What are your pet peeves when it comes to on-line shopping?

[Gameguy]

I would need games to be in good condition, unless they're so rare to find at all I'd just be happy to have a working copy. I get that plenty of people just care about the games themselves, appreciating how they play over just collecting them to keep on a shelf. I appreciate the whole game which includes the effort put into the box art and packaging. It makes sense to take care of things you appreciate so I want games to be in good condition, to show that they were appreciated by whoever previously owned them rather than abused like they were something worthless.

I pass on plenty of games I want for myself if they're too beat up for my tastes, it doesn't matter if they're cheaper than other copies if they're too beat up.

[GhostDog]

Retroguy, you seem to be exactly the type of person that this thread was created to complain about.

Video game collecting is about more than the disc "playing just fine". In fact, being able to simply play the game is one of the lesser driving forces in the hobby.

Well said. I get a thrill when I get a used game for a good price in mint condition. One of the thrills of the hunt.

[retroguy]

Retroguy, you seem to be exactly the type of person that this thread was created to complain about.

Video game collecting is about more than the disc "playing just fine". In fact, being able to simply play the game is one of the lesser driving forces in the hobby.

6262

Are you mental? If you don't buy games to play them, then why do you bother to spend your money on them? If you're not actually a gamer, than why are you even here?

[GhostDog]

6262

Are you mental? If you don't buy games to play them, then why do you bother to spend your money on them? If you're not actually a gamer, than why are you even here?

He's talking about being a collector. There is more to being a collector than just playing games. Some collect so many games that they don't even have time to play many of those games but they still enjoy the process of acquiring all those games. The condition is also important for most collectors. You wouldn't understand. You seem to be clueless on so many levels.

[retroguy]

I'm not clueless. I'm just aware of how important video games are in the grand sceme of things. Playing them is something I enjoy greatly, and if I happen to find a game I'm looking for in pristine condition, then hooray for me, but in the end, we need to remember that they're just toys. Attaching so much signifigance to them (as so many people unfortunately do), has a way of detaching you from the real world and can turn you into something ugly if you let it. You'll understand when you grow up. I hope.

[GhostDog]

I'm not clueless. I'm just aware of how important video games are in the grand sceme of things. Playing them is something I enjoy greatly, and if I happen to find a game I'm looking for in pristine condition, then hooray for me, but in the end, we need to remember that they're just toys. Attaching so much signifigance to them (as so many people unfortunately do), has a way of detaching you from the real world and can turn you into something ugly if you let it. You'll understand when you grow up. I hope.

You can say that to everything by saying, "so and so is not important in the grand scheme of things." People buy fancy homes, cars, clothes, etc. Some people care about that sort of thing and some don't. Nothing really matters because we all die at the end and can't take it with us but everyone has their reasons for doing what they do. Collectors have their reasons too.

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

6262

Are you mental? If you don't buy games to play them, then why do you bother to spend your money on them? If you're not actually a gamer, than why are you even here?

I can play almost any game in history without paying for it. My reasons for spending money on the hobby go beyond that. Troll some more if you wish.

[retroguy]

6263.

[GhostDog]

6263.

That's exactly how we feel when you post.

[retroguy]

Look, I'm never going to agree that I'm an idiot and you're never going to agree that you're a jerk, so why don't we both agree to just drop it before the mods get involved, okay? This whole thing has gotten way out of hand and if the ban hammer comes out, we all lose. Let's just swallow our pride and let it go. Peace.

[Daltone]

People collect all kinds of stuff. I knew a Chinese guy who collected Nike trainers. He had hundreds of pairs in boxes and would spend huge sums on them. To me, shoes are a practicality. He just enjoyed having loads of hard to find limited edition pairs - it was all about the thrill of the chase and the desire to have a complete collection. It's the same with games - the are either practical or they are items to chase and store. I don't see the problem with either approach, because there isn't one.

Anyway - online shopping. Someone has already mentioned it - but I can't stand it when people try to fleece you with the cost of shipping. If the list price is too good to be true it tends to mean that you will pay three times that in getting the thing put in the post. I doubt it actually fools that many people. It is just annoying when there are hundreds and hundreds of items listed like that.

[retroguy]

I know what you mean. I've been trying to get my hands on a Turbo Duo since I saw Chris Bucci's Turboviews series (which is excellent BTW) and the only ones I see that look reasonably priced are sold from Japan, so the shipping is almost as much as the system is. Grrr....

[Guyra]

@Retroguy: Have some theoretical examples.

If you were to marry(you might actually be married, for all I know), would you get your girlfriend a gold ring, perhaps even with diamonds, or would you find a plastic ring to give her, for the wedding day? Same function, slight difference in how it looks, and much cheaper. By your reasoning, a plastic ring would surely suffice.

Would you buy a really run down house(which would be more expensive to renovate than to build anew), or one that actually looked rather decent? Both give the same amount of safety, shelter, warmth, etc. You get the same function from each of them, but the run down house is much cheaper. The only difference is in how it is presented. By your reasoning, why would anyone pay more money for the nice looking house?

You've just bought your dream car, a Lamborghini, and you got it cheaper than most Lamborghinis of this kind. But it looks as if a horde of monkeys with sledgehammers went bananas on it. Still works just the same, motor is "like new", and you can still see perfectly fine out of the windows. But it has severe cosmetic damages. Huge dents and deep scratches all over, hood's completely missing, paint has come off several places. By your reasoning, as long as the Lamborghini still works as it should, and the engine inside the car is "like new," it's okay. Oh, and you can just get a new hood for it, perhaps even make it yourself.


I'm sorry, but I'd rather have a nice looking, presentable, and tidy collection, over a pile of loose discs(perhaps in a folder or two), plus bunch of covers that range all the way from pristine to "is this even a game cover?" And if a seller flat out lied about the quality of a game I bought(see my previous post about eBay item condition), then yes, I'd actually get annoyed and even demand money back.


Not to join in on the bashing, and I even see you on a couple of your arguments, but I don't agree with your reasoning here.

[retroguy]

Wait...what? Just because I feel the way I do about gaming, it doesn't follow that I would feel the same way about marriage or buying a house.

Here, read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

And this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasty_generalization

There's a major difference between life-altering decisions and something you do for fun in your spare time.

[JSoup]

@Retroguy: If you were to marry(you might actually be married, for all I know), would you get your girlfriend a gold ring, perhaps even with diamonds, or would you find a plastic ring to give her, for the wedding day? Same function, slight difference in how it looks, and much cheaper. By your reasoning, a plastic ring would surely suffice.

By Retroguy's logic, a gold ring, perhaps with diamonds, that is slightly used or baring a few marks would be just as good as either a new gold ring or the plastic one. There is a difference between buying something for the purposes of a collection, buying something for the use of the thing and buying something because you get some kind of "rush".

I was going to address your other two hypotheticals, but they both have the same reply I just gave. I get that some people collect for reasons beyond utility, but you all seem to have accepting the exact opposite. I buy games to play first and to collect second.

[Guyra]

Wait...what? Just because I feel the way I do about gaming, it doesn't follow that I would feel the same way about marriage or buying a house.
First of all, you are still just "buying thing." Life altering? A nice, couple of words to throw out there, but what has really changed? She wears a ring on her finger, and it says in a registry somewhere that you're together, despite having been together for maybe several years already - other than that, everything is just as it used to be. You lived in one house, now you live in another. You drove one car, now you drive another.

Marriage isn't life altering, moving in together, or splitting up certainly would be.
Buying a house isn't life altering, unless you're not already a homeowner, or the new house is placed drastically differently than the one you had - you could also change "buy" to "rent," or "house" to "apartment," if you would. So even if it was a life altering decision, the two houses you get to choose between are equal in every way possible, aside from looks.
And buying a car would only be life altering if you didn't already have one(or there was a huge cost difference in using the two), which perhaps I should've specified.

Straw man? Sure, to put forth a point. Hasty generalization? Not really, though I did manage to omit a couple of things in my hypothetical examples.

Secondly, you completely missed the whole point, which is that people feel differently about different things - something you don't seem to want to accept about others, but now you use it to defend your own argument.


PS: I'm not trying to be a dick, and I've got nothing against you at all. Just thought I'd mention that since it's easy to interpret things like that on forums. Cheers! :)

[JSoup]

Edit: You know what, forget it. retroguy, just let it go, you're not going to win against these kids.

[wiggyx]

Look, I'm never going to agree that I'm an idiot and you're never going to agree that you're a jerk, so why don't we both agree to just drop it before the mods get involved, okay? This whole thing has gotten way out of hand and if the ban hammer comes out, I will lose. Let's just swallow our pride and let it go. Peace.

Fixed for technical errors.

[kedawa]

People don't like being lied to about the condition of products they are buying. If the condition didn't matter, then it wouldn't even be mentioned in the description. This isn't a hard concept to understand

[GhostDog]

People don't like being lied to about the condition of products they are buying. If the condition didn't matter, then it wouldn't even be mentioned in the description. This isn't a hard concept to understand

Exactly. I paid a like-new price for something that wasn't like-new as it was described so wanting to get my money back is more than reasonable.

[Aussie2B]

I honestly don't understand why some people register for this board. Has Digital Press lost its identity to the extent that people don't even understand the most basic aspects of collecting, like people caring about the condition of the packaging? This is a site and forum FOR COLLECTORS, people. Things like condition, value, rarity, variants, etc. matter to us, even if Joe Shmoe gamer doesn't care about those things and is happy to trash up his game's case, throw away the manual, or whatever. Of course actually playing the games is important, in my opinion most important, but people have the capability to care about more than one aspect of the hobby. If all you care about is playing games and talking about playing games, there are probably other forums that would better suit your needs, where you can talk with people about whatever NES or SNES game they're emulating at the moment.

That said, I think you both represent two extremes. GhostDog does strike me as perhaps a little too excessively nitpicky or anal. It's one thing to be disappointed, another to always demand a refund every time a game isn't exactly what you were hoping it to be. Not every seller on eBay uses eBay a ton or is a game collector. They don't necessarily know precisely what "like new" means (they may indeed believe it only applies to the game itself), and they probably can't even fathom the miniscule details that diehard collectors care about. They probably imagine their buyer will be like them and not care about a couple flaws, or not even notice the existence of the flaws. eBay is a GAMBLE, as is any purchase where you can't hold and examine the item in person; this is something you learn in time after using eBay enough. If you're going to be anal, then you should ask every question needed to cover all your bases. I don't sell stuff on eBay a ton, but I know I always worry about getting particularly nitpicky buyers. That's why I write up a whole paragraph on the condition of the cart/disc, manual, case/box, and whatever else I can possibly think of, just to try to avoid someone complaining that I didn't inform them of some flaw, and even when I cover everything thoroughly, I still worry about getting some OCD collector who will decide that he doesn't like the condition after all and make a big stink.

[GhostDog]

I honestly don't understand why some people register for this board. Has Digital Press lost its identity to the extent that people don't even understand the most basic aspects of collecting, like people caring about the condition of the packaging? This is a site and forum FOR COLLECTORS, people. Things like condition, value, rarity, variants, etc. matter to us, even if Joe Shmoe gamer doesn't care about those things and is happy to trash up his game's case, throw away the manual, or whatever. Of course actually playing the games is important, in my opinion most important, but people have the capability to care about more than one aspect of the hobby. If all you care about is playing games and talking about playing games, there are probably other forums that would better suit your needs, where you can talk with people about whatever NES or SNES game they're emulating at the moment.

That said, I think you both represent two extremes. GhostDog does strike me as perhaps a little too excessively nitpicky or anal. It's one thing to be disappointed, another to always demand a refund every time a game isn't exactly what you were hoping it to be. Not every seller on eBay uses eBay a ton or is a game collector. They don't necessarily know precisely what "like new" means (they may indeed believe it only applies to the game itself), and they probably can't even fathom the miniscule details that diehard collectors care about. They probably imagine their buyer will be like them and not care about a couple flaws, or not even notice the existence of the flaws. eBay is a GAMBLE, as is any purchase where you can't hold and examine the item in person; this is something you learn in time after using eBay enough. If you're going to be anal, then you should ask every question needed to cover all your bases. I don't sell stuff on eBay a ton, but I know I always worry about getting particularly nitpicky buyers. That's why I write up a whole paragraph on the condition of the cart/disc, manual, case/box, and whatever else I can possibly think of, just to try to avoid someone complaining that I didn't inform them of some flaw, and even when I cover everything thoroughly, I still worry about getting some OCD collector who will decide that he doesn't like the condition after all and make a big stink.

If a game is not what I was hoping it to be then I am entitled to at least ask for a refund given the reasons especially when it's listed as "like-new" but has a puncture rip on the front cover insert and a permanent rental sticker that's attached onto the disc. That's not exactly "anal" and "excessively nitpicky" and I think even non collectors would find a problem with that since it's not as described and who wants to have a rip on the front cover art as well as a rental sticker on a disc? It's clearly a defaced item and blatantly misrepresented and not "like-new." If I paid for a "like-new" game I expect a "like-new" game or at least close to it. I bought a game that was listed as "like-new" but instead I'd say it was in "very good" condition but I didn't make a fuss about it and left positive feedback.

I am rather easygoing, actually. For example, I received SEGA Rally Revo today and it didn't come with the manual despite the listing saying "like-new." I went on eBay and managed to find a manual for a whopping $1.84 shipped so I bought it and messaged the seller letting them know that for future reference they may want to include something like that in their description. The seller thanked me for the message and said they realized the manual was missing after they were going to ship the game and offered to pay my eBay expense for the manual. I declined and said their price was good as it was and it was no big deal and left a positive feedback. Things like that I can let go since I did find a replacement manual for cheap but having the game disc defaced with some blatant rental sticker as well as having rips to the insert is not acceptable.

[retroguy]

I am a collecter in the sense that I go out of my way to find physical copies of old games I think I might enjoy. Emulation's nice, but I prefer to play on the original hardware. Where I take offense is when people tell me that I'm doing it wrong because I care more about playability than minty freshness. Did you ever see a youtube series called "Retro Hunters"? That's me in a nutshell.

[Cornelius]

I love online shopping, I've gotten so many great deals from the web. So it is hard to come up with a peeve. I guess mine comes more from a pricing angle. I often look at completed listings to decide what I should expect to pay for something or what to price it at if I'm selling. It is very common to see a random listing that sold for quite a lot more than other comps. That just bugs me. Not that it affects me in any meaningful way, it just makes me wonder wtf is wrong with people.


I am a collecter in the sense that I go out of my way to find physical copies of old games I think I might enjoy. Emulation's nice, but I prefer to play on the original hardware. Where I take offense is when people tell me that I'm doing it wrong because I care more about playability than minty freshness. Did you ever see a youtube series called "Retro Hunters"? That's me in a nutshell.

I just read through this thread and as far as I can tell no one has said you are "doing it wrong". On the other hand, you have said that about specific people in this thread as well as a large percentage of the rest of the membership on this site.

[sloan]

I just read through this thread and as far as I can tell no one has said you are "doing it wrong". On the other hand, you have said that about specific people in this thread as well as a large percentage of the rest of the membership on this site.

Yep..

[PROTOTYPE]

A little testy in here? About on-line shopping and collecting that I been doing for years. Today in the mail a Ps1 game in suppose mint condition..So, I open it and yes people it is! Case mint, manual mint, disc mint, back cover-art work mint....I say you! I love Collecting for these moments,Why? Well, I was a poor child growing up [ not kidding ] I got one present a year for Christmas and I would look at that Sears, wards, penny's,Catalogs like forever! Had to circle 3 toys which my mom would try to get and could only be of a certain price point.Well, I went over the price because I really wanted this robot that walk and stop then fire his machine guns while rotating... very cool. Long story I got it? The box artwork was Awesome, the toy was awesome, even the instruction manual. We are all trying to feel that way while collecting and yes even if the game sucks as this one I got today! People that just play games really don't understand this, Really its for the whole experience Of the hobby which my wife says quit calling it that. Again... I say You!..mint condition or like new condition well it better show up like my robot did!:bawling:

[GhostDog]

I am a collecter in the sense that I go out of my way to find physical copies of old games I think I might enjoy. Emulation's nice, but I prefer to play on the original hardware. Where I take offense is when people tell me that I'm doing it wrong because I care more about playability than minty freshness. Did you ever see a youtube series called "Retro Hunters"? That's me in a nutshell.

I'm fine with cart only for old games when they originally came in paper boxes like NES or SNES games. Most people threw out the boxes so cart only games still hold up their value well as opposed to disc only games. When it comes to cd based games that are recent I'm all about getting them complete in good condition.

[retroguy]

While there are certain specific games I'd like to have complete (the GTA series for instance because I like the way Rockstar did the manuals for those games as a brochure for the city), for the most part, I prefer to just walk into Gamestop, dig through their Buy 2 Get 1 Free bin, and go home with a stack. Out of four or five games, there's gotta be one that's good, right?

[Aussie2B]

Oh, I just thought of something that really irks me: when sellers state that a PlayStation game has a "black label" when a Greatest Hits version doesn't even exist. Yeah, no shit, Sherlock, that your Valkyrie Profile has a black spine. Sure, it doesn't hurt me as a buyer, but it's still annoying when people try to use something as a selling point when they have no idea what they're talking about.

[Tenjikuronin]

My pet peeve when it comes to buying games on Ebay is when I buy something and the package comes loaded with Christian Proselytising materials (brochures, paper, cards etc.) asking me if I've found Jesus.

[kedawa]

Hey, I like those!
I keep some by the door to trade with Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons when they stop by.

[GhostDog]

My pet peeve when it comes to buying games on Ebay is when I buy something and the package comes loaded with Christian Proselytising materials (brochures, paper, cards etc.) asking me if I've found Jesus.

I've never come across this before.

[Schiggidyd]

I got one I've been seeing lately on Ebay or Craigslist..

"Selling original nintendo with 5 games.
Mario, rad racer, i forgot the other 3"

That. When people are trying to sell something they have, and don't put forth the effort to tell us what we're buying.
Blows my mind!

[Tenjikuronin]

Hey, I like those!
I keep some by the door to trade with Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons when they stop by.

Not a bad idea. Some churches have those postage paid evelopes attached to their brochures -- I usually take those and re-insert (in pieces) the brochure and mail it back to whatever place it came from, similar to what some people do with credit card offers. I'm sure they really enjoy that LOL


I've never come across this before.

You're lucky -- I've gotten everything from brochures and pamphlets to Jack Chick comics. The worst was one time when someone glued a chruch advertisement to the front of a GTA 3 disc.:roll:

[AceAerosmith]

My biggest pet peeve with Ebay would be having to wade through the clutter of all the fucking old sports games people have listed with ridiculous prices.

Get all the fucking Maddens, NBA, NCAA, NHL, baseball...all that SHIT off the internet. "Yeah, you'll get $5.99 for NHLPA Hockey (SNES cart only) ."

[GhostDog]

Not a bad idea. Some churches have those postage paid evelopes attached to their brochures -- I usually take those and re-insert (in pieces) the brochure and mail it back to whatever place it came from, similar to what some people do with credit card offers. I'm sure they really enjoy that LOL



You're lucky -- I've gotten everything from brochures and pamphlets to Jack Chick comics. The worst was one time when someone glued a chruch advertisement to the front of a GTA 3 disc.:roll:

So they defaced a game disc they were selling? Did you get a refund?

[Tenjikuronin]

So they defaced a game disc they were selling? Did you get a refund?

I did manage to get a refund for the game. The seller feigned ignorance on how it got there and claimed "his kids did it" (yeah right). Needless to say, I tossed the game and eventually got a better copy.

[retroguy]

Good for you. I don't understand rejecting former rentals on principal, but even I would've returned that one.

[SaturnHST]

-When your items arrive and they smell like smoke, which the seller didn't mention.

-When boxed items like consoles don't include the inside cardboard inserts that hold everything in place, and the seller didn't mention it.

-When sellers just throw the items inside a box with no bubblewrap/packing peanuts and they rattle around and get bent, or when the sellers ship a boxed item in a bubble mailer which the item's box gets crushed and bent. The seller does not offer a partial refund. Then you have to either send it back for a refund (and lose money on return shipping), or keep the damaged item and take it as a loss also.

-When the seller slaps a sticker of their store onto the game's case before shipping it to you, which didn't appear on their listing photos.

-When sellers use stock photos.

-When sellers don't answer questions.

These are my experiences on ebay within the past month or two.

[retroguy]

I've never had any major problems with ebay, but that's probably because I'm extremely picky about which items I spend my money on. The only time I didn't get what I thought I was getting, it was my own fault because I didn't read the listing closely enough. Lesson learned.

[GhostDog]

I've never had any major problems with ebay, but that's probably because I'm extremely picky about which items I spend my money on. The only time I didn't get what I thought I was getting, it was my own fault because I didn't read the listing closely enough. Lesson learned.

Well, I hope you realize that most on here are picky too when it comes to what they spend their money on and when we don't get exactly what we spent our money on then we have issues with that. Often it's not our fault but the seller's fault for not describing the item honestly and properly or just blatantly misrepresenting it. So you get an item and are totally blindsided by the condition which is not what you paid for. As buyers we shouldn't just have to deal with that and not say anything when the game that we bought isn't as described. It seems that you defend the sellers more than the buyers and the buyers are the problem rather than the sellers.

[PROTOTYPE]

Here's one nobody mention, When you get a game that has a Punch hole threw the bar code all the way to the other side of the case or black magic marker line too!:yipes:

[GhostDog]

Here's one nobody mention, When you get a game that has a Punch hole threw the bar code all the way to the other side of the case or black magic marker line too!:yipes:

Yes, I just had a experience with that for the first time. I bought SEGA Rally Revo for PS3 from an Amazon seller that was listed as "like-new" but then in the description it said it was brand new. However, when I got it, it was sealed and looked new but when I flipped it over it had a huge punch hole through the barcode which lets me know that it's not exactly "like-new" or brand new as it was described. I returned it of course.

[The 1 2 P]

Yes, I just had a experience with that for the first time. I bought SEGA Rally Revo for PS3 from an Amazon seller that was listed as "like-new" but then in the description it said it was brand new. However, when I got it, it was sealed and looked new but when I flipped it over it had a huge punch hole through the barcode which lets me know that it's not exactly "like-new" or brand new as it was described. I returned it of course.

When people win brand new games in contest alot of times the holders of the contest punch holes in the games so the winner can't try to get a refund for them at a store. I won a Playstation contest years ago and got free games for a year. They were all factory sealed but had holes punched thru them. I still sold them on ebay(I didn't have a PS2 back then) but I mentioned the hole punch in the description, even though they were all brand new factory sealed games.

[xelement5x]

Here's one nobody mention, When you get a game that has a Punch hole threw the bar code all the way to the other side of the case or black magic marker line too!:yipes:

I get those occasionally. It's really frustrating when it's on the insert or manual.

Along those lines I sometimes get games with a big "P" (I'm assuming preowned, from a rental store) written on it with permanent marker. If it's the disc or case I don't mind so much as I can remove it, but I've never been able to remove permanent marker from a manual or inserts, I'm pretty sure it's impossible.

[The Clonus Horror]

...getting a game with someone's name or initials magic-markered on it, the case, or manual...

[DK1105]

The word "Mint" drives me insane because I almost never see it attached to anything half decent let alone mint. I also love the console + x number of games ads. I would like to know what the games are more so than how many there are. 1 good game rather than 5 random games that for all I know could be 5 copies of mario/ duck hunt.

[GamerTheGreek]

I would say on CraigsList you send an email on an item. then you follow up you hear nothing then a third email you hear its sold. Which is no problem but be nice if the ad came down. This bothered me in the beginning on my time on CL but now I send out so many links and then CC myself on the ad that i dont worry if they dont answer after the 2nd email. On ebay its the BINs alot are so high that you dont agree with the price. Someone has Sea Chase by romox cart only starting at 840.00+ and BIN is 998.00+ when everyone else has it listed for like 89.00 or 129.00 now I think 129 is still high and romox games should come in around 60 . but thats just my spending ability. The I got gold aspect kinda hurts buying 8 bit carts sometimes.

[GamerTheGreek]

eBay sellers fishing for prices. Atari8 bit can be rare and hard to find but if the demand isn't that high and the pockets aren't that deep then I guess it's not worth what your asking.

Romox games on eBay between 65-800$. Others 100+ I would pay 50 to 75 unless really something I value that much. The stuff just sits on eBay so noone is knocking doors down to buy em. I do much better on Craigslist. Yeah if I valued eBay prices I'd be stealing these items from the CL sellers but noone is buying so the prices can't be right. One ebayer I buy from gives me 50% off on anything they have. Yeah half off what does that say about the prices..... Ill leave that to you.

[Zing]

My only beef with online purchases is that there is no one source for everything I want. Retro stores online are useless in regards to stock levels. eBay requires paying shipping costs repeatedly. I'd love if there were a one-stop-shop. For example, if I want books, I can hit up amazon for out of print and new books. If I want Magic the Gathering cards, I can buy virtually any card made over the past 18 years from one online store.

[wiggyx]

My only beef with online purchases is that there is no one source for everything I want. Retro stores online are useless in regards to stock levels. eBay requires paying shipping costs repeatedly. I'd love if there were a one-stop-shop. For example, if I want books, I can hit up amazon for out of print and new books. If I want Magic the Gathering cards, I can buy virtually any card made over the past 18 years from one online store.

You have to pay shipping for each item on amazon no matter if its from the same seller or not, so why is that acceptable but paying shipping for multiple items on eBay isn't?

Not trying to be a troll, just curious why it's acceptable on one site and not on another.

[Skritche]

1. Stock Images
2. These things! (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Retro-NES-Entertainment-System-FC-Game-Console-Black-/140592737148?pt=Video_Games&hash=item20bbfaeb7c)
3. Low prices, High shipping
4. Misleading titles
5. Last-minute bidders
6. Outrageously horrible deals

[ZDog]

1. When people use stock photos
2. When people say a game is "New" even though it has been opened or used
3. When a listing's picture is angled or a picture which was taken far away but when you receive the game the case falls apart
4. People who sell countless bootlegged copies of games like this (http://myworld.ebay.com/xuanpan945?_trksid=p2047675.l2559) and nobody is suspicious of how somebody happens to have over 50 lots of the same games
5. People who think that if anything is old, it's rare

[recorderdude]

5. Last-minute bidders

I can agree with all but this, to an extent. I almost always snipe auctions and do it for a reason.

1. I'm only entering the maximum price I'm willing to pay, and keeping it to myself. Making small, lower bids or one high bid earlier drums up popularity (and auction newbies), bidding the game up until they're the "current" winners and making the game cost more than I'm willing to pay. By entering my max price in the last few seconds, I prevent those kids from bidding the item up for nothing but the sake of winning, and I also prevent myself from paying more than I really want to for nothing but the sake of winning.
2. I can change my mind. Once you hit that "place bid" button, you HAVE to buy the item if you win it. If I decide a few minutes before the end that I really don't want to buy an item, or that there's something better, I am free to cancel my bid before I make it.

However, that being said, I can NOT stand overbidders - people who enter an unreasonably high amount for an item soely to win it and spoil the auction for others. If you're going to snipe, snipe fairly - it'll bite you in the ass eventually when you don't and you end up paying $50 for a copy of mario/duckhunt because someone else had the same idea as you.

[wiggyx]

I don't mind last minute bidding, as I sometimes do it myself, but it's last minute chip bidders that PISS ME OFF!

I love how you can only make 3 best offers on an item before eBay locks you out, but you can bid 100 times on a single item in 30 seconds all day long.

[recorderdude]

I don't mind last minute bidding, as I sometimes do it myself, but it's last minute chip bidders that PISS ME OFF!

I love how you can only make 3 best offers on an item before eBay locks you out, but you can bid 100 times on a single item in 30 seconds all day long.

Here, Here! Chip bidders of any sort are a royal pain. I usually place my bid 7-10 seconds before the item ends so they (usually) don't have the chance to chip it up. I also favor auctions that end in odd hours of the night so there's less of a chance of them being up to chip.