Did You Bring Any Trade-Ins With You

There are many points to which I take sincere exception in the way I'm treated by retailers, but the opportunity to trade in my previously played games is not one of them.

I've read, at length, the complaints offered from both consumers and publishers why places like Gamestop should either not be buying and reselling used products or should be doing a better job of it, but frankly it often sounds like either sour grapes or knee-jerk reactionism. Sure, it'd be great if the used game I buy were more than $5-$7 off the new price, but when you get right down to it, I really don't notice that a game is either new or used when its spinning its digital mirth through my console. I'm getting the same experience either way, and having saved a lunch's worth of cash in the process seems legitimate to me.

And, since when as a consumer am I supposed to care that the publisher isn't making money off the reselling of their product? Since when am I supposed to feel more beholden to offering constant streams of cash to corporations than saving money from my own pocketbook, or for that matter since when is a retailer not supposed to maximize their profits while offering their customers discounted prices? I'm getting a little tired of the crocodile tears everytime publishers feel off-put by the temerity of consumers, developers, retailers or the media in challenging their authority to dictate the entire game buying process.

They want my money? Make their games cheaper with the same quality. As a consumer, how the hell they manage that is entirely their problem.

As for the other side of the process, I'm the type of gamer who rarely returns to previously played games, so being able to get any coin back on my play investment is pretty nice. There is no shortage of reselling outlets at my fingertips, and while I could certainly get more money on newer games through Ebay, the convenience of Gamestop's trade-in policies make it entirely worth my while. In the long run it reduces the total cost of gaming.

I'd love to get more money back on my games, but I'm not interested in indicting the entire system when the option is truly voluntary with multiple options available. Yeah, I get as annoyed as anyone else when pestered at the counter about used/trades, but honestly I didn't have anything crucial to do with those ten seconds anyway. I don't think the time it takes to say 'no thank you' has ever so dramatically interrupted my day that I couldn't recover.

It's imperfect to be sure, but I think maybe it's time to recognize that this method of specialty retailing is permanent and really fairly benign.