Originally Posted by
danawhitaker
How are Gamestop's numbers proof? Unless they ask the customer whether they would have bought the new copy instead of the used one (which I know for a fact they do not at the Gamestops around here), it's still speculation. I'm stingy with what I'm willing to spend. I almost never buy a new game for $60. For me, being willing to buy the game at $55 does not mean I would always have paid $5 more for a new copy. You cannot prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that it's a lost sale. Instead, people who do the whole buy used-trade in-buy used cycle that you discuss might simply have gone with a rental service like Gamefly or Blockbuster and wouldn't buy at all. Or they would have maybe borrowed the game from a friend or relative. Or they would have checked the game out of the library for free (our library rents games for free).
$5 doesn't seem like a lot, but for some of us, it's a deal-breaker. The last three games that I've bought I paid $55 (Super Mario Wii U on Amazon, new), $15 (Forza Horizon, new, Amazon), and $20 (Angry Birds Trilogy, new, Amazon), respectively. The only one of those I would have paid $60 for is Super Mario Wii U, and that's because it was a present for my daughter - but I shopped around and got a deal before Christmas. I would normally have waited until Forza or Angry Birds were heavily discounted. I just got lucky with Black Friday weekend sales and found them ridiculously discounted shortly after launch.
Edit: And when it comes to used games at Gamestop, they can be returned for your money back (not store credit, your money back) within 7 days if you aren't satisfied. That means that in theory, that person's never actually spending any money at all. Now, Gamestop might cotton on after a while if someone's doing this repeatedly and regularly. But if they do it fairly infrequently, it would probably slide under the radar. I can count on one hand the number of times I've done that over the years, but I have. I think the last time I did was in 2004 with Phantasy Star Online 1 & 2 for the Gamecube. I realized I didn't enjoy the game as much as I had when I owned it on Dreamcast and I returned it within the 7 day period for my cash back. Once a new game has been opened, however, that option is out the door. That's another reason I argue you can't guarantee that used sale would translate to a new one. Someone might choose to buy the used copy for $5 less knowing they can return it if they discover that they hate the game. They wouldn't gamble $60 on a new copy that they couldn't return. Again you have a scenario where someone who can't buy the used copy will turn to renting it or borrowing it from a friend.