GameStop to Offer New PowerUp Rewards Tier: Elite Pro

GameStop is adding a new tier to its PowerUp Rewards programme. According to an unnamed source ahead of the official announcement, PowerUp Rewards Elite Pro will launch in selected US stores from September 13, 2017.

What PowerUp Rewards is

PowerUp Rewards is GameStop’s paid membership. Members earn points on purchases and receive extra benefits such as discounts on pre-owned games and bonus trade-in credit. Elite Pro sits above Pro, until now the highest tier.

Elite Pro benefits

Elite Pro costs $29.99 USD a year and includes:

30 points per dollar spent (three times the standard rate)
20% off pre-owned software and accessories
20% extra trade-in credit on software, accessories and, for the first time, tech
A buy two, get one free welcome offer on pre-owned games
A collectibles welcome offer
$50 in exclusive monthly offers
Free two-day shipping
Every benefit of the Pro tier

GameStop said the new tier came from feedback from existing Pro members who wanted to earn more points and rewards. It costs double the $14.99 Pro membership, and roughly doubles the headline benefits in return.

Rollout

Elite Pro will reach US stores gradually, starting September 13, 2017, with more stores added each week until October 18, when every store is expected to offer it. Sign-up happens in store.

Canada

It was not yet confirmed whether EB Games, GameStop’s Canadian chain, would add a similar tier to its EDGE Rewards programme. Its ONYX level is roughly the equivalent of GameStop’s Pro tier.

Does Elite Pro pay for itself?

The answer depends on how much a member spends. The two discounts are where the value sits. At 20% off pre-owned games, the $15 difference between Pro and Elite Pro is recovered by the extra discount on a modest amount of pre-owned buying across the year, and regular trade-ins add another 20% on top of their value. Free two-day shipping also matters to anyone who orders online rather than walking into a store.

For an occasional buyer, the numbers point the other way. Someone who buys two or three new games a year and rarely trades in would get little from the higher points rate, and the standard or Pro tier remains the better deal.

Points and rewards

Points are the part of the programme that is easiest to misjudge. They are redeemed for rewards and discounts in the PowerUp Rewards catalogue, and the value of a point depends on what it is spent on. Tripling the earn rate sounds large, but it only turns into a real saving for members who spend enough in store to reach the rewards they actually want.

Who the tier suits

Elite Pro is aimed at three kinds of customer. The first trades in often: an extra 20% on every trade-in adds up quickly for players who sell games soon after finishing them. The second buys pre-owned rather than new, where the discount applies to almost every purchase. The third is the collector, for whom the collectibles welcome offer and the monthly offers have value beyond games.

Tech trade-ins are the newest part. Including phones, tablets and other devices means a member can put credit from an old phone towards games, and the higher trade-in rate applies there too. For someone who upgrades a phone every year or two, that can be worth more than the points.

What the new tier says about GameStop

In 2017 GameStop’s business still rested heavily on physical games and the pre-owned market, both under pressure from digital sales on every console. A paid tier that rewards trade-ins and pre-owned purchases pushes the most engaged customers to keep doing exactly that, in GameStop stores rather than through a console’s own store. The tier is a loyalty offer, but it is also a bet on the pre-owned market GameStop was built on.

Questions readers ask

How much did GameStop PowerUp Rewards Elite Pro cost?

Elite Pro cost $29.99 USD a year in 2017, double the $14.99 price of the Pro tier.

When did Elite Pro launch?

It rolled out to US GameStop stores store by store from September 13, 2017, with all stores expected to offer it by October 18.