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Comment by antasvara | Hacker News Reader

I think the difference is that GameStop already has this network of pawn shops, and those stores are doing enough business to justify their existence (at least somewhat; GameStop wasn't doing great before all the craziness). I could see something like the UPS kiosk in my local Walmart working; if you offered eBay returns at GameStop stores, you would be adding revenue without needing to justify an entire store to it like eBay would have needed to.

There's also the synergy that GameStop now has access to more used gaming inventory, a category that I'm led to believe is high margin for the stores.

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> GameStop already has this network of pawn shops, and those stores are doing enough business to justify their existence

Gamestop closed 2,400 stores from 2020 to present, and operates just 2,200 stores currently. They'll continue to close stores as their revenue continues to shrink (down 60% in the last decade).

>used gaming inventory

physical used game inventory is a fraction of what it was a decade ago, and continues to shrink as a category, digital sales continue to climb and exclude Gamestop

It's reasonable to predict that as physical media is phased out by the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, that the value of offline capable inventory will shift to an investment instead of a liability. Increasing their percent cut as a result.

Their margin was highest on used physical media, which continues to plummet. Physical sales are down from $13b in 2015 to $1.5b in 2025, while total sales of physical + digital went from $23.5b in 2015 to $60b in 2025. Physical media is a tiny fraction of current game sales, even if their margin skyrockets, they're stuck in a tiny kid pool of potential sales.

Not to be harsh on people who like this stuff, but reminds me of whenever people bring up how big vinyl record sales are now. Which is like, yea they're "big" just because it was a tiny market for the last decade and they're profiting mostly on nostalgia. Vinyl's not making some huge comeback, but it will probably sustain some niche resellers for a long time.

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