This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Oh, hey, what's up? Welcome to Side Hustle School. Thanks for tuning in today. I'm so glad you're out there. Today, we're gonna hear from a young caller, a young caller who is taking inspiration from their older brother.
They are learning about side hustles, which of course is awesome. I always respect and so admire people getting into side hustles from a young age, learning how to make money for themselves. Of course, it's not just about the money, it's about this entrepreneurial freedom, the skills, problem solving, all that good stuff. So naturally, I'll just say some good things about this caller, but also they have a question. They're wondering about video game reselling, which I'm pretty familiar with.
I used to do that long, long ago. So video games in terms of console games in particular, like from Nintendo or Sony, they used to be sold in cartridge or disc form. And you'd go to the store, you'd pick up your game, you'd be excited about it, you'd be reading about it in the magazines. I don't know if you remember magazines, they used to be a thing. In advance, you're reading about this game that's coming out, you would go to the store to pick it up finally, after weeks or months of waiting, or maybe you'd order it online if that was an option.
But over the past decade, more and more console games, not to mention PC games, but we're gonna talk about console specifically, more and more console games are delivered digitally. So there's no packaging, there's no waiting, which all sounds good except for one thing, there's also no resell market because the game companies control their downloaded content. So really interesting shift here in this world, can anything be done in terms of the side hustle perspective, in terms of the reseller perspective? That's what our young caller wants to know. I will see if I can be somewhat helpful right after this quick message from our sponsor.
Oh, and of course, you'll get to hear from the young caller as well. So stay tuned. [Music]
Hi, this is Madison. I've been listening for a while ever since my older brother told me about it. He's always trying to make money and I'm always trying to learn from him.
I hear that you used to resell video games and I have a question. While you can still buy physical copies of many games, these days it's much more common for Nintendo and Sony to sell digital copies. This is cool for when you wanna buy a new game, you can get it right away, but you usually aren't allowed to transfer the games you own for any reason. Doesn't this cut off the resell market? I'm wondering if you know a way around this challenge.
[Music]
All right, hey, listen, first of all, thanks so much for just listening to the podcast and calling in with your question. I am really excited to know that you are on a journey of, well, reselling video games 'cause I like games, but more importantly, learning to be an entrepreneur or at least learning to side hustle. Think about how different markets work in terms of buying and selling and such. So you're off to a good start. Now, having said that, I always wanna give honest feedback.
I hate to give bad news, but I also wanna save people time wherever possible. So unfortunately with digital games from Nintendo and Sony, also Microsoft, Xbox games, they are usually non-transferable. This is kind of by design from these companies, which makes them non-sellable if that's a word as well. Now, of course, the digital versions cost the same as the physical versions. Whenever that's an option, you can buy either one, but the digital version is the same.
So the game studios are making out pretty well there because they don't have to deal with packaging. They don't have to deal with distribution in terms of shipping those physical items out to retailers. They just do it all direct. So they're doing well. It used to be that when you were done with a game, you could sell it at a used game store or on eBay, some other platform, or if nothing else, you could give it to a friend.
And not so much these days because of how this trend or because of how the shift has occurred, let's say. So do I know a way around the challenge? Our caller asks, not really, basically, except I will point out that physical copies of games for all three major systems, the Switch from Nintendo, the PlayStation, both four and five from Sony and the Microsoft Xbox, they are still being sold. So you still have a choice at this point, at least for a lot of the games, whether that's the case 10 years from now remains to be seen, but at the moment, at least, there is still an active reselling market. You just have to focus exclusively on those physical versions.
So in fact, that's a tip. You know, if you play games on these systems, buy the physical versions wherever possible. That way, even if you're not trying to, you know, make a career out of this kind of reselling, you can at least make some of your money back when you're done playing them. Otherwise, if you've downloaded it, that's just kind of it. And as I said, you know, good work for the game studios, but it doesn't make it super easy for resellers.
And maybe this means you have to find a way to resell something else. So perhaps that's the challenge I'll leave you with. Madison, thanks again. And anybody else out there interested in reselling, there's lots of different markets, right? So if one door closes, you know, another one opens, et cetera, et cetera.
If you have a question, something you're trying to figure out, an idea, a report, an update, siteusselsgo.com/questions. We'll continue to feature them throughout the year. We'll continue to make a new episode every single day, and it will continue to be completely free. So go subscribe, follow wherever you get your podcasts. Hope you'll tune in again tomorrow and every day.
My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
- From The Onward Project. you
