why they would care that much. They're probably just trying to cash in on any people who didn't realize that Ubisoft cut the MSRP to $30 and end up overpaying by $25 for a used copy, which would get GS some extra money and help pay off any "losses" Gamestop took for buying back earlier copies of the game for $35 or whatever they offer. It shouldn't happen, but then again, Gamestop shouldn't try to sell new copies as if they're new either.

They don't get a dime from rentals or used game sales. I don't remember the exact percentage, but I'm pretty sure used game sales make up large percentage of the profits at Gamestop...maybe even the vast majority. I might be wrong, but I think you could use Live 365 if you bought the game used, but you had to order a code from EA for like $20 I think. This is their way of getting some money back from used game sales.

I'm kind of split on this. I do think it is somewhat unfair that places like Gamestop can get tons of profits by reselling a game over and over, while the developer that spent 3+ years developing it only get a portion of the original sale back. But on the other hand, there's not really much you can do about it (unless you live in other countries where renting or selling used games is illegal). EA and others are trying to get around it, but I don't really like their ideas (at least at the current prices anyway). I might be wrong, but I don't recall hearing people from other industries complaining about sales of used products.

I suppose once we go to pure digital distribution, this won't really matter anymore. Although hopefully publishers put out good deals from time to time to make up for the discount used games gave us. See Valve's recent deal on Steam...something like pretty much every Valve game, including L4D, for $100.