5 tips for successfully trading games online

With retail used game stores offering pathetic trade-in values in the form of store credit and online marketplace sites charging hefty fees to list and sell items, it’s no wonder that many gamers are turning to online forums and other free community websites to unload their old games.  You often get the best value for your games, and you can get good deals on games that other users are offering.  It’s a win-win situation, but many potential trades fall by the wayside because the parties involved fail to click with each other.  Below are five tips to help improve your success with trading video games online.

1.  COMMUNICATE!!!  Many trades never happen because communication between the traders breaks down at some point.  Unlike in online stores, where transactions can occur without a word of communication between the buyers and sellers (the buyer clicks “Buy” and the seller ships the item), an open dialogue between trading parties is essential for any trade to take place in a forum.  With every trade there are three phases:  negotiation, exchange of goods, and feedback.  Negotiation involves detailing the terms of the trade (i.e., who trades what); exchange of goods is when the traders swap addresses and ship their games; and feedback allows the traders to conclude the exchange or address any problems that arose during the trade.  Timely and informative communication will ensure a successful and positive trading experience.

2.  Be realistic.  Don’t be of the mindset that you’ll only trade your games if you can get a stellar deal.  It’s always a recipe for disaster when two traders come together, each expecting to get the better end of the bargain.  Know the value of your games, know the value of the games you want, and try to come up with an arrangement that’s fair for both traders.  Lowballing (or offering substantially less than what an item is worth) just insults other traders, and expecting too much won’t get you anywhere in negotiations.  Trades are mutual agreements and should be mutually beneficial to everyone involved.

3.  Be friendly.  This should be a given, but you’d be surprised how many people think it’s OK to be picky, stingy, patronizing, or downright rude.  It never hurts to be friendly and have a positive attitude, and other traders will certainly appreciate your demeanor.

4.  Try to trade multiple games at once.  Traders always prefer to trade multiple games at once with the same trader rather than send individual games to multiple different traders.  It’s easier, more convenient, and costs less to ship.  If you plan on purchasing multiple games from the same person, you can often get a nice discount for saving them some hassle.

5.  Be safe.  Always, always, always purchase delivery confirmation for any packages that you ship (unless you personally know the recipient).  Without it, you have no proof that you ever mailed your games, and in forums where the members are all very close-knit, it is especially important to be able to defend your honesty and not be ostracized as a scammer.  Also, take special care when dealing with new users who lack any sort of reputation or traders offering deals that seem too good to be true.  The last thing you want is to be scammed and cheated out of your hard earned money and/or games.

Make money with shipping insurance on eBay

Many sellers on eBay fail to realize the profit potential from shipping insurance.  For the uninitiated, shipping insurance is a fee paid by the buyer for protection against lost or damaged packages.  At the time of this posting, the USPS’s insurance rates for small-value items such as video games range from around 3.6% (for a $60 game) to upwards of 8.5% (for games costing $20 or less).  I, personally, have never dealt with a lost package either as a buyer or seller, and judging from others’ experiences, I would guess conservatively that less than 0.5% packages (or 1 out of every 200) are lost.  That’s a pretty big disparity between the rates for insurance and lost packages, so why not capitalize on it?

Sellers who offer USPS insurance are giving up a precious opportunity to make some extra profit, and because they are forbidden to charge more than the USPS’s rate, they actually lose money due to Paypal fees (only a few cents, but still…).  Don’t be like those guys.  Instead, offer private insurance at a slightly lower cost.  You can use whatever fee structure you want – a tiered rate, a base price plus a percentage (e.g., $1+1%), etc.  Just make sure to outline all of your terms and conditions so that customers know exactly what they’re getting when they buy insurance from you.  If you can offer complete coverage for lost or damaged items along with lower prices and less (possibly zero) paperwork, you’ll make insurance a very attractive option for buyers.

WARNING:  By offering private insurance, you assume the risk for any lost or damaged items.  Therefore, there is a small chance that you will lose money, especially if you only sell a few items.  For example, if you sell 10 items, assuming that 0.5% of packages get lost, there is a 4.9% chance that at least one of your packages will be lost.  If you mainly sell small-ticket items, chances are that you could stomach the loss if an item goes MIA, so the risk would be worth the expected reward.  On the other hand, if the items you sell are usually worth hundreds of dollars and any loss could cripple you, private insurance might not be the best option for you.

How to grade the condition of your video game discs

When selling online, one of the keys to getting top dollar for your disc-based video games is being able to describe their condition accurately.  Overstate the condition and you’ll likely earn a bad reputation as a seller.  Understate the condition and buyers won’t pay as much.  The term “condition” actually refers to two separate things – completeness and disc quality.  We’ll start with completeness.

In general, a game is considered to be “complete” if it includes the game disc, instruction manual, original case (not a regular DVD case), and cover artwork.  For games that come in a jewel case, the cover artwork is usually referred to as the case insert(s).  If the standard retail version also includes something extra, such as a soundtrack CD or bonus DVD, then the extra item must be included for completeness.  In the case of multiple retail configurations, the leanest configuration (i.e., the one with the fewest things included) is used as the standard for completeness.  Generally speaking, however, the exclusion of certain documentation items (such as precaution manuals, advertisements, and registration cards) does not affect the completeness of a game.

In regard to disc quality, it seems as though everyone uses their own grading scale, and words such as “new” or “mint” have different definitions to different people.  I feel strongly that a more universal scale should be adopted in order to reduce confusion and ensure that buyers know exactly what they’re getting no matter where they shop.  I propose the following scale, which I have used for a long time and found to be very helpful whether I’m buying or selling:

New:  Brand new and factory sealed.  The disc has not been touched or inspected.

Like new:  The packaging has been opened, and the disc may have been inspected, tested, and/or played once or twice, but it looks no different than when it was first opened.

Mint:  The game has been used, but there are no readily visible scratches on the disc.  There may be one or two very small, very light scratches that can be seen only upon close inspection, but otherwise the disc looks perfect.  (For most games, this is the minimum acceptable condition for collectors.)

Excellent:  The disc has a few minor scratches, but they appear to be located within a small region.  In other words, the scratches aren’t all over the disc.

Good:  The disc has many scratches all over, but none that are real deep.

Fair:  There are deep scratches, scuffs, and/or minor cracks in the disc, but the game is still playable.

Poor:  The game is unplayable due to scuffs and scratches on the disc, but it could become playable after being resurfaced.

Beyond repair:  The game is unplayable and cannot be made playable again.

There are also a few special conditions worth noting.

Resurfaced:  The disc has been resurfaced with a low-end resurfacing machine (e.g., SkipDR) and has circular buffing marks all around it.  It may have been unplayable at one time but is playable now.

Professionally resurfaced:  This disc has been professionally resurfaced and may have some light buffing marks.

Former rental:  The disc was formerly used as a rental copy and may have permanent rental stickers on the top (label side).  It is usually implied that the disc is in fair condition.