Goozex: Videogame Trading and HD Movies
Where do gamers go?
The choices you have as a gamer are:
- Buy (Online, Ebay, used, Gamestop..)
- Rent (Gamefly, blockbuster…)
- 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. Many places like Gamefly charge a monthly service fee. Renting is a solution but you spend more time with games than movies. Much more time is needed for videogames than 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. All shipping costs are handled by the sender so if you are requesting a game you only pay the and not the shipping and handling. No membership fees so no need to feel you need to use the system. 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. Brick and mortar stores resell your games for a huge mark up. Selling it online at an auction site will incur fees and you still have to pay for shipping. Goozex at least you get to trade in games you are done with and still get some value out of it as it will lead to other games you really want. 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. The best feature is the ability to see how many copies of a game are listed on the network verses how many are being requested. 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. You get a good feel to when you will get a game. You need to make a list for want and haves for your games. Both will show you your place in line so you’re not forced to get every game you want now. This is a good way to build up a wishlist and then have your core set of games your really want now. It is ideal to have a very large set of games you want now so you will have a very good chance of getting a game soon. I requested Crackdown and I was like 60 people back. 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. Newer games do get pushed out in the system fairly quickly. You have many options to what you want to trade in terms of instructions, case or just game. 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 old school games (nes, snes, saturn….)
3. Sure isn’t free but man it’s 4 quarters. I’m a member of another site that has no transaction fees yet still protects the members.
4. Sneak peak video game trailers
5. More user interaction like user reviews and tournaments…)
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 the dough you would just buy it 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 will eventually get bored of their new game and will send them out as “have” games. The wait times do get long. Say you want to play a game that takes a long time to beat. Some people like myself take a long time with games. Seasonal games with many updates like Madden will hit the system quick but it’s 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
