Trading in your used games to Gamestop is not a new concept, however we know that getting rid of your used games has some downsides. The main one is that you can get shafted by Gamestop. They give you the least amount possible despite the condition, and you take it like a champ because there just isn’t any viable alternative.

Well that has changed. Amazon has started its online used game trade-in program and is coming out of the gate running with 1,500 eligible titles. Comparatively it looks that Amazon is offering slightly more than the competition for the trade-in values, on average a couple dollars more. But the amazing thing is that Amazon is not charging you to ship the games to them, they’re picking up the tab so that extra couple dollars are yours.

Now we all know there is a catch, it has to be too good to be true and it is, sort of. The one catch is that Amazon requires you to have the “original packaging” which means the box, cover art and manual. This is something that Gamestop does not require. The other pitfall to Amazon’s system is the fact that there is no physical store to go to, you have to ship the game and wait for Amazon to receive it and credit your account. All in all though, this is a pretty good alternative to Gamestop and if you’re patient it will net you a couple extra dollars for your used games.