Poll: Favorite Place to Hunt for Retro Games

[allyourbase]

I've been going through a rough couple of months in my neck of the woods lately when it comes to finding decent games in the wild. All of my usual spots have dried up. And when something good does pop up, the same people who 2 years ago would sell Super Mario RPG for $12.99 or a Legend of Zelda for $5 are now charging 3-5 times that much. It's ridiculous, I can't explain the corruption of my area and retro gaming finds. It gets even worse when I see posts in the Monthly Finds 2008 thread that people get daily that I would literally kill for sometimes. Is it just my horrible luck?
Has anyone noticed a shrinking of the market, or at the very least sellers becoming ridiculously aware of nightmarish prices through eBay or what-not? It seems that if small second hand places have anything traded in of value or interest, it automatically goes to an auction site, like eBay- I NEVER see anything that makes me go "wow, i so have to get this!" No Baseball Stars for $1, no NES toploader for $20...no way. Instead, more often than not I come home empty-handed because nothing was affordable. Not cheap- affordable! I'm not paying 9.99 for some common SNES or NES game that I know I should be able to find for 3 or 4 dollars.
One place near me for sure has employees that are collectors that actually skim through all of the good games they take in on trades or what-not and keep them for themselves without ever putting them out. The only thing I can do is try and adapt- to find new places to look, which is exciting yet such a pain. Where do you guys like to go to find great games for the low?

[8bitCaged]

I voted other (yard sale) you need that in your poll.
I love getting up every Saturday just to get a good deal.
It's winter now so I am at the flee a lot more. yard sale season is only 4 months away. :-D

[allyourbase]

Do you have alot of success yard sale-ing with pre ps2 stuff? I haven't come across anything worthwhile in years. Please, if anyone votes other, post what 'other' is for you, it would be useful for all, i can imagine.

[Gameguy]

It used to be thrift stores for me, but now the prices went from $1.99/$2.99 to $4.99/$5.99. I've seen a loose Ninja Gaiden priced at $9.99 a few months ago. Plus games don't come in as often and they aren't that rare anymore(I used to find handhelds and imports occasionally). It used to be great.

Now it's mostly craigslist and Kijiji, it's not all that common to find great stuff but I have found a bunch of great stuff(too much to really list). It really depends on the area though, some areas have nothing posted as I've searched distant cities to see if there's any good ads elsewhere. Maybe every few weeks or months something good gets posted.

I didn't vote in this pole though, I consider craigslist different than ebay or forums, it's all local. I don't ship anything, everything I get is all local or in person(if I happen to travel somewhere it's still in person, which is almost never).

[Ze_ro]

I voted pawn/thrift... I still have some thrift stores that occasionally provide me with stuff. It sometimes seems like staff are picking through it, but every time I start to lose hope, I seem to find something really good that makes me think otherwise.

However, I still resort to eBay for a lot of my stuff. I can't expect my thrifts to produce the truly rare/unusual/import stuff, so I have little choice sometimes.

--Zero

[8bitCaged]

Do you have alot of success yard sale-ing with pre ps2 stuff? I haven't come across anything worthwhile in years. Please, if anyone votes other, post what 'other' is for you, it would be useful for all, i can imagine.

Yea I do, most of the people that want eBay prices use craigslist
I find yard sailors are uninformed of prices (or don't care) and they are just trying to sell there old shit that is in the way. I also like yard sailing because you get to talk to the people for example: If the seller wants for $20.00 for a game and you offer $5.00 then he says $10.00 and you offer $7.00 he takes it that is a lot less then $20.00 if you did that in craigslist/eBay the seller would just flat say no.

craigslist is great I found 3 copy's of FF7 GH for $10.00 each I paid $15.00 for the last one. if you look heard you will find deals.
BTW I still can't find a N64/Dreamcast for under $50.00 where I am so its not all good.

[NES_Rules]

I voted "other" for garage sale and flea markets.
That where 98% of my collection has come from, and I've only been collecting 3-4 years, and those places only exist at most 6 months out of the year. So there is definitely a lo to be had at garage sales, you just have to go to a lot. And by a lot, I don't mean you spend an hour going a dozen sales, it's not uncommon for me to hit 50 sales in a day. That's all you have to do to find the good stuff, go hunting as much as you possibly can.
If you don't have garage sales to go to, then hit those thrift stores every day and do it as early in the day as possible.

[jb143]

I voted thrift stores. It's pretty hit and miss but occasionally I find really good deals. That's where my ever growing Geesis collection is comming from now. It always seems that the few times they go have games it's like hitting the jackpot. I got about 6 boxed with manuals (all non-sports) games for $3 a pop last time.

[neist]

Sadly I went for online stores/auctions.

I can never find anything interesting here.. ever. Thrift stores are always loveless, and garage sales usually come up empty. Boo.

I've probably wasted a fortune in shipping costs.

[darkslime]

Either the swap meet or Bookman's.

I always find something good at the swap meet.

At bookman's, sometimes I find some amazing things, or sometimes overpriced PS2 games. It really depends on what gets traded in and which employee prices the stuff.
I've been in there and spent $200 before, and I've been in there and spend nothing.

[Bloodreign]

Used to use ebay for all my gaming needs, but I don't do Paypal so that area has dried up a bit for me, I'd mainly hit there for the occasional NES game, or import PSX/Saturn games.

Right now I'm working on the Nintendo side of my collection, Play n Trade recently opened where I live, so I make a wishlist of games there, so whenever an NES or Gameboy game appears that I want, they give me a ring to come get it. That place also a few days ago provided me with a top loader NES, so far I'm pretty pleased with what they get, but sometimes I swear I see a game I want that I say I'll pick up next trip, but by next trip, said game is gone. Flipull Gameboy was the latest game I passed up, likely won't be there next time I go unless I'm lucky.

[sebastiankirchoff]

I reccomend going to yard sales, in my area they are amazing. I often find dollar NES games and the occasional import or rarity. I rarely spend more than a dollar per game and I still find tons of good stuff where I live. During the Winter I go to thrift stores, but that is really hit or miss. Occasionally something good will pop up, but in recent years it has been harder and harder to find cheap stuff.

[Tupin]

Thrift stores, they usually have a fixed price for every game, which is good for some games, but bad for others.

[Steve W]

Right now I'm working on the Nintendo side of my collection, Play n Trade recently opened where I live, so I make a wishlist of games there, so whenever an NES or Gameboy game appears that I want, they give me a ring to come get it. That place also a few days ago provided me with a top loader NES, so far I'm pretty pleased with what they get, but sometimes I swear I see a game I want that I say I'll pick up next trip, but by next trip, said game is gone. Flipull Gameboy was the latest game I passed up, likely won't be there next time I go unless I'm lucky.
Have you ever found any decent games at that flea market off the highway in Carencro? I've stopped there a few times in the past on my way through town (I had family in Morgan City) but only found one or two Genesis games. I never found anything in thrifts in Lafayette. Most of the time, I'd just drive up from Morgan City for a few hours for the food. T-Coon's, how I miss you!

I liked the Trade N' Play in Broussard. Bought my Tax Avoiders for the 2600 from them. I'm glad to see the chain expand across Louisiana. My sister's family has moved up to Monroe, and they've got one there now, so at least there's one place in town I can find a few classic games.

[Alfador]

Craigslist FTW. I've scored many a good deals off that wonderful website recently.. from Turbo Duo's to rare 2600 games for dirt cheap.

[Aussie2B]

Best thing to do is to spread out your search. Try a little of everything. I only really hunt in the wild in the summer and I'm not even that diehard about it, but I still manage to get good finds now and then. Sure, I leave empty-handed a lot, be it because there's nothing or because everything is overpriced, but persistence pays off. Heck, if I can find stuff when I only visit each thrift store maybe once every two weeks and half the time I go at night, anybody can. :) Just don't expect to always find amazing deals. Most of the time you have to settle on getting normal stuff for fair prices, even if nobody on here is going to be impressed. Also, it really helps if you're open about what you'll buy. If you go looking solely for, say, SNES games, you're not going to find stuff nearly as often if you're buying for multitudes of systems, even one's you may not own yet. Don't just look for stuff to go straight into your collection too. I'd say about half of my purchases are of duplicates or stuff I don't want. If I can resell and make a nice profit to put toward future game purchases, that's just as exciting as finding something I want. I think one of my very best finds was a complete, mint Secret of Monkey Island for PC, even though I don't collect PC games, because I bought it for 3 bucks and sold it for a whopping $125.

[Slate]

I voted "Other" as I rarely buy online. I buy from yard sales and thrift stores, mostly. I haven't found much lately but then again I am not into collecting much anymore.

[cyberfluxor]

Pawn/Thrift all the way. I love my local game stores, but pawn and thrift stores are full of golden titles at the most random times. It's more rewarding to hit a store so many times with fail, then suddenly a huge success! Also since they generally aren't on top of prices titles can be had for a good, low price. As a side note there are many other items of interest like comics, books, records, headphones, and cases to look out for.

[nintendoeats]

Thrift stores for me. almost all of my Mega Drive, NES, A2600, GameGear, Master System, and old PC games come from Value Village. We have one in Nova Scotia right now where they seem to get alot of PSX and PC games in, because they have 3 shelves of them. Iv'e gotten some great stuff there.

[2Dskillz]

I rely primarily on the wonderful buying and selling forum here on DP. That and there is always the kindness of strangers.

When I need a quick fix there is an overpriced store close to the house.

[Bloodreign]

Have you ever found any decent games at that flea market off the highway in Carencro? I've stopped there a few times in the past on my way through town (I had family in Morgan City) but only found one or two Genesis games. I never found anything in thrifts in Lafayette. Most of the time, I'd just drive up from Morgan City for a few hours for the food. T-Coon's, how I miss you!

I liked the Trade N' Play in Broussard. Bought my Tax Avoiders for the 2600 from them. I'm glad to see the chain expand across Louisiana. My sister's family has moved up to Monroe, and they've got one there now, so at least there's one place in town I can find a few classic games.

That flea market really never has anything, so I never go there anymore, Play N Trade in Lafayette, near the Brother's Department store, is pretty much the only place I check out now, I actually clean up there when I get the chance (mainly NES so far, but a few Gameboy carts), there's a few collector's that go there, so I have competition. Their retro selection isn't huge, but so far I've found some games I've always wanted to own. Thankfully the longer they have been open, the better their selection has become, I always see something I like, but can't get everything because I'm on a budget, their Genesis collection for now still isn't good, their SNES selection is improving, their Gameboy selection is getting good as well. The guys even had a few hucards, don't own a TG-16, so no competition there (some guy cleaned them out of all but Keith Courage). The guys there love me as I've given them lots of cash so far, but right now they know me as the Mega Man guy. :D

I even forgot about my budget one time, felt like I hit the jackpot, picked up 12 NES games, and 2 Gameboy games (they sold me Tetris GB for $7.99, one of 2 gripes so far, the other being a $19.99 Mike Tyson's Punchout which I passed on), my total came damned near $100 and my eyes got wide when I realized what I had done. Said to hell with it and just bought the stack I had just racked up.

Not close enough to Broussard or New Iberia to check out their Play N Trades, but since they are individually owned, one won't know what the other has.

[Haoie]

Do people still have, like, garage/yard sales?

When I was young, early 90s, there'd be pages full of them, usually on Saturday.

But now, well, thank you internet.

[RASK1904]

I'm not telling! Find your own spots. I get games cheeeeeap though. Got 308 Nes games! Love every one of them.
Thanx RASK1904:rockets:

[Xander]

I like buying from other DP members.

[otaku]

I do most of my game buying online but have a local pawnshop that deals mostly in games which I love. However I would prefer a nice shop dedicated to retro gaming.

[TheRealist50]

Pawn shops and thrift stores are pretty much the only way I buy games.

[Arcade_Ness]

I get most of my retro games from a retro game store within walking distance. If I can't find a specific title, or if I want a better deal I go to online stores.

[Steve W]

When you go out of town, look up all the thrifts and flea markets in the town you're going to. It's good to get out of town and hit the little hole-in-the-wall thrifts out in the little towns. And flea markets, too. Any time I go visit family I use Google Maps to pinpoint anything of interest. Of course, that makes a five hour drive turn into a ten hour one after stopping so many times, but it's so much fun I can't help myself.

[Draven]

Flea market here. I got a guy there that cuts me a good deal on games or gives them to me if they require a special controller or accessory to use (ex. Gyromite, Super Scope 6, Glove Ball, etc). He let me have a top load NES with 2 controllers and hookups for 10 bucks last time I was there!

[allyourbase]

Since my first pessimistic post, I wanted to share some recent success with you guys; My local thrift came up big yesterday:

NES Games (cart only)
Super Mario 3
Athena
Super Mario/Duck Hunt/ World Class Track Meet
Ninja Gaiden
Section Z
Metroid
All for $22.00

NES Controller- 2.99
Game Genie- 4.99

My vote is still strongly for pawn/thrift.:guitar:

[Gamebrain]

I have a very big PS1 collection (80+ games) and I found most of them a few years ago through Gamestop and EB games when they were about to stop selling them. I found some good deals on some really rare games (Fox Hunt, Psychic Detective, Herc's Adventures).

Now I mainly use Ebay. I like looking for game lots so I can build up my collection (currently looking to build up my Dreamcast, Xbox, and 3DO games).

[Matt-El]

Thrifts and garage sales are the BEST places to look. Really, all the other places run dry or charge up the yin yang. All of the best stuff I've found recently have been from thrifts.