Can you guys give us a listing of the games that will become available when the Goozex Exchange starts?
Which is where my point about carrying a low balance comes in.
Let's say, for example, I just started at Goozex and I have 0 points. I now have two options, trade a game I own away or pay for points. So if I own Prototype and want 1000 points I can do one of two things:
a) Buy 1000 points for $50 (cost $50)
b) Trade Prototype (cost $40)
By trading Prototype, I made a profit of $10 worth of points.
Like I said before, I think it's easier to ignore all of this when you have thousands of points in your account, but not so easy when you aren't.
Ricky0282: Which is where my point about carrying a low balance comes in. Let's say, for example, I just started at Goozex and I have 0 points. I now have two options, trade a game I own away or pay for points. So if I own Prototype and want 1000 points I can do one of two things: a) Buy 1000 points for $50 (cost $50) b) Trade Prototype (cost $40) By trading Prototype, I made a profit of $10 worth of points. Like I said before, I think it's easier to ignore all of this when you have thousands of points in your account, but not so easy when you aren't.
You're ignoring the fact that the person receiving Prototype from you gave up 1000 points for something worth $40 or less. And that you will spend those 1000 points to get something that will be worth $40 or less. That makes it impossible to suggest that the 1000 points are worth $50. What Goozex charges doesn't matter. The amount of real world goods you can buy with the points is really about all that determines what they are worth. The guy going with option A in your scenario is overpaying for what the points will get him. The guy going with option B isn't profiting, he's getting fair value.
DrJ079: Ricky0282: Which is where my point about carrying a low balance comes in. Let's say, for example, I just started at Goozex and I have 0 points. I now have two options, trade a game I own away or pay for points. So if I own Prototype and want 1000 points I can do one of two things: a) Buy 1000 points for $50 (cost $50) b) Trade Prototype (cost $40) By trading Prototype, I made a profit of $10 worth of points. Like I said before, I think it's easier to ignore all of this when you have thousands of points in your account, but not so easy when you aren't. You're ignoring the fact that the person receiving Prototype from you gave up 1000 points for something worth $40 or less. And that you will spend those 1000 points to get something that will be worth $40 or less. That makes it impossible to suggest that the 1000 points are worth $50. What Goozex charges doesn't matter. The amount of real world goods you can buy with the points is really about all that determines what they are worth. The guy going with option A in your scenario is overpaying for what the points will get him. The guy going with option B isn't profiting, he's getting fair value.
The buyer's cost for the game was $50 worth of points.
Meanwhile, if I use that 1000 points to trade for a game that I could have bought for $40, then I'm taking a $10 loss. Mind you, I do recognize that it is convenient to not come out of pocket those $40 for the new game, and that may be worth the extra $10 (200 points). It doesn't change the fact that you spent $50 worth of points for a game you could have bought for $40.
Again, I look at it in terms of cost.
Ricky0282: The buyer's cost for the game was $50 worth of points. Meanwhile, if I use that 1000 points to trade for a game that I could have bought for $40, then I'm taking a $10 loss. Mind you, I do recognize that it is convenient to not come out of pocket those $40 for the new game, and that may be worth the extra $10 (200 points). It doesn't change the fact that you spent $50 worth of points for a game you could have bought for $40. Again, I look at it in terms of cost.
I don't think you're seeing the big picture here, because you're probably comparing things to the MSRP. For instance, I'm looking at one of your recent titles - Order Of Ecclesia. I see it's worth 550 points here, and the MSRP is still 29.99 and 27.99 new at Amazon. Looking at just that, you could figure that you got full 5 cent value for each point. But you didn't - because if you look at completed listings at ebay you can get used copies of the game for $15-$20, that includes shipping. Even at Amazon you can get a like new copy for $23 including shipping. Even going with the high end Amazon pricing, people buying this are only getting 4.18 cents per point right now. Really though $20 is about the median price for the title so it's probably more like 3.6. We're dealing in used games here, not new games. There are very few titles that you are getting your full 5 cents a point for if you compare their used market pricing.
I'm not comparing to MSRP. It's what I paid vs what I could have paid. I paid 700 points for OOE (worth $35) while I could have gotten it for $20 from eBay. However, I appreciate the fact that, because I already have points, I don't have to come out of pocket anymore. Not to mention I enjoy being a member of and trading with the Goozex community. That is worth the $15 in value at that time that I could have saved by going through eBay.
To bring this back to the OT, I think 1600 points is great for a new game if you're a user with a ton of points to spare. You're basically paying extra points for the convenience of not having to come out of pocket to buy the game at the store, or wait for it to become available for trade. But for someone carrying a low balance, it would cost $5 for every 100 points to get to be able to participate, making the game cost $80 assuming a 0 point balance to start. Those people would be better off buying it at the store if they want it brand new.
Ricky0282: I'm not comparing to MSRP. It's what I paid vs what I could have paid. I paid 700 points for OOE (worth $35) while I could have gotten it for $20 from eBay. However, I appreciate the fact that, because I already have points, I don't have to come out of pocket anymore. Not to mention I enjoy being a member of and trading with the Goozex community. That is worth the $15 in value at that time that I could have saved by going through eBay. To bring this back to the OT, I think 1600 points is great for a new game if you're a user with a ton of points to spare. You're basically paying extra points for the convenience of not having to come out of pocket to buy the game at the store, or wait for it to become available for trade. But for someone carrying a low balance, it would cost $5 for every 100 points to get to be able to participate, making the game cost $80 assuming a 0 point balance to start. Those people would be better off buying it at the store if they want it brand new.
Even for users with nothing though, it could be kind of similar to the Fight Night gamestop deal where you trade in 3 older games for 1 new sealed game. You can trade in 2 x 500 pointers and a 600 pointer and get a brand new game. And it doesn't even have to be Fight Night Round 4 or a combination of 3 games, cash and DVD/Blu-Rays will work as part of it too, you'll have a lot more flexibility. Some of those games on the Fight Night list were going for a pretty good point amount here as well, you may be able to pull it off with 2 games off of their list. That's really not too terrible, and very competitive with what the market is doing.
If the G-Team feels they can afford to do this and it won't hurt the long term viability of the site (and I'm sure that's how they feel after they've looked at far more data than any of us have or they wouldn't have done it), then this is simply great for everyone no matter how many points they have. More options is good.
What would be a really interesting future twist to this is if Goozex actually started getting these games wholesale from the manufacturers and became the actual distributor for this program and started selling games at the site as well.
How many people would buy their games here rather than Amazon and the like? I'd pay a few bucks extra just to get it from here.
Dr. is right on point.
I have seen people defend the pricing structure like Ricky has above before and I fail to see how they rationalize it. You are not profiting $10 worth of points by trading a game worth 1000 points, just as you are not receiving a game worth $10 more in value when you spend the 1000 points that you traded for.
I think it will be interesting to see how the exchange works out. 1600 points for a new game in the current structure is just too much in my eyes with the way the values are set up.
What I'm really hoping for is that they add point cards to the list of games that can be purchased with points. There are a ton of games on XBLA and WiiWare that I would love to get.
i doubt they will but yeah that be cool if they were able to do that but how many points do you think they would charge for a $20 and $50 card? for any one out there how many goozex points would you be willing to spend on buying one ?
Well, if they're charging 1600 Goozex points for a $60 XBox 360 game, than 500-600 for a $20 points card would seem about right. I know I'd be willing to pay that much, especially if Goozex just emailed you the code so you got the points right away instead of having to wait for it to arrive in the mail.
great i would love to use the goozex exchange
Who's the person at Goozex who comes up with the structure of this stuff, and what kind of degree do you have? I'm interested to find out...
Hey guys,I gotta couple of questions.
First,I was wondering if normal games (like uncharted 2) would still be 1600 points or less.
I'm wondering this because I had 0 points,decided I really wanted uncharted 2,activated 3 on hold games just to get Uncharted 2,and now I have 1600 points and 5 trade tokens.
and second,the new goozex exchange wont charge a trade token will it?
Thanks guys.