I think it would help trades a lot more if a bid/ask system were installed that works kind of like a stock market. Using this system insures that the point value of hte game truly follows the market value as the market decides what they want to buy/sell for. This is also good becuase if you want to sell your game fast then you can undercut someone else's price and therby jump to the front of the line. This is also handy because games that come with the case and manual should be worth more than ones that are disk only because they are complete, have a better resale value, and cost more to ship than just a disk. I think a bid/ask system could make the system work better for people on both sides of the market.
You'd just end up with a system like eBay or to be more current Dawdle.com. Dawdle works on the premise that you list your game and the minimum that you're willing to send them out for, and then the buyers list what the maximum they'll pay for games...and the system automatically matches them up. It's a great idea in theory but what happens is that sellers all bid to the lowest amount possible and due to the high fees of the system (12% of the overall price + shipping) the sellers actually LOSE money from many sales. I myself lost about $9.00 total on Zack and Wiki which I sent out new...I was trying the system and ultimately was disappointed. Once you go Goozex you never go back :)
But that givs me no incentive to include my game with anything but the disk. The system lacks a way to do this and a good bid/ask system would work, every major financial institution our economy is based on uses bid/ask. If you're smart then place your ask prices in such a way that you DON'T lose money. If someone doesn't know how to price their products correctly and they lose money then they got what was coming to them.
You're right that this is how most business markets work, and for sure the stock market, but keep in mind that Goozex could very well become stagnate if this was the only way to trade. We'd probably run into sellers that are willing to undercut others (like Wal-Mart type tactics) where they make little to no money on the sales/trades until the smaller fish are weeded out and then in time they could monopolize the system.
What I do think would be nice would be if the sellers could list notes along with their items. For instance if you have a game that's brand new you could put that in your comments which would make it more likely that a person matched up with you would want to follow through. Also, I'd love if the Greatest Hits option was available so that you could say "I prefer not to get Greatest Hits versions", though I realize this isn't possible with the current Muze matching system. Still it'd be nice to have the option so that the seller could see the comment and send you a note saying "Hey I realize you don't like GH copies, do you still want me to send out this game?".You're right that there's no incentive to send the whole game with manual as the point values are the same, but there is a large perceived impact of sending games that are complete and you likely won't get tips or great cred if all you do is send out discs only.Keep in mind finally that Goozex tends to be more about receiving games and playing them and then sending them out when you're done. It's a rental system in that sense that allows you to keep the games if you choose to. Unlike monthly pay-to-play services like Gamefly, the game is really yours and you don't need to pay extra to keep it. Rather, you are rewarded with more games if you choose to send them out. I use Goozex to get games that I'm interested in PLAYING but for games that I'm actually collecting, I still stick mostly to B&M or eBay for purchase. That may change but in the meantime that's my plan.Sorry my response was so wordy but you bring up a lot of good discussion points.
Just some thoughts that I would like to add to this conversation...1) Goozex offers not only an efficient trading system with one of its highlights being a fair/equitable queue system, 2) Goozex has really tried to build a wonderfully honest and respectful trading community, 3) there is a degree of trust with all internet video game trading, and while there is the Goozex Guarantee to protect against the most egregious of the bad traders, it is my belief that the Goozex game trading community is one that holds itself to a high standard of integrity and respect for one another. Though there is a relatively low threshold set for video games in terms of quality, condition, etc., the community of gamers here continually responds by respecting one another through polite and honest communication.
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super6: But that givs me no incentive to include my game with anything but the disk.
The incentives are:
- Many people will only accept full package or disc & manual, so you would be slower to sell.
- Sending everything you have shows you are a decent person and interesting in helping to build a good system of honest gaming-traders.
Unfortunately too many people are 'what advantage can I gain over others' - they are what I would call 'jerks and a-holes'.
-- Mike Managing Editor - GamerDad Editor - RPGWatch
Actually though, I see the disc only option as a life-saver for this site because some people really do want just the disc to play and then re-Goozex it right after. For collector's we have the option to wait for the complete package, but I'm glad it's not set in stone. I have a lot of disc only games I get from offline trades and such and some of these are the fastest requested in my bunch. I also have some games from my personal collection that I'd like to keep the cases/manuals since I've bought them brand new and plan to re-buy them sometime in the future...so if I can list it disc only and someone is happy to receive it, that doesn't make me a jerk does it? I didn't think so any how. Oh well :)=JJ=PS: I regularly under-promise and over-deliver and so do MANY other Goozexers ^_^ Just look at some of the feedback people get here, it's crazy hehe.
I wholeheartedly agree with everyone.
1.) Its great to find a honest site like this. Sure, a lot of the ps1 games would be worth much more complete vs. disc only if resold, but like Goomba and the rest have said it all equals itself out karmically.
2.) My first game I received was disc only Animal Crossing, because I already had the case/manual, and someone had stolen my disc. Worked out perfectly.
3.) I'm glad its not like the "stock market" here.. you know full well everyone would be jackin the points up with all this "OMG this is worth way more than 100 points, I'll send out disc only and sell the manual and case on eBay!!!1".. no thanks, I've seen that route and its terrible. I'm not saying I wouldn't splurge in the future on a game and perhaps resell it to make a few bucks, but honestly thats what a lot of folks would and probably do.
-Bluddy, glad to see CT represented in force on Goozex! :)
