Rather Than Whine About Used Markets, Why Not Enable Them Yourself?

from the swedish-design dept

Wed, Sep 8th 2010 8:22pm — Mike Masnick

We were recently talking about how so many in the video game industry seem so antagonistic to the used video game market, despite widespread evidence that a healthy secondary market helps the primary market in a variety of ways. Reader Johnny points us to the news that retailing giant Ikea is now planning to experiment with used goods sales itself via a website in Sweden. The company says that it won't make much money from the offering, but recognizes that it adds value for consumers, thus suggesting they actually recognize how such things help the primary market as well. Nice to see not everyone reacts so badly to used markets.

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Filed Under: enabling, secondary markets, used markets
Companies: ikea

14 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2010 @ 8:29pm

Finally someone got some ideas from Google and applied.
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Transbot9, 8 Sep 2010 @ 9:02pm

Unfortunately, used market hostility is based on the assumption that every used copy sold is a lost sale (an inaccurate assumption, as not all people who buy used would be willing to pay "full price" until it gets thrown in the bargain bin). Part of it may be jealously/anger that they aren't getting a cut of the sizable profit margins for retail outfits like Gamestop.

Too bad people and corporations often ignore the larger economic construct for short term gains.
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Jay (profile), 8 Sep 2010 @ 9:14pm

Differences
What Ikea is doing is having their customers pay a reduced price for goods already bought.

The difference is that the game industry doesn't necessarily go into the brick and mortar markets. They have licensing deals with Wal-Mart, Gamestop.

Think about if EA ran their own store where you traded in the new games? It would be an entirely different ball game if their business worked in such a manner.
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Michael Long (profile), 8 Sep 2010 @ 9:22pm

Smart move. Ikea is giving existing customers a way to sell off their old stuff so that they buy new stuff. And the people who're buying the old stuff probably wouldn't have been able to afford the new stuff at full-boat retail prices anyway.
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Big Al, 8 Sep 2010 @ 10:22pm

Obligatory Car Analogy
Suppose that the auto manufacturers somehow managed to stop the sale of used cars.

How would the teenager with a new licence afford their first car?
How many cars would be on the roads if only the rich could afford to buy a (new) car?
How many people in the allied used-car / mechanical repair trades would be out of work?
How often would anyone buy a new car if there was no outlet to get rid of their old one at a reasonable price?

Must be one of the best examples of a healthy used market supporting the new market.

(Yes, I know that games don't wear-out like cars do, but they certainly get old and dated quicker!)
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 12:43am

I hear Pop Tart sales are also lucrative, why not get into Pop Tart retailing?
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ltlw0lf (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 12:50am

IMHO, This is the Norm
In the real manufacturing-based world, outside of the Intellectual Property fantasy world, this is the norm, not the exception. I've seen this on a regular basis when dealing with companies that sell real hardware. They realize that they have no control over the resale of their products, so they work within this confine to make sure that even if someone buys used hardware, they buy their used hardware and often they are involved in the resale by offering resources to help folks sell used hardware.

An example of this is a fireplace insert that I bought a couple years ago. I looked all over the place to find one that was in my price range, and I just wasn't finding anything new that I could afford. Two companies had resources available that listed those wishing to buy used fireplace inserts, and they used those resources to find me a fireplace insert. They offered a warranty for their product even though I was buying it used. I compared the two companies, then contacted the person who was selling the product I wanted and the company installed it for me in my home and gave me a warranty on the product exactly the same that I would have gotten with a new one.

The car resale model is another example, where companies make quite a bit on the resale of cars. The refurbished model in computers is another...I have several refurbished computers and a couple refurbished consoles that cost me considerably less than the new models.

I've purchased quite a few things used from companies that have bought back their products and resold them to those who cannot afford their new products, and often they will provide warranties comparable to their new models.
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Paradroid (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 1:24am

Utter lack of sense from video game companies
I'm an xbox360 gamer but surely these idiots realise that the used market is helping to prop up the massive retail prices of new games.

No one is going to pay 40-50GBP for a game that they cannot sell on when they're finished with it, and get half or more of their cash back.

Would anyone buy a car that is worthless second hand?
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Analmouse Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 1:26am

Re: Obligatory Car Analogy
Example:

Been wanting one of these for years and they have a preowned section on their main website.

http://www.caterham.co.uk/assets/html/preowned.html
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Tor (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 4:00am

Ikea recently went after a used IKEA furniture site
Maybe this article can serve as relevant background info: Ikea wins naming battle with used furniture site
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 4:37am

Because...
whining is easier than thinking.
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Pete Austin, 9 Sep 2010 @ 5:22am

Reuse saves money *and* protects the environment
"it is about taking an environmental responsibility for how our products are used in the longer term and making it easier for our customers to do their part for their responsibility towards the environment." - Peter Agnefäll, CEO of Ikea Sverige

Makes me hate their maze-like shops a bit less.
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btrussell (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 9:16am

Re:
Too many guys are willing to pop a tart for free.
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Dementia (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 2:37pm

Re: Re:
ROFL - Nice troll stopper!!
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