Convention Sales

[Porksta]

Anybody ever been to those convention center sales you see advertised? You know, those that have a loud guy on TV saying "DVDs $3, HDTVs $50, XBOX games $5" with fireworks graphics and are always held at some massive expo center. I was just wondering if they were legit and that if I bought a DVD player or something there that it wouldn't be an imitation or cheap knock off.

[Dreamc@sting]

The one over here in buffalo isn't to bad. You do find cheap crap but some of them have alot of good stuff. Alot of the sellers are from locally owned electronic stores who have way outdated models and want to sell them cheap, otherwise they end up loosing money by having them take up stock room

[animesuperj]

The one or two that I've been two around here (Milwaukee, WI) have sucked. The XBOX/PS2 games they had were common as hell, plus overpriced. They wanted $5 for Madden 04/05. The computers were all around Pentium 1 - 2 range. No HDTV sets, at least that I remember. The car audio stuff they had was actually pretty good. They did have some good deals on speakers/subs, but I didn't have the cash on me at the time. Overall, IMO, I think they're not that great. Legit, yes, but not the greatest stuff.

[The 1 2 P]

Anybody ever been to those convention center sales you see advertised? You know, those that have a loud guy on TV saying "DVDs $3, HDTVs $50, XBOX games $5" with fireworks graphics and are always held at some massive expo center. I was just wondering if they were legit and that if I bought a DVD player or something there that it wouldn't be an imitation or cheap knock off.

The ones here in Maryland suck ass. First of all, what they don't tell you on those commercials is that theres an admission cost averaging around $5 a person. Also, they may only have one or two vendors selling video games out of the 20-80 vendors in the entire place. And last but not least, the games are mad common and usually over priced as the poster above me already mentioned. You'd have a better time finding a good deal at a yard sale/flea market/craig's list listing. My advice: save your time and your money.

[DJ Daishi]

there's nothing like that in Cali...unless you count the local swapmeet

[Vinnysdad]

there's nothing like that in Cali...unless you count the local swapmeet


You never heard of Crazy Gidions? His store is somewhere in the Los Angeles area and the stuff he sells is brands you never even heard of. Also if you plan to shop there bring a gun. Seriously his store is in a BAD area.

[Sothy]

yes Ive been to those.

Whatever they advertise is just technically correct.

So.. "PS2 AND XBOX GAMES 5 DOLLARS!" means technically a vendor will have a disc only madden game for 5.00 if its still there.

[thetoxicone]

also most of the stuff in the ad is only one item (example dvd player $5) and you need to get there immediately at open to get it.

[Bojay1997]

there's nothing like that in Cali...unless you count the local swapmeet

Actually, they have had these sales at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego and a couple of times at the Orange County Fairgrounds. They usually just rent a single pavillion for a weekend and like another poster said, they charge $5 to get in and have various vendors selling junk for "low prices". The one time I went, they literally had a total of three PS2 games and they were all the ones you would see at TRU or Best Buy in those cardboard box multicases. Of course, at $5 each game, they were a rip-off.

[98redM6]

I've been to one at the Fresno Fairgrounds here in CA and it sucked. A lot of people were upset because they advertised free admission but then they ended up charging $8/person. Me and my wife reluctantly paid since we had already made the 1 hour trip. Basically it is Downtown LA inside a couple of halls. They do have some of the stuff that they advertise and at some of the prices they advertise. However, it is knock off stuff. Several of the vendors have a lot of the same stuff, mainly sunglasses, belt buckles, cheap shirts, cheap shoes, etc. They do have speakers, home entertainment stuff, computers, laptops, but I'd rather pay the extra $50 to get something from circuit city or best buy with a manufacturer's warranty. I do remember seeing some SNES controllers and some video game stuff there but I'd rather spend the day at the local flea market.

[jb143]

They have a similar thing here..."Super Computer Sale!!!!" I've been less and less impressed with it as the years go by. They're mainly selling refurbished and office coleout stuff.

It's good for buying component level stuff if you can sort through all the junk. But recently there's been more and more non computer related vendors.

BTW...see if they have a website first. I know for this one you can avoid admission costs if you do things like bring canned food etc...but you only know about that from their website.

[Jorpho]

Went to a few of those in Indiana when I lived there back in 2002. I rather liked it, actually; rarely have I seen such a fine and expansive selection of PC games, and the [probably illegal] OEM software sales weren't so bad either. I sort of regret not buying the special CRT "milk crates" they had on sale (which in theory gave you the ability to safely stack stuff on top of your monitor).

But then, that was six years ago. (Oy, how time flies.) I can't recall ever seeing something like that in Canada.

[DJ Daishi]

You never heard of Crazy Gidions? His store is somewhere in the Los Angeles area and the stuff he sells is brands you never even heard of. Also if you plan to shop there bring a gun. Seriously his store is in a BAD area.

lol, he's still around!?! haven't seen his tv ads in a LONG time...maybe it's because I don't watch local cable programs anymore...

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=5ODs4nxNnWM
smart advertisement...who wouldn't want to shop at an escaped mental patient's store???

[Superman]

lol, he's still around!?! haven't seen his tv ads in a LONG time...maybe it's because I don't watch local cable programs anymore...

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=5ODs4nxNnWM
smart advertisement...who wouldn't want to shop at an escaped mental patient's store???

Ha, thats a funny commercial! I don't know if it makes me want to shop there though.