Microsoft asks if you would sell back games for 10pc of price paid

[shaithis]

I wouldn't personally use this.

£4 to trade in something I paid £40 for? I would need to be very desperate for cash to even consider it.....in fact it comes across as a slap-in-the-face due to them having a single value for all goods when clearly not all second-hand games are worth the same.

It screams as just another way to try and take second-hand sales away.

[winactive]

What you all seem to be missing is the fact that trading-in games simply robs the developer of their royalty.

There should be no trade-in value for a digital game. The fact there is for a physical copy is because it is a tangible object. CEX and it's ilk, plus those that buy there undermine the whole food chain.

Even distributors who buy the game up to sell to retail lose out (many of the codes you buy online are loss-cutting physical copies of the game). Then there's the grey area of them selling the physical disc on eBay or the like even though the code is used. Because it is a tangible item, this is also legal but does not benefit the developer.

All the CEX pre-owned titles just make it harder for retailers to hit their margins, but there are people who will insist and scream that removing the physical copy market is restrictive because they then need the internet (or a data allowance) to acquire the game.

Please be careful what you wish for and consider your actions when buying pre-owned titles.

It is akin to the music download/vinyl argument. Downloads are ubiquitous and cheap, but vinyl is making a comeback with the purists.

[Corky34]

With all due respect winactive you're also missing that there's a possibility that being able to trade in a game may make it more likely that someone will hand over their cash, TBH i see a thriving secondhand market as a good thing, you only have to look at the secondhand car market for a working example of the economics. whether it's a physical object or not is irrelevant as both digital and physical objects have a value.

[jim]

I wouldn't personally use this.

£4 to trade in something I paid £40 for? I would need to be very desperate for cash to even consider it.....in fact it comes across as a slap-in-the-face due to them having a single value for all goods when clearly not all second-hand games are worth the same.

It screams as just another way to try and take second-hand sales away.

If it was on Steam, and I was suddenly offered £4 to click a button and dispose of a game that I have a) completed, or gone as far as I'm willing to and b) have no desire to proceed further with, I probably would take it.

Mind you though, most of my games were <£5 and <50p per game is not all that tempting.

[shaithis]

What you all seem to be missing is the fact that trading-in games simply robs the developer of their royalty.

That would be all well and good, IF Microsoft had followed-through with their idea for all sales to be tied to a key and bound to your account, with a price difference to reflect that titles couldn't be traded.

[Vorlon99]

What you all seem to be missing is the fact that trading-in games simply robs the developer of their royalty.

There should be no trade-in value for a digital game.

Actually I agree with the general sentiment of the point that you make here, but the original thread is about a 10% return on your investment if you give up access to one of your games... as I tried to say, this is simply a vehicle for MS to encourage ppl to buy something by offering a 10% discount with strings attached.

[Valantar]

This is a pretty decent idea. I don't like to sell games even when I probably won't play them again, but then again I'm a privileged Norwegian a**hole with little to no knowledge of what a low income is, even having been a student for the past several years.

This seems like a decent rebate programme for returning customers, and it's more generous than what you'd get from GameStop. Even on brand-new, hot titles, you get nearly nothing.

It's not like Steam or Sony offers anything similar, after all.

[keithwalton]

They should of expanded the survey question to find out how much people would be willing to accept, 20%, 25% etc etc. 10% is just a bit to low ball.

Consoles only have a small amount of space on them for digital copies, it doesn't take long before you have to uninstall some just to fit a new game onto the console at which point the chances you'll play the old game again drops to a very low number.

As for pre-owned economics, those buying 2nd hand games do so because they either couldn't afford the original title or didn't think it was worth the original asking price. Either way the dev was never going to see their cash for that game, but if they like the game they may buy another new from the same developer.
The seller however the dev's got the cash from the original sale and may now get another sale because the purchaser can afford to buy another one.
As previously stated the 2nd hand car market is a good equivalent model if second hand cars were suddenly banned the market for new cars would fall through the floor. As very few would be able to afford a new car, those that would have brought 2nd hand wouldn't buy new they just wouldn't buy.
And those that would of brought new would rapidly decrease as many couldn't afford the asking price anymore

[Saracen]

Would I trade in at 10%?

No.

Firstly, I don't have an XBone and don't see me buying one. But that aside, it's still no because I like to go back and play old games. So it'd be a pretty poor game where getting £3 or £4 for it means more that being able to go back and play it again.

[eiamhere69]

"Trade in you game, we'll give you 10% of it's original value, which you can use on another Way overprice digital game"

Then with Xbox Two, they'll release a retextured version of your traded in game (or maybe even just the EXACT same game) whuch you can buy back at full price again.

[ed^chigliak]

The ability to trade a game once but then you get to keep it. Sounds like the traded games would only go to digital landfill anyway.

[Vorlon99]

As for pre-owned economics, those buying 2nd hand games do so because they either couldn't afford the original title or didn't think it was worth the original asking price. Either way the dev was never going to see their cash for that game, but if they like the game they may buy another new from the same developer.
The seller however the dev's got the cash from the original sale and may now get another sale because the purchaser can afford to buy another one.
As previously stated the 2nd hand car market is a good equivalent model if second hand cars were suddenly banned the market for new cars would fall through the floor. As very few would be able to afford a new car, those that would have brought 2nd hand wouldn't buy new they just wouldn't buy.
And those that would of brought new would rapidly decrease as many couldn't afford the asking price anymore

I have always argued this point too.... the Devs weren't going to get the money anyway, so they've lost nothing, and possibly gained a fan who will buy another of their titles, thus getting some money the next time around... I think in general it is a positive aspect of the market. They might buy a game where the key is used and prevents online/MP play, and they enjoy the campaign and next time decide to buy new to allow them the additional experience of online/MP play
.
It's like the whole piracy argument really... although a minefield.... but in simplified terms, they can't loose what they were never going to get.