How We Inspect Your Games And why you'll never have to guess

Let's talk about the nervous part of selling games online. You pack up a box of stuff you care about, ship it to people you've never met, and hope the number that lands in your account is the number you were promised. If it comes in lower, you want to know why. "Trust us" is not a reason.

So this page walks through exactly what happens to your games after they reach us, and shows you real screenshots of what sellers see on their order page when something doesn't match. No mystery deductions. No fine print. No guessing.

Why we built it this way

We've read a lot of online reviews of other places that buy games. Plenty of them are fine. But the bad ones tend to sound alike: the payout came in lower, the reason was vague or missing, and by the time the seller asked about it, the games were already gone.

We want to be better than that. That's why we won't keep you guessing. If we change your payout, you see the reason and the photo behind it. And we will always give you the option to get back any item we can't pay full price for, or have to turn down. You sent us your games in good faith, so you get the final say on what happens to them.

Honestly, it's also just good business. People who feel treated fairly send us their next box, tell their friends, and don't lose sleep waiting on a payout. We've been doing this since 2005, and that lesson keeps proving itself.

What happens when your box arrives

When your package lands at our warehouse, we check it in and match every item to your order. Inspection usually starts within 2 business days of delivery and takes 2 to 7 business days, depending on how big your order is. Your order page shows where things stand the whole time, from "Delivered" to "Inspecting" to "Paid."

Each game gets checked against the condition you picked when you got your quote:

• Loose: the disc or cartridge on its own. We check for cracks, deep scratches, labels and whether it plays.
• Boxed: the game plus its case and original cover art. We check the case and the art, too.
• New: factory sealed, the way it left the store.

Then we make sure it actually works. If everything matches, you're paid the price you were quoted. That's most items, and there's nothing more to it. The rest of this page is about the ones that don't match, because that's where trust gets earned. For the full list of what we check on each system, see our Condition Guidelines.

If something's off, we show you

Sometimes a game isn't quite what the order said. It's usually an honest mistake: a disc swapped into the wrong case years ago, cover art that got soaked in a basement, a European copy picked up on a trip, a crack nobody noticed. It happens to everyone.

When it does, we don't just send you a smaller number. Your order page shows a clear summary at the top: what we'll pay you, how that compares to your quote, and how many decisions are waiting on you. Underneath, every dollar that comes off is listed item by item, with the reason in plain English.

What sellers see

Zoom in on the problem yourself

For every item we flag, you'll find our photos of your copy. Not a stock picture, not a description. The actual game you sent, on our bench.

Thumbnails are small, so we made them bigger. On a computer, just hover your mouse over any photo and a large version pops up right beside it. Click it to open it full size. On a phone, tap it. When it helps, we circle the exact spot so you're not hunting for it.

Try it right here: hover over any screenshot on this page and it pops up bigger, just like on your order page. Click or tap to open it full size.

Real examples: cover art, cracked discs, wrong region

Here are a few real ones from real orders. These are the three things we flag most, and they show how the photos do the explaining for us.

Cover art that's missing, damaged or a reprint

A Boxed game is priced with its original cover art. If the art is missing, water damaged, torn or a printed copy, we pay the Loose price for that game instead, and we show you why. In the first one below, a Just Dance 2014 case arrived with a blank sheet of paper where the cover should be. In the second, an Unreal Tournament III cover had clearly been wet at some point.

Cracked discs

A cracked disc can shatter in a console, so we can't buy it at any price. We still don't just make it disappear. You'll see a photo of the crack, circled, and you pick what happens: we send it back to you, or we dispose of it for you at no cost. In this order the seller chose to let us dispose of it, which is why it says "Not being returned."

What sellers see

The wrong region

Our prices are for US (NTSC) versions. A copy from Europe or another region often looks almost the same, so we show you the giveaway. On this Paper Mario: The Origami King, it's the PEGI 7 rating in the corner, where a US copy would have an ESRB rating. The seller saw the change, the photo and a short note explaining what to look for, and could have asked for it back instead.

What sellers see

You decide: take the lower price or get it back

This is the part we're proudest of, and it's something not every company that buys games offers. For every item we flag, you choose what happens. It's right there on your order page, item by item:

What sellers see

1. 1
   Choose item by item, or all at once. If several games have the same issue, one button sets the same choice for all of them. You can still change any single one.
2. 2
   See your payout change as you choose. Every option shows your new total before you commit, so there's no math and no surprise at the end.
3. 3
   Confirm, and your payout starts. As soon as you confirm, we pay you and pack up anything you asked back.

Think we got it wrong? Every flagged item has an "Ask for a re-check" link. Use it, or contact us, and a person takes a second look. Sometimes we do miss something, and if we do, we fix it.

Making it fair on both sides

We'd rather be upfront about the few rules that keep this working, so nothing catches you off guard:

• Return postage is one charge for the whole box. It's based on the weight of what you ask back, and it comes off your payout. Whether you want one game back or ten, it's one shipping charge, and your order page shows the exact amount before you choose.
• Anything you ask us to dispose of costs you nothing.
• You have 7 days to decide. If we don't hear from you, the choices shown on your order page apply, so your payout never gets stuck in limbo.
• Disc repair is your call, too. If you said yes to disc repair when you sold, we may resurface a disc that won't load. If it works afterwards, we pay your quoted price. If not, you still choose.

That's really it. Quote, ship, inspect, show, and you decide. If we can't pay full price for something, it can always come home to you.

Quick answers

Related: Condition Guidelines · How It Works · Is HitGaming Legit? · FAQ