Re: Used game sales.

The discussion this week was great, and I think you did a nice job covering the issue from the point of view of the consumer.

I wanted to bring up the perspective of the retailer (Garnett, I'd love your insight on this in particular).

I work in a guitar shop. Like most guitar stores, we sell both new and used instruments. But from a business point of view, we always focus on selling new instruments. Why? Because we make more money from them. Of course, when I'm helping someone look for a guitar, I want them to find a guitar they are happy with. But all other elements being equal, if the choice comes down to a new guitar and a used guitar, I'll suggest the new one because it is better for our business.

As many of us know, videogame retailers like GameStop push used games so hard because they make more money off them. But I think most people don't realize how little money retailers make from new games.

I ordered a Halo 4 edition 360 console from my local store in Toronto last fall. I've been going there for years, and am familiar with the owner, so he is pretty comfortable chatting with me. I made some joke about all the money I was dropping on Halo 4, and the owner the shop said "yep, and we make a whopping $4 on this".

"No Way..." I said.

"Yep... $4" said the owner.

$4 profit. On a $400 unit.

As a purchaser for my shop, if a distributor came to me and said "Hey we've got this great product, it sells for $400, you get a 1% profit margin!" I would tell them to fuck right off.

If publishers want to win the support of the retailers, maybe they should try a pricing model that allows retailers to make enough profit to survive.