One Month with "Goozex"
New service that could revolutionize the way we obtain games.
Feature by Dack

I've completed one month using the new game swapping service goozex, and I've fallen in love with it. Goozex is simple. You have a game, you decide you want to trade the game, so you list it on Goozex. Goozex finds a match, and gives you the persons address. You send it to them, you get points. You use the points to request a game, and the whole process restarts.

So what have I gotten out of Goozex after using it for a month? Games. Lots and lots of games. I now own the entire Onimusha Series in mint condition, Arc the Lad Collection, Dark Cloud, Castlevania Symphony of the night, Metal Gear Solid Virtual Mission, and many many more. No where else could I have gotten so many rare games. I barely buy games in the stores anymore, I just put up a request on goozex, and when someone lists it, I get it. Simple. No more hunting for games at stores!

I got to sit down and talk to Mark Nebesky, one of the founders of Goozex and hear what he had to say about the service;

Dack: So for people that may not know, what is a brief summary of what goozex is?

Mark: Goozex is simply a trading site for video games. We connect gamers across North America and let them trade games for points, which they can use to get other games for only $1.

Dack: So let's say I had a copy of a game that I hated like Mary Kate and Ashley's Sweet 16, and I wanted a copy of Disgaea. How would that work?

Mark: Usually its the other way around...but I'll work with you on this. So right now Mary Kate is worth 200 points and Disgaea Hour of Darkness is worth 950. So what Goozex does is it matches you up with someone who wants Mary Kate and you agree to ship to them. You get 200 points for the trade. Now you trade also trade Dead Rising for 850 and you've got 1,050 points. You request Disgaea and Goozex matches you with someone in North America who agrees to send you that game. You spend 950 points and $1 for the game. Your balance after getting Disgaea is 100 points and you can find a lot of games on Goozex for that amount

Dack: Very Impressive. So goozex works alot better then the old way of trading through forums, because this way the person that has the game you want, will take points, and you can get the points through trading games you dont want anymore to other people, where as on forums, he would only want certain games.

Mark: Yes. Our point system is one of the most valuable aspects of being a Goozex member. Our points are designed to give fair market values to the games you trade -- and unlike Gamestop or EB you won't get short changed on Goozex. Also, our point system is large enough to handle games that are worth $50 used versus those that are worth only $5. Mark Another difference is that you don't have to barter or negotiate for the value of the game. This tends to tie up other systems. And unlike Ebay, you won't lose out on a last second bid.

Dack: What do you think Gamestop, who makes they majority of their money from used games, thinks of the idea of goozex?

Mark: You know that Gamestop/EB made $800 million in used video game sales in 2006. So with that perspective I'm sure they didn't like seeing us come around. But if it wasn't for Gamestop/EB there wouldn't be a Goozex today. Jon Dugan, co-founder, went to trade in about 15 games and only got $37 worth of store credit. Furious, he left with the idea of Goozex forming. In the end, we exist for the gamer, whereas Gamestop tries to increase their profit margins.

Dack: Gamestop has gotten far to greedy. A long time ago, I remember you'd get a good $40-45 for a brand new $50 game, now your lucky to get $25.

Mark: Exactly. The average used game price is $40. The average buy back is $20. We've all traded back games for less than $10. So that difference is what drives Gamestop and its what drives us. We want to cut out the middle man.

Dack: If you take a small $1 fee for facilitating the site, then everyone makes out fine it seems.

Dack: No regret for loosing money, if you trade a game, and regret it later, you can always request it back for cheaper or the same price, unlike if you sell a game at gamestop.

Mark: Absolutely. Your game that sits around collecting dust still has value on Goozex and we give you all of it. The $1 fee is for us to cover our expenses and stay competive to game rentals. We feel that with enough gamers trading we'll be ok on our end to continue running the site.

Dack: How many gamers are trading on goozex?

Mark: we've got thousands of games right now. We have at this moment around 4,000 unique titles for all major platforms including the PC. behind that we have over 12,000 games in total. That is larger than any retail store anywhere. Dack: From being a member on goozex, I have already recieved 2 rare games, that I could not find at any gamestop, so the program does work. But what happens if someone sends you a broken game, or just doesnt send the game at all?

Mark: We have a 100% guarantee on all trades. That means if you don't get get game, it was broken, it just doesn't play or something else happens we give you all your points earned and the trade credit back. We also have a hassle free way of doing this in that we simply take your word for it. We take a lot of pride in our customer service and we know we are constantly working on earning your trust.

Dack: What happens to the person who sent the broken game?

Mark: We know that stuff happens. Most likely if a game was received broken it was due to USPS and not the user smashing it with a hammer. So we give the benefit of the doubt to our senders as well. They keep the points earned for the trade. We have safeguards in place to prevent malicious behavior. Mainly our negative feedback system alerts us to anybody who may be trying to scam the system. We have other process, but in the end there simply aren't that many people interested in abusing the system. 99.9% of the people there are trading games and have become great traders.

Dack: You can see that from the game catalog. Not a lot of Maddens in there

Mark: If you mean that not a lot of Maddens are trading its true. You shouldn't expect to come to Goozex to get rid of Madden 05 and pickup Madden 07. Though I think the games are virtually the same minus the updated roster, EA does a great job of marketing the games as must haves!

Mark: You can of course trade other games and pickup Madden 07.

Dack: Gotta have that madden! So what kind of systems are traded at goozex?

Mark: Games for all major systems are traded including: Xbox 360, Xbox, PS3, PS2, PS, PSP, Wii, Gamecube, DS, GBA, Dreamcast and last, but definetely not least, PC.

Dack: Glad to see some love for the dreamcast, but what about old school systems?

Mark: Originally Goozex was trading disc only and we had a paper folding option (still do) to send out the discs. That's why we went with cd discs and carts, because they could fit into our paper envelopes. We've had a lot of people ask trade for NES, SNES and so on, and its something we might feature in the future.

Dack: I'm glad you went with the full package option, because I'm a collector, and I need to have everything!

Mark: We have a lot of collectors on our site and that's also why you were able to get to rare games.

Dack: Praise the Dinosaur thingy!

Mark: We knew that it was only a matter of time before Dack would ask questions about that.

Dack: Haha

Dack: So what exactly is it?

Mark: Long story short, we needed a logo that was fun and represented the true gamer who lives in his basement only to feast on video games. Actually, there is no good story, but something we all liked and went with.

Dack: Haha, I like him, and he dresses like santa

Mark: Yes. We went with that over the Master Chief for the Holidays.

Dack: right on.

Dack: I've asked alot of questions, anything you would like to add?

Mark: First, thanks for taking the time to interview me and letting me talk about Goozex. For your readers, Dack and I met on the HGM forums where I dropped a coupon for new members. Second, we know we've got a good thing here at Goozex because of all the great reviews we have everyday on forums, blogs and other places where our members are online. This site was started by gamers for gamers. That sometimes gets thrown around, but it really is the case for us. Take me for example, when I was so delighted to get Day of the Tenticle the other day off of Goozex. Only someone who loves adventure games knows what I'm talking about. Finally, our members rock and we do everything we can to let them start getting games for only $1.

Dack: Well Mark, thank you for your time, on behalf of Marvel-Ous.com, we thank you for talking to us about the next big thing in gaming.

Mark: Thanks Dack!


Now that you know about goozex would you like to try it out? For our loyal Marvel-Ous readers, Goozex has provided a coupon code so you can try out the service for yourself! Just head over to Goozex and when you sign up enter the coupon code "Marvel-ousGames" to get 2 free trades and 200 bonus points after completing your first trade!