Reel Video of Berkeley closed its doors for the last time today. As loyal customers visited their favorite community haven to hand in their rentals, liquidators on the inside were removing all its famous video stock from the shelves.

The stock was sold off Monday to a small syndicate of Video retailers for $150,000. This will come as a shock to customers who pledging donations to raise a significantly higher sum than this. The store’s annual gross revenue was in excess of $1,200,000 a year, making it by a margin the most profitable store in Movie Galleries Stable, who are also planning to liquidate all its remaining Hollywood stores. With creditors closing down the jewel in the crown store, it is highly unlikely that any other stores in its stable will survive.

All stock will be removed from the store by the end of Wednesday. Having kept the original branding of founding store Reel, it is unlikely that Movie Gallery will make any efforts to remove the signage. Reel’s databases were never mixed with that of Hollywood, it was run as a complete independent. As an independent company it would have been in a financial footing to survive, however no bidders were prepared to buy the video store in light of the industry’s decline since Netflix and Red Box effectively took over the market. Stuart Skorman had made a serious bid which was turned down by creditors, and local business man Chris Whittome had considered turning Reel into his flagship for the online buy and sell business trade2save.com. It was proposed that the store under the new ownership of trade2save.com would buy and sell Cell phones, digital cameras and electronics, video games and movies keeping all the original stock in tacked for purchase or rental to the local Berkeley community.

A Budget Rental Truck was seen this evening parked in the drive way of the store and blinds have been shuttered as the stock is boxed and moved out.

Even if the thief was to sell it on, as soon as his unsuspecting buyer turned it on, the rightful owner can be directed to the device as easily as navigating with his in car GPS in an instant.

This is exactly what happened only yesterday to Mark Travis, a local college student at CALTECH who had his iPhone pinched at the weekend in Mission Delores Park.

For several days he used the iPhone App to see if he could get any tracking signal but to no avail. Then, finally the signal was caught, and he and his friends jumped into his car in hot pursuit.

They eventually tracked the device down to a Starbucks on Market Street, where an unsuspecting Buyer was testing the iPhone to make sure that it worked before purchasing it from the very thief who had stolen it off Mark. To Mark’s horror, the thief was someone he knew quite well and was among the group of college students who had met up to enjoy a weekend sunny day in Dolores Park.

The unnamed thief (bastard!) had pinched the iPhone under their very noses, had even helped try and look for the iPhone when Mark’s mysteriously went missing from the picnic rug.

He then advertised it on Craigslist for a quick anonymous sale. Or so he thought.

Just happy to retrieve his iPhone, Mark just simply walked up to the unnamed (b*****d!), took the iPhone back and walked out. Leaving a red faced loser and a confused buyer holding cold latte’s.

Reel Video, located at 2655 Shattuck Ave., has tried hard to obtain the money it needs to stay in business, as told by assistant store director James Lemon earlier this week.

However, the drive for donations from the public may be short lived as auditors will soon be called in to ascertain the value of the stock. As yet not even staff are aware of this recent development.

Our sources suggest that the final nail is in the coffin of this illustrious video store, founded by none other than local philanthropist Stuart Skorman, who started it as the retail flagship for his online business empire, Reel.com,  (a precursor to Netflix) which he eventually Sold to Hollywood for more than $100 Million. Only recently, he did make some headway into repurchasing Reel from Movie Gallery, however, nothing seems to have happened and talks have since floundered.

More than 80,000 movies of the highest collectable caliber, many of which are rare or decades old, will depart from a community full of movie lovers and film students at the nearby University of California at Berkeley, Lemon said.

The store’s closure has been on the cards since parent company, Movie Gallery, Inc., which owns Hollywood Video went into bankruptcy last February.

Sources confirm that a free for all closing down sale is unlikely – like those seen in the recent blockbuster cattle markets, where customers wheeled out shopping trolleys full of merchandize for a buck a piece  – Reel Video will not depart this world having been plundered of her treasures, instead, the closure will be quiet and dignified, all stock likely to be formally redistributed among a selection of established video retailers across the country.

Our prediction: Reel Video may be closed by the end of the week bar any last minute intervention by interested parties who have yet to re-surface with an acceptable offer.

We all want to do the right thing for our old electronics gadgets. If it’s not too old and there is still life in them – the most effective way to recycle is to sell it on to the next user and get a bit of cash in the bargain.

However, not everyone likes the idea of a stranger in a puffer jacket pulling up to their driveway sometime between 7.30 and 9 to check out your merchandise – that’s if they show (Rarely do they cancel if they spot a better deal).

Then again there is eBay, which takes away the personal face to face anxieties, but adds stress, fulfillment obligations, good or bad ratings, bogus buyers then the not so occasional ‘not as described complaint’ case opened against your paypal account perhaps 2 months later.

Selling your gadget takes time and energy, and for many it just isn’t worth their busy time. For this and many other good reasons Goodwill has become good business. They’ll gladly take your old clothes for free, but they’ll be jumping for joy when you hand over your used Blackberry or iPhone. Their electronics reselling activities has help grow a 2,400 global store chain with $2.4 billion in retail and online sales.

So Hats off to Goodwill for enabling people to feel good about giving their stuff away for free. (They’ll resell your hat for ten bucks incidentally).

Now there’s a simpler faster, convenient and financially rewarding way to recycle laptops, cell phones and electronics for cash. Traditionally, online trade-in portals have leaned on the goodwill angle a little too comfortably, resulting in a ludicrous profit margin when they resold what you gave them. Seeing the fantastic profits to be made, more trade-in portals have joined in, and thanks to that old U.S. notion of competition, trade-in portals are now offering as good a price as you might have only thought possible on Craigslist.

Most, like our own portal trade2save.com offer free shipping, and as you’d expect, this is reflected in the price we give, but considering you get a free shipping label and even a box sent to your door, it really does take all the hassle out of reselling.

The basic principal is that people enjoy buying more than they enjoy selling – buying is a leisure activity, selling is something you have to do from 9-5 so that you can earn enough money to buy that holiday, the car, the new iPhone 4 – OK, so the reception is terrible – but it still looks great next to the iPad which look even better sitting next to the MacBook Pro.

As for your old old electronic item that has no cash value left in it do be aware that recycling electronics like cell phones and computers is far from a clean process. While some of the valuable elements like gold and cadmium may be reclaimed, the process inevitably results in a number of toxic by-products when it is incinerated. Under the radar is also the reselling of the old electronics to the third world with lax environmental standards.

The first time I was clearly drawn to the e-waste crisis (as it was first called back then) was in January 2005, when UNEP (the United Nations Environmental Programme) published an Environmental Alert entitled “E-waste, the hidden side of IT equipment’s manufacturing and use.”

As someone working in an electronics trade-in business at the time, I was immediately drawn to their recommendations that the active re-use of old electronics would be a key weapon to tackle e-waste. This was in light of the current rudimentary recycling methods generally used at the time.

Since then the business CEX I worked for has grown to over 100 stores and has been a pioneer in the growing market of pre-owned electronics.

More recently, online companies like Gazelle and Nextworth have expanded this market onto the internet, where customers now have an even more convenient way to trade-in their unwanted gadgets and get a cash value for them too.

Soon to join will be trade2save.com, our own answer to the e-waste crisis.

Things just haven’t changed…

E-waste has taken a back seat in the media recently, but is more of a crisis than every before… a skim through the Alert Bulletin published in 2005 reveals that little has changed in terms of recycling. In 2005 modern recycling plants claimed an 80% recovery rate for recycled computers, with only 5% finishing up as waste.

The EPA (The US Environmental Protection Agency) later published a report that 10% 10 18% of electronics e-waste was being recycled 2 years later.

Here is a copy of the EPA’s report summary.

The main issue with responsible recycling on a large scale is cost. Even the most modern recycling plants still have to struggle to make the more toxic e-waste inert while still trying to run a profitable enterprise. With so much e-waste material on hand, there still remains the economic temptation for local recycling plants to profitably divert much of their e-waste material to Chine and the third world, while still maintaining a green frontage.

The only apparent change to the problem is scale.

Since the UNEP report in 2005 the business of exporting e-waste has scaled up significantly, while little or no investment has been made to police the laws which specifically prohibiting the practice.

Thankfully the rise in the trading-in and re-use of electronics has risen steadily too, and is starting to fill the hole in the nation’s current e-waste recycling strategy.

We estimate that if everyone in the USA traded in their used electronics as soon as they stopped using them regularly or upgraded, it could reduce the amount of e-waste being created by more than 50%.

The people are speaking, and Americans are starting to take matters into their own hands to make a real difference.

Happy Friday from trade2save!For all our Gamers our there, the success of GameStop, Game Crazy, EB Games, etc. is nothing new and the impact of buying/selling/trading used video games on the new market is common discussion. For those non gamers out there, in quick summary the used game market has not only led companies such as the infamous GameStop (which buys used games for very little and resells at almost full price) to gain tremendous profits, but also has become and interest/concern for video game manufacturers because of the decrease in demand for “new” products. Recently  electronictheater.co.uk released an interesting look at video game companies attempt to deter used game sales by including special bonuses/privaleges for only those who purchase new copies of said game. While we here at trade2save frown upon the horribly unfair, used prices of game stores such as GameStop, we still love the pre-owned game market, as every new game produced still costs valuable resources and creates e waste! While we understand the gaming industries frusteration with lost sales, these new attempts to penalize those who choose to buy used ($60 per game IS quite pricey) is hurting both the environment and the consumer! Trade2save is interested to hear your take on this debate, so let us know your thoughts. One way or another, if you have a game that you no longer play, make sure to give it a good home, be it to a friend or through a fair priced dealer *cough* trade2save *cough* 

World renowned “Stanford Graduate School of Business” recently published the results of a study on the effects of upfront recycling fees for old electronics, and frankly trade2save couldn’t be more excited. In a nut shell, the research strongly suggests that not only will upfront recycling fees encourage the life span of electronics and reduce waste, but actually benefit manufacturers as well, giving them more time to develop new, innovative products.

The study chose to cite California as it’s example of a flat, enforced fee charged to consumers when recycle electronics. Not only does this fee ensure the proper and safe disposal of the e waste by avoiding shady middle man companies (who often export e waste to developing nations) but the enforced charge makes consumers less eager to toss electronics at a whim. In the current economic situation, consumers are getting more spend conscious and this extra recycling fee is just the nudge consumers need to realize that tossing their last generation ipod for a slightly newer model may actually not be worth it.

The study also cited staggering statistics on the wastefulness of global consumers, noting that Americans buy a new cell phone every 18 months and businesses replace entire fleets of PCs every 4 years. By creating such an immediate demand for new products, consumers effectively instigate the “Osborne Effect,” in which the anticipation for new products actually hurts current product and manufacturer sales. Stanford’s Erica Plambeck argues that by extending lifespan and reducing the demand for arbitrary new products (Woo! 3 megapixel phone instead of 2!), electronics “manufacturers are in less of a rush to introduce new products. Consumers anticipate using a product for longer, and so are willing to pay more for it. Because manufacturers have additional development time, they can make larger leaps in both product capabilities and quality, so the new products coming out are substantially better than the previous generation.”

This truly is a win win scenario for all parties involved, so as usual we here at trade2save hope this research gets the recognition it deserves from both consumers and manufacturers! By extending lifespans of electronics and buying/selling/trading pre-owned we can all do our part to reduce e waste and save ourselves some hard earned cash during this economic situation, which hopefully will permanently change our wasteful habits.

Check out a good summary article by greenbang.com !

Today, online e- gadget blog “engadget” released a fantastic article regarding recycling e waste.

While detailing the engadget’s own absurdly large collection of gadgets accumulated from years of electronics reviews, the article then continues to briefly mention the problem of e waste and detail the recycling policies of many electronic manufacturers’ recycling policies, costs, and respective url links.

We here at trade2save are once again genuinely excited to see the positive example set by large scale electronics websites such as engadget that have a large base of followers. Not only will this article hopefully improve consumer awareness to the importance of electronic recycling, but also will give the tools and resources for consumers to research proper electronic disposal. For those savvier on the global e waste problem, this article serves as an excellent way to track big name electronics companies’ e waste policies.

However, once again Trade2save really must emphasize the importance of buying/selling/trading your used electronics! “engadget” only briefly mentioned this option. Just by looking at the reader comments, many of which asking engadget for their used electronics, it’s obvious that one person’s e-waste is another’s e-treasure.  The constant demand for new products keeps this flow of e waste up, so never forget the option of re-selling your electronics before they become obsolete.

            The American economy is in the slumps and our culture of mass consumerism is being called into question both fiscally and morally. Originally posted in 2007, an extremely interesting and provocative lecture was held by McAlvany International Collectors Associates (ICA) economists, predicting the very economic declines and issues our nation is currently facing. Many of these very predictions seem to point to the growth of the pre owned sector in lieu of the current American economic situation. While it is always easy in hindsight to say these current recession trends were to be expected, more attention is now rightfully being given to the dramatic increase of gray market exchanges of used goods.

Perhaps the most relevant section of the lecture to trade2save.com concerns the issues of mass overproduction by China and other Asian exporters and the overconsumption by the US, specifically in the sector of consumer electronics. Fueled by economic bubbles created with the intent to encourage unsustainable amounts of production and purchases, a culture of spending and waste became the norm within the United States. Now, following the “.com” and housing market busts, millions of jobs have been outsourced, our purchasing power/currency is diminished, and our amount of “stuff” (including waste) and debt is overflowing.

Ironically it has been America’s spending power and over consumption that has kept its economy afloat over the past few years. With inflation and our weakening currency, saving money is far less profitable due to the dollar’s steady decline in value.  However, now with debt finally catching up to consumers and the ability to purchase jeopardized, Americans are now becoming more frugal and conscientious in their spending and demand for new products. While most would be right to see these economic changes as negative, this could also be the transformation in buying discourse and priority that the U.S needs to reduce personal and national debt. 

Just as trade2save.com encourages the buying, selling, and trading market for electronics, multiple indicators point to growth of buy/sell/trade markets and classifieds. Many business journals are reporting bulk consumer good superstores like “Sam’s Club” and “Costco” partnering with used electronics companies such as EcoNew.com and gazelle.com, partnerships that were unthinkable until recent events. As the spending power of the average American continues to fall, trends such as extended product use/life and buy/sell/trade expansion mark a major shift from the traditional market approaches by electronics companies.

As revenues from all consumer goods have fallen, the electronics industry took an especially hard hit, dropping as much as 50% in certain sectors. In a recent article, Electronics website and specialist “Electronics Design, Strategy, News,” or EDN, cited the major decrease in demand for new electronics is due to the lack of disposable income by consumers, a relatively new issue for the electronics market. EDN notes that “This downturn has a very different dynamic than anything that the electronics industry has seen before… Previous downturns were caused by too much capacity. This one…is caused by a steep and sudden drop in demand.” (Hamburt, 2009) With the entire population being affected by the recession, electronics companies are now forced to create new strategies to cope with “entire markets undergoing fundamental changes” (Hamburt, 2009). As electronics producers face lower demand for new products the pre owned market is flourishing, marking a major opportunity to focus on used electronics.

This growth of the buy/sell/trade gray market, specifically in the domain of used electronics, isn’t going unnoticed by consumers, many of whom are now purchasing from liquidated tech companies. With journals such as “U.S. News and World Report” publishing advice recommending the purchase of used electronics, its little surprise that electronics producers are witnessing buy/sell/trade exchanges taking a chunk of the electronics market. With many corporations going under, many of their electronic gadgets are being sold to liaison companies which refurbish and resell to businesses and individuals.

Liquid Technology Inc. is just one of many companies which, similar to trade2save, focuses on used electronics. According to economic journal “www.bloomberg.com,” the number of businesses filing for bankruptcy increased 42% in 2008, making failed companies’ electronics a major source for inexpensive technology. New businesses and individuals alike are all taking advantage of the situation, as “the fire sales have drawn customers that don’t normally buy used equipment…They’re finding they can still get brand-name equipment, such as computers from Round Rock, Texas- based Dell and Hewlett-Packard Co. or networking products from Cisco, at much lower prices.” (Hoffmann, 2008)

Buy/sell/trade gray market expansion is not just limited to electronic gadgets, as many forms of pre-owned home entertainment are gaining momentum and following the trend. With consumers opting to stay in and save money from costly outings, home entertainment such as movies (DVD, blu-ray) and video games are in high demand on the buy/sell/trade market. With companies such as GameStop making $2 billion on selling pre-owned games, nearly a third of GameStop’s revenue, it is clear that buying, selling, and trading xbox 360, playstation 3, Nintendo DS, and Wii titles is major market. Video game news site www.gamasutra.com reports that “numbers on resales are bound to head upward… as gamers — like everyone else — look to save a few bucks during the deepening recession” (Hyman, 2008).  According to a recent survey of gamers, 1 in 4 gamers who had previously never purchased pre owned video games or game consoles planned to start in the next year.  Furthermore, around 49 million gamers had purchased and 26 million gamers had sold a pre owned video game within the last year.

Perhaps even more telling is the rapid expansion of internet classifieds sites like “Craigslist,” which serve as popular channels for buy/sell/trade exchanges. According to Small Business Labs, in just the past year Craigslist.org showed a 105% year-over-year percent change in search prevalence, overcoming both “myspace.com” and “facebook.com.” This is attributed as a direct reflection of consumers’ increased interest in buying and selling used goods in order to save/make money during these harder financial times. Ranging from anything from laptops to last year’s iphone 3G, craigslist and classified represent a local effort to profit from what previously may have been stored in the garage or tossed.

 Along with the success of craigslist and buy/sell/trade markets, multiple other classified sites have been launched and are already expanding quickly such as ebay’s “kajiji” and oodle. As new, must have electronics continue to be released, these exchanges of used smart phones, PS3 slims, etc. still allow a cash strapped consumer to get the hottest tech gear, albeit at a lower price. Time magazine noted the fierce competition for online classified supremacy, as the once considered “stagnant sector” of online classifieds has grown 35% in the past year alone, totaling to a $15 billion market.

            With such buy/sell/trade  practices on a dramatic rise, it is a strong implication that companies such as trade2save, which specialize in the used/refurbished market, will play a major role in the future of American consumption habits. Trade2save loves our gadgets as much as the rest of the world, and while there will always be a demand for new, innovative products, hopefully we all as consumers can still manage to purchase the products we want (even if used) while selling our unwanted products for others to enjoy as well (and make some pocket cash!) While trade2save strives to encourage the moral fiber of such buy/sell/trade exchanges because of their huge environmental and humanitarian implications, the average consumer will profit regardless of their intent and can rest assured that they are both saving some green while going green.

References:

Hamilton, Anita. “Taking Aim at Craigslist - TIME.” Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. 18 June 2008. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. <http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1814457,00.html>.

Harbert, Tam. “Electronics companies brace for a long, hard recession.” Electronics Design, Strategy, News. 10 Mar. 2009. Web. 14 Oct. 2009. <http://www.edn.com/article/CA6643065.html>.

Hoffmann, Katie. “Cisco, Dell Sales at Risk as Slump Fuels Gray Market.” Bloomberg.com. 5 Dec. 2008. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=ag5pxFL3YpFY>.

Hyman, Paul. “As Recession Deepens, Used Games Get More Painful.” Gamasutra. Think Services, 8 Dec. 2008. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. <http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3872/as_recession_deepens_used_games_.php>.

King, Steve. “Craigslist Continues Strong Growth.” Small Business Labs. 23 Mar. 2009. Web. 14 Oct. 2009. <http://genylabs.typepad.com/small_biz_labs/2009/03/craigslist-continues-strong-growth.html>.

Lagesse, David. “Used Electronics Can Make Good Buys.” U.S News & World Report. 19 Feb. 2008. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. <http://images.usnews.com/money/business-economy/technology/articles/2008/02/19/used-electronics-can-make-good-buys.html>.

As pricing and repricing our inventory continues throughout this week, it has come to our attention that trade2save could use more video games! Believe it or not, there is a good market in used games, and trade2save is much more than willing to prove that by giving you a fair price unlike some retailers…*cough* *gamestop* *cough*

I know all you gamers out there have tons of titles gathering dust in your closets or game binders, so come take a look at what we’re offering for them and feel good that your games will be getting a first class spa treatment and then finding a new home. Take a look at our prices and if your game isn’t listed shoot us an email and we’ll get straight back to you.

Happy gaming!