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GameStop is convenient. Even though selling a game through eBay would virtually guarantee a higher selling price, whenever I've turned something in, it's always been at GameStop. The problem always being, however, that GameStop operates on the capitalistic principle of buying low and selling high. They take your games at dirt cheap prices and put them on the shelf at double, maybe triple what they gave you. SwitchGames proposes a different solution: actual, physical trades between gamers.
SwitchGames isn't as fast or convenient as walking to a local GameStop, but when SwitchGames founder and CCO Jason Crawford stopped by the G4 offices last week to give me a tour of his trading baby, he at least convinced me SwitchGames could really be onto something.
The difference with SwitchGames is the distribution of product. You're not sending in games in exchange for points (as, for example, SwitchGames competitor Goozex does), nor sending games away to a SwitchGames warehouse to be swapped for something else. SwitchGames looks like a web 2.0 version of eBay (have you looked at eBay's design lately?) focused squarely on gamers. Either by selected browsing or through a dating service-esque member matching system called SwitchBot, participants volunteer games up for trade or propose trades and the whole concept is built upon sending a game to someone and receiving another one back. A game for a game.
"This is actual trading," said Crawford. "There's no membership fees, there's no trade-in fees, there's no subscription fees, there's no queues. There's a lot of no's. [laughs] Basically, you list the games you want, you list the games that you own and then SwitchBot will connect you with other users. And we have things, mechanisms in place that can make trading with other gamers safer, faster and easier. That's how we make our money."
He's not lying, either. You don't have to pay a dime to participate in SwitchGames and start trading with other users. The SwitchGames model hinges upon delivering convenience-oriented trading and shipping options that users will want to regularly take advantage of. One such option is becoming a "Verified Member," which automatically places you further up the search results of SwitchBot. Becoming a Verified Member costs $1.95 (that price isn't locked and will most likely increase in the future, noted Crawford) and results in SwitchGames running a brief background check to "verify" you. Another convenience option involves printing a shipping label with postage from your computer.
Crawford claimed his website's database had everything. Jokingly, I proposed trading the phenomenal E.T. for the Atari 2600 (yes, the game that bombed at retail, causing millions of copies to be buried in a New Mexico landfill) for trading. It took a little finessing of the search engine because E.T.'s name is pretty short, but eventually, we tracked it down and -- voila -- E.T. was in my trading pile. I don't know who would want E.T. for Skate 2, but hey, SwitchGames will let me try.
Switch games site
more here
I say this is worth checking out.
SwitchGames isn't as fast or convenient as walking to a local GameStop, but when SwitchGames founder and CCO Jason Crawford stopped by the G4 offices last week to give me a tour of his trading baby, he at least convinced me SwitchGames could really be onto something.
The difference with SwitchGames is the distribution of product. You're not sending in games in exchange for points (as, for example, SwitchGames competitor Goozex does), nor sending games away to a SwitchGames warehouse to be swapped for something else. SwitchGames looks like a web 2.0 version of eBay (have you looked at eBay's design lately?) focused squarely on gamers. Either by selected browsing or through a dating service-esque member matching system called SwitchBot, participants volunteer games up for trade or propose trades and the whole concept is built upon sending a game to someone and receiving another one back. A game for a game.
"This is actual trading," said Crawford. "There's no membership fees, there's no trade-in fees, there's no subscription fees, there's no queues. There's a lot of no's. [laughs] Basically, you list the games you want, you list the games that you own and then SwitchBot will connect you with other users. And we have things, mechanisms in place that can make trading with other gamers safer, faster and easier. That's how we make our money."
He's not lying, either. You don't have to pay a dime to participate in SwitchGames and start trading with other users. The SwitchGames model hinges upon delivering convenience-oriented trading and shipping options that users will want to regularly take advantage of. One such option is becoming a "Verified Member," which automatically places you further up the search results of SwitchBot. Becoming a Verified Member costs $1.95 (that price isn't locked and will most likely increase in the future, noted Crawford) and results in SwitchGames running a brief background check to "verify" you. Another convenience option involves printing a shipping label with postage from your computer.
Crawford claimed his website's database had everything. Jokingly, I proposed trading the phenomenal E.T. for the Atari 2600 (yes, the game that bombed at retail, causing millions of copies to be buried in a New Mexico landfill) for trading. It took a little finessing of the search engine because E.T.'s name is pretty short, but eventually, we tracked it down and -- voila -- E.T. was in my trading pile. I don't know who would want E.T. for Skate 2, but hey, SwitchGames will let me try.
Switch games site
more here
I say this is worth checking out.