How is Play N Trade?

[Daria]

On the way to work yesterday I noticed a coming soon sign for a Play N Trade. I live in an area with 19 Gamestops within 25 miles of my home with the only competition being a craptastic CGX at the mall. South Florida needs some diversity badly.

Anyway, I'm just wondering if the company's any good. I hear they sell old games at least.

[JustRob]

hmm...didn't know you were down here too.

Anyway, which play n trade? There are like, 3 or so here now and from what one of the owners said, about 4 more coming soon.

The one in westin is ok. The one in west pines is alright, and I know the guys there the best. The one in Miami Lakes at Main Street is a fucking joke. Don't expect to find much classic stuff unless you want to overpay and a good chunk of stuff there is pretty shitty inkjet printed label repros that don't even try to look real.

Aside from that, it's the only place to find anything older than ps2 era stuff.

BTW, where is that cgx?

[TheDomesticInstitution]

I have a Play N Trade near me... and I go in there once a month or so. My best find there so far was Contra III for the SNES for $9. All in all their prices are pretty GameStop-ish. They have a pretty decent selection of classic stuff... but don't expect to get any crazy deals. It'll probably take a while for your store to build up a good selection of classic stuff if it just opens. My closest store also carries a handful of classic boxed games too, but they're mostly commons.

[norkusa]

A few PnT stores opened near me over the past year. At first, I liked them because they had decent classic selections and the employees actually knew what they are talking about. But the more I go in there, the more it looks like just another Gamestop.

I was at a PnT store a couple weeks ago looking for a 60gb PS3. They didn't have any but they did have a 20gb for sale. Only catch is that it came bundled with 3 Metal Gear games, an extra controller and they wanted $499 for it (it was actually marked down from $599). I asked the guy if he'd sell me the console only but he said no.

Another thing they do is hit the clearance bins at Target and Circuit City to replenish thier stock and resell at full price. 2 year old DDR Ultramix and Karaoke Revolution Idol bundles that were $20-$30 at Target are $60-$70 at Play N Trade. They do the same thing with Pro Duo memory sticks and other accessories too.

They do have cool stuff sometimes. Saw a complete R.O.B. once and they always have 2600 systems and games (although they're always dirt common). Everything is all priced according to Ebay though, so even if you find something you like, it's not worth buying. Like the beat to hell Madden CE cart I saw (boxed with no manual) for $30.

[Tupin]

The PNT near me is pretty good, the prices/selection are decent, but they never get in systems, all they sell is those Retro Duos. The main reason why they have such good prices is because they have to compete with a local chain and they are the only store.


It all depends, since these places are independently owned and operated.

[Sabz5150]

I'm always in my PnT, usually several times a week... I'm on first-name with the guys that work there. I've landed several excellent finds and the guys are quite helpful and knowledgeable (and always willing to swap stories and bullshit when the other customers aren't around). They always cut me deals and slice off a few bucks from the rares and oddballs.

I guess it's just my shop, but these guys are on the ball... because of them my Gamestop runs have become fewer and farther apart.

[Daria]

hmm...didn't know you were down here too.

I'm in West Palm Beach. Miami's like a whole other country.

Seriously though the furthest south I travel is Fort Lauderdale, and that's not often.

The CGX near me is in the Wellington Mall. It's not very good though. It's the type of store that only uses price tags for current gen games, anything older is ebay priced at the counter. And that's only if you can talk them into selling it to you.

[joshnickerson]

They opened up near me a few weeks ago. The prices on "current gen" games (PS2 era and above) seem to be on par with Gamestop. The older games are locked away in a glass case in the rear of the store, so it's difficult to really know what the price range of those are, though what little I did see priced was a bit high... ($8 for NES Ice Climbers? REALLY?) I was a bit annoyed that I had to explain to the clerk as to what "games for the black and white Gameboy" were, as he then pointed to some GBA games in the case.

It's a decent enough store with a good selection (they had 3D0 games, which stunned me), but the prices seem high, especially since I could get older stuff cheaper at the dirt mall down the road. I was also hoping they'd have some imports, like a PnT I visited in another state, but no dice. I'll give it a few months before I really decide though.

[DigitalSpace]

There's another thread about Play N Trade here:
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107129

Imo, prices on the newer stuff aren't too bad, but most of the older stuff is overpriced.

[G-Boobie]

The only problem with broadly discussing Play N Trade is that they're franchise based, not corporate owned. It's a serious case of your mileage may vary.

I have two in my city. One is actually OK; they do disc repair, repairs on older consoles(both come with a warranty), they throw tournaments, they have SOME classic stuff, etc. etc. etc. This makes up for their generally low level of current gen stock and their prices, which are usually exactly fifty cents lower than current Game Stop/Ebay prices. the owner is a gamer and has been known to whup his customers at Soul Calibur from time to time.

The other one is basically a thrift store horribly mated to a Game Stop. Everything is in terrible shape and over priced. It smells funny. The owners are rude and don't play games themselves. They tried selling me a copy of God of War II for fifty bucks three months ago.

You get the gist.

[fuchikoma]

The one in Weston is pretty weak. Their 'classic' colleciton is mostly PS1 GHs and sports titles. I managed to grab Armored Core 1 CIB for $4 though.

[Oobgarm]

The local one here is terrible. They have an overabundance on crap sports and PS2 games, which I cannot fathom how they survive on. Anything prior to PS2 at the store is trash and not worth the time.

Last time in, the employee followed us around and practically begged us to buy something, which says tons about their sales.

We've got close to 25 GameStops within 30 minutes, plus 3 other independents.

[Bojay1997]

The one closest to me guts their games, has a small selection and their prices are generally identical to Gamestop, so my opinion is that they are a worthless addition to the video game retail landscape.