SplitGames vs Swaptree
Ouriel Ohayon
24 comments »
Following Mike’s analysis on Swaptree I have compared it with SplitGames , a French company that is also playing in the courtyard of product trading community but that is playing by different rules. In my view, more relevant. The service is available in French only for now.
SplitGames is only is focusing on videogames. This category is probably the most relevant for product trading if you consider the life cycle of a product (quite short) and the high prices of new hot games. Teenagers cannot usually buy a new game every 3 months but they really want to play many new games.
On SplitGames you declare what you have but most importantly what you want. They will guarantee the transaction and match traders in a safe and simple way. Each game has a value in points based on retailpricing, date of release, and supply and demand of the game on the site. Each time you trade a game you accumulate points you can use to acquire a new game. The mechanics is simple and clear. They’ve bypassed Swaptree’s algorithmic approach for a pure marketplace.
SplitGames is not free. But on the other side they guarantee a trading system that works and that enables you to avoid bad surprises (on delivery, choice of games, secure transaction, etc.). Of course this model is also good for the company because success of service will drive directly success of revenues.
But most importantly SplitGames manages to build a true vertical community on gaming. Each game has his forum and can be rated and commented. This creates a dynamics that will serve well the company in eventually achieving its ultimate goal: generate game trading.
To conclude, Swaptree’s approach is general, algorithmic and advertising based. SplitGames is vertical, premium and community driven. In my view the second approach has better chances to win not only because of its business model but mainly because users will feel they are part of a community where they can receive what they want and trade what they don’t want.
Let’s hope SplitGames will be soon available in English.
http://www.GAMETZ.com does the same thing…for free…with a Ebay style “feedback” rating for all involved parties.
I used to use Gametz but have started to use http://www.SwitchDiscs.com after seeing a Google ad for them on Gametz. Switchdiscs site is a lot easier to trade on and is basically just a much better site. I’ve seen a lot of other former Gametz members on the switchdiscs forum too so I know I’m not the only one.
I was always under the impression that the whole idea of swapping copyrighted material was illegal. Can anyone shed a light on this?
I hope they make SplitGames available in English, I would like to take a closer look.
This is like comparing Pandora’s mechanical algorithmic approach to Last Fm’s community driven, tag-based one. I too prefer human effort over a computer formula.
I am confused by this anaylsis. What is it about swaptree that makes you think they wont have community features as well? I read they will have groups, discussion boards, and are really focusing on the local angle Last time i looked nothing a thriving community likes more then FREE.
It’s a tough competiton from more eastablished sites, say eBay?
SplitGames is very different from Gametz. We could start by saying that not only it offers value-added services : guarantee of the trading through a security filter on SplitGames (SplitSecure TM), but it’s also way easier to trade on SplitGames, not to mention the design & ergonomic aspects.
That’s a few reasons (among many) why you can’t compare Gametz and SplitGames. SplitGames is a paying website, but it’s efficient, it’s a real community with many services and in which it’s nice to belong. I will finish by this simple statement : since I am a member of SplitGames, I belong to a great community of video games users and I play a lot more for a lot less ! That’s the guarantee of SplitGames & you can’t find it anywhere else.
Swapping copyrighted material is illegal if you swap COPIES of original material, but if you swap the ORIGINAL copyrighted material, you’re free to do so. That’s why it’s very important to be guaranteed that ONLY the original Copyrighted Video Games can be traded on SplitGames.
You should have a look at german Hitflip (http://www.hitflip.de). Web2.0-Multi-Category-Media-Product-Barter-Exchange or something like that.
Hitflip (DE) and Swopex (UK) are both offering similar programs in Europe.
Also, when you say that ” Each game has a value in points based on retailpricing, date of release, and supply and demand of the game on the site.”, it is worth noticing that Peerflix has been using precisely this model here in the US for the past couple of years.
Our site, http://www.dvdswop.de , at current stage facilitates DVD trading in Germany.
Similar to SplitGames user on our site can discover DVD they might never have heard of but like to see through our friends community. In the friends community users can browse through other members’ dvd collections and get inspired.
Convenience of the service is enhanced by prepaid envelopes allowing for hassle free shipping as well as a shipping guarantee.
I’m a cofounder of http://www.lendmonkey.com and ours is also a premium and community driven trading site. The most important thing that we’d like to share is that the community will help you find media and friends much better than any algorithm. I believe swaptree will have community features, but in my view these features will be second to the ’system’ much like with the peerflix model. We allow swapping of books, music, movies and games and we’re open to a global marketplace (though our pages are not localized yet). If you’re interested in a trading site which is similar to SplitGames and Swaptree but allows you to trade with your neighbors, coworkers, and friends rather than having to mail everything; then please check us out.
Goozex is a trading website entirely dedicated to video games. It offers an easy, fast and fair system that allows gamers to exchange their games by retaining most of its value, at only a $1 per trade.
Compared to other systems, Goozex offers an automatic trading environment - no need to check the website frequently or set your price - and most importantly it assigns point value based on customers’ ratings and demand and supply, therefore matching more realistically the “real” value of a game.
Since we just launched, we welcome any comment that may help improve the site! http://www.goozex.com
Special code: B200-264-6206. When you sign up on Goozex with this special code, you get 200 bonus points and 1 FREE trade!
I’ve been a stealth user of Gamershare (www.gamershare.com), a new trading website that is exclusively dedicated to trading video games soon to be launched.
On Gamershare, members join for free and trade video games for free during the beta release. Members can trade the video games they have for the video games they want. Thereafter, members will pay for every video game they receive and send video games for free with pre-paid postage and envelopes. They also guarantee every trade with their “GameShield” protection program.
In addition, Gamershare uses “GamePoints”, a cashless system that provides a unique approach to control the supply and demand of video games on the network, while ensuring all traders (new and old) have an equal chance of getting the games they really want to play.
Goozex, those guys need someone who know somthing about security, if your forward a the email confirmation request for a game trade to a buddy or anyone, that person will have access to your profile and goozex account.
Wake up goozex (we don’t need another Microsoft) and fix your code.
Goozex actually sent me a game…whereas gamershare didn’t…I’ve been so pissed at gamershare about this…they told me the game was shipped…at least with goozex I got a few games…like morrison man…the west is the best…better than the rest…
Goozex is still in beta and every suggestion for improvemenet is welcome.
We are also introducing new and cool feature… just stay tuned and in a few weeks you will see pleasant surprises!