Every so often GameStop puts together a trade-in promotion that, at first glance, make you think "how the hell are they making money?" This week's current promotion is one of those deals. Running now until July 9th when you trade in six games you'll get up to 60% extra trade value or 70% if you're a "power up rewards" member.

You're probably asking yourself, so where's the hack? Well, there are a handful of games such as Plant Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 (PVZMW2) or The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (TASM2)  that can be purchased outside of GameStop at the normal, discounted rates of games out for a year or two -- around $15-20, in the bargain bin. That same game can be brought in for trade and will net around $27 extra in trade credit (if you're a power up member).

While the promotion has been running since June 19th, it didn't really gain traction until some privy Redditors from r/PS4Deals realized the handful of popular (yet older) titles receiving some unexpected trade in values.

July 2nd is when this whole thing busted open as GameStop locations across the country (according to various sources) started receiving staggering amounts of copies of PVZ:GW2 and TASM2 following the Reddit post. According to some Redditors (and DualShockers community members) it got to the point that a handful of locations even starting denying trade-ins of specific SKUs altogether (as pre-owned inventory began to pile up).

But how successful is the return on investment? Many savvy consumers are netting well-over double what they spend on their games. One Redditor noted (with photographic evidence) that he was able to make $483 from an original investment of $92 in games:

It should be noted that like any promotion at Gamestop the terms and conditions state that the company "reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the offer for any reason without notice." With that being said, if you're off from work on July 4th and you're holiday bargain hunting, this "hack," while it requires some leg work, will probably pay off better than most retailer "discounts" out there today. You're literally printing trade in credit.

Gamestop needs inventory. Best Buy needs to get rid of theirs. You're essentially a broker. A broker who can walk away with a PS4 Pro or Nintendo Switch paid for (mostly) through trade in credits.