Gamestop Used Game Prices - Explained?

I have mixed feeling on the used games market.  I generally try to avoid buying used games because I do feel that by purchasing a used game from a retailer I am cheating the developer by buying a second hand game.  A second hand game provides no revenue for the developer and doesn't count toward unit sales which is the primary metric for the success of any game.

One the flip side, I trade in a lot of games and use the money to purchase new games.  In many cases the only reason I buy those new games is because the cost is mitigated by the value of a trade in.  Moreover, every new game is a future trade in and so the cycle repeats.  If there was no used game market to make my trade-in valuable, I would buy far fewer new games.

So, all-in-all I'm glad there is a used market for games.  However, Gamestop, the leader in the used game market, can, in my opinion, go to hell.  Gamestop's practice of giving $20-$25 on trade-ins for even newly released games and then selling them for $5 under the brand new retail price is the definition of a sham.  Worse is the trade in values for older games.  I recently tried to trade in a copy of "Pure", which is a great but older game.  The trade-in value was $.78 - and that was after a 30% trade in bonus.  A used copy of the game was on their shelves for $12.99.  That is a 1500% markup!!

But not to worry, Gamestop has now explained their whacky used game pricing.  In a statement on its used game pricing policy Gamestop VP John Daugherty said: 

“[The refurbishment process] does have a cost to us, which is kind of the behind-the-scenes thing that the consumer never gets to see,” Daugherty said. “They see what we offer in trade and they see what we sell it for. They don’t see the process behind the scenes. If they were more aware of that, they would [say], ‘It makes more sense to me now. It makes more sense to me why the prices are what they are.’”

Oh, okay now I get it.  Of course wiping a few finger prints off of the week old disc I just traded in adds $25-$30 dollars to your costs.  Makes m feel much better.