General Category > General Discussion
Garage saling for treasures
wiggy:
--- Quote from: Moviefan2k4 on June 26, 2012, 03:24:28 AM ---
--- Quote from: madrocsz on June 25, 2012, 09:51:41 PM ---Don't discount Ebay; yeah, pricing can suck, as well as shipping, but every now and then there's a great deal. For example, I found Mega Man X3 and 7 both for 40$ because they had label wear; I just printed out new labels. I also got Mega Man 5 and 6 cheap just by "make an offer".
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First, spelling and punctuation are your friends. Second, I don't trust Ebay; there's too many folks willing to rip folks off at every turn.
--- Quote ---As far as Gamecube, Gamestop just started buy 2 get 2 free on all Gamecube games
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Is this at all locations, with all available titles, or just select on both?
--- Quote ---Most of those Genesis games (especially Sonic), you should find dirt cheap online, if not somewhere for a few bucks each at most.
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Well, there's not a lot of retro stores in my area, and the few that exist don't have much besides tons of pointless old sports games. They'd be good for case replacements, but that's it. :(
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Do you mean your friends as in make sure to spell correctly, or the way I'm taking it which is to say that many listings contain improper spelling and labeling?
For many items, the seller's ability to use the correct spelling is moot as long as they list it as the correct game (you know, that stupid info bar that comes up in many VG auctions). The search engine will also search that for that info. So, for instance, if a fellow were to list a copy of MM5 using the pre-filled info for the game, then he could theoretically title the auction"Honda lawnmower. LIKE NEW!" and it would still show up in a search for MM5. That said, people often leave out info that could help identify an item or don't use the pre-filled info option.
For every shitty transaction on eBay that I've had, there are probably about 20 good ones. I'll take that ratio. I've actually had worse luck on Craigslist, and in those instances I get to see the products first-hand before the purchase. Still, I've had many CL items end up being totally bunk when I get around to actually using them versus watching a guy plug something and turn it on in front of me to let me know that it "works".
Man, we have TONS of retro gaming stores in Cleveland. I guess I should be thankful, but it means that you don't find that much at garage sales and whatnot because it's easier for people to just take their old games to said stores and trade them in for $$$. Then I'm stuck paying retail for SNES games most of the time :/
tbonesteak4dinner:
--- Quote from: Moviefan2k4 on June 26, 2012, 03:24:28 AM ---
--- Quote from: madrocsz on June 25, 2012, 09:51:41 PM ---Don't discount Ebay; yeah, pricing can suck, as well as shipping, but every now and then there's a great deal. For example, I found Mega Man X3 and 7 both for 40$ because they had label wear; I just printed out new labels. I also got Mega Man 5 and 6 cheap just by "make an offer".
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First, spelling and punctuation are your friends. Second, I don't trust Ebay; there's too many folks willing to rip folks off at every turn.
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I can't seem to find these "folks." Out of 51 transactions to date, I've only had one "bad" one, and they just lied about the condition. All it took was 5 minutes and a paper towel to remedy that one ::). If you know what to look for (recent seller history, etc.) then there's very little chance of getting screwed, and even if you do you have both ebay buyer protection and paypal protection. So there's literally no way to get bamboozled on ebay unless you're lazy or don't read into the seller and listed info.
I've actually had much worse luck buying locally like Wiggy. Craigslist has been okay, but all of the local stores around me have things in poor condition with sky high prices, and they openly sell bootleg games and CDs for their Japanese imports. To top that off, you have no buyer protection buying locally - often they won't let you return something, especially if it's broken (regardless of whether you received it that way or not). I've also been openly laughed at about some game purchases at a local store to boot (by the cashier of all people...), so they're not getting my business anymore. There's a few good ones around despite that, but like I said, I almost have to do more research to buy locally than online...
--- Quote from: wiggy on June 26, 2012, 11:42:25 AM ---Do you mean your friends as in make sure to spell correctly, or the way I'm taking it which is to say that many listings contain improper spelling and labeling?
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I believe it was the "Condescending Grammar Nazi" kind of way. ;D
--- Quote from: wiggy on June 26, 2012, 11:42:25 AM ---For every shitty transaction on eBay that I've had, there are probably about 20 good ones. I'll take that ratio. I've actually had worse luck on Craigslist, and in those instances I get to see the products first-hand before the purchase. Still, I've had many CL items end up being totally bunk when I get around to actually using them versus watching a guy plug something and turn it on in front of me to let me know that it "works".
Man, we have TONS of retro gaming stores in Cleveland. I guess I should be thankful, but it means that you don't find that much at garage sales and whatnot because it's easier for people to just take their old games to said stores and trade them in for $$$. Then I'm stuck paying retail for SNES games most of the time :/
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This pretty much identical to my experience. eBay is an awesome tool for finding something specific and getting it at a fair price. I wish we had better stores around here (Boulder/Denver), but there's really only one independent store that's worth going to. I think finding vintage video games at garage sales is getting less and less common as they age and gain value. I find lots of xbox games, but not so many NES or SNES games. Wii and Xbox 360 games are practically free, but there's so many filler titles that the games worth buying are few and far between. eBay just seems to be the way to go in the current game market.
madrocsz:
Honestly, if you want it bad enough you can find it on eBay. My rule of thumb is I wont spend more than 60% of what its worth, of course trying to get even lower than that. I use http://videogames.pricecharting.com/ and its a fairly good tool to judge the price trends of a particular game as well as helpful in finding sites with current listings.
That being said, the good definitely outweighs the bad for eBay and my complaints are more so in the realm of ridiculous shipping costs etc. If you check for a certain game somewhat often, I bet you will find it for a lot lower than everyone else (however it won't last long). Some people, including myself just want to sell something and list it for a fair price from the start just to sell it quick. Also too, like I mentioned in a prior post, you would be surprised at how low people will take when they have the "Make offer" option on an auction. Start low and many times they will take half of what they originally listed it for.
Oh, and I suppose I will start proofreading my posts here, didn't realize hastily typed messages were so scrutinized :)
tbonesteak4dinner:
Picked up this little beauty for free today from a Craigslist ad. ;D A lot of my older computer games are 800 x 600 resolution, maybe maxing out at 1280 x 1024 at the most, so none of my modern LCD's can display those resolutions without it looking like utter crap. I would have never guessed I'd be trying to dig up an old CRT monitor ever again. ::) It's a 19" Sony CPD-G400 for anyone who'd like to know, and she was quite the little killer in her day. Sure makes me realize how much I missed being able to change resolutions and scan rates on the fly and have them all look nice and sharp...
gru3som3rick:
--- Quote from: tbonesteak4dinner on June 26, 2012, 09:24:25 PM ---Picked up this little beauty for free today from a Craigslist ad. ;D A lot of my older computer games are 800 x 600 resolution, maybe maxing out at 1280 x 1024 at the most, so none of my modern LCD's can display those resolutions without it looking like utter crap. I would have never guessed I'd be trying to dig up an old CRT monitor ever again. ::) It's a 19" Sony CPD-G400 for anyone who'd like to know, and she was quite the little killer in her day. Sure makes me realize how much I missed being able to change resolutions and scan rates on the fly and have them all look nice and sharp...
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Dang man, too bad I was unaware that people even look for these monitors for gaming. I used to run an old tech school, we just brought HUNDREDS of CRT monitors to the recycling center. They were all in working condition, the average size was 22". I would have happily sent you one, I was sad to see them all go.