FAQ

What is VGFive?

VGFive is a community centered around trading video games. By sending games you're done with to other members who want to play them, you receive credits that you can then use to buy games that you want to play. Unlike other trade-in services where you only get partial value for your games, at VGFive you get 100% of the credits that the buyer pays.

How much does it cost?

When you request a game, all you have to pay for is tokens in your account that is spent to receive the game. You will also need credits equal to the price of the game, which you acquire from trading out games that you own (you cannot buy credits with cash). Tokens cost $1 each (minimum purchase of $5) or less if bought in larger quantities, and it takes up to two (2) tokens to receive a game. Tokens are the only monetary cost you pay to receive games.

When you send a game to another user, you simply pay to pack and ship the game. The typical cost for shipping is US$2-3 per game via the USPS (Canadian postage costs a bit more). For packing the game, we ask that you use a padded envelope (available at stores like Staples or Walmart, or online at Amazon.com and many other locations) in order to protect the game during transit. These envelopes typically cost less than $1 each. You can even reuse the envelopes that you get when other users send you games, reducing your own costs!

To summarize: Receiving a game costs $1 or less. Sending out a game costs approximately $2-$4 for shipping.

What are credits and how do I get them?

Credits are the currency of the VGFive economy. You acquire them by sending your games to other users, and you spend them to get games sent to you. All but the very newest games are between 100 and 1000 credits. New releases start at 1600-2000 credits. You must have enough credits in your account at the time a game would be sent to you, or you will be temporarily skipped until you have enough credits (you will keep your place in line).

Credits have no value outside of the system, cannot be purchased directly (you have to trade out your games), and cannot be "cashed out" from the site. This is all to ensure that they maintain their value, ensuring that the credits you earn today are worth just as much now as they will be when you're ready to spend them.

What are tokens and how do I get them?

Tokens are required to match with a buyer for a game that you want to receive. For each game that you receive, you need two (2) tokens in your account at the time that the trade is created (if you are requesting a digital game code, you'll only need one token). If you don't have any tokens (or you don't have enough credits to pay for the game), you will be skipped over for trading until you refill your tokens (you will keep your places in lines).

You can refill your tokens by buying them here. There are a minimum of five (5) tokens per purchase, and they cost $1 each or less depending on how many you buy.

How do I offer to trade my games?

You can create an offer to trade any game that you physically own by clicking on the "Create an Offer" button on any game's information page. It looks like this:

From the New Offer page you can specify whether you have the manual and/or case, whether you want to put the offer on hold so that you won't trade it until you're ready, and review exactly what is required of you when you agree to send the game to another user.

How do I request games that I want?

If you want to request a game, you can use the "Create a Request" button on any game's information page. It looks like this:

From the New Request page you can specify whether you require that the sender give you the manual and/or case, whether you want to put the request on hold so that you won't receive it until you're ready, and review exactly what is required of you when you are receiving a game from another user.

How are game credit values (prices) set?

VGFive uses economic principles of supply and demand as the primary means of setting a credit value for each game in the system. As people offer and request a game, that game's price will change to reflect what people are willing to pay for it. If there are unfilled requests for a game, the price will slowly rise. If there are copies available, the price will slowly fall.

For most games, the credit value will vary between a minimum of 100 credits and a maximum of 1000 credits. The only exception is for very new games, which can start at values up to 2000 credits in order to reflect the higher number of requests and low amount of available copies. Once a game's supply and demand begin to level out, the value will drop lower until it is in the normal range.

One important thing to remember is that prices on VGFive are not designed to mirror retail prices that you'd pay in stores. While two games may vary in how much they're sold for in stores, they may have the same value or even be reversed in value on VGFive. Here, the value of a game is set by how popular it is. This increases the speed at which you can send and receive games.

What happens if the game doesn't get to the buyer, or is not as described?

For trades that run into issues such as being lost in the mail or the buyer not receiving what they expected, VGFive has a dispute process that can be initiated by either the buyer or the seller. Once this occurs, both buyer and seller will be able to work with a VGFive team member to quickly come to a solution. Providing tracking information as the seller and documenting your trading experience helps to expedite this process. Please see the next few FAQ entries for more information.

What happens if I don't receive a game as requested?

To provide you with the most information about the game you're receiving, we ask all senders to provide one or both of the following:

• An image of the game ready to be shipped.
• A tracking number for the package, or other proof of shipment.

This ensures that you know what is coming and that it was shipped on time. If the game never arrives and tracking information shows such, your credits will be refunded and your spot in line restored.

If you do not receive the game that you asked for (for example, if the game is unplayable), we may ask that you ship it to VGFive's headquarters for testing and confirmation. If you need to ship it to us, we will credit your account with tokens to reimburse you for the shipping costs to get it to us. Once we confirm the condition, your credits and spot in line will be restored.

What happens if the other person doesn't receive the game that I sent them?

As a seller, you will be asked to provide one or both of the following:

• An image of the game ready to be shipped.
• A tracking number for the package, or other proof of shipment.

If you provide a tracking number or other proof of shipment (receipt form post office, etc.), you will be covered by the VGFive Guarantee and receive your credits in the case of a package not arriving at its destination. In the event of the dispute between you and the buyer over the condition of the game, these proofs of shipment will aid us in determining just what happened.

How do I contact the site's administrator?

If you're using a standard computer, the fastest way to get support or express a concern/suggestion is to use the little Contact Box on the bottom right of the page. If you're on a mobile device or otherwise can't use the Contact Box, you can send an email to support@vgfive.com. You can also meet other community members who will answer your question in the webchat (Quakenet: #vgfive).