NOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

“Lots of our rivals have tried to do pre-owned in the past and failed. If we were to do it, we’d do it properly – if not, we’ll leave it on the table.”

Go on crash and burn, fail

why would they? They have good knowledgable staff. It makes perfect business sense. Good luck to 'em.

If anything I hope it puts places like CEX out of business

The HMV in Newcastle has taken pre-owned games for several years now. Its not very well advertised so the selection is tiny. They do give you a far better deal than at GAM£ and the likes though- i went round trying to offload a ps2 game a few years back and the usual shops were offering me £5 and under for trade, and next to nothing for cash- HMV gave me £20 for it!

hahaha funniest thing i've heard this year! so they're aiming for a next generation store image, but with second hand games?sounds more like a car boot or second hand store to me?lol! when will these companies learn it just makes them look dossy and gives the wrong image! i have now stopped shopping in gamestation now becuase they have turned into a 2nd hand shop...think i may boycott hmv in the same way! if i want cheap games/2nd hand games, i go on ebay or a second hand shop.

@7

gamestation have always sold 2nd hand stuff, thats what they were formed to do and they make more money off pre-owned than any other competitor.

i dont understand why you would boycoot a business for what theyve always done

If HMV want to improve their market share, how about they drop their prices? Supermarkets are offering new titles for specialists' preowned prices.
The fact that Game stores all over resemble charity shops as opposed to a 'flagship' chain should tell HMV all that it needs to know.

Supermarkets don't make much on their games sales. They sell them cheap to get people in there as you are likely to end up buying more than just the game.

Supermarkets make thier money from groceries. this is what allows them to sell games/cd's/dvd's pretty much at a loss from launch.
I say good luck to HMV! Maybe this news will give game and gamestation that kick up the backside they both desperately need!

I don't doubt that HMV have seen the ridiculous profit made on pre-owned games without having to pass anything to the developer and want some of that action.

maybe a retailer as large as HMV getting on the pre-owned bandwagon will create a push for publishers to receive some kind of renumeration for these resales.

maybe it's time we started sticking Fairtrade stickers on boxes of games that actually contribute to the wages of those that develop them.

darn it I sound like a developer

@6

What a lod of nonsense. You'd boycott a store for selling second hand? If you can't see the logic behind this move then, well, you're probably a bit dim, to be honest. You're not a scared indie by chance, are you?

....And we have another company that will sell second hand games for allmost the same cost as new....awesome!

I love buying someone's scratched and solied game disc for only £5 less than a brand new copy (especially when they charge £10 more in the first place). I am so glad HMV have decided to jump on this bandwagon, looking forward to seeing them cram these into the already limited selection at my local store....

and we game developers, publishers and format holders really, definitely, honestly promise all you lovely retailers that we value you and think retail will always have a place and that consumers really really will always want stuff in boxes, and we're defintely, definitely not all planning to be downloading every single piece of game, music and video content electronically within the next few years, putting all the parasitic retailers out of business forever. No, definitely not, our salespeople aren't lying to you when they're selling stuff - we love you, we really do!

Ahem...

"Parasitic Retailers"?

I take it you're not really a developer, as if you were, you'd realise that we wouldn't even have a platform to develop for if it wasn't for mass retail selling our product.

I for one can only afford to develop games with a publisher getting my game out there, and the retailers selling it!

you are so not a developer with that comment!

@16: I think number 15 is one of the developers of Limbo of the Lost :D

This is a business descision, they can not afford to offer prices that supermarkets do. They are here to make a PROFIT and be competitive.

It makes me laugh when I hear people say 'supermarkets are cheaper' without understanding why. The games they sell which are discounted are 'Loss Leaders' no profit, just loss.

These people don't notice the extra 2p stuck on to a loaf of bread or pint of mik to account for a loss leader, which in the end they'll make more profit on, as these are essential to all people.

'Here endeth the lesshon.'

What did woolies do with the games they took in part exchange?

Never saw any used games for sale in a woolies, did they send them back as faulty?

I am not sure that HMV deserves to be flamed for introducing used games and I even offered to help them. At the moment the used games business is exploding as people use their old games to finance their new purchases - it has been going on since I started the Game Guide in 1993 and it will hopefully continue. Specialist retailers all over the world take second-hand games, even GamesStop do in their 4,400 stores.
There is a fine dividing line between offering too much and too little for a game, where one will kill the company and the other lose the customer. Get the balance right and you will have a viable business.
I have been providing used games price data to retailers for fifteen years and while it is not an exact science, tracking the sales and prices of games in the high street and through distribution is crucial in maintaining the balance. Treat you customer fairly and he will come back. Screw up one trade and you have lost him to a competitor.
As to Woolworths? With the right systems in place, the proper training and motivation plus the correct information, they could turn their former lacklustre operation into a successful addition to their business.

The titles that woolworths traded in were sent to a DC to be cleared up and were then sold in specific store.
It wasnt cost effective so was dropped.
If HMV try preowned will it only be games or dvd and music as well?
Game used to accept DVD but stopped about 2/3 years ago.
Not all titles the supermarkets sell are loss leaders. Some titles on dvd generally are for the 1st week but most supermarket prices are comparable to Game / HMV and Woolies.
Ill get off my soapbox now!!!

HMV already tried Pre Owned games in Newcastle it did not work. Woolworths also tried it again did not work and MVC (rip) tried it with limited success but eventually failed. Leave trade ins to the likes of GS and CEX, unless HMV offer crazy prices to take the custom away from GS/CEX i cannot see people like me who trade quite a bit changing. Also need to bear in mind how if HMV offers same price PX as GS, who has the cheaper new games, normally GameStation.

this will be an EPIC FAIL! and i dont think they can hope for anything more, i dont know what its like in other areas but the likes of Grainger Games and Gamestation are well established here in the northeast and i feel hmv will struggle with this venture if they bring it up here even with heavy advertising campaigns they'll struggle because they're just not associated with second hand items, i mean they admitted themselves ' many of our competitors have tried and failed' shoulnt that send alarm bells ringing?

HMV doing trade ins?
This isnt good news for the consumer,how this will affect prices in the stores will be very interesting to see,new prices will have to go up to make,the pre-owned items look worth buying.
i havent traded in anything in a long long time,when i have enquired about prices of trading in something, i always feel like im being ripped off.
since the days of the Playstation and trading in my Snes collection,believe me when i say i was a fool to do such a thing.
i dont want to go to HMV and it look like a 2nd hand shop,CEX ,Cash Generator,Cash Converters,Gamestation corner that market well enough.
HMVshould stick to whats best stack em high and sell em cheap,well reasonably cheap.
in the end i just dont trade in anything anymore,its better to have a games collection to look back on,than nothing and see it shoot up in value in years to come.

We're all doomed.

@ Mr Ratcliffe. If that wasn't a poorly veiled punt of the Game Guide Epos System nothing was :)