East Coast Gamers Toms River NJ RESELLER AlERT!!!

[sfchakan]

I always price my local sales under ebay around the same rate for the same reason. It moves fairly quick because it's a better deal, but it's just enough that no one in their right mind will buy to resell elsewhere.

I also gives a much better deal on fast moving games.

Whoever owns that shop is pretty savvy. The gougers will slowly fade away as more people buy online. Hopefully he can stick around for a while.

[Tanooki]

Hes a nice guy and hes sharp. He got into adding incoming carrying I believe small food items along with gamer merchandise, the tournaments bring in cash, and I know he started carrying well marked reproductions at actual price not the ebay over inflated levels you see. If you, him, or anyone else opened up a shop with the prices like you said you have which are like his Id be in there at least once a week. The store here book and music used to but half price books went high bin ebay pricing and it forced their hand because they were getting in not much and being picked clean. Now the shelf has a lot of quality stuff but over ebay which is depressing so I stopped buying their games unless something is fair like a week ago I got CIB Mario Paint for 25 *trade*. I like supporting local, prefer it, but Im not going to give money away to filching practices.

[Niku-Sama]

The only "local" game shop I have I'd game star and while their prices are ok they don't get much variety considering most of their stores up north take the good stuff.

Some times you can catch a rare or unusual before they ship it off

[sfchakan]

Hes a nice guy and hes sharp. He got into adding incoming carrying I believe small food items along with gamer merchandise, the tournaments bring in cash, and I know he started carrying well marked reproductions at actual price not the ebay over inflated levels you see. If you, him, or anyone else opened up a shop with the prices like you said you have which are like his Id be in there at least once a week. The store here book and music used to but half price books went high bin ebay pricing and it forced their hand because they were getting in not much and being picked clean. Now the shelf has a lot of quality stuff but over ebay which is depressing so I stopped buying their games unless something is fair like a week ago I got CIB Mario Paint for 25 *trade*. I like supporting local, prefer it, but Im not going to give money away to filching practices.

A good way of keeping interest in the store up is tossing up Facebook and Twitter posts with new, exciting trade ins. People watch for things they like and some stuff will sell the same day, if not within the hour.

A great Central Ohio store I can recommend is Warp Zone in Hilliard. The owner, Darrin Griffin (previously retroapocalypse on Youtube with a DS-oriented channel), is a great guy who knows his shit. Wonderful source for import hardware and games, too!

[FieryReign]

So retro gamers stay away or make the extra trip to the stores I mentioned and new gamers stick with Gamestop if you want reliable inventory,service, and price. Don't support greedy reseller!

Nice little ad placement for Gameslop you slipped in there. As if they aren't the greediest resellers in the biz...

[wizardofwor1975]

every thing I have ever bought on shop good Will has worked. I did get a psx without sound once but it was in a lot with 6 others. I eventually got it working again with some something

I've had pretty good luck with Goodwill as well. Maybe I've just been lucky. Ebay on the hand has been mostly good but I've had my share of rotten luck.

[camarotuner]

To the OP: If you don't like the store, don't shop there. There are a TON of retro stores around me. Some I like and will spend money at. Others I cannot stand and will either only go in there as a last resort or not at all. One of the worst for pricing has recently gotten infinitely better in the last year because (gasp) people stopped shopping there with all the new competition so the owner adjusted his prices and his attitude and it's a cool store again. Vote with your wallet. Calling them out online is just childish.

To the store the OP mentioned: I own a business. It's not a retail store so it's not an exact parallel. But never comment on crap you read about yourself online. It's not worth it. Even if you think you're making a point, you're losing. There will always be negative comments about everyone online. The important thing is word of mouth and if you treat your customers right word spreads and that's how business is built. I have loyal customers who won't go anywhere but my place now. That took time and hard work. Not headbutting with internet trolls. I wish you the best of luck and remember you don't have to justify your business practices to anyone. It's your business. At the end of the day it will fail or succeed based on your decisions and you have to live with those consequences. If you start running it by committee you're done.

[dra600n]

I think a lot of people are just used to the "Forum" prices.. which in most cases are lower than everywhere else. The problem is that forum prices are not "the going rate", which is what someone on eBay or a game store is going to want. I have found that yes.. prices can be higher in local game stores.. but I have also found good deals as well.

That's how I feel about it, as well.

And it's nice to see that the owner handled this situation professionally. Kudos, sir!

[eastcoastgamersnj]

To the OP: If you don't like the store, don't shop there. There are a TON of retro stores around me. Some I like and will spend money at. Others I cannot stand and will either only go in there as a last resort or not at all. One of the worst for pricing has recently gotten infinitely better in the last year because (gasp) people stopped shopping there with all the new competition so the owner adjusted his prices and his attitude and it's a cool store again. Vote with your wallet. Calling them out online is just childish.

To the store the OP mentioned: I own a business. It's not a retail store so it's not an exact parallel. But never comment on crap you read about yourself online. It's not worth it. Even if you think you're making a point, you're losing. There will always be negative comments about everyone online. The important thing is word of mouth and if you treat your customers right word spreads and that's how business is built. I have loyal customers who won't go anywhere but my place now. That took time and hard work. Not headbutting with internet trolls. I wish you the best of luck and remember you don't have to justify your business practices to anyone. It's your business. At the end of the day it will fail or succeed based on your decisions and you have to live with those consequences. If you start running it by committee you're done.

Thanks so much for this post. I can say that we usually do not seek out any negative feedback. We deal with all types of gamers, and plenty of them tell us how they feel in a "not-so-nice" way. I just happened to see this and was curious.
If there is an unhappy customer, and we catch it, at any time, we try to make it right. If we can't, hey, at least we tried.

For the record, this person has never come in since this post.

We always appreciate our customers, no matter who they are or how they feel. Thanks for the feedback and the conversation. I can say we feel pretty enlightened!

Happy Gaming!!
East Coast Gamers

[Gatucaman]

You can find cheaper on Ebay!

You really been under a rock for the last 5 years :P.

[Gatucaman]

There's a thread over at NA that does this too and it's a pretty good service both for the good shops and the bad.

There's a chain here in town that has been around for probably 20+ years and up until about 2 years ago if that, had been a good deal. The problem is that Half Price Books decided to unofficially rename their store to Buy it Now Books and not warn people. First it was the games, then it went into movies and even the books too because of their mighty internet pricer. They used to slice the price, now they stick full price highest paid BIN values on most the stuff. Because of this people started to poach the other store of goods because it was cheaper and their stocks got depleted, so they were forced to match their bullshit scam pricing and now all the deals in town are gone completely short of maybe a once a month find of an ok price maybe 20% under ebay at one or the other. I totally hear you about warning people. I used to go to both the stores every single week, now the HPB it's only if I'm near by (I live like 2mi from one, 5 from the other) so if I go by I'll roll in but I don't make it a thing to do, same with the other though at least they're not as crappily priced. I'll buy hardware locally before online because you can check it out, but games, those you can do well with online and save a lot if you can't luck into a garage sale or flea market find IF your area support it (mine doesn't at all, very inconsistent and minimal compared to when I was back in CA for 3 years as I'd get stuff every weekend.)

Should i share a funny story regarding stores in my city or should i make an specific thread about good and bad experiences?

[eastcoastgamersnj]

If you live in the Toms River NJ area or seek a retro game shop do not seek out East Coast Gamers. East Coast Gamers is a well over priced retro and new gaming shop in the NJ area. Prices are outrageous for collectors on retro stuff!! You can find cheaper on Ebay! Their original shop burnt down and they have a new shop that just re-opened. I just hope that no one trades in old video games just so they can resell it at their outrageous prices. When a retro shop is done right for example stores in NJ like Digital Press, Level Up Entertainment, Next Level Video Games . The new and retro gamers unite and help these stores be successful by good wood of mouth business and great service from the retail shop in return. When you run a retail shop and price gouge your products you are only alienating your customers. So retro gamers stay away or make the extra trip to the stores I mentioned and new gamers stick with Gamestop if you want reliable inventory,service, and price. Don't support greedy reseller!

We are not only cheaper than eBay, Gamestop and pawnshops, we also pay more for video gaming items than anyone around. It is funny when a hack from Craigslist or another reseller store that has come and gone already has to lie in order to have a chance to make it. We have been in business for 3+ years, lost everything to a fire, reopened and still have a great customer base in buying, selling and repairing all ages of video gaming consoles, games and accessories.

[Tanooki]

Don't know who you are, but congrats on lasting through a burn out of all things. That usually will finish someone, especially when the goods aren't still produced and easily replaced.