Featured Startup Pitch – GameStaq: Making the used video game market a snap

Company: GameStaq

Website: www.gamestaq.com

Headquarters: New York City

Year Founded: 2009

Founder: Joseph Gindi

Investors: Self-funded and private equity

Employees: 4

Quick Company Description: GameStaq is a simple way to buy and sell videogames at fair and preset prices.

By Joseph Gindi, Founder

Company Overview:

GameStaq is a peer-to-peer marketplace that features set fair pricing for the buying and selling of console video games. I knew that traditional brick and mortar game resellers introduced huge markups. The spread between the price you would receive for selling a used game and the price to buy that same game is just too wide.

We bring together sellers and buyers at an equitable price that is developed by looking at average pricing across the web. Our transaction process is simple. A seller offers a game, and then is matched with a buyer looking for that specific title. GameStaq is always the mediator, as we have eliminated any need for the buyers and sellers to interact, so there is no auction or haggling. Through transparent and equal pricing, we establish a marketplace where neither party feels like they are getting a raw deal. Furthermore, we guarantee all transactions and ensure all personal information including payment data is kept secure.

The site has more than 12,000 current users after being live for about 10 weeks. We focused our initial outreach to the hardcore console gamer community that desires the best and latest games.

Founder’s Story:

I attended Baruch Business College in New York City where I majored in Marketing. In 1999 my father and I started a family business in the garment industry and together we grew the company to $17 million in annual revenues over the next decade. After leaving that company, I pursued my goal of starting a new venture that involved an early passion, video games. Co-founder David Faham and I are life-long friends and gamers. We had a lot of personal experience and frustration buying and selling used games, and thought there had to be a better business model. From this idea, GameStaq was born.

Revenue Model:

By founding GameStaq, we simply wanted to build a whole new way to buy and sell video games. GameStaq is a peer-to-peer marketplace for console video games that brings together buyers and sellers at one fair-market price point. Unlike traditional brick and mortar stores, we don’t work with markup as we don’t take actual inventory of the games. We charge a small transaction fee that is based on a tiered pricing system that corresponds to the price of the game. For example, GameStaq charges a $2 fee for both the buyer and seller for any game priced $25 to $40. We are also putting in a system where sellers can get their credit card information confirmed in advance. This allows them to be qualified as verified sellers and means they receive the buyer’s funds faster.

Since GameStaq’s service benefits both buyers and sellers, equal fees are assessed to both sides of the transaction. Buyer and seller always transact at one price, instead of the model of our competitors which involves buying games at an unfairly low price, taking inventory of the game, and then reselling it at close to the new game price.   

Current Needs:

GameStaq is funded by a private equity firm and is not currently looking for any outside capital. Within the next three months we will be expanding our number of customer service staff, and we are currently actively searching for an outside marketing firm. We also have the need to hire more engineers within the next few months to handle increased demand for our services and to help implement some new innovative features.

GameStaq – www.gamestaq.com