Goozex.com turns 3 years old this week (or maybe it was last week, I'm not exactly sure.), which makes me rather upset, if only for the fact that I didn't discover this website a lot sooner.

There are a lot of ways to save money in gaming. Used games above all is one of the better methods. They're nearly always cheaper, and rarely play any differently than if you bought it new. Buying used games will save you money; trading used games you don't play anymore will save you more. Unfortunately, it gets rather annoying to try to trade games to Gamestop. They give you a fraction of the market value. You sell it to them for $9, they turn around and sell it for $45. And you feel like you got swindled a little bit.

A couple of weeks ago, I sought some alternatives to Gamestop (whom I dislike on other levels as well). Craigslist is great for local trading, and I still use it, but even local traveling can be cumbersome. Cheapassgamer.com has a strong game trading community on its forum, but like craigslist it can be tough to find a partner who not only has the game you want, but wants the game you have. On top of that, it's not regulated. I'm a little wary of sending goods to another person with no real assurance that they will be doing the same.

Goozex is ingenious. It finds people who want the games you have and the people who have the games you want and serves as your medium. If you have a game somebody wants, it'll ask you to send it to them, in exchange you get Goozex points equivalent to that game's used market value. If you want a game somebody else has, you use those Goozex points and Goozex tells the other person to send it to you.

And it does it fairly. If you want to trade away a game that has more people offering than requesting, and there are 9 other people, you are 10th in line. With each new request, you move up one in the line. The opposite is true for games in high demand. If you want a game that has more people requesting than offering, and there are 7 other people already requesting it, you will be 8th in line. So you will get the 8th offer that comes across.

Goozex is simply but intelligently designed.

You can trade away most anything. I was surprised to find that there were takers for my old Game Boy Advance games.

But what I found most surprising was how good it felt to recycle these games I didn't play anymore. Trading away Hotel Dusk: Room 215 for the DS got me a nice amount of Goozex points, but it was even more satisfying getting a thank you from the receiver who was excited to start playing what I already know to be a fantastic game.

So Happy Birthday, Goozex. Keep it up.