My Epic GameStop Trade-In: I Thought I’d Get Wrecked, But Here’s What Happened

Yo! It was time. The Switch 2 is on the horizon, which means it’s time for the great purge. I bagged up years of gaming history, braced myself for impact, and headed to the one place that can turn a king’s ransom into pocket change: GameStop.

Honestly, I was ready to get absolutely wrecked.

I had a massive haul, a treasure trove of digital memories I was ready to trade for pennies on the dollar. Before we get to the final number, let’s take a look at everything in the bag. This is what a small fortune in video games looks like.

The Trade-In Pile of Hope (and Questionable Purchases)

Here’s the full list of what I dragged into the store. It’s a real mix of certified bangers, games I’ll never touch again, and… Paw Patrol.

• One Nintendo Switch (The Chosen One): The first of two, ready for a new home.
• A Second Nintendo Switch (The Fallen Soldier): More on this guy later.
• Final Fantasy XVI (PS5): Hated it. Don’t @ me.
• Ghost of Tsushima (PS4): Incredible game, but I double-dipped and got it on Steam.
• Paw Patrol: Why do we even have this? Seriously.
• Yoshi’s Crafted World: Actually a pretty good game, but its replay days are over.
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: We’ve all moved on to the new hotness.
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: I know, I know. I didn’t like it. Link’s Awakening broke my heart, and this just didn’t click.
• Super Mario RPG: Pretty good! Played it once. That’s enough.
• Spider-Man (PS4): Got the PS5 and Miles Morales. Plus, I have it on Steam. It’s time.
• Super Mario Party: With Superstars out and a new one coming for the Switch 2, this one’s redundant.
• Princess Peach: Showtime!: Didn’t like it. Never even finished it.
• Kingdom Hearts III (PS4): Great game, but it’s ancient in GameStop years.
• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze: A new DK is coming next month, and it’s gonna be way better.
• Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope: A surprisingly good tactical game, but one and done.
• Sonic Forces: Awful. Just awful.
• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker: Fun two-player game, but it’s collecting dust.
• Paper Mario: The Origami King: I enjoyed it! But… never playing it again.
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Another solid title, but its time has passed.
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD: I’m pretty sure I never even played this. Don’t know why I have it.
• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle: The OG.
• Loose Games (The Fugitives): Of course, I had a few games that escaped their cases. This included a terrible Sonic game, Pokémon Scarlet, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.

The Painful Math: New Value vs. Trade-In Reality

I figured all this stuff had to be worth at least $1,000 if you bought it new. So, I did the math to see how much this pile of plastic and silicon is actually worth on the open market.

Item	Estimated New Price
Nintendo Switch Console	$299.99
22 Games (Avg. ~$40-$60 each)	~$950.00
Total Estimated New Value:	~$1,249.99

Seeing it all laid out like that… it hurts a little. Over twelve hundred bucks in value, just sitting in a bag. I set my expectations low. I told my son, “I’ll be lucky to get $200 for all this.” He was more optimistic, guessing $300.

The Moment of Truth

We get to the counter, and the process begins. They scan everything, inspect the console, and print out a receipt so long it could double as a scarf.

The final verdict? They only took one of the Switches. Turns out the other one had a little damage I hadn’t noticed. So right off the bat, our total potential took a hit.

Even so, the grand total for the one Switch and that mountain of games was $432.40 in store credit!

I was floored. But the adventure wasn’t over. We immediately used that credit to pre-order the new Donkey Kong Bonanza for the Switch 2 that comes out next month!. After that purchase, our final take-home on the gift card was:

$356.64!

My son was ecstatic. “I said 300! I got super close!”

He wasn’t wrong. We walked in expecting to get wrecked and walked out with a new game on the way and a hefty gift card. As for the other Switch, I’m just going to give it away to a needy kid or a local charity.

So, was it worth it? Absolutely. Not too shabby, GameStop. Not too shabby at all.