"This town needs an enema." There are too many game stores!

[Oobgarm]

Here in Cincinnati, we’re literally over-saturated with places to buy games. One might not look at that as being a negative thing, but it’s seriously gotten out of hand.

A quick check of the EB/GameStop website show that I have 32 of them within 25 miles of my zip code. There are also at least 5 Game Crazy Stores, and 3 or 4 Game Rush stores. We also have one semi-large mom-and-pop with 2 locations, another large local chain with 4 locations, one small independent store, and one newer ‘national’ chain that just opened a store here.

And the worst thing about it? They’re all charging the same price for newer and current-gen stuff, both new and used.

It was cool when we just had the large mom-and-pop, ‘Game Swap’. Their locations deal more with classic stuff, but it’s obvious that they’re gouging on prices and giving dick for trades. I’ve tried to trade in stuff before, and noticed the owner picking out the rare stuff, consulting eBay and then offering me as little as possible. But it’s an OK trade-off I guess, as there are good deals that slip through the cracks since their pricing system is entirely arbitrary and not computer-based. Good finds on R5-R6 2600 games for $1 are semi-easy to land. Even some newer PS2 and Cube stuff was moderately priced. Plus, they do have some truly odd and rare items show up often. Their major shortcoming is that they also deal in Magic/YuGiOh cards and 80’s toys. The places honestly feel like that flea market booth where they think everything they have is gold.

Last year, noticing that gaming was a huge industry, a company called ‘Game City 360’ started up just over the river in Kentucky. They quickly expanded to three stores, mainly focusing on modern stuff but with a tiny selection of classics. They did a few ‘innovative’ things-held tournaments on big games like Halo 3 and Madden, and they offered trades and coupons via Craigslist. Not really innovative per se, but unique for the area. They recently opened a store near me a few months ago, which just seems like ‘another game store’. They’re all run by former Game Crazy management and employees, but they’re not doing much to make themselves seem any different-right down to their ‘discount card’ which offers the same benefits as everyone else. I did get $1 each in trade on dirt-common 2600 games, so I didn’t complain about that, but they turned away a lot of my trade since they didn’t even know what half it was since they weren’t AAA titles. Seems like everything classic is $1 trade-in unless it's Mario or Final Fantasy.

The most recent independent store, ‘Game Connection’, seems like they have a good idea going. They’re a bit larger than other places, so they have a place for tabletop gaming, and they rent out console use by the hour. They also have an Ultracade machine there, which is a nice touch. Their only downfall is that they’re modern gaming only-no classics at all. So the good idea is kinda rendered moot.

The new national chain is ‘Play N Trade’. I enjoy looking at games and love to check out places that sell them, but I could have sworn I’d been in the store before since it looked like every other place I’d been. Same stuff, same prices, same kinda layout. There was a small smattering of classics, but it was easily discernible that they were just an afterthought. I saw an ad for them during the previews at the movie theater, so they’re obviously trying, but I just can’t see how the market can support three retailers doing the same thing, especially when the industry giant is so incredibly large.

Is anyone else seeing the same stuff in his or her area? Is this just a localized thing?

[TheDomesticInstitution]

I think you just have a bat in your belfry.

[Oobgarm]

I think you just have a bat in your belfry.

The fact that my movie quote has not gone unnoticed pleases me.

[The_4th_Survivor]

But who's gonna' stop 200 balloons? :P

[gepeto]

Winged freak terrorizes Cinci.

[The_4th_Survivor]

Winged freak terrorizes Cinci.

Cinci? As in Cincinatti?

I thought we were talking about Gotham City? :)

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

I currently live in Italy so my marketplace is those who know shipping to FPO is not a bad deal or difficult to do. So basically, folks here and an occassional person on ebay.

I dreamed of things like this when I was still home in the states. But I can see your plight. You would think that with as many stores in your area they would attempt to undercut each other making prices less. Sometimes people think that they have gold when in fact they have nothing more than an huge supply with low demand... meaning everyone should be getting good deals in your area!

Unfortuntately, I find that most game stuff has become overly inflated over the past few years because everything is now rare, even if it really isn't. Take FF VII for example... not that rare, but everyone thinks its golden because of the movies.... therefore prices went up and everyone pays it becuase nobody wants to take the stand that its a relatively common game, why would I pay $70 for it?

If they are giving squat for trade ins, you might consider creating a video gaming trading ring/club in your area. I started a Marine Aquarium Club in Virginia Beach because it was a greater benefit to act as a group of reef keepers to help force prices down on relatively common livestock and to help pit the stores against each other. They want to cater to the masses and when 75% if thier customer base belongs to a club they tend to listen to it. Same principle applies here. The masses will win out... everytime. If its difficult for you to do something similar, then a simple self protest will at least make you feel better. Sell your stuff here or on ebay, screw trading it in!

[Oobgarm]

Yeah, I rarely trade things in at stores, having worked at GameStop for a long time and seeing how lots of customers got screwed, plus I regret a lot of the trades I made when I wasn't paying attention to how much money I was wasting. This just happened to be a rare occasion where I had leftovers from sales that didn't move.

I like the idea of a trading ring, though I don't know of a ton of people around here. Might have to put some feelers out.

[Dreamc@sting]

Yeah, trade in value anywhere is pretty bad....its getting to the point where I feel im trading in at Zappers again...::shiver:: I worked at Game Crazy for a long time and I used to have tons of people bring in stuff that would sell good but trade in for $1 and most people didnt care because the stuff was useless to them. I had a woman bring in a NES in MINT condition in the original box with instructions and everything, we wouldnt take it because of the AC adaptor missing and we didnt have any extra's. She just gave it to us to throw away...yeah right....I took it home...gankity gank, luckily I was the only retro collector from my branch. I had guys ask if i wanted to buy stuff personally, now being ethical and all I didnt, but there were a few times they'd turn down the trade right before close and i would catch them as I left and made a few good purchases. =P outside of work is A-OK! lol

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

You would be surprised at how easy it is with some business cards and a simple forum based website! Nothing to snipe at DP, because the world seems to gravitate here... however, I definitely could see a locale based site thriving. An easy way to advertise it is by a simple signature link at all the websites you visit, and some of the free business cards to pass out (vistaprint) at the gaming stores when you go.

Knowledge is power!

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Yeah, trade in value anywhere is pretty bad....its getting to the point where I feel im trading in at Zappers again...::shiver:: I worked at Game Crazy for a long time and I used to have tons of people bring in stuff that would sell good but trade in for $1 and most people didnt care because the stuff was useless to them. I had a woman bring in a NES in MINT condition in the original box with instructions and everything, we wouldnt take it because of the AC adaptor missing and we didnt have any extra's. She just gave it to us to throw away...yeah right....I took it home...gankity gank, luckily I was the only retro collector from my branch. I had guys ask if i wanted to buy stuff personally, now being ethical and all I didnt, but there were a few times they'd turn down the trade right before close and i would catch them as I left and made a few good purchases. =P outside of work is A-OK! lol

I hate the new gaming stores because of thier disdain for the classics. I was in Orlando visiting my folks before moving here to Italy and randomly stopped in a Game Stop. A guy came in with a Super Mario RPG for SNES and MK2. They would not buy it from him! I asked him how much for both, he said $5. Two days later on ebay I sold them for $50 as a pair. They GS employees didnt care since they didn't take SNES for trade ins anymore.

[WiseSalesman]

Winged freak terrorizes Cinci.

Wait'll they get a load of me.

[Rev. Link]

Oobgarm, my man, you know I'm in the Cincinnati area too, and I have to disagree with some of what you said.

Game Swap is one of my favorite places to go in the area. They're the only place around that still has classic games at decent prices. I've never once gotten the impression from them that they thought everything was worth a lot. In fact, I regularly buy stacks of NES games from them for a few bucks, or SNES games for $5. You mentioned how Game Connection has tabletop gaming, but Game Swap does that too. At least at the Tri-County location, and I think sometimes at Eastgate, but I don't get out to that one too often. The only one that doesn't is Florence, because that store is too small.

As for Game City, I had major problems with that store at first, because they were guilty of charging outrageously stupid prices. I mean like $30 for SMB3. But the location that just opened up in Lawrenceburg is owned by some friends of mine, and I've been helping them learn what stuff is actually worth. They certainly still overprice on some things, but they're getting a lot better. Plus, their discount card is better than any other stores I've ever seen, including the national chains. Not only do you get the standard 10% off used stuff, you also get 10% off all pre-orders and even 5% off new games! I've never seen a store offer discounts on new games. And they also rent out play time for any game in the store. At least at the L'burg location. I don't know about the others, but they're all franchises, so each is run differently.

You also mentioned about how many stores aren't offering much in trades. I agree that that sucks, but that is the nature of the business. These smaller, independantly owned places have to make as much profit as they can, and they make hardly any on new merchandise. Used is where their profit comes from. They can't afford to offer too much on trades or they don't make any money. Believe me, I know. I've seen how it is at Game City, when lots of people come in with trades - wanting cash, usually - and no one comes in to buy anything. Even with low trade value, they might go through a few hundred dollars a day just taking trades. Frankly, I feel lucky that there are even still stores who take trades on older games. There just isn't much money in it.

[Trebuken]

Roadtrip?

The next Buy2Get1 sale at Gamestop may require me to travel your way to put a dent in my Xbox/PS2/Cube collections...

I usually don't go farther south than they Dayton Mall area in my gamehunts...though I did make the Cincy-Classic once or twice in years past...

There are a few GameCrazy's a bunch of Gamestop's and only a few 'mom & pops' up here in Columbus. Classic games are scarce. The inventory at the stores changes very rarely...I have seen the ebay check occur before but I got a deal anyways...

[ice1605]

Yeah, Columbus isn't the greatest place to find older videogames. Still, I'm sure that there are worse places, so I am not complaining.

[DJ Daishi]

you think that's bad...OC is gaming heaven.

[Icarus Moonsight]

We are rather dry in this part of Texas. I have 5-6 GameStop's close by and 2 Game Crazy's. One of the Game Crazy stores is less than a mile from my house. They jacked me on the Castlevania PoR preorder bonus so I don't shop there anymore. I've been back only ~3 times since. Not many surviving small shops. They do spring up once in a while, but close soon after. In the Metro areas Texas is literally carpeted by the corporate stores. I've even been to a mall that had two Gamestops in it. O_O Some pawns play out pretty good but many of them don't even deal in game stuff that isn't current.

Half-Priced Books used to be a good source for me until they started to check eBay completed listings for prices. I've found some stuff I would like to have bought, but the price was too high. I still look though, sometimes things slip by the eBay price monster. Fuyukaze found Panzer Dragoon Saga CIB and Earthbound CIB with the guide and they were not priced. Asked about the price (hoping for a deal) and they went to the computer, bad sign. I really wish stores would understand that if your asking customers for eBay prices then the customer should just sit at home and shop eBay instead of going out, burning gas and digging through their piles of shit to find the one thing they're interested in just to have a clerk check eBay for the price. If you don't know a fair price for your goods than you are in the WRONG business! Especially when your supposed to be a book store with the motto "Everything is half retail price or less!"

Please don't get me started on trade-in credit/cash. We'll be here all night. /rant

This is one of the reasons I want to open a store here. Maybe that local gamers club idea would be a good start.

[Oobgarm]

Oobgarm, my man, you know I'm in the Cincinnati area too, and I have to disagree with some of what you said.

Game Swap is one of my favorite places to go in the area. They're the only place around that still has classic games at decent prices. I've never once gotten the impression from them that they thought everything was worth a lot. In fact, I regularly buy stacks of NES games from them for a few bucks, or SNES games for $5. You mentioned how Game Connection has tabletop gaming, but Game Swap does that too. At least at the Tri-County location, and I think sometimes at Eastgate, but I don't get out to that one too often. The only one that doesn't is Florence, because that store is too small.

I forgot they do the tabletop stuff, since I usually see kids playing Magic at the tables, and that doesn't exactly equate to what I'd consider a tabletop game. And I forgot they opened a store in Florence-in the same location as the old EB, if I'm not mistaken.

I dunno. I guess that particular place comes off as very condescending to me, and the employees there couldn't give a rat's ass about your business. Asking for help always seems like you're being a pest, and place shouldn't feel like that to a customer. I've never really seen much of a selection there either, and most of what's there is overpriced in my eyes. When you're charging $25 for SMB3, $20 for SMB2, and $70 on games like Earthbound and Mega Man X3, especially loose carts, that's a little much.


As for Game City, I had major problems with that store at first, because they were guilty of charging outrageously stupid prices. I mean like $30 for SMB3. But the location that just opened up in Lawrenceburg is owned by some friends of mine, and I've been helping them learn what stuff is actually worth. They certainly still overprice on some things, but they're getting a lot better. Plus, their discount card is better than any other stores I've ever seen, including the national chains. Not only do you get the standard 10% off used stuff, you also get 10% off all pre-orders and even 5% off new games! I've never seen a store offer discounts on new games. And they also rent out play time for any game in the store. At least at the L'burg location. I don't know about the others, but they're all franchises, so each is run differently.

I've not been to any other store besides the one in Milford-and I've not been there since they opened up. I should stop back in and see how they're doing. I noticed that they all run off the same central software, so I wonder if their price scheme is arbitrary. I did notice a few good deals, but most of their stuff wasn't priced correctly, and lots of things that were marked as $9.99 were actually three or four times that much.


You also mentioned about how many stores aren't offering much in trades. I agree that that sucks, but that is the nature of the business. These smaller, independantly owned places have to make as much profit as they can, and they make hardly any on new merchandise. Used is where their profit comes from. They can't afford to offer too much on trades or they don't make any money. Believe me, I know. I've seen how it is at Game City, when lots of people come in with trades - wanting cash, usually - and no one comes in to buy anything. Even with low trade value, they might go through a few hundred dollars a day just taking trades.

I have to disagree with that. Places that deal in used games have to go in with the knowledge that they will be handing out a lot in cash or credit. If you're offering a service of buying stuff, people WILL seek you out for it. I've always been of the mindset that an item should trade for at least 20-25% of the 'used' value, considering the number of backstocked copies of the title isn't crazy. If the customer is keeping the business in the store, they should be taken care of. I've noticed that GameStop is offering coupons to boost trade-in value, which would be great if they weren't already offering close to nil on trades. Of course, cash-only trade-ins should be offered at a much lower price, since you're not seeing any of that money directly back in the store.

I did trade in a bunch at Game City and 95% of the stuff I got rid of wasn't even in their system...which meant they were giving $1 apiece for the titles. And we're talking about some mid-high profile stuff. I was amazed that they wanted a lot of retro stuff, but weren't willing to give a fair value for anything. $3 for NES Final Fantasy and $3 for SNES Tetris/Dr. Mario were pretty surprising, since they'd both easily sell for over $25 each.


Frankly, I feel lucky that there are even still stores who take trades on older games. There just isn't much money in it.

I think that if done correctly, money will be made over the long term. It's more important to build a customer relationship based on mutual respect that to take advantage and buy low/sell high. Look at the DP Store. It looks like he's got a great balance going there, and you don't hear about it being badmouthed at all.

[Flashback2012]

Cinci? As in Cincinatti?

I thought we were talking about Gotham City? :)

C-I-N-C-I-N-N-A-T-I. Cincinnati. LOL I wouldn't worry about it too much, there's people who live here who can't even spell the name correctly. :wink 2:

I'll stop by the Tri-County Game Swap once every blue moon. I haven't been to their Eastgate store in forever and only recently learned about their Florence store. I stop into Game Junkie up on Cin-Day Road and in Games Galore in Cincinnati Mills. I've never been to a Game City but I've heard of them but I wasn't aware there were multiple locations. I rarely pop into Game Crazy and almost never go into Game Rush.

I've never even heard of Game Connection or Play N Trade. I dropped by the Play N Trade website and see the store is located in Milford so I may have to wander out that way sometime.

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

All we have is one good chain(maybe) Gamestop, Blockbuster and one good Independent store(the other one closed)

[Rob2600]

Here in Cincinnati, we’re literally over-saturated with places to buy games. One might not look at that as being a negative thing, but it’s seriously gotten out of hand.

A quick check of the EB/GameStop website show that I have 32 of them within 25 miles of my zip code. There are also at least 5 Game Crazy Stores, and 3 or 4 Game Rush stores. We also have one semi-large mom-and-pop with 2 locations, another large local chain with 4 locations, one small independent store, and one newer ‘national’ chain that just opened a store here.

If you think that's bad, come to NYC. GameStop is almost as bad as Starbucks now. According to Gamestop.com, there are over 50 stores within a 25 mile radius from where I am. The search results max out at 50, so who knows how many there actually are around here?

Of course, there are about 20 Best Buy stores and about 20 Circuit City stores within 25 miles, 15 Blockbuster stores within 5 miles, and plenty of video game/jewelry/cell phone stores in Chinatown and the Fulton Street Mall.

[mailman187666]

wouldn't it be so much better if all those gamestops around you still carried PS1 games? you'd have a ball looking for stuff. I know I would.

[Rob2600]

wouldn't it be so much better if all those gamestops around you still carried PS1 games? you'd have a ball looking for stuff. I know I would.

I don't know...even back in 2002, many of the used PlayStation games were beat up, scuffed, and scratched beyond belief. Imagine now, six years later?

[Gentlegamer]

This is one of the reasons I want to open a store here. Maybe that local gamers club idea would be a good start.Houston gamers, unite!

Was the mall with two GameStops the Galleria?

[Rev. Link]

I dunno. I guess that particular place comes off as very condescending to me, and the employees there couldn't give a rat's ass about your business. Asking for help always seems like you're being a pest, and place shouldn't feel like that to a customer. I've never really seen much of a selection there either, and most of what's there is overpriced in my eyes. When you're charging $25 for SMB3, $20 for SMB2, and $70 on games like Earthbound and Mega Man X3, especially loose carts, that's a little much.

I have to say, I don't know what you're talking about there, man. I've never seen a copy of a NES Mario game go for higher than $10 there, usually lower. Mega Man X 3 and Earthbound go for a lot, but those go for a lot pretty much everywhere. Plus, I've always found the employees to be very helpful. I've never had any kind of problems with them, in fact I usually chat about games with them for a bit. The owner's a cool guy too. He often brings in stuff from his personal collection to sell. I bought his Breath of Fire I and II (SNES) CIB and in great shape for only $60. I would have expected to pay at least that for just one of them!



I have to disagree with that. Places that deal in used games have to go in with the knowledge that they will be handing out a lot in cash or credit. If you're offering a service of buying stuff, people WILL seek you out for it. I've always been of the mindset that an item should trade for at least 20-25% of the 'used' value, considering the number of backstocked copies of the title isn't crazy. If the customer is keeping the business in the store, they should be taken care of. I've noticed that GameStop is offering coupons to boost trade-in value, which would be great if they weren't already offering close to nil on trades. Of course, cash-only trade-ins should be offered at a much lower price, since you're not seeing any of that money directly back in the store.

I did trade in a bunch at Game City and 95% of the stuff I got rid of wasn't even in their system...which meant they were giving $1 apiece for the titles. And we're talking about some mid-high profile stuff. I was amazed that they wanted a lot of retro stuff, but weren't willing to give a fair value for anything. $3 for NES Final Fantasy and $3 for SNES Tetris/Dr. Mario were pretty surprising, since they'd both easily sell for over $25 each.

I think that if done correctly, money will be made over the long term. It's more important to build a customer relationship based on mutual respect that to take advantage and buy low/sell high. Look at the DP Store. It looks like he's got a great balance going there, and you don't hear about it being badmouthed at all.

You need to keep some things in mind when dealing with trades. One, they're there to make money, not to provide gamers with great deals all the time. If stores - especially independent stores - went around giving people, say, $10 trade value for every $20 game then it wouldn't be worth their effort to stay in business. It costs a lot to run a game store. Factor in the cost of the building, utilities, etc., and the cost of paying employees, and the cost of paying for all the trade ins. And don't forget that stores make very very little on new merchandise.

The second thing to remember is that no one's taking advantage of anyone here. Nobody's forcing people to trade in games. If they don't like the trade value they can always sell it themselves on eBay, or in a yard sale, at a pawn, to a friend, on Craigslist, etc. There are plenty of other options. I don't know about other stores, but the guys at the Lawrenceburg Game City always stress that to the customers, and give them every opportunity to change their minds up until the end of the transaction.

In my mind, trading in games at stores is not for people like us, collectors who know what stuff is worth. It's for the guy who happens to have a handfull of old Genesis carts and wants to dump them off, no matter what they're worth. Guys like us should stick to selling our games on our own.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Houston gamers, unite!

Was the mall with two GameStops the Galleria?

Don't recall other than the fact the damn place had two! LOL Could have been the Galleria, maybe Katie Mills or even Willowbrooke. *shrugs*

I agree with the whole Houston gamers unite vibe btw. I think Damaramu would be all over it too. :D That guy has some seriously contagious enthusiasm and thats over the interwebs. This thread just may have started something... time will tell.