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So what happens to unsold video game hardware?

entremet

entremet

Member
I'm thinking of all the Jaguars, Virtual Boys, Saturns, and the like that were never sold to customers. Same with games?

Well, I do think games are fire sold. I still regret not picking some of the full retail boxes of Earthbound that were being sold for 10 bucks at one point.

But I always wondered about game hardware? Do the retailers ship them back to the distributors for credit?

I could only imagine that in some shipping container somewhere there is a lost shipment of old consoles, unopened, rotting away somewhere.

Given who crazy this stuff go on eBay, I wonder if some people are hoarding some when they become ultra rare.

I do remember new Dreamcasts where being sold on some site a few years ago.
 
C

CrAzYLeGzLU

Member
Like you said I'm pretty sure they are just sent back to the manufacturer for credit then the manufacturer probably recycles them to try and get whatever money out them that they can.
 
V

vireland

Member
entrement said:
I'm thinking of all the Jaguars, Virtual Boys, Saturns, and the like that were never sold to customers. Same with games?

Well, I do think games are fire sold. I still regret not picking some of the full retail boxes of Earthbound that were being sold for 10 bucks at one point.

But I always wondered about game hardware? Do the retailers ship them back to the distributors for credit?

I could only imagine that in some shipping container somewhere there is a lost shipment of old consoles, unopened, rotting away somewhere.

Given who crazy this stuff go on eBay, I wonder if some people are hoarding some when they become ultra rare.

I do remember new Dreamcasts where being sold on some site a few years ago.
Click to expand...


Some are sold into the secondary market or other countries (South America), but there's a decent amount of electronics, brand new in box, that are taken to facilities where they are crushed into oblivion. A *lot* of the Turbografx and Duo hardware went this route. Brand new, perfectly good product smashed into bits and an then a certification is issued for tax purposes verifying it was destroyed. At the time the Duo stuff was done, there were pallets of TVs, VCRs, Stereo amps, pretty much anything you can imagine - all brand new in box, waiting to be obliterated.
 
S

Syriel

Member
vireland said:
Some are sold into the secondary market or other countries (South America), but there's a decent amount of electronics, brand new in box, that are taken to facilities where they are crushed into oblivion. A *lot* of the Turbografx and Duo hardware went this route. Brand new, perfectly good product smashed into bits and an then a certification is issued for tax purposes verifying it was destroyed. At the time the Duo stuff was done, there were pallets of TVs, VCRs, Stereo amps, pretty much anything you can imagine - all brand new in box, waiting to be obliterated.
Click to expand...

This happens for all electronics.

If it's not sold, the mfg has to destroy it in order to claim the loss.

I've seen hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of product go through an industrial shredder.
 
DonMigs85

DonMigs85

Member
Back in 2009 one of our local mall-based audio/video franchise stores was having a sale and had some pretty old inventory out. I still have the pic I took:

3943358575_d7f9169a12_b.jpg


Yes, the PlayStation, Saturn must have been in their boxes since at least 1997 or earlier. They even had some sealed Dreamcast games like DOA2 for sale.
I was also REALLY tempted to get the Panasonic Q.
 
T

TimeEffect

Member
Carl said:
Nintendo buys them and uses them for next-gen hardware.
Click to expand...

Damn.

I have an offspring question:

What happens to unsold software? I mean, do they get shipped back, or is it a done deal and in the hands of retail stores? I ask because it seems that's why pre-order incentives are pushed so hard-- so that they can ship a higher demand
 
R

Refugio

Member
DonMigs85 said:
Back in 2009 one of our local mall-based audio/video franchise stores was having a sale and had some pretty old inventory out. I still have the pic I took:

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2490/3943358575_d7f9169a12_b.jpg[IMG]

Yes, the PlayStation, Saturn must have been in their boxes since at least 1997 or earlier. They even had some sealed Dreamcast games like DOA2 for sale.
I was also REALLY tempted to get the Panasonic Q.[/QUOTE]

Cool pic. I want that Saturn and some of those UMD cases.
Click to expand...
 
N

Nemo

Will Eat Your Children
DonMigs85 said:
Back in 2009 one of our local mall-based audio/video franchise stores was having a sale and had some pretty old inventory out. I still have the pic I took:

3943358575_d7f9169a12_b.jpg


Yes, the PlayStation, Saturn must have been in their boxes since at least 1997 or earlier. They even had some sealed Dreamcast games like DOA2 for sale.
I was also REALLY tempted to get the Panasonic Q.
Click to expand...
Seeing stuff like this gets me excited for some collector like reason. If I had money I'd probably go visit every video game store in the world
 
V

Version 3.0

Member
What happens to any unsold merchandise?

Depends on the retailer and the manufacturer, and the type of product. Product with an expiration date gets thrown out. Product that the manufacturer wants out of circulation gets recalled (the original Xbox and some models of other consoles were taken out of circulation this way), if the retailer cooperates with them.

Most merchandise, and most videogame hardware, gets marked down until it sells.

If there's a serious overstock situation, the retailer will "close out" the product, usually to a company that specializes in buying overstocks, whether that's somewhere like the Dollar Store, a warehouse retailer chain, or an international reseller.

If they can't do that, (or if the price is too low) they might destroy it for tax purposes (claim it as a loss).
 
L

LeleSocho

Banned
DonMigs85 said:
Back in 2009 one of our local mall-based audio/video franchise stores was having a sale and had some pretty old inventory out. I still have the pic I took:

3943358575_d7f9169a12_b.jpg


Yes, the PlayStation, Saturn must have been in their boxes since at least 1997 or earlier. They even had some sealed Dreamcast games like DOA2 for sale.
I was also REALLY tempted to get the Panasonic Q.
Click to expand...

you are telling me that you haven't bought anything of that stuff? madness
 
DonMigs85

DonMigs85

Member
If they had any old Saturn games, I probably would have gotten the console.
In hindsight I wish I had gotten at least one copy of DOA2.
 
I

Iacobellis

Junior Member
DonMigs85 said:
Back in 2009 one of our local mall-based audio/video franchise stores was having a sale and had some pretty old inventory out. I still have the pic I took:

3943358575_d7f9169a12_b.jpg


Yes, the PlayStation, Saturn must have been in their boxes since at least 1997 or earlier. They even had some sealed Dreamcast games like DOA2 for sale.
I was also REALLY tempted to get the Panasonic Q.
Click to expand...

Is this out in Japan? Funny how the PlayStation isn't marked as NTSC-J.
 
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