TRU Now Accepting Trade-ins, including Atari 2600

[Shadow Kisuragi]

http://kotaku.com/5356376/toys-r-lau...ins-nationwide

Yes, the Toys R Us trade-in program differs from many of their competition in that there is no cut-off point when a game is too old to be traded in. As long as the customer supplies the original game in the original packaging, they can exchange their games for store credit good at Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores, along with the corresponding online outlets.

"The video game trade-in program is another way we're providing customers with additional value when they visit our stores," said Bill Lee, Vice President, Divisional Merchandise Manager, Toys"R"Us, U.S. "This program is designed to make the exchange process completely hassle-free for customers by accepting games from even the oldest systems, including the original Atari 2600 and 32-bit Sega Genesis."

Outside of the odd vintage video game shop and online outlets like eBay, there really aren't many places you can take your old Intellivision, NES, or Sega Genesis games for store credit. Depending on the reaction to the program, this could make the Toys R Us used video game section a very interesting place to shop, with games we've not seen in ages popping up on store shelves.

...the original game in the original packaging. This means that ALL TRU trade-ins are going to be CIB, or at least CB. I can't wait to see what prices they set, but this sounds awesome.

EDIT: 32-bit Sega Genesis...lol.

[Dangerboy]

It'll also be interesting to see how they ruin them.

TRU tried this before a long time ago, back when the PSX and Saturn were the mainstream. You didn't need the boxes, either. I used to work for a family game store, and we took a lot of our excess SNES / Genesis stuff over there.

I watched as they placed the inventory stickers (the sticky, don't come off of anything kind) over the actual labels of the carts. It was clear the people buying back didn't care about the condition.

[portnoyd]

If they require original boxes, please god... PLEASE let them be a little tactful when stickering them.

As DB said, I won't hold my breath.

[wufners]

I saw a bin last weekend of used games at Toys R Us.

I don't remember the titles, but they appeared to be mostly, if not all, Wii games. And not the AAA titles.

The games were $17.99 and shrink wrapped, so the stickers weren't directly on the game. Unless they put the stickers on first then shrink wrapped. But I don't think they'd be that retarded. Er, right?

I was excited at first, but the crummy selection and high price lost my interest quickly.

[BetaWolf47]

The games were $17.99 and shrink wrapped, so the stickers weren't directly on the game. Unless they put the stickers on first then shrink wrapped. But I don't think they'd be that retarded. Er, right?

Sadly, I've seen it done before. Shame, because the shrinkwrap job was done well enough to look like a factory seal. The "O USED!" label underneath the wrap was a dead giveaway though...

[Oobgarm]

Apparently they're not selling them though, only taking in:

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/10/to...-classic-game/

Titles are shipped off to a third party.

[BetaWolf47]

Apparently they're not selling them though, only taking in:

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/10/to...-classic-game/

Titles are shipped off to a third party.

Oh, so it's really no different than what Best Buy is doing...

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Yeah, I figured as much...they don't have the shelf space for resale. I sincerely hope that this 3rd party company won't charge an arm and leg for everything.

[Arcade Antics]

I sincerely hope that this 3rd party company won't charge an arm and leg for everything.

Of course they will. They're trying to corner the market.

[portnoyd]

Just who the hell is getting these games? Whoever it is is going to likely target people like us and/or eBay and make a killing, especially if everything is CB/CIB.

[iycon]

oh thank god! Now I have somewhere to turn in my old CIB Colecovision, Genesis, and Dreamcast games for that copy of Call of Duty Modern Warfare

[NESGamer24]

oh thank god! Now I have somewhere to turn in my old CIB Colecovision, Genesis, and Dreamcast games for that copy of Call of Duty Modern Warfare

They never said anything about how much you would get back. So your response should be that you will get credit towards the new game. You will still prob owe atleast $20.

[iycon]

They never said anything about how much you would get back. So your response should be that you will get credit towards the new game. You will still prob owe atleast $20.

Dang, your right! I'll probably have to include the N64 and NeoGeo stuff...and the Saturn, TG16.....maybe they'll buy the CIB consoles to...

[portnoyd]

Btw, sidebets on the first week or so, sports games giving huge trade-in prices, that we abuse the hell out of?

With any luck, it'll be as bad as FYE's $14 for a $5 TRU copy of Drake and the 99 Dragons.

[Dangerboy]

I'll trade in the 3 Burger King games and Madden 06 if they give me more than $1 each for them

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Btw, sidebets on the first week or so, sports games giving huge trade-in prices, that we abuse the hell out of?

With any luck, it'll be as bad as FYE's $14 for a $5 TRU copy of Drake and the 99 Dragons.

I used to do that all the time with GameStop and eBay. I ended up making $400/month just reselling games between GameStop and eBay during college, depending on when GameStop was running promotions and trends on eBay.

I'm waiting for Joystiq to update that article with the retailer so that we can (hopefully) pounce on the deals before they realize that their prices are off.

[Game Freak]

Does anyone else fear that this will cripple yard sale sales on games? I fear for the worst, especially here in MA where we have quite a few TRUs.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

That's a good point...unfortunately, yard sales around me have been pathetic as of late, but TRU is not a big presence here. I think this probably won't catch on in my area, but it may in others.

[8-bitNesMan]

This is quite bizarre. Are they going to take CIB dirt cheap commons and turn up their nose at cart only Earthbounds and Chrono Triggers? I am dying to know who this shadow company behind the scenes is. I bet whoever it is is connected up with the VGA morons...

*EDIT* Found this info on Wikipedia, I bet this company will have a hand in this venture:

"Toys "R" Us, after winning the right to end its contract with Amazon.com, forged a partnership with GSI Commerce, a company specializing in running e-commerce sites."

My theory is that they are panning for gold. Since TRU is not going to resell the trade-ins at the store level they will probably keep the good stuff to sell online and throw the rest away.

[otoko]

My theory is that they are panning for gold. Since TRU is not going to resell the trade-ins at the store level they will probably keep the good stuff to sell online and throw the rest away.

I don't think (or hope) they would throw away something they even gave credit for. That seems like a bad business strategy. I could see it happening where they do keep good stuff, but shuffle around everything else. Maybe sell the common not so profitable games in lots to game stores around the country in bulk. Who knows. Either way I do agree they're probably panning for gold here.