The pre-owned debate continues to rumble on, most recently with David Braben listing six possible solutions to the ‘problem’. I wonder what publishers would think if they knew one of Britain’s biggest game retailers is actively promoting second hand game sales over brand new titles as from the evidence I have gathered that seems to be exactly what GAME are doing.
Over on the ‘Games Inbox’ gaming letters page at Metro, the free daily newspaper, an email has been published by a chap called Rob Holland regarding his recent visit to a GAME store:
“I’m becoming a little concerned about GAME’s new focus on pre-owned titles. They used to have a pre-owned section for those who wanted to buy second-hand but now nearly all of the shelves contain pre-owned stock, even the chart. Not only that but when you ask for a brand new title the staff are quite insistent on selling the pre-owned items, sometimes to the extent that it almost verges on bullying. A customer should only have to ask for something once and not feel like they have to fight for it.”
That’s a big accusation. We know that GAME will make a larger profit on a second hand game than on a brand new title but are they really pushing pre-owned titles rather than brand new games? A response to Mr. Holland’s email followed the next day and seems to back this up. In a further twist, it claims to be from a staff member at GAME.
“RE: Rob Holland. This is not a new focus on pre-owned, as a GAME employee this is something we have always done in my last four year of working at GAME.”
The following day there is yet another response,
“RE: Rob. I too have experienced GAME staff trying to force pre-owned games on me while trying to buy a new copy. After asking a second time for a new copy to still have the sales assistant try and flog a second-hand copy to me I just turned around and walked out.”
And another..
“I’ve also been pressured by staff into buying pre owned from GAME. I popped in about a few months ago to buy God of War 3, it was 40 quid new and 35 pre owned (which is also unusual as it’s usually the other way around) I had the cash so I took the new copy to the counter, the guy at the counter asked me on two occasions if I wanted the pre owned copy because it was cheaper and in great condition (which it was to be fair), anyway I eventually caved in and bought the pre owned copy as I was in a hurry and didn’t feel like arguing over who I would rather screw out of my money, GAME or the developers.”
And yet another..
“I took Halo:Reach to the counter at my local GAME and they offered me a pre-owned copy for 2 quid cheaper. Seems fair enough to me, 2 quid is 2 quid and it even had the 48 hour trial still in it! “
A recent post in the comments section on MCV claimed that retailers could make 100% profit by reselling games rather than the few pence they make from new titles. Are GAME driving their own profits at the expense of publishers?
Have you experienced GAME staff trying pressure you into buying a a pre-owned copy of title when you take a new game to the till? Let us know in the comments section.
If there is anyone from GAME HQ reading who would like to comment then please get in touch.
bunimomike
Interesting to see how vociferous GAME staff are being. In times of trouble we usually have to look after ourselves first and foremost so I can’t really blame them undertaking such a tactic.
jimmy-google
I simply don’t buy from Game but I was suprised to walk in there today to be greeted by a poster saying something along the lines of “Kinect best Christmas present you can buy”.
I heard from non-gamers going in to stores and being told its great and all teh staff have tried it out.
My trust for Game went a long time ago. In fact it was probably when they merged with Electronics Boutique. It’s ceratinly harder to find new games in Game now but I do often see second hand games selling for more than the brand new one.
AG2297
I work for Game (not for much longer ;)) and you have to explain the benefits of pre-owned (cheaper, same gurantee as a new game) to the customers and try and sell pre-owned over new always. My first day my manager told me “selling 1 pre-owned console is the same profits as selling 5 new consoles for the company” so I always have to push to sell pre-owned. If someone tells me they wish to buy new however, I dont mention pre-owned again to them.
I reckon about 70-80% of the time people come in to buy a game but are persuaded to buy a pre-owned version instead in my store at least.
However with the new online pass codes from EA in Medal of Honor, people favour new so the publishers are managing to counter this. With consoles though, its still a very big thing for Game.
Tuffcub
Wow. So just to clarify, you have a copy of new Enslaved on the shelf and customer brings it over, you then say “Have you considered a pre-owned copy? It’s much cheaper.” – and if they do, GAME get all the money and Namco get nothing even though the cutsomer first thought of buying the orginal product?
bunimomike
The second hand market, eh? Crazy hippies, all of them! :-)
AG2297
Yes that is exactly how it works. You try and convince them to buy pre-owned instead, and really push it.
Game are all about maximising profit, if someone did half the stuff that im taught to say to the customers I would walk out the shop. With things like the Gamecare policy there is a list of about 6 responses to say if the customer does not want it. Its a horrible way of selling.
AG2297
*If someone said half the stuff to me that im taught to say to the customers …
donotfeedthebears1690
I too used to work for Game in various positions in stores and head office. without preowned sales companies like game and gamestation dont survive and some of you might think great i hate them anyway BUT… without game and gamestation the supermarkets take control and how do you think it is going to hurt the games industry when asda,tescos are telling rockstar or ea that they want their AAA titles sold to them for pennies so they can sell them dirt cheap.
everyone is so focused on the fact that the publisher dont get anything from a preowned sale wrong when that was traded in it was traded in against a new game.
also are namco giving game any money when they buy the title back? no so why should they get anything from it when they sell it again
Uhyve
I’m willing to bet that there is some incentive for GAME employees to sell pre-owned copies, if it’s a monetary incentive, you can’t exactly blame the staff.
Cray2k
The only incentive really is keeping your job
Uhyve
Heh, true. Then I definitely don’t blame them.
TheShepanator
I always prefer to buy the game new unless its considerably cheaper (aka, older) just because I like to think I’m supporting the developer more
cc_star
“Are GAME driving their own profits at the expense of publishers?” or business as it’s commonly called
GAME managers are targeted on a %age of sales being pre-owned
Best practice to achieve this is to obviously have the pre-owned area of the store fully stocked and clearly priced, have a pre-owned section next to the chart area of the store so as to attract attention, if space is limited then put a pre-owned copy in the actual chart section.
Pre-owned pricing on core titles is £5 cheaper than the new version except when the occasional special offer takes the ‘new’ price below that of the pre-owned, when that happens the managers are supposed to remove the pre-owned title from the chart area so as this anomaly isn’t seen by customers.
When a customer comes to the counter with a dummy box, or simply asks for xyz game, GAME staff are supposed to introduce the pre-owned copy if its cheaper.
None of this is surely a surprise as any company would want to move high margin stock at the expense of low margin stock, however as the article points out some managers appear to be pressurising their team members too much to make the pre-owned sale.
I’d have thought what I’ve quoted as best practice would suffice, and then let customers make their own minds up of whether they want to save a fiver or so, or not.
Tuffcub
I bet’s it’s a suprise to publishers. There’s a difference between having pre-owned on sale in your store and actively discouraging the sale of new games.
bunimomike
Just out of interest, fella. Perhaps someone could ask how much they could trade-in their newly acquired “second hand” game for (if they return in a few days time). That’ll reveal the profit margin.
cc_star
Not really, Online pass is the weapon against this – not the consumer, whom is merely the casualty of war.
cc_star
@bunimomike
Sometimes people trade-in still sealed copies of games that come in the console bundle they’re buying, at the point of actually buying that console bundle, so the games haven’t even left the sales consultants grip, these trade-in around the £18-£25 mark, popular traded-in games like annual franchises always get less, but I’m not aware of anything getting more than £25 except MW2, which game were selling for £44.99 new & £40 pre-owned where they offered £32 initially for the trade-ins (not bad as my copy only cost me £26 and a I played it for a fortnight)
This will then go back on the shelf at £5 less than the game is selling for, so probably £35, giving a £15 margin as opposed to the pennies or pound or two they make off new copies of games.
Multiply that by hundreds of stores, then by 363 days of the year and you end up with millions on the bottom line. Like I said – business.
Tuffcub
Seriously CC? You think Publishers would let GAME advertising their brand new game on their shelves and pay for some for inshop adverts and standups and then let GAME walk off with all their money? Oxford ST Game has a massive “New Vegas” wrap over the whole of the front of the store that would of been paid for by Bethseda, not Game – you are saying Bethseda would be paying for that if they knew GAME were telling customers to buy a pre-owned copy for which they get nothing? I very, very much doubt it.
cc_star
You’re suggesting a multi-billion pound industry doesn’t know how their products are actually sold, and don’t conduct research of any form?
Jumping Monks
I traded Red Dead in on 360 the other day for a mate and got 18 quid for it if that helps bunimo.It was listed as chart title at the time.
bunimomike
If you trade in something fairly new then GAME stand to make more money from what I can tell. They don’t give you a fair price (eg. what you could sell it for on eBay) but obviously the money is there for you to offset against something new that very moment. However, with GAME’s prices it really smarts to see people spending £40 when they could get it only for quite a bit cheaper sometimes. Actually, I’m guessing GAME’s used prices are comparable to new prices online.
They have to allow for profit so will always mark-up whatever they give you for your used games. Nothing we can do with it but vote with our wallets each and every time. If we don’t like a particular practice then do something about it.
AG2297
@bunimomike it tells us on the till how much we buy it for and how much we will then sell it for. Your looking at roughly 100% on most games e.g. buy for £4 sell for £8.
bunimomike
Agreed. The only rumble here are the management and how they are pressuring staff but it still makes solid financial sense to GAME.
Voganlight
I always buy them new, even when the prize is way more expensive. It just doesn’t feel right to me.
glen421
We have the same problem in the US with GameStop. The pre-owned game sections far out number’s the “new” section. Sometimes they don’t show that they have the game you want new and they show having it used. You may have to ask: “I see you got it pre-owned but do you have it new?” I just bought Ratchet and Clank a Crack in Time “new” for $29.00US and they tried to sell me the used version for $27.00US. I’m like TheShepanator unless they are real cheap I won’t consider. I hate buying used cause they put all those damn stickers all over the case..I like my game collection nice and neat.
It’s all for the money…
ghost5
for the sake of $2 / £1.30 I would choose new over preowned everytime. The last game I bought from game was Red Dead Redemption, I was offered a sealed preowned copy for £5 cheaper than new.
DrOf1337
I really can’t get involved in this conversation on professional grounds, as much as I’d like to, but yes, they do this and as someone who is trying to run a business based on digital content, they make my life very difficult indeed.
kahana95
When I went to buy Red Dead for PS3 at the end of August I checked in Game and they were definately trying to push the pre-owned copy. I asked whether the would consider selling it brand-new for the price on their website. Instead the assistant said that the preowned was identical and the same price as the brand-new copy online. Obviously I refused and possibly went one worse by supporting a supermarket chain rather than a preowned copy through a specialist. So whats worse TESCO or GAME?
cc_star
Asda, HMV, Argos already sell & if they’ve got a good manager will be actively pushing pre-owned, Tesco is soon moving into pre-owned anyway.
bunimomike
What’s worse? In a wider sense, you tell us. :-) If you want low prices, expect massive companies to have chains around the country (if not the world). If you want to pay a premium then there’s room for smaller independent outlets to survive.