GameStop is thinking about selling retro game cartridges and discs on its online store. At the very first GameStop Expo in San Antonio, CEO Paul Raines explained to Polygon’s Griffin McElroy that GameStop views selling retro games as a prospect to make more money.
“We think there’s a vintage sales opportunity, so we’re accumulating some inventory. It’s a big idea, and there’s a few problems with it. The first one is sourcing the product, the condition, the refurbishment, all that stuff. But there’s a customer for it. And we’re working on some stuff we haven’t announced yet. If you go to eBay and look at all of the gaming stuff that’s on there, it’s unbelievable. Collector’s stuff. We’ve got to be in that business. We will be.”
GameStop is a large corporation that many gamers use as the primary outlet to purchase videogames and accessories. There are many competitors – Amazon, Best Buy, GOG.com, Steam, eBay and many others.
GameStop will have to consider it’s competition, especially EBay and Amazon, where classic games sold by private sellers can be found at reasonable prices.
“Our website is becoming unbelievably rich,” Raines said. “We can’t just be trying to go head-to-head with Amazon, beating each other to death on delivery dates. We do plenty of that. But we’ve got to be a destination for gamers where, for cool stuff for gaming, you’ve got to go to GameStop.”
I do still own old consoles, and I occasionally will buy titles that I no longer have, or never played – but GameStop is coming a little late into the market of selling classic titles. Many classic titles are even available for purchase through console ports like on the PlayStation Store, or Xbox Live, and even websites like GOG.com often have sales to purchase classic games that you can play right on your pc.
There is an opportunity in the market, if GameStop approaches it the right way. Collectors, and gamers don’t want to pay exaggerated prices to play old games, unless they are a rare title that’s hard to come by. But there’s one problem GameStop has: it sells at retail pricing, and unless they can avoid selling the classic titles at retail value, they may not see nearly the amount of profit they expect from selling classic games. If they could implement auctioning, or even making the games available for purchase digitally, they could see a bigger profit. When or if GameStop does decide on selling used retro games, it is likely that it will be no different than eBay with a website where the classic titles will be available for purchase.
If GameStop does decide to sell classic games on its online store, I don’t have high hopes that the prices they will offer will match those of its competitors.
I didn’t know George R.R. Martin shopped at Gamestop.
Huh, maybe I can start going to Gamestop for more than killing time while I wait for a table at Buffalo Wild Wings again.
Its all gonna come down to convenience. If I can go to my local gamestop, and buy a copy of Link to the past at competing used prices compared to the lowest online price, and pay with cash, I’ll most likely choose the gamestop route then ordering online. Thats why I also prefer buying from flea markets or thrift stores.
Of course that means if they decide to stock stores with classics. And if they don’t, I don’t see the point of just selling on their website, considering how the internet works you can buy classic games on anywhere online.