Do you buy used entertainment/media?

[Total LOLige]

I was looking at CDs on Amazon and noticed how much cheaper pre-owned CDs are.It got me thinking about the whole used games debate, piracy and such. Usually in these kinds of discussions people that pirate things are called scum of the earth, skidmarks on the underwear of society etc. When buying used stuff the original creators/publisher/whatever usually don't see a penny of the money, which is essentially the same effect that piracy has. We can get caught up in the differences such as that the original media changes hands in used sales whereas with piracy it does not but at the end of the day the result is the same, the content creator loses potential revenue. I'm curious as to whether people view used buyers in the same light as pirates.

Question 1: Do you buy used books, dvds, blu rays, games music etc?

Question 2: What are your feelings regarding the used media market?

Spoiler: My thoughts

I myself don't buy used because the only physical media that I buy are CDs and I just can't do without that "new cd smell". In a perfect world my buying new would directly support the artist but lets face it, chances are that artists get a nominal percentage of the sale and it goes directly to the record company. As a consumer the smart move would be to buy used and send money directly to the artist in a card but it's unlikely that The Who or Pink Floyd are going to need our twenty pounds. As for what I think about the used market and those that use it, I don't have an opinion it(call me a cop out)

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I don't tend to buy physical media at all, but when I do it tends to be because it's a movie/CD/game/book that is so old that it does not exist digitally, and in those cases the only way to get it is to buy used because there are no new releases of that specific piece of media.

 

[Zontar]

Oh yeah, there's a lot of gems I've found in bargain bind, garage sales or just browsing at a store or a flee market. New or used, as long as the quality fits the price and I have the money to spear I'm not fussy.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Very rarely. Most of the music I buy is on eBay, which have plenty of "shops" by record labels and official distributors, and books by eBay publisher shops. As for games, I've mostly taken to GOG.com now. It does feel good to support the providers of stuff I enjoy. I used to buy physical copies of games second hand though, but mostly because the pricing for it officially is obnoxious as fuck.

But ultimately, it isn't the same as piracy because the creators have still received the money from that sale. The owner is simply selling his personal copy to someone else as its now his property, but that original sale still funded the creator.

 

[Queen Michael]

When there's a game I wouldn't buy new and I can find it used for $10 or less, sure. I'll buy it. Scribblenauts, that Brain Training thing... I got both of them that way.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I used to mainly when my bro gave me his Xbox. I search through the bargin bin and found tons of discounted games like KOTOR.
These days however I rarely buy used games or video since it already cheap online (back then I didn't used online shopping alot).

As for the second question, my response is N/A (no thought on the matter).

 

[Saltyk]

Well, when it comes to games, especially new games, I do not buy them used. Mainly as it's rarely more than a five dollar difference, and I don't trust that the idiot that owned it before me didn't use it as a Frisbee or a chew toy.

I really don't buy used anything unless it's something that you really aren't going to find brand new.

As for the used market, it's always been around. What do you think garage sells are? It's a completely legitimate market. Though, I have mixed feelings on the Gamestop model.

 

[McElroy]

Go to the library for books, flea market sometimes for movies, online auction sites for games. I get reasonably priced new stuff as well. Thought on the matter: adapt to the market or die.

 

[higgs20]

All the time, i'd rather save £5 than not and the shop I buy from lets me inspect the disc before I buy them, I literally see no reason not to buy Pre-owned. generally just with games though I guess, but i rarely buy films or music in their physical forms.

 

[Dr.Awkward]

If it's cartridges, cards, and USB drives, sure if the price is a great deal and the game is known to be good. Not as much with CDs and DVDs though, they carry the risk of being scratched or abused to an unusable state.

 

[HardkorSB]

I only buy used games.
I don't see the reason to spend £45-50 on a game when I can wait a few months (or even a few years) and buy it for much less.
A few days a go, I bought Aliens: Colonial Marines, Metro 2033, Darksiders, Infinite Undiscovery, Prototype, F3AR, Escape from Dark Athena and Far Cry 3 and I only had to pay £20 for all of that.
After I'm done with them, I usually sell them back. Several times, I've managed to get more than I've paid for them.
If you're on a really tight budget but still want to enjoy video games, the used games market is the only way to go.

 

[KnightOfTwo]

I don't buy that much physically anymore, however when I do it will frequently be used (but not always). For instance, that's how I got my Vita a few months ago. I sold off some old games I wasn't gonna play anymore (or didn't like) and used that to buy a used Vita for $130. Now if I'm buying a game from a studio I really like or want to support I will buy new. I want to be the one that contributes to their business. On the whole though, if the price is right I don't mind buying used, though I make sure I'm buying from someone reputable (either someone I know selling off something they don't want, or an entity who I trust to deliver on the goods).

When I do buy physical games, it will usually be used, it's just cheaper and more affordable for someone on a tight budget (like myself), digital games I tend to wait for a sale of some kind. Yeah the price difference between used and new won't be much around launch, but if you wait a few months or even a year or so, you can generally find them A LOT cheaper.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I have and still plan on buying used media. It's definitely cheaper than buying new after all and depending on where I buy from I could be helping to support a local business. The last thing I got used was Mario Kart 8 but I was glad to do so since I got it from a local indie game shop. I know Nintendo got their money for the copy of Mario Kart that I now own so I don't see there being any harm done in my purchase. I don't really see a used-media market as being a bad thing at all. Unless you're buying stolen goods, the creator of the product got their money before you got their product.

 

[Hero of Lime]

My brother and I like to go to Gamestop once in a while and get some cheap used games we might have wanted, but didn't feel like getting at full price. Other than that though, I usually buy games new. I don' really buy much else in the way of physical media, but if I want something a lot, I will get it when it first comes out instead of waiting to get it used.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Pretty much everything I have is used unless it's a collector's edition or I wanted it (and could afford it) on release.

Music is an exception; but then again music I listen to often has limited copies of physical media...

Why waste something that's perfectly good?

 

[Eleuthera]

Only books really. Games and music are bought online (if at all possible from the creators), movies depends, mostly I'd buy them new, but occasionally I might pass by a bargain bin and get a few from there.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

I only Buy physical media.
I only Buy used games, so long as they don't contain any heavy-handed DRM.
Which in my opinion is anything that has to go online at any time. Steam,uplay,origin, etc is out of the question.
I would like to shop at GoG more, but I'm not at all sure of how to really.

I buy new books all the time, and would buy used as well, if there were any places that sold them around.
I would never buy a book in pdf or other digital format.
A screen can be good for partaking of information, or short stories perhaps, but are not very portable.
No I don't own a smartphone or similar device, and probably never will. Until changes are made. Not sure what kind though.

I Buy movies on occasion, when I see one a would gladly watch again.

Music..heh..No, that was a while ago.

All in all, I'm a bit reticent about limiting unlimited content and the way in which producers go about making products obsolete whenever they so chose.

*EDIT* I forgot to mention the fact that I haven't really bought a "new" game since 2005-7 I think.

 

[Gennadios]

I'm a capitalist, it's really hard to care about the original content creator not getting a slice of the transaction because I can't help but feel that all of them - music, gaming, movies - know it and make up for it by jacking the price up for new titles, thus shifting the potential cost of resale to people who buy it new.

Also, all three of those industries are pretty resistant to change and have some very anti-consumer tendencies. It won't really be the end of the world if EA or Lionsgate go out of business, indies with a good idea and a more flexibile business ideas will crop up.

 

[EHKOS]

A long time ago I thought digital was great. I know things don't last forever, but I want to keep my games for as long as I can. So I buy PS1/2/3 games and 3DS games in physical form to preserve them. But I do try to buy used as much as possible, while retaining box art. There's a great secondhand shop I buy from, very fair or low prices

I do buy new when I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO HAVE IT IMMEDIATELY games like Far Cry 4, Borderlands 2, Dark Souls 2, Bioshock Infinite, etc.

I use sites like Netflix for movies though. I think the only Game Publisher I actually buy new from because I want to give them my support and money is Bethesda.

 

[Something Amyss]

Honestly, I buy so much digital stuff on the cheap I don't need to bother with used. Steam Sales, Amazon MP3 sales, Kindle deals, whatever. Movies are about the only thing I tend to buy in physical format, and that's mostly because there really isn't a DD platform that does it for me. I used to buy used a lot, though.

Comparing used sales to piracy is absurd, though. A legal transfer of an item versus an illegal one? Is hitching a ride the same as stealing a car? I mean, I'm depriving GM of a potential sale....

Honestly, nothing entitles a creator to be paid for the same product twice. If you're done with a disc, it should be your choice you keep/sell/give/destroy it.