Was just thinking about the game trading thead.

[TheVrolok]

Gifts/guest passes are great. I wish I could "give" a game that's in my Steam account to someone else. It'd be a great and easy way to trade games. Just disable it on your account so it can't be played, and enable it on a friend's account. Not sure what the legal issues would be, if any, but man that would be so neat and easy.

 

[Lonyo]

Yeah, but where do Valve, or the games developers/publishers make the money from?

 

[TheVrolok]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
Yeah, but where do Valve, or the games developers/publishers make the money from?

That's the reason I figured it isn't available. How much would you pay for such a service? How much would it be worth it for them? On their side, it's really nothing more than enabling a game on one account and disabling it on another - I can't imagine that's a very costly venture. Say they charge.. I dunno, a flat 2-3 bucks, or better you, perhaps a % of the game's retail cost - say 10%? You wanna let your friend try 4.99 Deus Ex, it'll cost you $0.50. No biggie, it's not much different than the cost to mail the manual/discs. Who does Steam charge then, the giver, the recipient? Both? Hmm. I could see making money in a lot of places, and at a relatively low price for customers.

 

[videogames101]

Originally posted by: TheVrolok

Originally posted by: Lonyo
Yeah, but where do Valve, or the games developers/publishers make the money from?

That's the reason I figured it isn't available. How much would you pay for such a service? How much would it be worth it for them? On their side, it's really nothing more than enabling a game on one account and disabling it on another - I can't imagine that's a very costly venture. Say they charge.. I dunno, a flat 2-3 bucks, or better you, perhaps a % of the game's retail cost - say 10%? You wanna let your friend try 4.99 Deus Ex, it'll cost you $0.50. No biggie, it's not much different than the cost to mail the manual/discs. Who does Steam charge then, the giver, the recipient? Both? Hmm. I could see making money in a lot of places, and at a relatively low price for customers.

but they still lose a potential sale and have no gain.

 

[TheVrolok]

Originally posted by: videogames101

Originally posted by: TheVrolok

Originally posted by: Lonyo
Yeah, but where do Valve, or the games developers/publishers make the money from?

That's the reason I figured it isn't available. How much would you pay for such a service? How much would it be worth it for them? On their side, it's really nothing more than enabling a game on one account and disabling it on another - I can't imagine that's a very costly venture. Say they charge.. I dunno, a flat 2-3 bucks, or better you, perhaps a % of the game's retail cost - say 10%? You wanna let your friend try 4.99 Deus Ex, it'll cost you $0.50. No biggie, it's not much different than the cost to mail the manual/discs. Who does Steam charge then, the giver, the recipient? Both? Hmm. I could see making money in a lot of places, and at a relatively low price for customers.

but they still lose a potential sale and have no gain.

I guess that's the catch, the loss of a potential sale. I wonder what the statistics would be on people who would not purchase if a "gift" were available vs people who will purchase because a "gift" isn't. Sorta like the pirating statistics involving whether or not a pirate would actually purchase if XXX.

 

[nerp]

I could see this coming available with a catch:

Steam will allow you to sell the game to a friend for $5 or $2 minimum and takes a small cut on the sale. They handle all the transaction processing.

A resale service would be interesting.

 

[coloumb]

Originally posted by: nerp
I could see this coming available with a catch:

Steam will allow you to sell the game to a friend for $5 or $2 minimum and takes a small cut on the sale. They handle all the transaction processing.

A resale service would be interesting.

yep - similar setup to ebay and paypal. I'd say send 'em an email [or post on the forums]!

 

[TheVrolok]

Originally posted by: coloumb

Originally posted by: nerp
I could see this coming available with a catch:

Steam will allow you to sell the game to a friend for $5 or $2 minimum and takes a small cut on the sale. They handle all the transaction processing.

A resale service would be interesting.

yep - similar setup to ebay and paypal. I'd say send 'em an email [or post on the forums]!

Yeah really. I just don't see why it wouldn't work. The infrastructure is there, just need Steam/vendors to find a way to make some easy money off it at a low cost to the consumer and we're in business.

 

[MarcVenice]

Not a bad idea at all! That way games could get new players all the time, which might be dieing down in the multiplayer.

But here's the catch, you could buy game X, $40, your friend buys game Y, 40$, you play both games ( SP for example ) and 'trade' them. That's 2 possible sales gone down the drain.

 

[skace]

There is a gifting program. If you want someone to try 4.99 deus ex. You can buy it for them as a gift. Just make sure it says this product is available for gifting.

Reselling is a whole nother story.

 

[AdamK47]

I think they should allow game trading. It would allow those with the physical media to sell them on Amazon or other sites. I buy a ton of games off there and it's impossible with steam games since it's tied to a Steam account.

I bought Lost Planet off of Amazon last year without knowing it was a Steam only game. I got the DVD just fine, but couldn't play it without the account of the person who sold it to me. Luckily the guy refunded my money and allowed me to keep the discs. I bought the game off of Steam with the refunded money and used the DVD to install the game.

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: AdamK47
I think they should allow game trading. It would allow those with the physical media to sell them on Amazon or other sites. I buy a ton of games off there and it's impossible with steam games since it's tied to a Steam account.

qft, i agree. The price is right up there with full retail yet without the option of selling, as with a physical copy on, say, amazon.