There are many reasons why people around the world choose to shop online today. High-speed service without the hassles of driving from store to store wasting time and money on high-priced fuel tops the list for most. Those looking for great deals can find just about anything online and used video games are no different. If you’re in the market for cheap, high-quality video games, you can find them easier, faster, and hassle-free without leaving the comfort of your home.
Before you make your online purchase of any used game, there are a few things to consider:
Does the site offer money-back guarantees? Certain things should be covered when you buy used games, whether they’re Xbox, PlayStation 2, Gamecube, or any other popular or old game. A good site will accept returns of defective cartridges or discs. This is also one of the reasons to buy online from a reputable game store like other online sources like eBay where you work with people; the return policy is up to that person, whereas an online store will have a consistent return policy throughout the store, and their reputation will depend on adhering to that return policy. Local pawn shops rarely offer any kind of guarantee, with all games bought as-is, meaning if the game doesn’t work, your money is wasted.
Uniform shipping policies are another aspect to consider when choosing an online store. A store must openly state its shipping policies and they must be uniform for each sale. With many auction sites, each individual seller sets their own shipping and can often inflate those prices to line their pockets and avoid auction fees on sales. Some of the online used video game stores may offer free shipping on certain order amounts or other significant savings when quantities of items are purchased. This can be a huge advantage as you’re not just saving money on vs. a retail store, but you’re also avoiding the hassle of going from store to store, avoiding high fuel costs, and you can spend the time and money you just saved in any way you choose.
Another point to consider when buying used video games online is to make sure that the product description is clear and concise. Many sellers may try to hide product defects within lengthy descriptions in the hope of misleading the buyer. When buying used video games, whether it’s a used NES game or a used PlayStation 3 game, it can show signs of wear.
Cartridge-based games should have decals that don’t have much visible wear (tearing and extreme discoloration are warning signs), the cartridge case should be free of dirt, and the game’s metal contacts (the part that goes into console system) must be free of corrosion and oxidation. Reputable game stores will clean the contacts before shipping to you to ensure the cartridges work properly.
Disc-based games must come complete with the original artwork and casing, along with discs that have minimal scratches to the playing surface. In some cases, the manual may not have survived years of use, especially if the game is popular like Fatal Frame II (Xbox), Tales of Symphonia (Nintendo Gamecube), or Tales of Phantasia (Game Boy Advance), but in the In most cases, this is not a problem, as tutorials and FAQs for the game are available through numerous online sites. Some online sites will professionally repair game discs before shipping them to you if the surface is badly scratched, which usually alleviates any gaming issues.
A very important, almost final step in choosing your used video game store is finding out what payments the retailer accepts. A good retailer will accept most normal online payment methods, including PayPal, Google Checkout, direct bank transfer, credit cards, personal or bank check, and money orders. Please note that if you pay by personal check, sites may hold your check for 7-10 business days prior to shipping your order to ensure funds are available on the check. Always make sure that any site you submit your personal financial information to is a secure site (usually identified by the https:// in the checkout cart URL, as well as a ‘lock’ icon located at the bottom or top of your web browser), and you can also ask whether or not the site stores your personal and/or credit card information.
After you have done all these important steps, the final point to consider is whether or not the games you are buying are going to be fun. There are tens of thousands of games available (nearly 6,000 are available on PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 1 alone!), and choosing games from a console or genre you’re not familiar with can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Take a look online at reviews, gamer forums, and blogs about that particular game. Google searches on almost any used video game title will return hundreds if not thousands of relevant results where you can find everything from unbiased game reviews to game walkthroughs, tips and tricks.
Many of these used video game sites also buy games, so if you have cartridges lying around that you no longer play, why not make them work for you? You’ll get a lot more for them online than at a local pawn shop (online sites don’t have the overhead of brick-and-mortar stores), and most pawn shops won’t accept any system or console other than PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii, as their limited market does not support the purchase of older systems. With online stores, they are able to market to a much broader customer base and will generally accept older video game systems.
There are a number of ways to sell your used video games online, but the best reason to go to a dedicated used video game store is that they have a customer base that comes to them looking for games and they only sell video games, for what visitors to the are there only to buy games, not movies, music or bath towels. Online video game retailers also know a lot more about the business of buying and selling their product.
So there it is: save time, save money and avoid frustration searching for your games online – you have a variety of sources to choose from, and taking a little time to find your “favorite game store” should result in many happy years of match.
