Call me a little late, but I just recently learned of Toys R Us’s new used game trade-in program. Like GameStop and other franchises, the program allows shoppers to turn in previously played titles for in-store credit. But, what really surprised me was the fact that it’s the Toys R Us in my neighborhood that’s participating during the trial period. Lucky for me and being a resident of Pomona New York, the Nanuet TRU is at most 10 minutes away from my home.

So, this past weekend I decided to conduct a little experiment, to see which store gave the best value when trading in used games. I know many people feel stores that have trade-in programs generally “rip-off” gamers when taking back older games. But it’s the allure of instant store credit towards the purchase of a recently released title (at $59.99), which makes thousands of gamers every year give up the oldies. So, I feel if a gamer does decide to turn-in their old games, they should at least know which store gives them the best value.


To start my experiment, I chose six games across the major three consoles. They are: Madden NFL 09 (a sports title notoriously known for very little trade back value), Grand Theft Auto 4, Super Mario Galaxy, Half Life: The Orange Box, Street Fighter 4 (which was released last month), and Capcom’s latest release Resident Evil 5. One interesting fact that I learned from my experience was, when trying to trade in a game that was less than 48 hours old, some employees (I am not mentioning any stores or locations so don’t ask.) behind the counters tend to make cash offers instead of store credit. I can’t blame them for trying, but I did laugh as their eyes and smiles grew wide when I pulled RE5 out of my bag.

Now on to the results!

I first visited Toys R Us, and gathered the trade in values listed on the chart below.




Next I traveled to a nearby GameStop location (1 of the 5 in my area) and gathered the following results.







As you can see, GameStop completely blew Toys R Us away by offering an additional $40+ dollars of store credit. That’s almost the price of a new game. I should also make a note that I did not use my Edge card and did not receive any additional “Edge” bonuses (Oh come on, we all have an Edge card. Seriously, who hasn't fallen to the temptation of the free Game Informer subscription?) While that seems great, and it is, that additional value came as a result of their in-store promotion. Without the 40% additional value, GameStop would have still edged out Toys R Us by only a few dollars.

So who has the best trade-in program, GameStop or Toys R Us you ask? To be honest, both programs are about equal, give or take a few dollars. However, what makes the two really stand apart are the additional bonuses offered through in-store promotions. Toys R Us recently held a promotion for the release of Resident Evil 5, in which gamers received a $20 TRU gift card if they purchased RE5 within the first 48 hours of its release. And lets not forget TRU’s annual sale of “Buy 2 Games get 1 Free” during the fall season. (And these are new games, by the way) With a used game trade-in program and a promotion like that, a gamer couldn’t lose by opting to trade with Toys R US. For GameStop, they regularly offer trade-in bonuses and also have a similar “Buy 2 Games get 1 Free” promo throughout the year. But it’s always for used games only.

In the end, if Toys R Us goes nationwide with their trade-in program a gamer’s best option is to shop around their old games between the two for the best price. As much as I hate additional items in the inbox, it might also be a good idea to sign up for email alerts and exclusive deals from the two franchises. When it comes to buying video games in this tough economy, saving every little dollar helps.