In a surprising move, Best Buy, the gigantor retail chain based here in Minnesota, is planning on bringing used games to their stores. This means that stores like Play N Trade and Game Stop that are in the business of charging nearly full price for their newer used games will be given a run for their money. There is even speculation that since Best Buy is so well established, chains like Gamestop that don’t offer anything but modern console games may soon be a in a world of hurt. Opinions?
8 Comments
If I were BB, the first thing I would do would be to make a big sign that says “No EA sports games”.
Ha! I would agree. Sell only the new ones and take NO old ones in. On the other hand, it might be good for them to learn what it’s like to get stuck with a bunch of un-moveable inventory.
Somewhat related… I purchased an Xbox 360 Pro from the Best Buy Outlet store on Ebay – $130. Not much as far as actual games there, though.
I wonder if they will push their product protection plans on this, and enforce quality control a bit better than their “open box” items.
zoyx: The Ghostbusters game is a must for the xbox.
The question is if this is a true BB offering, or a joint venture like Red Box. I suspect that it will be the latter. In which case you may see E-Play’s existing game rental machines in Wal-Mart expand to Used Intake.
The interesting question is what would happen if you burned a copy of an in-demand game and stuck it in the machine? You get an instant voucher. That could be turned into merchandise right away, or used to purchase CDs which can be converted to Cash at used music stores.
If you mean, ‘Will Best Buy use kiosks?’ the answer is ‘yes’. But from all accounts this is an Best Buy initiative. Last year it was tested in Canada and in 2005 there was a limited test run in the U.S. There is no mention of a second party in any articles I’ve read. So until I read that they’re working with another company, I’m going to go with ‘This is solely a Best Buy offering.’ Also, according to CNBC… they’re not the only ones getting into this market.
I think the kiosks will work Anything that removes the often untrained CSR from the equation is a good thing. Though, I find the folks that work at a game stop or a play’n’trade usually are gamers at heart and generally know what they are doing.