Not surprised really, seems to be the only way for retail to make anything on games, since the publishers allow supermarkets to destroy margins (COD 5 for £27 at a green coloured one on the release weekend springs to mind) and give exclusive limited edition sets to GAME, what else can they do to differentiate. We only do pre-owned for this reason, got fed up with new.

Second hand sales will only be valuable to those selling new games as those that do make double profit. In the UK it would work less as toys r us stores are so few and far between. Too much high street competition.

Second hand sales are a bigger problem than piracy for developers and publishers. The consumer feels they are legitimately purchasing a game, but ultimately, they are consuming the content and perpetuating a cycle where the developers and publishers don't receive additional compensation for addition sales. It doesn't hurt the consumer or the retailer, but publishers and developers that take the risk in creating a game are the ones that keep this industry alive and with cost structures changing, it's time for the industry to start taking a stand.

We're going to see a lot more digital registration schemes for games in the next few years that require an online connection to play, and feature a non-transferable license. Retail is going to become an advertising channel for digital media for most consumers (yes older people and collectors will still buy boxed product), but once the online communities are large enough and pre-downloading or streaming technology is a little better, digital content is going to really take off and the retailers are going to lose game sales revenue big time.

@Me
Retailers are going to lose out big time?
I just wish to point out, you can't download peripherals or Hardware. Where would you sell those if retailers aren't getting a cut of of the software pie? How much of a console install base would you have without retail support?
I assume you're from the Dev/Publisher side of the industry. This generic "We're not making money from PreOwned" argument is really starting to grate. I work in the industry, but I'm also a gamer and want to play the latest games. If publishers are going to charge £40-50 a pop, who can afford that week in, week out when there's potentially a handfull of "AAA's" in a week? Simple fact, you can't.
We're in recession. Have you even thought about how pre-owned new release trade in offers drive new release sales? More New release sales will grow market share, leading to higher wk 1 orders. You may focus on "Losing revenue" through preowned sales, but how many of your new units are shifted through part ex?
Unfortunately for some that seemingly haven't realised yet, this industry is all about what the customer wants, and the customer has been shown to want a pre-owned offer. Simple fact is, Publishers flood the market with over priced crap, and we ALL know this and it seriously needs to be addressed.
The only way to stop pre-owned, is to lower new release prices. Simple as. "Well what about dev costs etc? " I hear you moan. Well, stop spending money on developing, manufacturing, marketing the chaff and trying to balance a "Some sink, some swim" market flooding lottery of a business model. How much money is wasted by Publishers peddling crap, then having to fork out Hundreds of thousands to mark the stock down? It's basic false economy!
How is this industry different to the 2nd hand car/white goods market? Does Mr Hotpoint moan as much as Mrs Games publisher?
If you won't give the consumer what they want, retailers will. Simple as. This current cycle of develop crap/manufacture crap/market crap/markdown crap is getting alarmingly quicker. I find it quite scary that the number of titles marked down across the market within the first months of release. It needs to be addressed. Own worst enemy springs to mind.
Evolve or die, but if you're pinning the future of games devs/publishers purely on inevitable downloadability, I wish you good luck. It seems a bit silly to carry on smoking on the grounds that at some point, there'll be a cure for cancer.

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