by: Tom Ivan's
Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy has entered the used videogames market.
“This week, several of our Dallas and Austin stores will test a kiosk-based model that allows customers to insert their used games into a kiosk that will scan it for functionality, and immediately issue a voucher that is instantly redeemable for a Best Buy gift card,” said the company’s chief marketing officer, Barry Judge.
“We’ll also be testing the sale of used games in those stores, and some of the kiosks will even rent games and movies. We’re excited about this test, especially because we know how deeply passionate our customers and our employees are about gaming, movies and entertainment overall.”
Following the announcement Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian suggested Best Buy’s move would likely expand the used games market “rather than take significant share” from the specialty channel.
“We estimate the size of the commercial used videogame market in the $2.5 billion range worldwide, continuing to grow, driven by major players including GameStop, Game Group (UK), Game Crazy, and internet marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon,” he said.
“While many videogame software publishers and console manufacturers view the used exchanges as cannibalising sales, we note that consumers use a large portion of trade-in credit to purchase new products.”
