Tony

A while back, I was contacted by the owner of Flakwolf, a new site looking to make a name for themselves in the online game trading business.

I know there are already a lot of trading sites out there (CAG has a pretty solid system) but I never took the plunge myself into any of these services. After having been low-balled (AGAIN) by Gamestop, trying to trade in some games, I decided to give Flakwolf a try.

It’s a fairly simple trading system, with a twist. Most trading sites have you list what games your looking for and what games you have to trade, and try to facilitate the transaction. Ultimately, most of these sites leave the final details to the users, which consists of sending a game through the mail, hoping your trader reciprocates and sends you yours. With Flakwolf, they give you the added option of limiting your trading options to someone close to you, so you can facilitate the trade locally, in-person. Some may be hesitant to meet a complete stranger to perform the trade, but anyone who’s done a local transaction from eBay or Craig’s list knows it’s actually not that big of a deal.

I decided to give it a try. The system is pretty straight forward. You list a game you want to offer. Each title is assigned a “Tier” based on how popular or in-demand the game is. You can list multiple titles. Eventually someone will be interested in a game you’ve listed and request it. You send the game along and the site credits you with the trade. You can then turn that credit around and request a game of the same Tier you traded for. Pretty easy, right?

My experience was very enjoyable. I listed my copy of Chronicles of Riddick, which rated out as a “Tier 2” game. Shortly thereafter, someone requested my game, so I exchanged emails with the requester for address info. I sent my copy of Riddick to him, and he acknowledged receipt of the game at the site. I was credited with one “Tier 2” credit, meaning I could request any available Tier 2 titles. I decided I wanted to give Call of Duty: Modern Warfare a try, so I requested an available copy. Unfortunately, a couple days passed and the guy who offered up MW never acknowledged the trade, so I was prompted (by the site) to pick another title. I decided on Pure and promptly got an email from the owner of Pure to arrange the trade. Since we weren’t local to each other, we agreed that he would ship the game to me and a few days later Pure showed up in my mailbox. Everyone lived (and gamed) happily ever after.

You can read more about Flakwolf at GameGirl.

I highly recommend it and suggest you give it a try. And let us know if you do, we’d love to hear how it worked out for you.