HMV: We will do pre-owned responsibly

Publishers rejoice! HMV says it will give new games a chance to sell before introducing pre-owned copies.

The retailer said in its latest financial report that its pre-owned range remains a high margin and vital area of its business.

But outgoing CEO Simon Fox told MCV publishers should not have to see shelves promoting second-hand stock of titles they are still promoting. And he has vowed to sell second-hand goods responsibly so not to harm sales of new titles.

We have put a lot of thought into this and we want to do pre-owned responsibly,” he said. And in particular, we want to do it in a way that respects the lifecycle of publishers’ products. Pre-owned is an important part of what we do, but equally what we want to do it – and in fact have committed to doing it – in a responsible way that doesn’t undermine that lifecycle.”

The news will no doubt please publishers, who have backed HMV significantly since earlier in the year when the retailer threatened to reduce its video games presence.

And Fox says that the retailer is now in a stronger position this year than last year with its suppliers.

Fox continued: Our video games market share has gone up, and you would expect it to go up because there are 300 fewer GAME High Street stores.

But you’d also expect it to go up because we are just doing a better job and we have a better relationship now with the suppliers. And I certainly think this time last year as we headed into Christmas, we really weren’t in a good place with the games publishers and the format holders.

Today, we are in a much better place. So we’re looking forward to continuing to grow market share.”