Haha, this guy bought Brink

So, there's a new meme going around about video game resale stores. The memes all focus on The Big Video Game Resale Store (a place we'll call StameGop) but the principle is universal, so I'm taking some self-indulgent blog time to respond:

Your stuff is not worth the same amount of money you paid for it.

When you buy stuff, you're not investing in some sort of magical money depository that can be converted back into money at a moment's notice. Stuff is not money. Moreover, when you buy a video game, you are paying to play the game. If you're all "Waaah, I bought this $60 game and played the whole thing and only got $30 when I resold it that's so unfair," you are an ass.

Games are not free. 

Games are not free. Unless they are, which is pretty common, so go play those instead of whining about how you have to spend money to play a game that cost $200 million to produce and distribute. (And that figure is for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which came out in 2009, which means that more recent blockbuster games have been even more costly.)

People who post crap like this have a fundamental lack of understanding about how resale stores work. They're about convenience for the consumer. If you don't like the fact that they need to mark up your game to sell at a profit, then don't go to a reseller. And I mean, really, we're lucky that resale stores exist for video games. What happens if you bought a lamp and you don't like it anymore? Do you take it down to LampStop and exchange it for credit towards the purchase of a new lamp? Please.

On a happier note, I've also noticed that retailer Facebooks are littered with disgruntled employees telling everyone to STFU, which brings a smile to my face.  

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A Facebook conversation with pictures, names, and places blocked out. The original post is a link to a meme featuring a picture of a bunch of Xbox 360 games and the text "[StameGop] be like I can give you $4.25."

DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE: Assuming all the games are in resellable condition, at a [StameGop] in my area, they're worth $255.60 in store credit or $204.48 in cash. With a [rewards] card, it would be $281.16 in store credit or $224.93 in cash. Most of these games are more than two years old, and most of them suck. I mean, really? Homefront? Brothers in Arms? Brink?

DOUCHE: It's a joke.

DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE: Nah, the joke is all the butthurt dudebros on the internet who don't understand how a store works.]