Best Buy commits to pre-owned

Big box retail specialist Best Buy is to take the commitment it has shown to pre-owned games in the UK and roll-out a second hand games offer to all of its US stores from the end of the summer.

As a result, shares in rival games specialist GameStop fell over eight per cent following the news, meaning they have fallen a total of 15 per cent in the last 12 months. Many US analysts worry that the erosion of GameStops’ main USP – pre-owned games – will prove very damaging to the retailer.

Michael Pachter has warned that GameStop could lose as much as 10 per cent of the market share it enjoys in the pre-owned segment over the next two years, but Lazard Capital’s Colin Sebastian thinks the concerns are ill-founded.

Shares of GameStop are under significant pressure following Best Buy’s announcement of a renewed effort in the pre-owned game market,” he noted.The bottom line, in our view, is that big box competition is likely to expand the market for used games, rather than cannibalize the core gamer niche currently dominated by GameStop.”

It is understood that Best Buy has partnered with Game Trading Technologies as part of its pre-owned drive.

Analysts have also cast doubt over Best Buy’s ability to threaten current market leader GAME in the UK.