A couple of years ago I was the holiday spokesperson for Game Crazy. Recently, those same folks sent me some money-saving tips for gamers–something I thought my frugal readers might find helpful. Why? Well, before you know it, the holidays will be here. And if your kids are like mine, they’ll be asking for at least one video game. In fact, my eldest has already put in a request for The Beatles Rock Band.

Game Crazy answers three questions that can help you save the most on video games:

1. When is the best time to trade-in a game? As soon as you’ve beaten it! Just like a car, a game’s value decreases the older it gets, so the sooner you trade games after purchase, the more value you will receive toward additional purchases. For example, the trade-in value of UFC Undisputed is $25.00 today, but it might be down to $20.00 a week from now. Therefore, Game Crazy recommends bringing it in as soon as possible, even if the consumer isn’t sure what game they want to use the credit toward, and saving the credit on a gift card.
2. Which games hold their value longest? Role-playing games (e.g., Zelda and Final Fantasy), driving and flying simulation games (e.g., Mario Kart and Grand Turismo) and top-tier action games (e.g., Halo and Call of Duty) tend to hold their value the longest. On the flip side, sports games often decline in value just before the next version is released, and games based on popular cartoons, kids’ movies or toy lines typically only hold their value for as long as the characters stay popular.
3. When is the best time to buy a used game? The rule of thumb: the longer a game has been out, the less expensive it will be. For example, many popular titles that released only one year ago at $59.99 are now available in the used game section for $19.99 or less.

If you’d like to get video games without spending a dime (save for postage), there’s always swap sites like Swaptree and Switchplanet!