Goozex: Funny Name, Serious Savings

Lookin’ sharp there, ladies and gents. You get your shiny new games for cheap, if you’re prudent with those dead presidents, and maybe even spent that freshly-saved cash on a romantic night out on the town with your sweetie. Valentine’s Day is a grand old time, especially if you’re in the market for a cheap yet memorable date, but even the stingiest of students might find themselves strapped for cash in the aftermath of the pink invasion.

So why not sell some of those games you haven’t played in months? The ones sitting ignored behind the TV, sad reminders that not every game is worth its weight in gold? You could take them to Gamestop, if you don’t mind getting stiffed on the trade-in price. Or you could turn to the internet, yet again, and trust that there’s a better solution.

And that’s where Goozex comes in.

Don’t let the strange name fool you. Since its launch back in 2006, Goozex has quickly built itself up as the premiere online trading site for gamers all across North America. How the whole thing works might seem complicated, especially given the wealth of documentation available, but bear with me a moment and I’ll try to simplify the process.

Every game in the Goozex catalog is assigned a point value, a number assigned internally by Goozex and often dependent on market values, availability, etc. When you first sign up for a Goozex account (free, by the way!) you’ll have to build up your online library, which involves listing all of the titles you have and the condition they come in. The point value stays the same regardless whether you can provide the case and manual, but they’re definitely good things to have, as buyers can request a specific condition when attempting to make a trade.

Sending your game off is as simple as dropping it into an envelope and then pasting on a printed copy of your Goozex-provided mailing label. You’ll want to stock up on bubble mailer packages for the delivery, but those can be purchased relatively cheaply online, so they’re a worthy investment. Upon a successful delivery, the receiver of the package will leave positive feedback about the transfer, which then adds the sent game’s number of points to your Goozex account.

Those shiny new points will open up Goozex’s vast catalog of games for you to play around in. You’ll have to add your name to a waiting list for some of the newer titles, but a vast number of older games are available for immediate shipping, so long as you have a sufficient amount of points. Purchasing a game is where the first and last fee comes into the picture: $1 per trade, a pretty small sum when you consider what you can get in return.

And that’s it! Sure, sure, the whole process involves a few more intricacies than what I’ve described above, but any burning questions you might have are easily answered by reading through the extensive documentation available on the Goozex website. If the online trading system itself sounds like risky business, I’d also recommend reading through the official Goozex FAQ, which outlines in detail the security measures it has in place to ensure you both send and receive your games in a timely manner. You’re even covered in the case of titles lost or broken during shipping, as Goozex will refund both the points and $1 trade credit you spent on the original purchase.

It’s a great system, overall, and a very worthy alternative to dragging your stingy self down to a local Gamestop. On average, Goozex’s point system will offer you more cash for your games than you could get otherwise, a great way to recoup some of the dollars you threw down when you just had to have the latest installment of Gears of War. As an example: Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Nintendo Wii’s ultimate party game, will net you $20 if you trade it in at Gamestop. Goozex, however, has it listed for $40, earning you an extra twenty dollars to put towards the next game you purchase through the system.

But do keep in mind that Goozex is geared towards patient gamers. Your copy of Brawl might be in mint condition, but you still have to wait for another gamer to put in a request for it, a process which could easily stretch on for longer than you like. It’s a necessary result of the supply and demand model the site runs on, so be aware that you won’t have the advantage of immediate cash you’d get by dumping your games at Gamestop. The end return from online trading will likely be far greater, however, both an incentive and a reward for the more patient players among us.

Anyone out in the audience have any experience with the service? I’ve used Goozex myself a couple of times over the last few months, but I’d be curious to see if anyone else has any success/horror stories to share. And even if your first experience wasn’t a positive one, don’t get too discouraged — alternatives to Goozex do exist in the vast frontiers of the ‘net, though that’s a topic to be covered in a future post.

Trackback URL

, , ,

No Comments on "Goozex: Funny Name, Serious Savings"

  1. pantone175c
    25/02/2009 at 8:11 am Permalink

    I love the concept. I’m going to give it a whirl!

  2. soonerjudd
    10/03/2009 at 11:08 am Permalink

    I’ve used this for a while now and I love it. It does occasionally take a while to get the new, must-have games, but the savings are fantastic. I’ve been able to trade straight-up for new releases. You are able to look up on-site the current supply-and-demand for any title, which may help in any purchasing decisions.

    My experience with the site has been so great that I plan on doing most of my buying and trading with Goozex. Now I just have to bring myself to part with something…

Hi Stranger, leave a comment:

ALLOWED XHTML TAGS:

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

Subscribe to Comments
Skip to toolbar