Have Panzer Dragoon Saga? Need $24? Gamestop wants to help!

[Retro STrife]

For those unaware, Gamestop is now back in the business of trade-ins for retro games, which they sell on their website. You can even use the website to check the trade-in value of your games before you bring them in! It's a really fun tool to use, especially if you're the same kind of guy that wishes a fortune teller would tell you how you're going to die before it happens.

So, if you've been worried that no one will ever buy your copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga...don't worry, Gamestop wants it..and they might even pay you for it:

IMG_4582.jpg (149.7 KiB) Viewed 2668 times

[Rev]

Wow that is stupid. No wonder gamestop doesn't have any good retro games. I can't imagine an owner of the game would sell it for that little.... Considering the game is currently about 600 plus dollars currently that is insane. I wouldn't sell my copy for that little...

[VideoGameCritic]

I wonder if Gamestop regularly tries to take advantage of customers who don't realize the value of their old games?

[snakeboy]

Well, to be fair, you can also choose to get a whole $30 in trade-in credit instead. Sure, you will then have to use that $30 to buy another game that either has a replacement case or an original case that looks like it went through a trash compactor... and yes, a site like estarland.com will give you 1,300% more than that for trade-in credit for a complete copy (https://www.estarland.com/index.asp?pag ... n&ID=11502)... but hey, at least it's something!

Makes you wonder what they would give you for an old Madden PS2 game? A couple of Chiclets, perhaps?

[Rookie1]

Listening to some youtuber speculation, they dropped their trade-in values like that to discourage people from trading in reproductions.

If you havent been following, there have been quite a few people who have purchased rare games on there and received reproduction carts. Blatant reproductions at that. So recently, GS dropped their trade-in values to laughably low prices in an effort to keep people from trading in high value reproductions. Its probably cheaper and easier to do that than to actually train employees to spot fakes and test games out in-store.

Pat the NES Punk broke a few stories regarding the subject a few week ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuGbBTDHzFg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P25KEDoUilA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KAiIyhbtlM

[Retro STrife]

Listening to some youtuber speculation, they dropped their trade-in values like that to discourage people from trading in reproductions.

If you havent been following, there have been quite a few people who have purchased rare games on there and received reproduction carts. Blatant reproductions at that. So recently, GS dropped their trade-in values to laughably low prices in an effort to keep people from trading in high value reproductions. Its probably cheaper and easier to do that than to actually train employees to spot fakes and test games out in-store.

I like the thought, but it doesn't add up. First, considering Gamespot's track record of ripping off gamers on trade-ins, I'm not willing to suddenly believe that this one is a security measure rather than a continuation of their standard business model. Especially when they still sell the games at full retail value. Take Earthbound, for example, which is a commonly reproduced game. Gamespot will give you $25 for trade-in and then sell it for $200. Meanwhile, the going rate on ebay (per Price Charting) is $185. So they offer laughably low prices on trade-ins to protect themselves if they accidentally take in a counterfeit, but they don't pass on any of the savings or reduced risk to the consumer.

On top of that, it doesn't make sense as a reason. Offering $25 for Earthbound doesn't discourage repros, it encourages them. When you offer $25 for Earthbound, you will only get two types of trade ins: (1) completely ignorant people that don't know any better, like a 50 year old mom that finds her kids' old SNES set in the basement and is thrilled to get some extra shoe-store money with it, and (2) con artists who are more than happy to take $25 for an Earthbound repro that cost them $5 to make. So, by offering $25 you're eliminating your most important group--retro gamers that are willing to take $90 or so trade-in for their legit Earthbound cart because they don't like the hassles of private sales--and leaving yourself with just the soccer moms and con artists. And these days, the ignorant trade-ins are far less common, while counterfeiting is on the rise.

[Rookie1]

Listening to some youtuber speculation, they dropped their trade-in values like that to discourage people from trading in reproductions.

If you havent been following, there have been quite a few people who have purchased rare games on there and received reproduction carts. Blatant reproductions at that. So recently, GS dropped their trade-in values to laughably low prices in an effort to keep people from trading in high value reproductions. Its probably cheaper and easier to do that than to actually train employees to spot fakes and test games out in-store.

I like the thought, but it doesn't add up. First, considering Gamespot's track record of ripping off gamers on trade-ins, I'm not willing to suddenly believe that this one is a security measure rather than a continuation of their standard business model. Especially when they still sell the games at full retail value. Take Earthbound, for example, which is a commonly reproduced game. Gamespot will give you $25 for trade-in and then sell it for $200. Meanwhile, the going rate on ebay (per Price Charting) is $185. So they offer laughably low prices on trade-ins to protect themselves if they accidentally take in a counterfeit, but they don't pass on any of the savings or reduced risk to the consumer.

On top of that, it doesn't make sense as a reason. Offering $25 for Earthbound doesn't discourage repros, it encourages them. When you offer $25 for Earthbound, you will only get two types of trade ins: (1) completely ignorant people that don't know any better, like a 50 year old mom that finds her kids' old SNES set in the basement and is thrilled to get some extra shoe-store money with it, and (2) con artists who are more than happy to take $25 for an Earthbound repro that cost them $5 to make. So, by offering $25 you're eliminating your most important group--retro gamers that are willing to take $90 or so trade-in for their legit Earthbound cart because they don't like the hassles of private sales--and leaving yourself with just the soccer moms and con artists. And these days, the ignorant trade-ins are far less common, while counterfeiting is on the rise.

When they first started this, they stated they werent going to do high end games. Then they did and got burned. Also, youre not going to make a custom cart for $5. Not going to happen. Its probably going to cost you 4x that. In fact, most of the repros that turned up have been from the AliBaba site, of which they sell for $20-$50 a pop.

Now, I will say their trade-in values are garbage across the board. However, I see this as a quick, easy, and cheap means of damage control.

[matmico399]

I am a bit of a virgin to collecting. Where do You get these repros? Do they have the label on the disc and come with a case. I really don't care If they are original. If I can get a repro with case/label I'd be happy to have Panzer Dragoon Saga for $40 or less as long as it plays on my Saturn. Help please!

[Alucard1191]

Getting a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga has been on my "eventual things to get" list since it came out. I would absolutely love to get an original copy of that game. One of these days I'll save my pennies and shell out the 300+ dollars for a copy. (Though, I've seen them go for 1000+ on ebay before, don't know if I'd shell out THAT much even if I had it...)

[Rev]

I am a bit of a virgin to collecting. Where do You get these repros? Do they have the label on the disc and come with a case. I really don't care If they are original. If I can get a repro with case/label I'd be happy to have Panzer Dragoon Saga for $40 or less as long as it plays on my Saturn. Help please!

There are a variety of ways to get repro carts. You can go to special websites like gamereproductions.com or if you have friends with knowledge of creating them that can be done as well. Honestly, your money is better spent buying a flash cart instead that will allow you to upload your own ROMs to it, which you can play on your original SNES. However, I understand the appeal of repro carts as I have several but for most people it's a better use of your money to just get something like the Everdrive.