Even though though GameStop's favorite terms are "pre-order" and "trade-in," the gaming retailer claims only 40 percent of its customers know they accept trades for in-store credit.

In an interview with VentureBeat, GameStop president Tony Bartel claimed that gamers from the original PlayStation, Xbox and Gamecube era are well aware they can trade in their older titles for store credit, but a large percentage of today's customers do not know they have the option to do so. Mind you, nearly every single GameStop we have ever visited has multiple signs in its front windows and store shelves with the words "trade-in" on them. Most GameStop employees are trained to ask about trade-ins and pre-orders during most transactions. On top of this, every store has entire sections filled with used games. GameStop saw $1.2 billion in trade credit spent at its stores last year.

“The biggest opportunity with trades is awareness,” Bartel said. “Believe it or not, only 40 percent of the people who walk into a GameStop store today know that we accept trades of games.”

We call them "parents" and the "oblivious."

Bartel mentions that even fewer people know they can trade-in their used iPhones and tablets for in-store credit.  “Seventy percent of that trade credit goes right back into purchasing new games,” Bartel added. “We see it as an integral part of the entire video game ecosystem.”

We have a feeling this means every GameStop employee, who is already encouraged to ask if you'd like to make a pre-order with every interaction they ever have with a customer (whether its answering the phone or ringing up a sale), will now have to ask about trade-ins just as often, adding more pillow talk for those who'd like to just go in, buy a game and leave. Still, if the retailer was able to turn less than half its customer base into $1.2 billion dollars, imagine how insane the profits would be if more than 50 percent traded used games back in.

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