Ever traded games in?

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

As I said in a couple of articles, my best friend "inherited" a bunch of MegaDrive games from her older brother, and we played them to death...

However, she took many of them to the local video store and traded them in for either other MD games they had lying around or, when she was willing to put some money down, PlayStation 1 or PC games.

At the time, I thought these were the sweetest deals ever (and even believed that we were "scamming" the store by getting newer games in exchange for those secondhand packs we just had lying around), but now I kinda wish we had kept them, because our collection had a couple of rare gems in there that were traded away for common-as-dirt discs.

Regardless, I think that even having the option to trade in a game you were done with for something new and exciting was really neat, and I wish some flavor of this had survived in the modern gaming landscape.

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

As I said in a couple of articles, my best friend "inherited" a bunch of MegaDrive games from her older brother, and we played them to death...

However, she took many of them to the local video store and traded them in for either other MD games they had lying around or, when she was willing to put some money down, PlayStation 1 or PC games.

At the time, I thought these were the sweetest deals ever (and even believed that we were "scamming" the store by getting newer games in exchange for those secondhand packs we just had lying around), but now I kinda wish we had kept them, because our collection had a couple of rare gems in there that were traded away for common-as-dirt discs.

Regardless, I think that even having the option to trade in a game you were done with for something new and exciting was really neat, and I wish some flavor of this had survived in the modern gaming landscape.

I haven't traded any games in for a long time now, but I have in the past and it is something I do regret every now and then. Even when my third Xbox 360 died and I made the change to PS3, I still wish I kept all of my old Xbox 360 games. I did keep some of them, but I traded in most of them along with the console.

It also helps that trade-in deals have only gotten worse for the customer over time. Back when I first started trading stuff in you could sign up for a free rewards card that got you 20% extra trade in value and 20% off of pre-owned games.
Getting older made me realize two things about this:
1. They were almost certainly selling my data
2. they were probably manipulating what games were worth so that the "20% extra value" by being a member was bullshit, anyway.

Still, they don't even pretend to have stuff like that nowadays for the average customer. That same free rewards card now only exists so they can sell your data and any customer benefits have been phased out entirely. Now you have to be a PAID monthly member to get anything close to deals like that these days.

The only personal benefit is when I can take advantage of deals on pre-owned games that other people have traded in.

 

[bjork]

Traded the first N64 WCW game and the first Bust A Groove on PS1 for a boxed copy of Chrono Trigger. This was mid-1999 at a Funcoland. The guy asked if I was sure because BAG was probably going to be harder to find longterm, but I was okay with it. It ended up not mattering because I sold 90% of my stuff off anyway and all of that can be emulated now.

 

[Onicat]

Of course. For us kids back then, trading games was the easiest way to play new ones. You’d bring in an old cartridge, they’d check to see if it worked (once they knew you, they didn’t check anymore - they trusted you), you’d pick out a new game, pay a small extra fee, and run home all excited.

And the market for this (Ukraine) was huge. Kids were constantly crowding around the game corners, looking for something, trading. Rarely did anyone buy anything. It was expensive. But trading... Trading was the meaning of life! :)

The Samurai Pizza Cats sends their regards from those days :)

 

[cornpops]

Yes.

And while I cannot recall what it was that I traded in, all I know is that I regretted it greatly -- and continue to regret it to this very day.

 

[Eclipse14]

I do it all the time, actually. Quite a good chunk of my current library was consolidated from trading the cheaper stuff I had to going after the harder-to-get stuff. Helps that my regulars use a 65-70% credit to the stuff I trade in. No rewards program, no specialty stuff required, no bull. Plus I'm technically turning a profit from doing it, regardless.

Of course, I'm probably a unique case, as I handle things quite peculiarly (I know what's a tough find and what isn't; what gets traded has a good chance of being found again) and I'm also dealing with genuinely decent people who are quite active with the communities in my region. That alone is far more than what an idiotic corporation like GameStop does.

 

[PSVitaForever]

I traded in at Gamestop sometimes, only when I knew I could gain more or less what I would have gained selling the game online (less worries about photos, packaging, and so on). But since we all know about Gamestop, I only traded it when it was the best choice for me, but I liked it.
Now the local Gamestop has closed down so I can't go there daily anymore (it was inside a shopping mall with a supermarket and very near to my home), but when I go I always pay attention to the used games, sometimes it's possible to find hidden gems at low price.

 

[nobitakun]

I have never traded in any game because of my OCD's. If I buy a game is for keeping it forever. I also do not lend games to anybody, ever, I care about material things to the point of insanity and nobody around me is careful enough. Even when I was a child.

I remember renting games at video stores long time ago and feeling so bad for seeing them so dirty and in poor condition that I even had nightmares. The only second hand market that is generally positive for me is the japanese one, other than that I obsessively check for everything when I am about to buy something because western people is generally careless with material things as parents never educate children on that as a priority.

Post automatically merged: May 12, 2026

Regardless, I think that even having the option to trade in a game you were done with for something new and exciting was really neat, and I wish some flavor of this had survived in the modern gaming landscape.

That would be good if people would care of things, but it's usually not the case, and the second hand trade-in market gets in a worse state day by day as people keeps trading-in. It is not a neverending practice and would render the entire market unusable in a few years. If you don't care about having games in pristine condition, then it's ok, but it's not for everyone.

 

[RageBurner]

Only once. A guy I knew when I was a kid wanted Hard Drivin', I got E-Swat. A big win for me, for sure.

 

[Pearly]

I was stuck in the gamestop thrash compactor of when they were raking in a tonne of money through trades before the move to digital started hurting them, unless you finished a game in a weekend and brought it back, you were not making much out of it, at all, and within a month, a game would net you a third of it's new value and they would sell it again used, for usually a mark up of 5 on the brand new release price. I was stuck doing this at the time. It was not a good time.

Games seemed to be almost endlessly releasing during that period as well, the 2003-2008 era of everything all the time, all at once schedule.

As a big mega man fan back then, this was an issue, not all games were available to rent as only select games are available to rent and especially not the 3-4 mega man games a year that capcom kept vomiting out. Keiji Inafune had no concept of market saturation, clearly.

These are looked back on as "OMG!!, so many bangers came out back then!! So awesome, wish it was like that now!!" but also almost no one knew anyone that either had the time or money to play them all back then.

Spoilt for choice and as a result many people whom could only get maybe 1 or 2 games a year got their old faithful's of yearly releases as the new game you've never played before may turn out to be thrash and that was a very expensive mistake to make.

The release schedule of those years allowed GameStop to become a very valuable company, but the bubble did burst as game dev windows got wider and wider and many started getting digital instead.

Before the gamestop era, I played what I could, and what I had, it wasn't much but at least it was mine. I still have all my games form the early mega drive era, and proudly so. I was aware of the used games existing in other places around 2000, but nowhere near me allowed trades, as their wasn't really a dedicated games store where I lived till about 2002 or so, a gamesworld that later got bought out by gamestop.

I do not own many games physically anymore, maybe a few that are sentimental to me in some way or another but I am almost wholly digital now with the exception of a curated, but small, vinyl, 4k and Blu ray collection of my favourite, movies, albums and series.

Less is more as it they say

 

[DjQuick2008]

Yes and got little return i now give games away we have a book drop at the local supermarket i like to surprise people i even leave ps5 and x box titles.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Trading was the meaning of life! :)

It truly is.

The Samurai Pizza Cats sends their regards from those days :)

That's one neat-looking cartridge. I wish I had it.
... Give it to me

 

[PhrawzT]

I've traded a few and as many said, growing up in the 90s that was the easiest way to get new games.

I regret trading in systems and controllers more than anything. I wish I hadn't sold my Sega CDX and Dreamcast arcade controller.

 

[thumbsdown's iconthumbsdown]

Can't recollect if I ever traded physical copies of licensed games, the closest I got to this was gifting digital games to friends and getting gifted as well. Including non full hacks (levels to test and practice gimmicks) you won't find anywhere else on the internet lol... I treasure those more than any licensed game I'll ever get in any form.

 

[hazys]

Yeah, tons. I've gotten some great deals over the years, but I've also been burnt (especially when I was younger). I don't like having a massive unwieldy collection, I'd rather hold on to the stuff I'm actually gonna play.

 

[Rocket2049]

I have but only if its a game i really hated, usually i hold on to them if they're good enough, because the trade values usually sucked.

i got a full refund on Pokemon X, i got tired of it a week later beat the main game in 9 hours, blind, got about 50% of the pokedex didn't care to keep playing
so I brought it back for the full money back (except tax but idc) and bought bravely default 1

way back on gameboy i traded in pokemon red and silver (hmm notice a pattern?) and got dragon quest monsters 1, which i enjoyed about 1000% more than any pokemon game even NOW on switch

 

[FrootyLoopsSamurai]

I traded in a game exactly one time in my life. It was Dead Space for PS3. I traded it in so I could get a discount on Demons Souls or Dark Souls (I can't remember which). I rarely get rid of my games, but I didn't really regret it too much for Dead Space. It was very much a play once and you're done kind of game.

 

[Graw]

I think the only one I ever traded in was Space Station Silicon Valley for the N64 because it didn't work properly. I got to a point in the game where something wouldn't trigger or load properly, I can't remember now, and I couldn't progress any more. I think I ended up getting Forsaken and Star Soldier for it. Forsaken was pretty cool but I had no idea what kind of game it was when I got it because the ads for the game were really weird and didn't actually explain what it was or have any gameplay footage. But it was pretty fun, it reminded me of Descent and had a decent multiplayer mode. Star Soldier was good too but I didn't play it as much. It was pretty hard if I remember right and I always preferred horizontal shooters to vertical ones

 

[ArchienineArchienine's icon]

OF COURSE NOT, i never had too many friends nor games to do that

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

OF COURSE NOT, i never had too many friends nor games to do that

Awww.

I kinda had one friend, but we were thick as thieves.

 

[ArchienineArchienine's icon]

Awww.

I kinda had one friend, but we were thick as thieves.

Was that motherfucker that helped you to disassemble a PS1?

 

[Mileena]

I’ve traded in many games over the years, some with great trade value and others where I traded in like 20 games and got barely any money lol

I like the idea anyway cuz I have certain games I keep for my collections and then there are other one off games/games where I like the series but aren’t interested in collecting and don’t want them sitting around that I get at least some of my money back and I’ll usually put that money towards another new game I want.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Was that motherfucker that helped you to disassemble a PS1?

She was, yes.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

I tried on a gallery in Avellaneda -- the dumb fuck behind the counter had the most condescending attitude ever and effectively tried to scam me out of money by demanding THREE PS3 games for Fallout: New Vegas on the same system.

I just laughed and left.

 

[Fietto!]

I traded this:

For this:

What a shitty trade that was.