Goodwill Problems

[jdcarter4490]

Hey i use Goodwill a lot for help in my journey for Classic games but recently they started marking up prices on Console's and Controller to over Ebay Value and games are still $3.00 each buy when i see something it's most likely had the disk problems. Yeah just needed to vent a little but could please tell me if your also having trouble game hunting at Goodwill

[IHatedSega]

My dad works at a computer store of theirs. Man, last year I bought FF 8 and the 1 & 2 PS1 collection, Twisted Metal in a TM 2 case, and saw a N64 with controller and power cables for $20, the games were $5 or less cause of his discount. Now this year I bought a crappy SHADOWBLADE arcade stick for $2.

Ill ask him in the morning about any new actual policy changes.

[cyberfluxor]

The Goodwill stores in my region have dropped the prices on CDs, DVDs, and many electronic goods. Recently they've been stocking a number of older games and found a few awesome deals lately. A majority of their items are fixed prices so deliberately being tagged above on-line market rates would be strange.

[CelticJobber]

The Goodwill store where I live marks most games (from NES to PS2) up to $7.00, but if it's something rare they'll have it in a glass case with a print-out of an eBay listing and with the eBay price.

[kedawa]

I stopped buying games and electronics at thrift stores several years ago because of the bullshit prices, and things seem to have only gotten worse.
I find far better deals at yard sales or even in the classifieds

[Emperor Megas]

The Goodwill store where I live marks most games (from NES to PS2) up to $7.00, but if it's something rare they'll have it in a glass case with a print-out of an eBay listing and with the eBay price.The listing price, or the actual sale price?

[Ro-J]

Goodwill prices vary from store to store. There are 3 in my immediate area and they all price their games separately. One charges $5 per game, no matter what system. Another one charges $3 for older games, $4 for PS2 or newer, unless it's a brand new Target clearance game, in that case it usually sells for half of what it would cost in the stores.

Gone are the days when NES games were sold for $1 each.

[Dashopepper]

There are definitely good and bad Goodwill stores. And even then prices can be inconsistant because of the fact the person pricing the items haves no idea what they are.

On one day my local store had an Atari 7800 for $60, a PlayStation system only for $15, and a PSOne with the LCD screen 2 controllers and 2 memory cards for $10.

The same store charges $5 a game no matter what.

[Casati]

You find video games in Goodwill? My local Goodwill has very limited amount of video games since most of them are probably sold online. I did buy a GC Mario's Mansion for $4, and I once bought a GB Super Mario's Land for $1 at Salvation Army, but they were flukes.

[Collector_Gaming]

You find video games in Goodwill? My local Goodwill has very limited amount of video games since most of them are probably sold online. I did buy a GC Mario's Mansion for $4, and I once bought a GB Super Mario's Land for $1 at Salvation Army, but they were flukes.

this is sadly starting to become the goodwills i have

They have shrunk the electronics/electronic media sections down to tiny versions of what they once were and finding anything at all is like finding gold.

For awhile i could walk in and find sports titles for the genesis or snes like they were going out of style but now it would be a gold rush if i found one of those!

Maybe someday soon *sigh*

[8-bitNesMan]

I got 99 problems but a Goodwill ain't one

[Schiggidyd]

My goodwill marks ALL VIDEO GAMES at 8 dollars now.

[DaddyMulk]

As others have said, Goodwill is always a crapshoot since different store managers have different attitudes about selling. The store half a mile from me is generally a goldmine all around; I've purchased many Genesis/SNES/N64 games there for $1-2 (sometimes MIB) and have found some amazing deals on hardware (GBC/GB Pocket for $1 each, PSOne with adapter for $3, Wii Balance Board for $4, etc.).

The store 10 miles from me is completely different. They seem content to price Gamecubes sans cables for $20-30, and Xbox demo discs/sports games for $5-6 apiece. They also have a used "gamer chair" tagged at $100; the same model is available new locally for around $50. Consequently, the store has next to zero turnover in their gaming area, and seems content with this.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever found a *Salvation Army* store with fair prices? All of these in my area are pretty terrible. (copies of Sneak King priced at $7, and one of them has Mario Sunshine/Super Smash Bros. Melee at $60 apiece for used copies)

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

I've never even seen good games for sale at a Goodwill in this area. I think they get picked over by ebayers and other resellers pretty quickly.

However, there are a number of other second hand stores around my small hometown. These are generally very good. They price based on type of object it is. Cartridge $2, CD $1. All systems are $10. Controllers without analog $1. With Analog $2. Racing wheels and arcade sticks are $5. If you bring up ebay they give you the "implied facepalm" look.

[fahlim003]

I found Einhänder, for PlayStation at a Goodwill on Tuesday for $2.02. Going thrifting is rolling the dice but generally the only risk you take is finding nothing at all and as such is wasting time. It can be demoralizing but when something good does come up it's generally cheaper than you'd find anywhere else. That's my experience which is why I still take time to check some out due to the unknown factor.

[sloan]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever found a *Salvation Army* store with fair prices? All of these in my area are pretty terrible. (copies of Sneak King priced at $7, and one of them has Mario Sunshine/Super Smash Bros. Melee at $60 apiece for used copies)

SA stores around here always price video games at either $1.98 or $2.98 a piece.

For all the people with high priced Goodwill's (what a misnomer!), simply find a nice hiding place in the store, like under a display rack or something, hide the goods until half-off Saturday sale, and come back for the savings.

[Casati]

There's a local thrift store (not a Goodwill) that had a used NES controller and TV hookups that I wanted to buy a few years ago, thinking they would charge around $5, but they were going to charge over $20 for what was bagged, including an Othello cart (whoopee). I got the hookups on Ebay for less than $10 and my NES dogbone came with the toploader I bought on Ebay, so Ebay is often cheaper than thrift stores for video games.

[Collector_Gaming]

The store 10 miles from me is completely different. They seem content to price Gamecubes sans cables for $20-30, and Xbox demo discs/sports games for $5-6 apiece. They also have a used "gamer chair" tagged at $100; the same model is available new locally for around $50. Consequently, the store has next to zero turnover in their gaming area, and seems content with this.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever found a *Salvation Army* store with fair prices? All of these in my area are pretty terrible. (copies of Sneak King priced at $7, and one of them has Mario Sunshine/Super Smash Bros. Melee at $60 apiece for used copies)

thats friggin highway robbery right there.

What pisses me off the most about this kinda thing is they won't go down in price no matter how long they have on the racks and eventually will toss it out (and who knows if it survives said toss out.. and if you can even collect it after said toss out) because they don't care. It was a donation not like they are at a loss with it.

[zektor]

I think they just price things to whatever the employee wants to. Case in point is a local Goodwill of mine. I saw a Gameboy loose Alleyway for the amazingly low price of $29.99! In the same case were PS2 games for $2 each. There's just no rhyme or reason...

[IHatedSega]

My dad told me all their software is sold on ebay. He thinks its stupid. All the software including games is taken to the south of our town where the E commerce people are and so is the shipments department. I brought up how people made all these videos of getting stuff cheap at thrift stores, and he didnt think that was the reason, but thats just him. Im glad I got the games I listed up there when I could.

[SpaceHarrier]

I've yet to find anything interesting, even over-priced, at any Goodwill in a 20+ mile radius. Someday... :(

[ownerizer]

The best thrift store video game find I've found so far was at a Unique. Usually their games are incredibly overpriced ($4.99+ for common sports), but one night on a wild hair I stopped there and found several good games (Dino Crisis, MGS) and a complete copy of Tomba! for $2.99. I shat brix. But staying on topic, yeah, mainly the Goodwills around here have gone up in price quite a bit. I pick up a controller every now and again for $2.99 or so, but haven't found anything incredible there for a year or so.

[Natty Bumppo]

Also feeding into the problem is that (at least in my area) the thrift stores (of all names) have not been getting much of anything decent for at least a year - sand not just video games. And there always seems to be more people looking
for what little there is. (I attribute this to the economy more than anything else - if people are buying new things (such as video game consoles) they are less likely to be donating stuff that they normally be replacing.

I go to about 15 thrift stores a week and I look for lots of things - not just video games. The type of stuff I look for just not is appearing like it did a year or so ago. Hopefully it will pick up after Christmas (it usually does but I am having doubts about it this year) as people
get new items fro Christmas and jettison some older stuff to make room.

Most of the thrift stores are still getting a lot of stuff - but it is a higher percentage of crap then I have ever seen - and I have been going to thrift stores for at least 30 years.

(The last major score gamewise I got at a thrift store was about a year and half ago - a laseractive unit that looked like it had never been used (no box and no accessories though) - it did, however, have the cover plate for the pac bay.)

One other thing I find interesting is that whenever the thrift stores start to get in less stock (or noticeably of lower quality), they tend to raise their prices on everything.

[Pikkon]

I was just at my local goodwill tonight,they had a ds lite in crappy condition with no accessories for 41 bucks:roll:

[dnehthend]

it's pretty hit or miss around here

for the most part
controllers 3.99 - 4.99
games 1.99 -4.99
consoles 6.99 - 24.99

sometimes they get ridiculous and charge outrageous prices. a couple weeks ago I noticed a stack of nothing but good games behind the counter, once I flipped them over I knew exactly why they were still there.. 27.99 for goldeneye, 24.99 for a link to the past, and similar prices for the rest.

however, last week I paid $8 total for a DS Lite, an original GBA, along with a few GB and N64 games.

[sloan]

For those who say they never find games at Goodwills, these are my last two days' hauls, from separate GW stores around my area. Christmas season is the time to hit these stores because many times people are getting rid of old games/systems and getting a PS3.

6037
These were priced at $4 each, but they had half off sale, so only paid $20 for all.

6038
These were all priced at $2 each, $24 for all.

[Tanooki]

Well that's good for you there. This area I've moved back to recently doesn't have anything of value at GW, but there's reasons why. You have 2 Half Price Book stores, and also a local ma/pa type chain called Book and Music Exchange which has 3 spots in town, one just over the river, and then a few others a bit west in the state. These places (at least BME) give an alright return on value taking stuff in, more if it's not a cash payout. Unless a game at that chain is of a very notable name or known as a true uncommon it just goes into the $6 or 2 for $10(5/ea) pile and I'm happy to go there. HBP used to have great deals when stuff came in, but now they have some gamer dick pricing stuff at the store and checks online and puts it like a dollar or two under, or in some cases well ignorantly OVER value (like Wheel of Fortune w/Vanna White CIB for $20, can be like $10shipped or less on ebay.) The odd thing is their gamer nitwit tends to make some decent $5 or so titles an instant clearance $1 game or at most under $5. About a month ago I got Batman in that range and 4 others for a buck.

I think sometimes you get people cursing goodwill not just because they don't have stuff because of inside collectors, buddy system stuff, or resellers with no lives who stop in every single day to pilfer before you get there. There's some towns that have far nicer alternatives than putting up with craigslist pervs, molesters and cheapos, or putting up with ebay shenanigans.

[The 1 2 P]

Most games at my local Goodwills are marked at $4 unless it was a Target clearance that didn't sell. And there are two problems with Target clearance games that they give to Goodwill for a tax write off. The first problem is that Goodwill will usually cross out the Target clearance price and put a higher price on the game. I suppose they figure if it didn't sell at that price it will sell for a higher price at a different store:roll: And the second problem is that they will actually throw away the Target clearance games if they don't sell within a certain time period. So instead of marking them down(sometimes they do but not usually) they will take everything in the glass display cases and trash them over night.

[Derxst]

I live in between Tampa and Orlando and make trips to the big Goodwill stores in both cities.

3 weeks ago I found a Tengen Tetris for NES. Sweet! It was marked at $5, but was 50% off.

That has been my best find at Goodwill.

[sloan]

So instead of marking them down(sometimes they do but not usually) they will take everything in the glass display cases and trash them over night.

Sounds like time to go dumpster diving behind the goodwill...

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

Sounds like time to go dumpster diving behind the goodwill...

Not an option at my local Goodwill. They have a compacting Dumpster located in the sorting area inside the building.

[jdcarter4490]

Wow i thought my Goodwill was bad but after some of these post I'm just happy i see games at mine for 2.99 to be honest my most prized video game was actually from Goodwill Dino Crisis 2 Sealed for 2.99 and my hearts goes out to you brave Goodwill adventurer's

[sloan]

Not an option at my local Goodwill. They have a compacting Dumpster located in the sorting area inside the building.

Hmmm. Then it could be time to make a side arrangement with the Goodwill clerk, whereby any games destined for the crusher are saved for you instead. A few dollars in said person's pocket helps too.

[ownerizer]

Yesterday I went to a Goodwill, and bought an OEM Dreamcast controller with an OEM VMU and rumble pack for $3. They also had an NES Zapper for $15. I laffed.

[Atarileaf]

Don't have a goodwill where I live in Canada. They exist, just not in my city. I wonder if Canadian goodwills sell their video games in their stores or send them to the US for the website.

[Gameguy]

Don't have a goodwill where I live in Canada. They exist, just not in my city. I wonder if Canadian goodwills sell their video games in their stores or send them to the US for the website.
They usually sell them in their stores, just for far more than they're worth. Usually they're kept in the display cases, I remember seeing them next to a stack of average Laserdiscs which were priced at $50 each(not for the whole lot, I asked).

That's not to say you can't find anything, I remember finding a few decent video game stuff for a fair amount. I remember the manager coming over as I was paying, upset at how cheap I was being charged. Apparently I was getting a good deal on Myst III Collector's Edition for the PC for about $2.55 as it should have been priced either $30 or $50 as the original price sticker on the box was over $90. I'm pretty sure I was told it should have been $50, which seems about normal for what they charge for old junk. When I got home and checked the receipt I was actually charged $2.05 for it, I guess the cashier couldn't read the price on the box as they never use price stickers at that one. It's always a grease pencil cause they seem really cheap with supplies at that one, yet they're also greedy.

When most music CDs are kept in the display case starting at $4 and up I know it's a lousy place to find bargains, there's also piles of dirty broken electronics near the back all priced as though they were all cleaned and serviced to be fully working. No exchange or returns are stickered on everything.

[BlastProcessing402]

I've never seen anything but utter junk at thrift stores, and often not even that, when it comes to games. Stuff like old yellowed PC joysticks that sort of thing. You know, the kind that used the old gameport that they stopped even putting on PC's after everything started using USB.

[Casati]

At least 99% of the goods at my local rural Goodwill are rubbish, but I've found a few good values to make it worth the while. I found a limited edition oversize book for $4 that's worth $100-$300 online. Sadly, I sold it for $120 when I needed money. I found a complete in box Avalon Hill Samurai for a couple dollars and a Gamecube Mario Mansion for $3. But I usually find nothing except maybe a music CD when I go there. The thrift stores in the metro areas have much better stuff, but many are overpriced. Oh, and it's been a long time since I saw any NES cartridge at the Goodwill. They must be selling them online.

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

Here is one thing that gets me about Goodwill's pricing. A lot of the items that they receive are leftovers from yard sales, flea markets, etc. If they are going to try and sell items that did not sell at a yard sale, they should at least take off the old price sticker first. I have seen tons of books with 25 cent yard sale stickers on them along with the $1.67 price tag from Goodwill. They also have a Genesis game on their auction site with a starting bid of $5 and in the picture it shows the yard sale price sticker of $1. I wish I had been to that yard sale. I would have gladly picked up the game for $1 rather than the minimum bid of $5 plus shipping and handling, etc.

[Collector_Gaming]

I've never seen anything but utter junk at thrift stores, and often not even that, when it comes to games. Stuff like old yellowed PC joysticks that sort of thing. You know, the kind that used the old gameport that they stopped even putting on PC's after everything started using USB.

there is a small market for old joy sticks for those people who actually collect old computers (and they are out there which is why i bought my IBM PC JR Joystick still in box SEALED at GW last year)
Although I will admit it is a tricky market. Just like any hobby its condition condition condition as I know I can sell my Joystick in a open market alot faster at more of a profit then said yellowing old joystick Because its a New Old Stock Item. But maybe for someone starting out? Who knows skys the limit I guess.

[sloan]

Just over the past month, GW's in my area started pricing all video games at $4 a piece. That's ok if it is at least that valuable and works, but there is the risk it won't work when you get it home, and I am not paying that for commons and/or sports titles. One GW has original Xbox sports titles in a glass case priced at $8 each. Someone is on quaaludes.

Also, they have started pricing all controllers at $5 each. I am sorry, but I saw two digital-only PSX controllers (no thumbsticks) and there is no way those are worth more than $1 a piece.

[orangest]

Goodwills around here in Los Angeles usually charge $5.99 for games, with the occasional store going a dollar or two less. The Target clearance/dump-off games (which currently include multiple new copies of Xbox 360 DJ Hero 2 and Wii Who Wants to Be A Millionaire & Biggest Loser Challenge at every store) are $14.99. I did just pick up a new copy of Sims 3 for the 3DS for $4.99, marked down from $9.99, so some Goodwills just kinda do as they please. :)

[IHatedSega]

Pricing of games is totally in the hands of who ever is in charge that day in pricing, most of the time its a middle aged person who never played games, maybe they played Atari, but they really have no idea who Mario is or Master Chief. If its a across the board type deal it was either a regional manager or the stores manager who just redid it to all digital media in the store. "$5 is too much for a game, but people will spend $4 just to buy something, that sounds like a good price." That day I got the bad arcade stick I saw 2 PS2 multitaps, the cheaper one was the official one and the other one felt like a piece of crap. Those people really dont know what they have. Maybe thats why the games were sent to be sold on Ebay so people could make up their minds for them.

[DK1105]

I have noticed that non chain thrift stores are the ones with good prices and great finds. I try make of day out of hitting all of the thrift stores I can find. From thrift stores I haven't ran into anything way over priced but record stores that sell games sell them at a premium. Some times RPG and board game hobby shops are fair prices others mark them to the sky. They tend to know what games are and are not worth money so you wont find any crazy steals.

[The 1 2 P]

The Target clearance/dump-off games (which currently include multiple new copies of Xbox 360 DJ Hero 2 and Wii Who Wants to Be A Millionaire & Biggest Loser Challenge at every store) are $14.99.

At my Goodwill stores they almost always price Target clearances higher than the last price it was marked at Target. Also mixed in with Target clearance games are Target return games. Sometimes they can be good(like my latest find posted in the finds thread) and sometimes they are bad because they are disc with an unplayable ring around the entire disc caused by a customer who most likely moved his system while the disc was inside playing. We also have a gazillion 360 DJ Hero games but nobody is touching them. Theres a reason why they and WWTBAM didn't sell in the first place.


but they really have no idea who Mario is or Master Chief.

Thats not true in most Goodwills I go to. All of the cashiers, from the late teens to soccer mom 40 somethings ALL know who Mario is and all know to charge more for his games. Sometimes I get around it if they just put out a tote full of N64 or Snes carts but when they price them individually Mario games are usually priced higher.

[sloan]

I think the level of gaming knowledge by GW employees varies greatly store to store and region to region. Once in a while, a GW by me will have Atari 2600 games, and the older clerks will say something like, "we used to have an Atari" or similar. Whenever I shop at them, I really hope I'll get some grandma that priced the games not knowing a thing about them. unfortunately, the "all games for $4" policy has taken unknowing grannies out of the equation.

I do believe though that the store with the Xbox sports titles for $8 a piece had some unknowing nitwit pricing games that day.

[Gameguy]

The problem is that the people working at thrifts(including the managers who press the pricers) have heard that games are now collectibles so they tend to price everything higher than they're worth, even crap sports games are too much with games kept in the display cases. These people in charge don't really have an idea about actual values. They only start pricing games cheaper when they still have most of the games untouched in the case, then they don't want to be stuck with them. It doesn't matter if the games are untested and final sale, they think they can get the same amount for them as online sellers. There's a slim PS1 console at a local Salvation Army missing the video cable, power supply, and the correct matching controller. It's priced at around $25 so I doubt it would ever sell. These consoles used to be priced around $5.99 complete a few years ago.

It's the same way with PC games, now most are $3.99-$9.99. I'm just about the only person who actually buys PC games there so they usually sit around for weeks until they get rid of them. Even with software that's worth more than their asking price, it can sit for days untouched unless it's something really common like Microsoft Office software. The main people willing to pay the full amount for items don't shop in thrift stores, they shop online. Thrift store shoppers are impulse shoppers just buying whatever catches their eye, and pricing is a factor with this.

I can still find stuff worth buying, but it's getting rare. Game stuff doesn't show up as often now and I can only get a good deal if it's something good that slipped through by mistake. Before everything was priced well no matter what.

[jb143]

Just to show how bad it's getting...

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii12/jeremy_burk/smdh.jpg

[Tupin]

Just to show how bad it's getting...

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii12/jeremy_burk/smdh.jpg

Welcome to St. Louis thrift shops.

Out of curiosity, where did you find that around here? My local Goodwills seem to be nothing but tax write-off dumps for Target...

[The 1 2 P]

My local Goodwills seem to be nothing but tax write-off dumps for Target...

ALL Goodwills are tax write-offs for Targets. The good thing about that is that you can get alot of newer stuff in fairly new condition at very good prices, like the Target return copy of Your Shape 2012 and Target salvage copy of The Avengers: Battle For Earth that were both only $9.99. And the Avengers game had only came out a couple months prior. And then theres the complete in box Kinect I found in January 2011(two months after it was released) at Goodwill that was a $55 Target return when it was still selling in stores for $150. Sure theres still the endless supplies of games like DJ Hero II that sit collecting dust but I have found more than my fair share of awesome Target returns/salvages at very good prices.

[jb143]

That was from the Edwardsville IL goodwill. To be fair though, a huge portion of my games came from and continue to come from thrift stores. There's still good deals to be had. They are just fewer and farther between than they were just a couple of years ago.

[jdcarter4490]

Checked in on the local Goodwill again and actually found 2 interesting game Star War Old Republic and James Bond agent under fire but when i picked the games up i noticed that someone stole the game disk. I was wondering is this a common with many of your guys Goodwill's this really only started happen a month ago but it's really starting to pick up and my Goodwill even starting putting shipping tape over the dvd and games to prevent people from stealing but it's still happening.

[jb143]

Checked in on the local Goodwill again and actually found 2 interesting game Star War Old Republic and James Bond agent under fire but when i picked the games up i noticed that someone stole the game disk. I was wondering is this a common with many of your guys Goodwill's this really only started happen a month ago but it's really starting to pick up and my Goodwill even starting putting shipping tape over the dvd and games to prevent people from stealing but it's still happening.

Well, in another thread we were pointing out how a lot of Goodwills are keeping the discs in a binder behind the counter. It's not always obvious that that's what's going on if you aren't already aware of it, so are you sure this isn't the case here?

[The 1 2 P]

If the cases have numbers(not the price) written on them in black/permanent marker then they are probably in a binder behind the counter. No numbers and you are just SOL:|

[homerhomer]

I've noticed the same thing. I'd go to the local good will and they want 7.99 for used gamecube games. Then I go to the local used game store and used gamecube games are like $5 and up and not all sports games like the good will.

I still go to the good will, but I'm very cautious because over half the time it's just not worth the asking price.

Oh and another thing.

My good will's games don't go on sale like everything else.

Pretty lame.

[brainerdrainer]

I got a few good Genesis games at Goodwill yesterday for $1.99 each. Not too bad. I was stoked

[Soviet Conscript]

I rarely find games or consoles at gw. When I do its usually because they just put it on the shelf. I did find a few uncommon 3do games but surprise, the good ones were empty (stolen) which is a common issue I encounter at goodwill. One thing I do tend to find often is old computer games. Alot of early good condition big box DOS stuff. I do agree prices vary by store but its nothing compared to the prices at the salvation army store. Maybe its just the ones in the phoenix area but playstation 1's and n64's for $99. Its insane. There tv prices especially baffle me. $30 to $50 for ancient barely working tvs. This is especially insane sine the goodwill less then a mile away sells virtually all their CRT sets for $1.

[orangest]

Maybe 1 out of 5 DS games that I see at Goodwills actually have the game cards still in the case.

[mightykendar]

The Goodwills in my area tend to price things pretty reasonably, but a lot of the classic gaming stuff gets shipped right off to eBay (which the employees will voluntarily inform me of when I come in...I remember one particularly aggravating excursion when the guy working there told me that someone had donated an NES and a bunch of games, and that they were all out back, but that I couldn't go through or purchase them because the manager had already decided to put them on eBay.

Nevertheless, I've had some good finds at thrift stores, and I rarely pay more than $3 for a single game (generally NES). Perhaps my greatest Goodwill moment -- and, subsequently, greatest collecting regret -- was the Chase the Chuck Wagon cart that I picked up for $1.50 and later sold because the rules of responsible adulthood insisted that bill-paying was far more important than owning a cart that I will likely never find in the wild again. :bawling:

Anyway, yes, the Goodwills in my area are generally very reasonable when they actually stock the stuff instead of sending it straight to auction, but when I go to other (in particular, more metropolitan) areas, I find that games tend to be marked at much higher amounts, sometimes to the point of being laughable in the case of certain titles.

[Pikkon]

My goodwill is a hit or miss but for some reason they sell original xbox's there for 30 to 50 bucks and the original xbox controllers went from 3 bucks to 10 O_O

[Rickstilwell1]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever found a *Salvation Army* store with fair prices? All of these in my area are pretty terrible. (copies of Sneak King priced at $7, and one of them has Mario Sunshine/Super Smash Bros. Melee at $60 apiece for used copies)

The Salvation Army near me is pretty good. All music cds are $2 (but sometimes the clerk sells them as tapes and I end up getting them cheaper when this guy does it). All games are $3 each usually. I flipped a Tales of Destiny and Xenogears from there for a hefty profit after copying them for myself. Somebody had left them there around Christmas.

Game consoles there can be kind of random though. Sometimes prices are a joke (Genesis 1 untested and not guaranteed from a thrift store is not worth $25-$30), but other times they're not so bad.

Part of the reason things at thrift stores should have lower price tags is because they are not guaranteed to work at all and there are usually no refunds or exchanges. Some stores will take refunds for broken systems like Xboxes but others won't. Best bet is to ask before buying.

When it comes to flipping items I am starting to think collecting some more niche items could be more profitable. I have one non-video game collection that people here thought was silly but there's a community for it out there selling stuff on ebay for bank because it is very hard to find certain vintage sets or pieces. Part of the reason for the collectability of Crayola crayons has to do with the fact that they had so many colors that were discontinued or re-branded many years later with new names on the labels. This one from the late 50's called "Light Blue" similar to Sky Blue is very rare and sought after by collectors. There's people bidding up boxes that look like the one those came in without there even being a guarantee it's included in the box! It could just be that the box design itself is pretty scarce though too. The oldest box I've found at a thrift store was a 24 pack from circa 1985 for 99 cents and it had 4 of those discontinued colors. It had tape on it which I peeled off, but the main point is even though I found it for $1 it is worth $5-$10 to somebody else.

I didn't think of it but it might be a good idea to search these thrift stores for certain kinds of action figures and comic books as well. I just usually stay out of the toy section because it's kind of embarrassing to hover around the kiddie toys, but one time I did pass through and found an original Game Boy for $4.

[sloan]

I have found so many excellent gaming deals at Goodwills in my area lately that I find myself on the opposite end of the spectrum: I cannot believe there are Goodwills that have had no good gaming finds for months or even years. Today, I got a good working condition Xbox system with two excellent condition controllers for $27, all cables included.

[spman]

I have found so many excellent gaming deals at Goodwills in my area lately that I find myself on the opposite end of the spectrum: I cannot believe there are Goodwills that have had no good gaming finds for months or even years. Today, I got a good working condition Xbox system with two excellent condition controllers for $27, all cables included.

Assuming we're talking about an original Xbox, that's really not a good deal at all. The market price on those have tanked, similar to the Dreamcast, and if you're paying more than $15 or so for one with wires and controllers in working condition, then you're getting ripped of.

Anyways, Goodwill here is hit and miss, more miss than hit usually, but when it does hit it hits good. Generally I have more luck finding stuff to flip at Goodwill rather than stuff I have much interest in keeping. Typically Goodwill is way overpriced as well, and the prices are totally inconsistent. They will have a huge stack of PS2 Sports titles marked $10 each, next to a pile of decent gameplay wise, but worthless value wise, Gamecube games for $3 a piece. I've made plenty of spending cash flipping stuff from Goodwill over the years though, so I really can't complain.

[sloan]

Thanks for the info, Debbie Downer.

Around my area, Xbox's in working condition are harder to come by. I have five I have picked up over the years, of which only one works. Most often, the DVD drive is toasted when I find them. Considering I paid $40 for one at a pawn shop before Christmas as a gift for a family member, $27 did not look like such a bad deal after all.

My main point, though, was that I have been finding lots of games, controllers, and consoles at Goodwills around my area as of late.

[spman]

Thanks for the info, Debbie Downer.

Around my area, Xbox's in working condition are harder to come by. I have five I have picked up over the years, of which only one works. Most often, the DVD drive is toasted when I find them. Considering I paid $40 for one at a pawn shop before Christmas as a gift for a family member, $27 did not look like such a bad deal after all.

My main point, though, was that I have been finding lots of games, controllers, and consoles at Goodwills around my area as of late.

Sorry, didn't mean to come off like a jerk. As long as you're happy, it doesn't matter what price you pay.

[kupomogli]

My closest Goodwill sucks. It's also 30 minutes away. There's another one that's an hour away so I never bothered checking it.

[wiggyx]

Even you guys getting the 'meh' deals have me beat. There are virtually no Goodwill stores near me and the one that is remotely close has NOTHING game-related, save for the occasional copy of SMB/Duck Hunt.

[sloan]

Picked up a SNES Super Scope CIB tonight for $15 at GW south of me. Not so bad, me thinks.

[BetaWolf47]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever found a *Salvation Army* store with fair prices? All of these in my area are pretty terrible. (copies of Sneak King priced at $7, and one of them has Mario Sunshine/Super Smash Bros. Melee at $60 apiece for used copies)
Got Pokemon Box: Ruby and Sapphire CIB sans memory card for $3.99 at one once, and some CIB Genesis games that were worth quite a bit more for the same price. This was out of town. In 5 years of hunts in my home town, the amount of things I've found at any thrift store is in the single digits.

[IHatedSega]

Picked up a SNES Super Scope CIB tonight for $15 at GW south of me. Not so bad, me thinks.

what does CIB mean? Came in box?

[saferkefka]

what does CIB mean? Came in box?


complete in box

[Pikkon]

The thing with goodwill is you have to go a lot if you ever want to find something,I have scored there quite a lot but most of the time I leave empty handed but the best deal I got was a GBA 101 for 10 bucks.

[The 1 2 P]

The thing with goodwill is you have to go a lot if you ever want to find something.

I've found that going alot(if the stores are actually close to you) often helps considering that they put out new merchandise daily. I've gone to the same store three days in a row and found stuff. But I've also gone to certain locations three or four times a week and didn't find anything. It all depends on what donations each store got that week. I use to try and get there during the days they put out Target clearances but those are completely hit or miss, mainly because some Goodwill's are pricing them much higher than they should.

[GamerTheGreek]

years ago 2001ish , i used to find a2600 games .99 ea. getting cazy climber for .99 was treat. now they did away with atari common nes snes games madden 95 96 arr 4.99 torn labels , stained with who knows what.

good will by me doesnt sell games. sometimes ps2 or xbox360 but nothing older. Outside of going to digital press in clifton and random hits at garage sales,flea matkets and estate sales, you cant find classic games. this is why now i am hard searching craigslist and ebay and ebid. no way else to find what i collect. and ebay prices seem high in my book on alot of the games. I dont think theres an 8 bit atari game valued over 150 in my eyes.

[spman]

years ago 2001ish , i used to find a2600 games .99 ea. getting cazy climber for .99 was treat. now they did away with atari common nes snes games madden 95 96 arr 4.99 torn labels , stained with who knows what.

good will by me doesnt sell games. sometimes ps2 or xbox360 but nothing older. Outside of going to digital press in clifton and random hits at garage sales,flea matkets and estate sales, you cant find classic games. this is why now i am hard searching craigslist and ebay and ebid. no way else to find what i collect. and ebay prices seem high in my book on alot of the games. I dont think theres an 8 bit atari game valued over 150 in my eyes.

My theory on the fact that you can no longer find any classics outside the realm of eBay and Amazon is that after a decade of hoarders, collectors, and resellers scouring the shelves of every thrift shop and tag sale across the country, there just isn't anything left. I maintain that the overwhelming majority pf games prior to the PS1 era are already in collectors hands or in the posession of a reseller who has them on eBay. That is why you very rarely see any older games besides junk sports titles available second hand.