Today I’m going to try to offer a little advice on how to stretch your entertainment budget a bit more; buy used media instead of buying new.
Media (video games, movies, books) are a lot like cars; their value depreciates drastically from the moment you leave the store with them. If you could just exercise a little patience in not having to have the latest and greatest by the time it hits the shelves of your favorite retailer, you can save yourself a great deal of money buying used.
Let’s start with the movies. Big rental chains like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video have 3 for $20 specials on used DVDs all the time, many titles aren’t even that old. It’s a win-win for you and the retailer; download a few over-stocked titles, you get a big shot at the cash register. ‘But it’s a record, it’ll be all scratched up!’ That may be correct, but just keep your receipt. Those drives will come with 30-day to lifetime warranties, and they’ll be exchanged for you if you have a problem. However, the possibilities are; if it loads and plays once without skipping, you’re good to go. You won’t need the entire warranty period to know if it’s going to work properly.
Video games can be an even better deal, but sadly, you’ll often lose some of the extra “freebies” like instruction booklets and original box art. But if that’s not important to you, you’re ready to play on the cheap. Stores like Gamestop and EB will offer similar guarantees to the rental chains I mentioned earlier, and even let you trade in some of your older, unplayed games for store credit. Of course, they’ll always get the best end of that little fix, but it’s better to get at least some of the value back from your old games than to use them as dust collectors.
Books probably offer the best value on the ‘second hand’ market. Mainly because they have a lot of competition; Libraries Sure, hardcover books can have a dented corner or rip in the dust jacket. Paperbacks may have some creases on the spine. But the words and the story will remain the same. Prices can be as much as 75% off at retail, even more for paperbacks (sometimes pennies on the dollar), and every used bookstore I’ve come across accepts trade-ins. Other places to look would be flea markets; those people will always negotiate. Never pay the sticker price.
We live in an expensive world, there is no doubt about it. But bargains are right under our noses if we look hard enough and practice being thrifty shoppers. You just have to make the effort to look; the good deals will hardly ever be under the big flashing billboard; They will be buried in the back of the store. Go find them!