Wired Cola

Electronics Boutique has a retail model that is weird. But exploitable!

The end result of EB's fixation on increasing their used inventory (where the margins are very good and where they pay used-game sellers in store credit, which makes their margins even higher) was their recent "Trade in 5 games for 1 new Nintendo DS Lite" offer.

Even with the proviso that the games had to be relatively new (for a current console system and with a trade value of at least $8), this was a ridiculously good deal. The retail price for a DS Lite (excellent system, by the way; highly recommended) is about $135.

I scoured my shelves and dug up five—no, four tradeable games. Darn.

In the thrall of EBnomics, and desperate to get a nifty Easter present for my mother-in-law (please don't tell her; and by the way, it was more about liberating my DS from her, as she loves playing Big Brain Academy daily), I resorted to buying a game off of Craigslist for the sole purpose of reselling it to EB.

That's right, Star Trek Commander for the Wii: trade-in value $10, available for $10 from a private seller.

I bought the game, and I never even took it home (much less played it) before heading to EB to complete the deal.

The problem is, I can't stop. Now I want to dive back into Craigslist and see if I can find another five games that qualify, or as I think of it, buying hundred-dollar bills for fifty dollars.