My son is something of a video game whiz and goes through titles very quickly. Even though I don’t let him sit in front of the television for too long or play with his PlayStation2 until all his homework and chores are done, he still manages to solve a game in a couple of weeks or less. It gets pretty expensive trying to keep up with my son’s skills, so I’ve been trying to buy used PS2 games whenever possible.

Trying to find used video games in the past was hard. If you wanted a new or popular title you may have had to wait a year or more before finding it secondhand. You could get the games new, but if your gamer burns through games in a few weeks or less who wants to pay $80 or more? And the places that sold used games were rarely in stock of anything good. Even the video rental places didn’t have the games anyone wanted because everyone rented them first.

But these days, used PS2 games are everywhere. There are no less than four stores in my area that specialize in reselling used PS2 games in mint condition. This means I always have a great chance of finding the titles that my son wants the most, and is usually my first stop when his birthday or Christmas comes around. Even if I can’t find the used PS2 games that I’m looking for at these shops, there’s no reason to despair. That’s because there are also plenty of websites and online auction sites that have a large inventory of used PS2 games on hand.

Sometimes there are better savings to be had online versus at local video stores. Since more people buy the popular titles, there are then more used PS2 games for these titles available, so no one is paying huge dollars to get a title that they know is available everywhere. A bonus is that the online gaming stores have such a huge inventory that they often have to slash prices to clear their stock.

So, if you want to help your gamer out with one, or a few new titles, check online or at local stores for used PS2 games. You can make your gamer happy, and save money at the same time.