Where do gamers go?

The choices you have as a gamer are:

1. Buy (Online, Ebay, used, Gamestop..)
2. Rent (Gamefly, blockbuster…)
3. Trade (Goozex, Switchplanet..)

Renting in the past at your brick and mortar rental place can easily set you back more then $5-$7 every week like Blockbuster. There have been other online rental game sites that charge a monthly fee like /month for one game out like Gamefly. Renting isn’t all together bad but playing videogames isn’t like watching movies. There is a considerable larger amount of time invested in videogames then in movies. Most movies range from 1.5 hours to epics of 6 hours. Where most videogames you could get a good feel for a game in 3 hours but most sports games and long role playing games could be played for more then 70 hours.

This is where Goozex steps in. Goozex allows the gamer to keep the game as long as you want but have the option to sell it too. There is only a $1 transaction fee if you request a game on their network. So basically you can trade in your older games and build up Goozex credit until you get enough for a newer title and just pay the $1 transaction fee. A shipping and handling is handled by sender and the buyer only pays . There is no monthly membership so you can stop at anytime or go at a slower pace. This is ideal in the sense that you could play the game until you are actually sick of it then send it in for credit. So you’re not rushed to get as many games played on the network because you can play at your own pace. Plus you OWN the game. From then on the game is yours, not a rental.

The network is peer to peer in that you can only request games and send games to other members. There is no single central warehouse and the pricing of the credits of the system are in points (100pts = $5). The pricing of the game is determined by market demand, release date, initial cost of the game, and a couple other factors. Most xbox 360 titles will go for 800-1000 pts which translates to $40-$50. This isn’t bad for a used game. Some money can be saved buying used but there is still tax and travel time/cost. Goozex gives you free shipping to you with no tax charge. You also have an option to buy credits if you want but I wouldn’t recommend that unless you have no games to send in or nothing of yours is being requested. Price fluctuations occur and you can see the points swings. I’ve had a couple games I requested and I can see that price increase/decrease. It doesn’t happen that much but some games change +/- 200pts depending on market demand.

So why use Goozex instead of a used videogame store or an auction site with games like Ebay? You just need $1 to pay for the transaction fee. Most people don’t like to continually shell out more money for a game and then feel like the games they bought are depreciating at a very fast rate. Selling your game for cash anywhere will not give you that much. Selling it to a store they will mark your game up to make money. Selling it online at an auction site will incur fees and you still have to pay for shipping. You can get great value from Goozex and just trade in games you don’t want with a demand. There might be more difficulty in sending older sports titles as those don’t have much demand once their season is up like trying to sending in EA sports Madden 2005 will be a hard game to sell to someone on the network. Even if you were to put it older games on ebay you will have a hard to moving it and you will have to pay per insertion. On Goozex you will be able to list it and it will just stay there without having to pay insertion fees.

Each videogame is packed with information like reviews from Gamepro, some tips/trick, game description, and some even have instructions. I love being able to see the supply and demand of each game. This will let you know if you have a game people want or if you can possibly get a game on the network. Goozex determines who gets the game by matching up users. There is a waiting list that is generated and when you add a game you will see in what place you are waiting for that game. This is a fabulous idea as impatient gamers can tell if they should expect a game soon. There is also a distinction between games you want now and games you have for holding. They will show you your place in line per game. This is a good way to build up a wishlist and then have your core set of games your really want now. Building a large list ensures some games will continue to come to you. I was requesting Crackdown for the Xbox 360 and I was 60th person in line. Turns out I got the game in less then 2 weeks. Just because you’re really deep in line doesn’t mean you won’t get the game soon. The system can deliver newer games in a short amount of time which is a huge bonus for gamers that want to play newer games but don’t want to buy them at the store. You have the option of trading just the game, the game with instructions, or the full package that includes case and instructions. Some people tend to not keep cases or instructions. The value of the game doesn’t go down as the credits don’t reflect what is included. This is because the user requesting the game can have the option to request only full packaged games, games with instructions, or just the game itself. I have not had a problem with getting full packages as I’ve gotten over 49 games and I’ve sent out 54 in under 2 years of being there.

Why NOT to use

For this site to be a perfect 5 star site I would like to see:

1. More users (will there ever be enough?)
2. More retro gaming console support (nes, snes, saturn….)
3. is still not free. I’m a member of another site that has no transaction fees yet still protects the members.
4. Video game trailers for each game
5. More community interaction (user reviews, recommendations…)

All the above are small tweaks to the system that is already very functional. The main reason someone would NOT want to use this system is time and money. If you have money why wouldn’t you just buy the game new down the street? Why wait? The main draw to the site is how much money you can save and the community there. If your not interested in connecting with other gamers and plan to play all your games alone then the only reason to use the system is money. If you wanted to save money but are impatient then this sits is NOT for you. Most new release games takes on average of 1-2 months. Why? You are placed on a Que. The order of the Que determines when you get the new game, but more importantly is how many are available? Most people will play a new release for a certain amount of time before listing their games. The wait times do get long. Say you want to play a game that takes a long time to beat. You gotta factor in that a player like me would take over 1 month to beat a game like that. More popular games of course like Madden will hit the system quicker but that is also a bad thing. You don’t want to hold a game too long or it will lose it’s value. Trading for early on might be for 1000 points but in a couple months with the market being saturated it could be 500 points in no time losing half of it’s value. Not Goozex’s fault but some games just don’t move well.

Current Goozex Simultaneous Transaction on the Network as of Mar 11, 2009 = 4793