Have store owners ever hassled you about the DP guide?

[Barbarianoutkast85]

I doubt many people do this, but when I first started collecting Genesis games I had printed out a list off all the U.S. releases, then I would carry it around with me when I went game hunting. So I was just wondering if anyone else does this? And if so, have you ever been hassled by a shop owner for it?

Like I said previously, I used to carry a list of all the Genesis games, with the rarity of each game and what not. While at a pawn shop out of state, I was going threw a bin of Genesis games. After I had looked at all of them, I pulled out my list because I was unsure about how "rare" a hand-full of titles were, and I double-checked a few games on the list as well. Then the owner asked what I was doing, and told me that he didnt allow price guides. Since the list I had didnt have the price's, I told him it was just a list of ever Genesis game, and that I have it to make sure I dont buy the same game twice, but it did not have the value of the games. He then wanted to see it, thats when he must of saw the columns; title; release date; rarity. Then he basically told me I could have it in the store.

I guess I understand why the owner wouldnt want people to shop with a price or rarity guide. Because customers could argue with the owner over price, and say he's charging to much or something along those lines.

[dlopez9069]

i dont carry it around with me but if i see something of intrest i go into the glovebox of my car and check. and yes i brought it in one time and a guy tried to overcharge me because the price on the list for a cib game was higher than his cart price. hence the reason it stays in my glovebox.

[PapaStu]

No because I don't carry it with me. Also because I know what I look for and have a good notion at its rarity when I see stuff i'm interested in and because i've got a good idea at a price i'm willing to pay for it, if its too much and theres no negotiation, I move along.

[GaijinPunch]

i dont carry it around with me but if i see something of intrest i go into the glovebox of my car and check. and yes i brought it in one time and a guy tried to overcharge me because the price on the list for a cib game was higher than his cart price. hence the reason it stays in my glovebox.

By US law, he must sell it at the price it's marked as (or lower). Just say "false advertising" and make him sell.

[ecresto]

ima start bringin the nes checklist with me . all the time i buy duplicates of carts i already have . so that would help me .... good idea

[Sosage]

I'm pretty sure this has been discussed before, but in general carrying a price guide around inside a store/while hunting isn't tactful at all. Take this in the kindest way possible, but it is a common sense thing. Keep the damn guide at home people. You're spoiling your own hunt.

[CartCollector]

Actually, one time I was at a Microplay, and I brought the Video Game Bible (http://www.amazon.com/Video-Game-Bible-1985-2002-Slaven/dp/1553697316) with me (I don't have any DP guides). One of the attendants saw it, and asked to see it. He really liked it, and even checked to see how accurate it was.

[bangtango]

Many of the clerks and other customers (regulars) at some of the places I look for games at are already sick of seeing me in the store all the time, looking at the same type of stuff and always asking to see things behind the glass with each visit. I'm not well-liked in any of the Goodwill's, Salvation Army's or game rental places in my area. Not because of anything I do but because people who work or shop in thrifts and places like that don't seem to like a person who is in all the time and seemingly on a very specific mission. I don't intend to draw further attention to myself by running around the store with a price guide.

As for the places I hunt at with owners or clerks who are happy to see me and will cut me some deals, there are two factors at play. First, some of these people know damn well what the games are "worth" (because they use price guides). As for the clerks and owners who don't know the value of their stuff but treat me well, I have no plans to disrespect them by showing up in their store with a price guide or even a list. It wouldn't be in my best interests to pull a "slap in the face" to the local pawn shop owner who has been in business for 25 years and who I've known since I was 3. That's just me of course. In a situation like that, the best I can do is make an educated guess if I don't know about a game. Usually I make the right choices because I refer to the online guide here a couple times a month, looking at nearly all of the systems, and I have a pretty good memory.

[Tommy]

Get with the times man, carry your sidekick or PDA and look at it that way. If some jackass decided to come up on me like that I would tell him to fack off. Regardless if he just inquisitive about what the hell I am doing or what. I have my rights now respect them.

[InsaneDavid]

Get with the times man, carry your sidekick or PDA and look at it that way.

But I wouldn't want it to get wet from the rain!!

Seriously though, I used to carry a small checklist of what I had - not values or anything, just what I had. Back in the FuncoLand days I'd take their current price list and my current "haves" list and name off NES cartridges for the clerk to pull if they had them. "I'm going to go down the list, if you have it pull it." Once I had about $30 or so in games I'd tell them that's enough and walk out with my 20 cartridges or whatever.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Who cares if it's tacky to carry a guide with you, I have a good memory so I don't need one. Many would need it to not overpay. An owner needs to respect a seasoned collector just as he'd want the collector to respect him and realize that he needs to negotiate, not bend over backwards but be willing to do deals or package pricing. If the owner told me price guides aren't allowed then I'd tell him he lost a customer and that I'd spread the word that he's not willing to bargain. He should be happy your looking not be ready to kick you out. Who's he doing the disservice to anyways, there's a good chance that the owner was one who used the old Funco Land price sheets as the Bible for prices. Game Stop stopped that basically to say price sheets aren't allowed and now he's going to do the same to you? IMO Jokes on him. His loss!

[thetoxicone]

Like another poster mentioned I keep my checklist in my car, I usually know what I'm after but it is there just in case I'm not certain especially since I'm in the 400 range of genesis titles and I have picked up a couple doubles on stuff that isn't necessarily resellable (sports titles and other various commons). It's a pain to carry in to stores since my lists are in a binder and wouldn't fit into a pocket, but I have carried cag lists of clearance items at k-mart to that store since they never mark down their clearance items, but once they figured out I knew there store's prices better than they did they finally repriced everything and made my special deals everyone's deals (they never saw my lists though they just figured it after I had them price check 20-30 games in their case in a couple week period).

[otaku]

Never used a price guide in a store (have online both to buy and sell its nice indeed!) but local stores tend to be accomating if you can show them someone selling on amazon or ebay or elsewhere for less they will lower the price never had them try to up it though.

[Sniderman]

Hmmm... I find it interesting that some of you don't have a problem with taking in your DP Guide, but if the store owner is looking up stuff you want on eBay there at the counter and pricing them accordingly, you may balk.

[swlovinist]

Good point Sniderman. I bring my "nerd binder with me". I also tell game store owners about the DP guide, so that they can have references to something when ebay does not have a game. I keep the guides at home, but use the slashbunny DP lite guides on me at all times.

[JerseyDevil65]

Why would anyone carry around a heavy book? Just photocopy the pages that you need and do it that way.

[thetoxicone]

Why would anyone carry around a heavy book? Just photocopy the pages that you need and do it that way.

Well, Mine's not actually book sized, it is a flat report holder with the dp lite lists checklists for nes, snes, n64 and genesis since those are the only 4 systems I actively collect for and that I have more games than I can keep track of thus needing the lists.

[mnbren05]

I've only once brought a guide with me to help with prices. One of the local game store jackasses could give a damn about a guide. I have asked him about changing a price since he jerks everyone around with some of his ridiculous prices. His reply is always, "Don't like it , then get the f*ck out." Honestly, some people are unreasonable with their $5 Mario/Duck Hunt loose carts. Other than that I tend to just keep a list of things I am looking for in my pocket. That way if I spot something he has for a good price (hardly ever) then I can pick it up.

[mailman187666]

you know a good way to do it? if you own a PSP, you can copy pages off the online rarity guide and save them as JPG files. Transfer them over to the photos section of the PSP and just bring the PSP around with you to look up the rarity. Thats what I've done before and nobody has said a thing about it. You could also probably put it on any other device you may own that does similar things. I just happen to use my psp to look shit up because all the systems I collect for are saved on there. Just a heads up for the people bringing the guides in with them that don't want to get harrassed.

[namzep]

you know a good way to do it? if you own a PSP, you can copy pages off the online rarity guide and save them as JPG files. Transfer them over to the photos section of the PSP and just bring the PSP around with you to look up the rarity. Thats what I've done before and nobody has said a thing about it. You could also probably put it on any other device you may own that does similar things. I just happen to use my psp to look shit up because all the systems I collect for are saved on there. Just a heads up for the people bringing the guides in with them that don't want to get harrassed.
That's actually a really good idea. I should do that with my ebook reader. I've never been harassed by store owners for carrying guides on me but I'd rather have something more durable to keep my list on.

[mailman187666]

That's actually a really good idea. I should do that with my ebook reader. I've never been harassed by store owners for carrying guides on me but I'd rather have something more durable to keep my list on.

I never got harrassed either, but I know one PSP is better than a folders worth of pages. The only time I got shit for the PSP thing at a gamestore is the owner asked what was up with that and I said I can look up the rarity on certain games, then he called me a nerd and I told him to tell me something I don't know. That store is cool though, best in the area.

[Griking]

By US law, he must sell it at the price it's marked as (or lower). Just say "false advertising" and make him sell.

I'm pretty sure that a store owner can change prices whenever they want. I think laws just cover advertising and flyers.

[Volcanon]

If its a private sale you dont have to sell at a preagreed price even if it is bad form not to. I mean, if I had a stadium events for sale at $5 and my friend was like "D00000D thats worth like $300!" then I would totally raise my price.

[8-bitNesMan]

I wouldn't want to carry a guide in a shop because it just might enlighten an uneducated store owner about things they're not already aware of. As has been stated above there's really no point anyway because most owners are not going to budge on the prices they already have. So at best you're going to pay what they want or walk away and at worst you're going to fan the flames of their greed. Definite lose-lose situation...

[DreamTR]

Just go into a shop with made up prices =P Cheap for expensive games, expensive for cheap games...if he wants to copy it, tell him, "sure!"

[NES_Rules]

Whenever I go hunting, I bring my VCS, NES, Genesis, SNES, and N64 lists. But I always ask the price of a game before I pull out the list. That way they don't charge me more for it. I mostly take the lists because I don't want to buy a game I already have and I use the rarity to determine what my chances of finding the game again are. Anything above a 5 I know I may never find again, so I almost always buy them.
I've never had anyone hassle me about them, they're usually just curious.

[cyberfluxor]

I never carry a guide around or any list for that matter. However if I see something interesting, even not game related, I take pictures of it and the price so I can go home and research a moment to see what's up. If it's something special I'll instantly head back out and get it, otherwise it can wait another day or sell to someone else. I have time between stops so it's not a real issue to know ASAP some random and quite obscure games' rarity/value. Most of the time it's some common-fairly uncommon game that just doesn't pop up around here often, sometimes I post on here if anyone can give more insight. If you're in a very compettive area I can see the need to have an instant checking list.

[davepesc]

I have the opposite problem... The store owner usually has some price guide out to justify obscene prices!

[Fuzzball24]

Just go into a shop with made up prices =P Cheap for expensive games, expensive for cheap games...if he wants to copy it, tell him, "sure!"

That. Is. Fucking.



GENIUS!

[MachineGex]

Well, Mine's not actually book sized, it is a flat report holder with the dp lite lists checklists for nes, snes, n64 and genesis since those are the only 4 systems I actively collect for and that I have more games than I can keep track of thus needing the lists.

This is the same thing I do. I use to carry around a paper in my wallet with what games I needed but when I expanded my search from NES, I had to go with the above method. Works great. I usually keep it in the car and get it if I can't remember if I own a game or not. Sidenote, I do not see how a guide is tacky, you wouldn't buy a car without knowing the value. I have never needed to carry a priceguide, but if I did, I wouldn't have a problem doing it. Card&Comic shops have price guides laying on their counters for everyone to look at and use, don't see how having one in a game store would be any different.

[8bitgamer]

Any store owner who has a problem with a customer using a price guide needs to get over him or herself. If the item sells for what the retailer is selling it for, everybody wins.

Classic Home Video Games 1972-1984 (http://brettweisswords.blogspot.com/)

[Nukie]

I'm pretty sure that a store owner can change prices whenever they want. I think laws just cover advertising and flyers.

I think he was referring to if you take in a guide he can't lawfully change the price listed on what is in your hand. If you leave he can, but if there is a sticker on it he has to sell it for that price.

[Flack]

Business owners can refuse service at any time to any person for essentially any reason*. If the store owner or manager refuses to sell games to you because you are holding a price guide, that is within their legal rights. I'm not saying it's a good business idea, but it is legal.

(*Caveat here; as long as you are not denying someone of their civil rights. A business owner cannot refuse to sell you a game because of your sex, race, or gender, for example.)

EDIT: Whoops, almost forgot. I have my lists with me at all times, on my phone. No one's ever asked me about it but if they did I'd just say it's a list of what I have and what I need.

[Barbarianoutkast85]

Like I said in my first post, I used to carry the Genesis list with me everywhere when I was new to collecting. Now-a-days, I dont carry it around with me anymore. Especially after I kind of got in trouble for having it with me.
But what I do now is, I have three index cards with a list of the 28 Sega Genesis games I need to have a complete collection. If a store owner would ever ask me what the list is for I would just explain to him that I own 680 different Sega Genesis games so I only need 28 more titles to complete my collection, so I carry the list of the 28 games I need so I dont end up buying a game I already own. I dont think a store owner would hassle me over it though, I mean its just a piece of paper in my pocket it could be anything. It could be my grocery list for all he/she knows.

[Barbarianoutkast85]

Who cares if it's tacky to carry a guide with you, I have a good memory so I don't need one. Many would need it to not overpay. An owner needs to respect a seasoned collector just as he'd want the collector to respect him and realize that he needs to negotiate, not bend over backwards but be willing to do deals or package pricing. If the owner told me price guides aren't allowed then I'd tell him he lost a customer and that I'd spread the word that he's not willing to bargain. He should be happy your looking not be ready to kick you out. Who's he doing the disservice to anyways, there's a good chance that the owner was one who used the old Funco Land price sheets as the Bible for prices. Game Stop stopped that basically to say price sheets aren't allowed and now he's going to do the same to you? IMO Jokes on him. His loss!


Hmmm... I find it interesting that some of you don't have a problem with taking in your DP Guide, but if the store owner is looking up stuff you want on eBay there at the counter and pricing them accordingly, you may balk.


I think I may of given people the wrong impression about why I carried the guide with me. When I was new to game collecting I would carry it becuase I would want to know how "rare" a game is. Or if a store was selling a complete Genesis game for $20 I'd look in the guide to see if it was worth $20 or more.
However, I DID NOT carry the guide with me to argue with the owner about price. If the owner was selling a game for $20 and the guide said it was worth $5 I just didnt buy it. But like I said previously I dont carry the Genesis list with me anymore, just a small piece of paper with a list of 28 Sega Genesis games that I need to have a complete collection.

[theshizzle3000]

Yeah luckily I am cool with the people at the local Play'N'Trade and if I am not sure I just ask them to hold the game for me and they are always happy to do so. I have managed to pick up some rarer games for my PS1 by doing this.

[Push Upstairs]

I don't own a DP guide.

Sorry Joe. :embarrassed:

[starsoldier1]

No, I actually had one of store owners wanting to buy it from me. I didn't of course.