Leftist Advocate: Your Buck Doesn't Really Stop at Gamestop

I recently went through a video game purge.  My game bulimia was inspired by my recent move in which I packed 3 boxes full of video games that I have not touched in over a year.  This included an N64 collection that had not touched a TV since in over 7 years as shown by the still connected RF adapter.  After lugging these "classics" to the new place and falling short on shelf space for my newer games, I had to face the facts - I had squeezed all the frustration (and most of the achievement points) from Assassin Creed, Shadowrun, Crackdown, and many more.  This led to a new predicament - what do I do with this trash that would be someone else's treasure? 

I decided to unload them via Goozex and Gamestop using an arbitrary system I invented to determine which provided the maximum benefit.  There is often a ton of negative press for Gamestop, much of which is well deserved.  Yet, I am here to argue in favor of the nation's largest dedicated video game retailer.  In this story, I brought in a bunch of merchandise that I would never again  touch and, without any personal risk, walked out with credit towards a future purchase that I would inevitably make.  My initial disappointment that I had brought in almost $500 worth of merchandise to receive back $110.82 was alleviated by two thoughts - 1) there is no other area is which there is an "authorized" method for returning heavily used electronic merchandise for a monetary compensation and 2) most of my trades were PS2 and gamecube games.  I say authorized as there are tons of peer to peer services such as ebay, goozex, CAG trading, etc. that allow you to trade or sell games, but carry some risk and a delayed reward.  I certainly won't be able to give anyone my old HDTV for credit towards a new one when the time comes to replace it.  There was no one that wanted my shitty 4 year old router when I needed to buy a new one this weekend.  Yet Gamestop gladly took my Jak 1, 2, and 3 and gave me about $5 bucks to use towards something else.  The store is immediate, safe, and useful (albeit underwhelming in credit for games more than 15 days old).  Recently, I traded in my near death 360 that was readying itself for its 5th visit to McCallen, TX for $151.80, which I was able to combine with that $5 (and much more) for a brand new elite.  

As such, I've revised my harsh opinion on Gamestop and their trade in racket in light of their being a method to efficiently unload merchandise that would most likely find its way to the trash can.  I agree that their return prices should be higher, but I'm satisfied to receive any return on my investment, especially if it keeps me from falling into old habits.  

What's your method of dealing with your older games? Gamestop, Goozex, Ebay, Ikea (for more shelving)

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