Used game start-up offers publisher revenue share

A new online marketplace is promising to legitimise used game sales by giving publishers 10 per cent of revenues from their games.

PostalGamer is the brainchild of Mike Kennedy, who founded the game auction website GameGavel in 2007, and his business partner Steve Sawyer.

US customers will post used games to the company in pre-paid envelopes, and their value will be turned into credit for its online marketplace. Shipping for games purchased on the marketplace is also paid for by the company.

PostalGamer is promising to pay 30 per cent more for used games than "the corner retail store". In addition, it will pay the publisher 10 per cent of the revenue generated by their games.

"While used games have historically been a 'negative' to publishers, our model turns them into a 'positive'," a statement on the PostalGamer website reads.

"We want to see physical game media continue to thrive, but the current state of used game retail is seriously doing its part to re-route publishers into new digital dimensions to curtail and abolish used game sales as we know it."

The company projects that the publishing community could receive as much as $500 million in payments over the next 4-5 years.

PostalGamer will also share sales data with publishers, allowing them to get a clearer picture of, "a game's popularity after it leaves the retail shelves."

Talks with "several publishers" are already in progress, with each participant receiving a seat on an "Advisory Board" that allows them to supervise the development of the service.