Video game playing is an expensive hobby these days. Next generation consoles have seen the price of games rise to a level far beyond the average child’s pocket money allowance and make them a costly plaything for the growing number of adult gamers out there. Thankfully, the internet has given us some great ways to find bargain video games and save money on video game purchases. But what happens to your old games? One great way to get new games for very little money is to join a video game trading, swapping and exchange website and swap those old used games for new ones. Read on to start saving money today!

Every video gamer knows their hobby is expensive. So expensive, they often have to pass up on games they want to play until they drop in price, become part of a special deal or otherwise just end up not playing them at all. 

At $60 in the US and £50 in the UK for a new release game on a next generation console like the Xbox 360, it’s little wonder gamers are struggling to find the cash to play their favorite games. When you consider many games simply do not justify that price tag and the resell value is at least half the mark up at offline game trading stores, it is little wonder video game fans are looking for better alternatives to save money and get more bang for their buck.

One of the ways in which smart gamers are making their video game budget stretch further is by joining online game trading sites and swapping their used games for new ones with other gamers all over the country.

Video game trading makes sense. For the price of postage you can get rid of an old game you’ll probably never play again and get a new one which would otherwise have cost you up to $60 / £50. It’s a no brainer of a decision and more and more people are jumping on the idea.

Each different game trading sit works in a slightly different way, but the general principle of them all is the same. You join for free, list the games you are bored with playing and swap them with other users for games you do want. Some sites make you swap peer to peer – that is, you can only swap directly with someone who both has a game you want and wants one of yours, others operate on a points based system where you swap with anyone and get trading points which you can then use to request a game from someone else.

Both systems work well although points based systems give you much greter flexibility in that you can trade with anyone and request games from anyone.

There are some great sites out there working along these principals.

In the United States, I would highly recommend you check out Goozex above all others as their system allocates a point value to a game, allowing you to receive fair market value for each game you trade. At Goozex, a recently released game might be worth 1000 points whilst a five year old unpopular game just 100 points. using this principle, you can choose to swap a new game for up to 10 older games if you wish, or offload a bunch of games you can’t sell for much and get something just released. Goozex allows trades between all systems, old and new including Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC and Mac games as well as handhelds and older systems like the Sony Dreamcast, Megadrive etc. Join Goozex and Get A Free Game!

In the UK, a great site to check out is Swapz which isn’t just for video game swaps as you can barter and exchange all kinds of things on this site. Swapz is free to join and is very easy to use. This is a peer to peer swap site however, no swapping points and credits unlike Goozex but instead requires you to make a deal with whoever is offering or requesting items.

A slightly different slant on the idea behind game swapping sites is Trade Your Stuff which works slightly differently in that they allow you to sell your games to them, buy used games from them, or combine both in the same shopping cart, using the value of your “for sale” games to offset the price of your “to buy” games, effectively, trading your old games for new ones, or at least, for a discount on the price of new ones.

Video game swapping makes sense. It’s a great way to clear older games off your shelves without being ripped off by local high street game trading stores like Gamestop who will give you a mere fraction of what they’ll turn around and sell the game for, and you can get new games for little more than the cost of postage.

If video game swapping doesn’t appeal to you then how about renting instead? Check out these Video Game Rental sites instead. For a low subscription price you can get unlimited video games delivered directly to your door!

More information about game swapping: Trade Xbox 360 Games