The hot topic of used versus new media came up between me and my friends this weekend. We were discussing the cost of new items versus used and where to make a purchase. We have a store near me that sells Blu-ray movies fairly cheap. I'm not above buying used if the price is right and if you can't find new. Years ago there were tons of these all used media stores that thrived on people selling and trading. Now we have the GameStop that thrives on this as well.


Let’s look at a few things this chain has going on:

1) Money: That’s a given. It’s much better to buy a week old game from some retard for $15, turn around and sell it in the same day for $55.
2) Inventory: They pretty much get to have a hands off approach. They have what they have, and don't what they don't.
3) Pre-Order: Ah the bread and butter. This is referred to as a loyalty by those in the biz. What it means is that they have your money, and you have to continue shopping there. They try to do this in constant so that you always have a reason to goto this store and nowhere else.
4) Poor Staff: The staff are little more than McDonald’s staff. They get paid crap; they have to take alot of crap. They are usually immature "dudes" who treat the job like a Kevin Smith movie, and I can't blame em. I will agree that for someone 16-out of college this isn't a bad job. It’s better than food service, or manual labor.

Now I'm not saying that this model doesn't work because it does. What I hate about this that GameStop has no competition for used games. This allows them to sell used games with little to no discount from the new price. Who guys these games? Have you ever went into a store with the intention of buying a game, but only if they had it used for $5 less? Why do they think every used game they sell is made of cancer curing solid gold?

Not only that but they deface many of the used games. Is it really needed that you remove the paper insert of every game and place a sticker with what amounts to roofing tar directly on the paper so that no one will ever be able to remove it? Another point that I never thought of is that this model is costing the industry big time. Is it possible that all of these retail chains cost the industry more than piracy? I'd wager a fair few more people know how to purchase a game from GameStop than to mod a 360.

I wish someone would compete with this monopoly on a nationwide scale and drive competitive pricing on used titles. That or have GS sell used games MUCH cheaper that the new. I know they would lose money initially, but they would have more turn-around on games getting traded and purchased, as well as more sales in general and more traffic to the store. If you goto GS to buy a $60 game and find the same game on the shelf for $30 in good condition which are you going to buy?
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