It boggles my mind how stubborn some game retailers are!!

[duffmanth]

There are a few local indy game stores in my area that I've been periodically going into for a few years now, and it amazes me how long they're willing to sit on the same inventory and not budge on the prices at all. I would say that at least 50%-75% of these stores' inventory is the same shit that has been sitting in the same place for probably 2-3 years now. I've gone into these places here and there over the last few years and have made what I think are reasonable offers for certain games (maybe asking them if they will knock $10-20 off a game) and they won't budge on anything. Has anyone gone into game stores like this?

[Swamperon]

Yep! I visit them just in case something special turns up or goes underpriced but generally it's the same stuff week in, week out. They never reduce the prices or have sales on... no wonder they often go out of business!

[duffmanth]

These places never have sales. I think the only reason they're still in business is because they're in a big city where too many people have more money than brains. The only game I've ever been able to get them to drop the price on was a new and sealed black label God of War 2. The greedy pricks wanted something like $50 for it and I offered them $30 and they very reluctantly took it. This was only about a year ago.

[JSoup]

It's a two way street for them.

If they budge, people will notice and just stop buying until the price drops.
If they don't budge, they risk losing large amounts of potential business to other businesses that dropped prices.

Either way, they get screwed.

[Emperor Megas]

I see the same thing all of the time.

I can understand why they don't want to budge on certain vintage titles, but I think that they should consider having sales every now and then, or perhaps offer some sort of rewards program to help move some of the pricier titles that just hibernate on their shelves. Offering BOGO deals helps everyone, too. They could get you to bite and move the pricier titles by offering you discounted or free lesser titles that they don't make that much off of anyway. I think mixing things up is a good way to get people to move on things that they'd otherwise sleep on.

At least most comic book stores will usually work with you to move product. I feel like independent specialty stores should be about more than just turning a high profit. I mean, they could be doing anyone else, but they chose to deal in what they do (in this case selling classic video games). Sometimes I'll take a little less profit on something (be it a comic, video game, poster...whatever.) if I know that it's going to a fan. I'd like to see shop owners take that attitude, too, though I understand they still need to make money.

With that said:

I've gone into these places here and there over the last few years and have made what I think are reasonable offers for certain games (maybe asking them if they will knock $10-20 off a game)

Depending what games you're talking about, that can be quite a bit you're asking them to knock off.

[Bojay1997]

I see the same thing all of the time.

I can understand why they don't want to budge on certain vintage titles, but I think that they should consider having sales every now and then, or perhaps offer some sort of rewards program to help move some of the pricier titles that just hibernate on their shelves. Offering BOGO deals helps everyone, too. They could get you to bite and move the pricier titles by offering you discounted or free lesser titles that they don't make that much off of anyway. I think mixing things up is a good way to get people to move on things that they'd otherwise sleep on.

At least most comic book stores will usually work with you to move product. I feel like independent specialty stores should be about more than just turning a high profit. I mean, they could be doing anyone else, but they chose to deal in what they do (in this case selling classic video games). Sometimes I'll take a little less profit on something (be it a comic, video game, poster...whatever.) if I know that it's going to a fan. I'd like to see shop owners take that attitude, too, though I understand they still need to make money.

With that said:

Depending what games you're talking about, that can be quite a bit you're asking them to knock off.

Agreed. On used games, independent retailers have a lot more flexibility. On new games, they get screwed when they buy them, getting as low as a 15-20 percent margin or roughly $7-$10 on a $50 game, if that, and may not even get a credit with their distributor if there is a price drop. As such, selling for $10-$20 off is a huge loss.

[duffmanth]

I see the same thing all of the time.

I can understand why they don't want to budge on certain vintage titles, but I think that they should consider having sales every now and then, or perhaps offer some sort of rewards program to help move some of the pricier titles that just hibernate on their shelves. Offering BOGO deals helps everyone, too. They could get you to bite and move the pricier titles by offering you discounted or free lesser titles that they don't make that much off of anyway. I think mixing things up is a good way to get people to move on things that they'd otherwise sleep on.

At least most comic book stores will usually work with you to move product. I feel like independent specialty stores should be about more than just turning a high profit. I mean, they could be doing anyone else, but they chose to deal in what they do (in this case selling classic video games). Sometimes I'll take a little less profit on something (be it a comic, video game, poster...whatever.) if I know that it's going to a fan. I'd like to see shop owners take that attitude, too, though I understand they still need to make money.

With that said:

Depending what games you're talking about, that can be quite a bit you're asking them to knock off.

I'm talking about games that are generally $50+.

[understatement]

It's a two way street for them.

If they budge, people will notice and just stop buying until the price drops.
If they don't budge, they risk losing large amounts of potential business to other businesses that dropped prices.

Either way, they get screwed.

I don’t see how they get screwed if they drop their prices down to a reasonable level.

That’s only if they are gouging prices like the Play-N-Trade I go to.

All NES, all loose, and all $50 and up in price
Final Fantasy
MT Punch Out
Contra
Super C

So I tried to trade some of those titles in and they only give $5 ~$8 per game.
Oh, and Final Fantasy 7 they sell for $100 but only give $13 for it.

I see the same thing all of the time.

I can understand why they don't want to budge on certain vintage titles, but I think that they should consider having sales every now and then, or perhaps offer some sort of rewards program to help move some of the pricier titles that just hibernate on their shelves. Offering BOGO deals helps everyone, too. They could get you to bite and move the pricier titles by offering you discounted or free lesser titles that they don't make that much off of anyway. I think mixing things up is a good way to get people to move on things that they'd otherwise sleep on.

At least most comic book stores will usually work with you to move product. I feel like independent specialty stores should be about more than just turning a high profit. I mean, they could be doing anyone else, but they chose to deal in what they do (in this case selling classic video games). Sometimes I'll take a little less profit on something (be it a comic, video game, poster...whatever.) if I know that it's going to a fan. I'd like to see shop owners take that attitude, too, though I understand they still need to make money.

They have sales like buy 2 get 1 but with prices like this it doesn’t help move product.

[Bojay1997]

I'm talking about games that are generally $50+.

$20 off of a $50 game is 40% off. That's a very substantial discount for a store that may only have received a 15% margin to begin with and never got any distributor credit for the price drop. I suppose it might be worth it for them to just cut their losses, but I know a lot of local independent retailers around here have figured out that if they wait a while, "black label" copies regain some of their value and do eventually sell.

[crazyjackcsa]

I don’t see how they get screwed if they drop their prices down to a reasonable level.

That’s only if they are gouging prices like the Play-N-Trade I go to.

All NES, all loose, and all $50 and up in price
Final Fantasy
MT Punch Out
Contra
Super C

So I tried to trade some of those titles in and they only give $5 ~$8 per game.
Oh, and Final Fantasy 7 they sell for $100 but only give $13 for it.




They have sales like buy 2 get 1 but with prices like this it doesn’t help move product.

What you consider "reasonable" may very well be utterly UN resonable.

As was mentioned, margins are thin on new games, and if it's a trade in, and sits for a while, the loss could be huge.

It's interesting that you bring up the Trade in values. People asume that if you're selling a game at $100 the trade in should be much higher. However, that game has to pay for things like lights, salary, rent and the other costs associated with running the store.

It also has to pay for LOSSES on other game sales. Trade in value is low on lots of games and systems because the store knows that they damn well can't move them.

Have you ever seen the stock some of the stores have? An indepentant I go to on a monthly basis, has litterally hundreds of systems he can't move.Everything from Atari to the original XBOX and PS2. They get traded, and they sit. For years.

[understatement]

What you consider "resonable" may very well be utterly UN resonable.

As was mentioned, margins are thin on new games, and if it's a trade in, and sits for a while, the loss could be huge.

It's interesting that you bring up the Trade in values. People asume that if you're selling a game at $100 the trade in should be much higher. However, that game has to pay for things like lights, salary, rent and the other costs associated with running the store.

It also has to pay for LOSSES on other game sales. Trade in value is low on lots of games and systems because the store knows that they damn well can't move them.

Have you ever seen the stock some of the stores have? An indepentant I go to on a monthly basis, has litterally hundreds of systems he can't move.Everything from Atari to the original XBOX and PS2. They get traded, and they sit. For years.

But I’m not talking about new games I understand why they can’t come down on them

In this day and age with things like ebay you can’t expect to pay someone $5 for a NES Final Fantasy and sale it for 5x the going ebay price of $10~$15. I could understand FF at $20~$25 but $50 is not reasonable.

You act like if they bring the price down to or around the average going price they don’t make a profit that’s .

[Rickstilwell1]

The reason the local shop in my area doesn't drop prices very often is that his business specializes in card gaming. He has a contract with Wizards of the Coast and he gets funding from them to keep the place open to host tournaments and sell their products. All of the video game stuff he gets in are from people who are too lazy to put them on ebay, such as myself sometimes. A handful of 20 bad PS1 games that nobody likes? $5 store credit if I'm lucky but I'm all for clearing space and exchanging bad games for good games. While some stuff is priced well, other stuff he says sell quickly every time he gets them in, so he keeps the price at $20 for a game like Crash Team Racing original black label complete even if it's not all that rare.

It seems demand is more important than rarity in price reflection.

[duffmanth]

$20 off of a $50 game is 40% off. That's a very substantial discount for a store that may only have received a 15% margin to begin with and never got any distributor credit for the price drop. I suppose it might be worth it for them to just cut their losses, but I know a lot of local independent retailers around here have figured out that if they wait a while, "black label" copies regain some of their value and do eventually sell.

I'm talking about used games that these places sell for $50+ and give most people $15 max for on trade in value.

[duffmanth]

What you consider "reasonable" may very well be utterly UN resonable.

As was mentioned, margins are thin on new games, and if it's a trade in, and sits for a while, the loss could be huge.

It's interesting that you bring up the Trade in values. People asume that if you're selling a game at $100 the trade in should be much higher. However, that game has to pay for things like lights, salary, rent and the other costs associated with running the store.

It also has to pay for LOSSES on other game sales. Trade in value is low on lots of games and systems because the store knows that they damn well can't move them.

Have you ever seen the stock some of the stores have? An indepentant I go to on a monthly basis, has litterally hundreds of systems he can't move.Everything from Atari to the original XBOX and PS2. They get traded, and they sit. For years.

This is my whole point though. These places that I go to give you jackshit for most games. Just as an example, I once asked how much I could get for a mint used black label FFVII, he said $15 trade value, and they sell them for $100! Now I understand these places have to make a profit, but there's a fine line between making a fair profit and being outright greedy pricks.

If stores like the one you mentioned can't move these systems and games, why do they keep buying them? I worked at an indy game store for a few years, and if there was a certain game that we had say 20 copies of that we couldn't move, I just wouldn't take anymore copies of that in on trade. If our inventory got to a point where we had to blow a bunch of it out, we always had a sale and blew out old stock to make room for stock that would actually sell. There's gotta be a point in time where you have to cut your losses and get rid of old, dead inventory to make room for newer stock that will sell. It just completely puzzles me how long some of these stores are willing to sit on the same shit.

[crazyjackcsa]

Sure, but what you're comparing is two entirely different business models. As a consumer I can:
a) Drive to store and buy a game, and drive home.
b) sign up for ebay, sign up for some sort of online payment, bid for game, wait for auction to conclude, pay shipping costs, wait for game, hope game arrives as promised. Play game.

and if there is some sort of problem? Good luck.

Markets for brick and mortar stores are smaller, costs are higher, risk is higher. All conspire to bring together what you're talking about.
Listen if you don't like it, don't go there, but bitching about "the system" isn't going to affect change.

[mobiusclimber]

Of course they sit, they're overpriced. No one is going to pay the ridiculous prices that most used game stores slap on their product. In some cases, prices are higher than Gamestop ($80 for a used PS2? Really???), so no they'll never sell that crap. The fact that they got it for $8 in store credit never crosses their mind that maybe they should just drop the price a bit.

I'm sorry but I have zero sympathy. If you don't have a working model of how you're going to turn a profit at your business, then you should go broke and close, it's as simple as that. And yes, thinking that you can charge double what fair market value is, is not at all a working model. I've seen em try, it doesn't work.

So if they store knows they can't sell the game at the stupid price they're trying to get, wouldn't it make sense to not keep trying to get that stupid price? I can slap a $10 price tag on a loaf of bread and watch it sit and grow mold, but that won't sell the loaf of bread.

[jb143]

I have no idea what type of store your talking about, but if it's like most of the ones I've seen that mainly sell modern games but have a classic game section, then it's not the classic games that keep them afloat. They therefore have no worries about letting a game sit there for years. Now the stores that specialize in classic games ...they will likely know their stuff and price everything accordingly. That's been my experience anyways.

This past weekend I went to a store that mainly sells newer stuff but has a few older games as well. There were maybe 50 or so Atari 2600 games. I asked how much they were and they said I was the first person to ever ask about them.

[UnpluggedClone]

Google 4 gaga

[duffmanth]

I have no idea what type of store your talking about, but if it's like most of the ones I've seen that mainly sell modern games but have a classic game section, then it's not the classic games that keep them afloat. They therefore have no worries about letting a game sit there for years. Now the stores that specialize in classic games ...they will likely know their stuff and price everything accordingly. That's been my experience anyways.

This past weekend I went to a store that mainly sells newer stuff but has a few older games as well. There were maybe 50 or so Atari 2600 games. I asked how much they were and they said I was the first person to ever ask about them.

This is kind of like the store I use to work at. When I first started there, the original owners were more concerned about making a huge profit on used games and marked the rarer games up a lot while leaving the more common games at relatively low prices. As a result the higher priced used games just sat there and never sold. Then we eventually had new owners who took over and were more concerned about moving a large volume of product out the door at less profit. This was a store that relied on new, used, and rentals pretty equally to stay afloat. We did far more business with the 2nd owners, and that's how I would run my own business.

[Gameguy]

I've talked with some store owners, some said they like having a huge variety of vintage games available so they priced them higher and weren't concerned about selling them any time soon. If they priced the more desirable games well they'd sell within a few weeks and wouldn't have great stuff available while the common stuff would be left. They made most of their money on newer games and rentals anyway, I guess it sort of worked for them....until they went under a few years later. Most of the used game stores around me have gone under. There's a few left, and they price most things decently.

Before most people used the internet, there wouldn't be much choice where to sell your games besides yard sales or bringing them to thrift stores. In this age where anyone can buy or sell their games online using craigslist, ebay, or various specialty forums there's little reason to go to specialty stores unless they price things well and offer decent trade in values.