It's one of the few saving methods you can use to not pay more for something. It's paying less for a new game than it's otherwise advertised as, you shop around and find the eligible titles for cheaper elsewhere, then trade them in to there and save money and take advantage of the deal. It's clearly saving money if you do it right, unless you need to have a game right then and there when it comes out and you're not willing to wait a day or two if you order online.

But in the end Gamestop will end up selling the two games you trade in for more than $50, so they still win.

Most of the games shouldn't be worth more than that, you find the cheapest ones possible so they can't make a sale on them later. Some of the titles listed in their eligible titles are rare and worth more than 60$, Digimon World DS for example, the going rate for that else-wise is 60 even for Used titles, you don't give them those ones because they're actually worth something elsewhere. The titles I listed for the example do not have a combined price of 50$, and if anyone actually buys them for those prices and Game Stop does turn around and resell them for that value, then they're the exact sellouts and casuals who are letting them make as much money as possible for fraudulent prices. You shouldn't be paying 50+ for some of those games, they're not worth that much. Games have a depreciating asset almost akin to cars, their prices in most cases go down more and more as time goes by, and if they're not very rare or seldom manufactured when they first come out, then they're never going to be worth much later on. Game Stop shouldn't be able to sell them for what they're not worth, as soon as the people that give them the money for those items figure it out, the sooner the customer can actually get better deals there.

Gamestop sells the two games you listed for $72. Therefore, Gamestop is making money off of you without doing any work, you did the work for them. Also, please refrain from insulting the general population just because they don't feel like shopping around and instead do what is familiar to them and buy the game at Gamestop. In reality, the people you are hurting in this deal are the so called "casuals," because if Gamestop didn't have these used games available to sell, then the "casuals" would be forced to shop somewhere else where the game would be cheaper (according to you). So, you are a key role in the very fraudulent policies that you just criticized.

Which is an over-charge for their worth, like I already stated. Those games are not actually worth that much together or separately. Yet I could still buy them and hold onto them, and use them as I see fit, without trading it into them. If they're going to try and sell them for more than what I paid for them, then the casual market that keeps stale series and games in business, is not being a smart or productive consumer and their inability to shop around because they want to go down easy street and give money to a inept corporation and business, is not any problem of mine. They don't want to take the time to look elsewhere, so they're wasting their time and money, and being completely okay with it. That's the introductory phase to monopolization and they're being ignorant of it. I won't apologize or lessen the harshness of my words when that's what most of them are doing. The game is cheaper elsewhere, have you done any checking or research of your own yourself? How can you claim that they're not cheaper when I can easily provide listings of where these products could be obtained for lower values than what Game Stop is listing. Here's the two examples pages: Amazon listing for Animal Crossing. [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CM0PR8/ref=twister_B001HZNR7K?ie=UTF8&psc=1] Animal Crossing[/url] Kingdom Hearts on Amazon [url=http://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Hearts-1-5-Remix-Playstation-3/dp/B008SBZD5U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390945516&sr=8-1&keywords=Kingdom+hearts+1.5+HD+remix]Kingdom Hearts[/url] Game Stop's prices respectively. [url=http://www.gamestop.com/wii/games/animal-crossing-city-folk-game-only/72071]Animal Crossing[/url] [url=http://www.gamestop.com/ps3/games/kingdom-hearts-hd-15-remix/108233]Kingdom Hearts[/url] You check those prices, specifically the Used because that's where you can see the greatest price gouge on Game Stops side, and tell me why those people still shop there. Is it because they have to use Credit Cards at Amazon? Is it because Game Stops give them better rewards? Or is it just because it's easier for them and that they don't mind overcharging for games. You don't even get a case or manual with Animal Crossing, you get the game and nothing else, because they let people trade in games with nothing else included, and somehow people accept the much more low exchanges they'll get for what they're trading. Suffice it to say anyone who pays more than 30$ for a game, then gives it to them without the case, or manuals, or furnishings, then accepts the 10$ dollars they will get, is nothing short of a neanderthal. They're willingly wasting money, in my case, I'd be saving money because the games themselves wouldn't have a specific trade amount with that deal, I get 50$ worth total from the games no matter what I paid for them, so how can you say I'm playing a key role when I'm not giving them my money in a bad manner and am actually saving it?

So I guess you are against everyone who shops in a retail store? You can find anything online for cheaper than in a store with little to no effort. So I guess all of these stores are in the introductory phase of monopolization? Get a grip of yourself, the only reason you are saving money is because someone else is paying more. This is a fundamental principle of economics.

If you want to put words in my mouth and create false representations sure. Quote me on where I said that and we'll see what truth there is to it. I've made abundantly clear that you should shop where you yourself will get the best deal, the people that shop at GS and over-pay for their merchandise are idiotic sheep who remain ignorant of basic consumerism and choose to pay more for the sake of doing as little work as possible. And here we have been shown the case of "special pleading", you can't refute my price listings or show what sense there is to paying more for something in one location when it's not done with online shopping, so you'll move the goalposts around because you want to speak for what I'm saying. Do I have the gist of what you're doing right? And that means what? What I've already said? They're willingly and voluntarily paying more for something, I'm not gaining anything on someone else's behalf, I'm an independent consumer in this situation. I'm taking advantage of a price cut somewhere else, and those people are continuing to waste money because of "convenience". That's all this is, there is no "invisible hand" or 'supply and demand" factor here, simply people being idiotic consumers. Edit: And to address an earlier point of yours, you said Game Stop was selling those two for listed prices of 72$. That's what they [b]would[/b] sell them for, that doesn't mean they will sell it for those prices. If someone wants to willingly pay 72$ for the both of them, then they can go right ahead and waste money. I would have saved money by buying them elsewhere, and Game Stop then having possession of those titles is not a qualitative result of them having sold them immediately, I saved money, and they now have two titles that they have to sell for an inflated price. There is no written guarantee that they ever will sell them. So I've really lost nothing from this, and I could do it again and again so long as it exists, and flood that one store's market with those same games, and drive the price down. Which would then make them cheaper for everyone else, while I still got my benefit out of the scenario. Game Stop loses there, no one else does.

[quote]I've made abundantly clear that you should shop where you yourself will get the best deal, the people that shop at GS and over-pay for their merchandise are idiotic sheep who remain ignorant of basic consumerism and choose to pay more for the sake of doing as little work as possible. [/quote] I bought a pair of headphones at Best Buy last week that I could have bought online from Amazon for $20 cheaper. Does that make me an idiotic sheep? I also spent an extra $15 on the warranty so that if they break I can just bring them back to the store rather than spend time shipping it to the manufacturer for repair. Just because you don't place a value on convenience doesn't mean other people don't.

It makes you ignorant, and actually a bit idiotic as well. How long of a warranty did you get? A Year or so? Were you expecting to not properly take care of the product for a determined amount of time for any reason? Because you basically gave them a free 15$ for an uncomplicated electronic device that would never break until years had went by when all electronics eventually break down. You would have been able to exchange it normally for another after purchasing it anyways if it was faulty, but instead, you paid more in-case you break it due to your own negligence and inability, so that does make you a sort of idiot guy. There was a better price somewhere else and you neglected to research before your purchase if you could get a better deal somewhere else. You could get a easy replacement without a warranty through Amazon too if you've ever checked their policies, so is it my fault that you paid more for something willingly? No. Is it your fault that you lost some money? Yes, yes it is. Does that answer your question? The "value" of convenience ends when you're over-paying for the product or service, of which you have no problem with based on how this has went. I've also been talking about this for long enough and I'm cutting it short because I do have other things to do. But it was sort of fun so thanks for amusing me.

I paid the MSRP for the product, don't get how that is overpaying, but okay. While I was in Best Buy I looked up the reviews of the product as well as the Amazon price, but decided I would rather just buy them today and not have to wait to have them shipped. This are in ear headphones, which are known to break easily (not from negligence, the drivers are very fragile and can break for a multitude of reasons). They were $80 so I figured dropping $15 on a two year warranty would benefit me in the long run. Best Buy is under no obligation to take back a product that has broken, but many times will if it is within 90 days, you have to go through the manufacturer for repair/ replacement. It is very possible that I will have no problems and the $15 will be free profit for Best Buy, but that is how a warranty program works. What I would agree with is if I went and bought a pair of name brand that are way more expensive solely due to the name. For example, Beats earphones, maybe in this situation you could call me a sheep.