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GameStop looking into reselling digital content

M

MagicWithEarvin

Member
http://www.gamespot.com/news/gamestop-looking-into-reselling-digital-content-6388559

GameStop already has a solid footing in the boxed used games business, but as the industry trends toward digital, the chain is considering ways it could resell downloadable games. Speaking to GameSpot from the retailer's refurbishment center in Grapevine, Texas, this week, GameStop CEO Paul Raines said the firm is looking into digital secondhand sales.

"It’s very interesting," he said. "There are some technologies out there in Europe, and we’ve looked at a couple that are involved. We’re interested; it’s not a meaningful business yet. Right now we’re not seeing that as a huge market, but I think we’re on the leading edge. There are a few companies, a few startups, out there that we’ve talked to that are doing this."

Raines declined to identify those outfits, saying, "No, we wouldn’t want to disclose that and have our competitors rushing in."

Earlier this month, a European court ruled that the secondhand sale of software was protected, making it so producers can no longer prevent users from reselling licenses.

GameStop's boxed secondhand game business is a major unit for the company. For fiscal 2011, GameStop recorded $2.62 billion in revenue from this sector, 27.4 percent of its total revenues.
Click to expand...
 
F

fernoca

Member
Nintendo talked about something similar, some months ago. About how people could "re-sell" their digital purchases and use the money to buy other digital items.
 
W

Wilsongt

Member
...How do you resell downloadable games? Someone gives Gamestop the software key for $0.10 and then turn around and resell it for $54.99?
 
S

Slaker117

Member
Like, I understand the idea of selling the license for a game back and forth, and that makes some amount of sense, but the nature of digital content makes the whole thing seem totally insane.
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
well if they can pull it off (which seems unlikely, considering all the issues this procedure obviously has) I have a couple keys I don't need anymore..

this could work well for everyone
 
D

Derrick01

Banned
I wish steam could find a way to do it, I remember Gabe saying they were looking into at one time and I actually thought that's why they hired an economist but turns out that wasn't it. I have a 80+ game category ready for whenever that day comes if it ever does.

Wario64 said:
Greenmangaming does DD trade ins.
Click to expand...

They also sell seemingly every upcoming game for $10-$15 off normal price that no one else seems to be able to do yet. They're wizards over there.
 
F

faceless007

Member
Wilsongt said:
...How do you resell downloadable games? Someone gives Gamestop the software key for $0.10 and then turn around and resell it for $54.99?
Click to expand...

Presumably the game is attached to an account and if you sell your "license" it's removed from your account.

I've long-wished for Steam to do something like that.
 
B

BY2K

Membero Americo
How would that even work?

Maybe Steam, someday, since the games are tied to that system, but Gamestop doesn't have such a system.

Yet.
 
P

Puppet Shadow

Member
I can see a publisher buying back a game for credit on another one of their games, but that's it. And you know EA will somehow find a way to screw even this up.
 
F

fernoca

Member
Wilsongt said:
...How do you resell downloadable games? Someone gives Gamestop the software key for $0.10 and then turn around and resell it for $54.99?
Click to expand...
Guess at first it would be exclusive to their own platform/stuff. So, all "Gamestop downloads" that you buy/access through them (like the Rift that was given for free to PowerUp subscribers).

Or lets say in a 3DS, you choose Super Mario 3D Land, select the "resell option", credit is automatically deposited in your account, you lose all access to the digital purchase (and it's deletd right there).
 
S

shintoki

sparkle this bitch
Derrick01 said:
I wish steam could find a way to do it, I remember Gabe saying they were looking into at one time and I actually thought that's why they hired an economist but turns out that wasn't it. I have a 80+ game category ready for whenever that day comes if it ever does.



They also sell seemingly every upcoming game for $10-$15 off normal price that no one else seems to be able to do yet. They're wizards over there.
Click to expand...

Lol, I'd dump some 40-50 things that came for free, extras from humble bundles, betas, and other shit. Just to remove them from my list.
 
S

Slaker117

Member
Puppet Shadow said:
I can see a publisher buying back a game for credit on another one of their games, but that's it. And you know EA will somehow find a way to screw even this up.
Click to expand...

Why would a publisher want to give money back on a sale? It makes sense for retailers, because they can just turn it around and sell it with giving a cut to the publisher. A publisher gains nothing by you losing your game; They don't need to license from themselves. If a publisher wanted to do a promotional sale there are many better ways.
 
R

Retro_

Unconfirmed Member
What's the difference between new and "pre-owned" digital content?

Does Greenman just adjust the price for all copies by the amount of "pre-owned" stock they have?

I'm looking at their FAQ page but I'm not entirely sure I get how this works for them
 
F

fernoca

Member
BY2K said:
How would that even work?

Maybe Steam, someday, since the games are tied to that system, but Gamestop doesn't have such a system.

Yet.
Click to expand...

They kinda have. :p
For the recent Rift/free promotion, you could only get the game (and download it) through their app.

u09Hh.png


So, a "re-sell" tab fits in there. :p
 
A

arts&crafts

Member
Cloudius12 said:
so kind of like GMG? Except resell for 2-3x?
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everybody wins, but gamestop wins more. Lets say I dont want skyrim, they buy it off me for 20 and sell the key at full price again. I get a "free" 20 (I would never trade in Skyrim NEVER) and gamestop saves 30 or 40 or whatever percent they have to pay to sell a game initially.

I guess the publisher loses as they lose a sale of Skyrim in that scenario.

Also since people will jump on this anyways to be annoying, I understand Skyrim is steamworks this is just a random example of the situation, wouldn't work for steamworks games obviously.
 
P

Puppet Shadow

Member
Slaker117 said:
Why would a publisher want to give money back on a sale? It makes sense for retailers, because they can just turn it around and sell it with giving a cut to the publisher. A publisher gains nothing by you losing your game; They don't need to license from themselves. If a publisher wanted to do a promotional sale there are many better ways.
Click to expand...

1 If a publisher gets you to by a digital download from them, they've haven't had to give a retailer any cut at all.

2 And because it's a digital download tied to you, they know it's a copy that can't be pirated.

3 And if you can only use the trade in to put towards another one of their downloadable games, both benefits from 1 & 2 repeat, and they've made a sale on a new game you may not have bought at full price.
 
M

MikeE21286

Member
hopefully it works.

It might be far less profitable for them though, depending on contracts they'd need to construct regarding secondhand digital sales.
 
digita1alchemy

digita1alchemy

Member
This has never made sense to me. Why would any retailer buy back a digital game? What are they even buying? If a game is digital then the retailer already has infinite copies of the game to sell, so why would they pay a person to forfeit their license to play the game? It is literally something for nothing. It's like trading in a game at Gamestop and having them throw that game in the garbage and then give you $5 anyway.
 
D

deviljho

Member
The easy solution for publishers is forcing each purchase to be activated for the console. So you couldn't sell the license/key/download back to the retailer since it couldn't be played on another console.

But this sucks for consumers.
 
D

DungeonO

Member
Valnen said:
Yeah, only stupid people try to do new things! How dare they!

Nevermind the fact that other digital retailers have digital trade in programs now...
Click to expand...

They're adding too much to their plate without training their employees properly. They're shifting their focus over to tablets, iDevices, and DLC, and they aren't training anyone on it properly. That's what's stupid. This just seems like one more issue for them to not ever fully work out.

Sorry if I offended you.
 
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