Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Announces Video Game Trade-In Service; GameStop Corp. Shares Tumble (WMT, GME)

Early on Tuesday, Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) announced that it will be starting a program that will allow customers to trade in video games and have the value applied to buying anything at Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club stores.

Wal-Mart’s new program will see the video games traded in, sent to be refurbished, and then sold through its stores. This is similar to the service that GameStop (GME) currently offers, and subsequently GME stock was substantially in pre-market trading. WMT’s new program differs from GME’s, as WMT customers will have a wider variety of products to choose from when spending the video game’s trade-in value.

Walmart U.S. chief merchandising and marketing officer Duncan Mac Naughton had the following comments about the new service: ”Gaming continues to be an important business for us and we're actively taking aim at the $2 billion pre-owned video game opportunity. When we disrupt markets and compete, our customer wins. They'll save money on video games and have the flexibility to spend it however they want.”

GameStop shares were down $1.95, or 4.91%, in pre-market trading. The company’s stock is down 19.94% YTD.

Wal-Mart shares were up 32 cents, or 0.43%, in pre-market trading. WMT stock is down 5.36% YTD.