My $.02 on the retro game pricing insanity

[TheRetroVideoGameAddict]

I also think that selling video games and trying to keep up with the eBay and online pricing would get tiring. I've tried selling stuff in the past I am a fan of, I've had a comic book online store as well as an online store for action figures and I felt that all the buying cheap and selling high was taking my love for the hobby out of it and I began treating everything like a business. When I realized that I wasn't having any fun and I was looking at everything as if it had a value I quickly stopped and went back to being a collector and hobbyist.

Video games is a fun hobby for me. I love to collect the games and play them both alone and with friends, but if I wanted to make a living off of it I'd be afraid that I'd look at everything as if it had a value and I would really shoot myself in the foot in the end. No freakin' thanks.

[JSoup]

What I now understand since I made that statement is that it is frowned upon to make reproductions of games released in North America (eg Little Samson) reason being it would devalue the current games and potentially cause an influx of fake copies into the market.

And lord knows, cutting into the profits of greedy resellers and the inflate-o-matic that is Nintendo Age would be a complete and total injustice. Lowering prices and giving people what they want for their collections at reasonable rates? That would be terrible.

[wiggyx]

Retail repros are just bad juju. Don't get me wrong, I totally see your point. I also want an actual, physical cart for a lot of the rarer SNES games that I'll never own unless the bubble seriously bursts, but there isn't a lot of love for the makers of retail repros in the community.

[mailman187666]

I also think that selling video games and trying to keep up with the eBay and online pricing would get tiring. I've tried selling stuff in the past I am a fan of, I've had a comic book online store as well as an online store for action figures and I felt that all the buying cheap and selling high was taking my love for the hobby out of it and I began treating everything like a business. When I realized that I wasn't having any fun and I was looking at everything as if it had a value I quickly stopped and went back to being a collector and hobbyist.

Video games is a fun hobby for me. I love to collect the games and play them both alone and with friends, but if I wanted to make a living off of it I'd be afraid that I'd look at everything as if it had a value and I would really shoot myself in the foot in the end. No freakin' thanks.

I can agree with this. When I first started collecting, I wasn't really looking to re-sell. Now-a-days, I try not to buy anything unless I know I can make a profit from it if I do try and sell, when I need extra money. This causes me to walk out of flea markets sometimes empty handed. I always, at least, try to pay below average e-bay prices at the very least, if its something I'm looking to add to my own collection. I'm not actually a re-seller, but I do try and find the bargains because sometimes I need that extra $50 to help pay my bills, and that couple games I scored can make the difference when I'm paying rent at the end of the month.

[Gamevet]

I only read the posts on the 1st and last page. So, I don't know if this has been mentioned.

I notice that the prices sort of flow with the new console releases and as the older consoles are dying down. Once people have started losing interest in their newer consoles, they'll start looking to purchase retro games, that they had wanted to play. I find myself looking at more retro games, once I've gotten over the initial rush of a new console.

[Tanooki]

Jsoup agreed. Anything that'll harm the value of these overly inflated old games I'm good with. They're games, not traded commodities like oil and precious minerals.

Flam -- Do NOT apologize. I'll put it out there, you want to make a like for like looking copy of Little Samson I'll buy it from you plain and simple. The $500 price tag on that game is pure bullshit.

[Polygon]

Jsoup agreed. Anything that'll harm the value of these overly inflated old games I'm good with. They're games, not traded commodities like oil and precious minerals.

Flam -- Do NOT apologize. I'll put it out there, you want to make a like for like looking copy of Little Samson I'll buy it from you plain and simple. The $500 price tag on that game is pure bullshit.

There is another option that goes along the lines of the recent label discussion. You can get a black label game with the Famicom converter. Buy a Japanese version of the games. Place it in the black label cart with the converter. Then print out a U.S. label. Granted, the Japanese version of Little Sampson is around $100 right now and climbing. If you're going to do that, I'd do it now.

[Tanooki]

Oh I know I'm aware of Lickle. In the end the only loss there is the in game text and a different title screen(not an issue.) Sure it's cheaper by hundreds of dollars, it is an option.

[Zing]

The Little Sampson thing is annoying, because I would love to have it to play on my NES. Meanwhile, it is collecting dust on the shelves of people trying for a full set unplayed. The sad thing is that the price may never come down. These collectors who have paid hundreds for the game will fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy and refuse to sell if there is any downward price pressure, keeping the supply low.

[TheRetroVideoGameAddict]

Local owners aside, I find that online retailers are just as bad with their prices with the only difference being that you can't talk them down (not that you can with many small shop owners) and that you have to pay shipping. Take a crappy site like DKoldies for example, they put an extremely high "retail" price on their NES games with their "low" price underneath. The problem is that their "low" price is higher than any price I've basically ever seen. Take The Legend of Zelda for instance. They have it as a gold cart for $28.99 (shipping not included) with retail being $40, which is absurd because if they're comparing it to what price you'd find it for in retro game shops and on eBay than they're completely off. I can go on eBay and get Zelda for under $15 if I shop smart. Also, most shop owners in the area have it for under $20 in their cases, so where the hell do they get off selling it for $28.99? A smaller example would be the first TMNT game which they have listed for $8.99 with a retail price of $15.99. Now, I've seen this game on eBay and in collections at small shops for anywhere between $.99 to $2, so where is this $15.99 retail price coming from and why are they selling it for $8.99? Even competing websites have this game for under $4, so what gives? Castlevania for $30, Super Mario 3 for $20, and it goes on and on on that website. The prices on JJGames are much cheaper (although still high) and I would shop with them any day of the week before I bought anything from DKoldies due to their terrible prices, that site can go screw themselves.

/rant.

[Immutable]

A smaller example would be the first TMNT game which they have listed for $8.99 with a retail price of $15.99. Now, I've seen this game on eBay and in collections at small shops for anywhere between $.99 to $2, so where is this $15.99 retail price coming from and why are they selling it for $8.99?



Simple. They created a competing bogyman to scare ignorant customers into buying their "cheap goods". ;)

[wiggyx]

Yup, that's the oldest trick in the book. Right up there with stores marking items UP just before a big sale so that it appears they've actually discounted items far more than they have. Gets the suckers all the time.

[PizzaKat]

Local owners aside, I find that online retailers are just as bad with their prices with the only difference being that you can't talk them down (not that you can with many small shop owners) and that you have to pay shipping. Take a crappy site like DKoldies for example, they put an extremely high "retail" price on their NES games with their "low" price underneath. The problem is that their "low" price is higher than any price I've basically ever seen. Take The Legend of Zelda for instance. They have it as a gold cart for $28.99 (shipping not included) with retail being $40, which is absurd because if they're comparing it to what price you'd find it for in retro game shops and on eBay than they're completely off. I can go on eBay and get Zelda for under $15 if I shop smart. Also, most shop owners in the area have it for under $20 in their cases, so where the hell do they get off selling it for $28.99? A smaller example would be the first TMNT game which they have listed for $8.99 with a retail price of $15.99. Now, I've seen this game on eBay and in collections at small shops for anywhere between $.99 to $2, so where is this $15.99 retail price coming from and why are they selling it for $8.99? Even competing websites have this game for under $4, so what gives? Castlevania for $30, Super Mario 3 for $20, and it goes on and on on that website. The prices on JJGames are much cheaper (although still high) and I would shop with them any day of the week before I bought anything from DKoldies due to their terrible prices, that site can go screw themselves.

/rant.

A little late on this thread, but I had the same problem just recently. I was checking some guys store where he mostly sells new gen games, systems etc. There was a section for the retro games behind a glass case. So I go searching for anything good. I noticed he had Bucky O Hare which Ive heard great things about. I knew it was a 40 dollar game and wanted to see what he had it for. He had it for 60 not including tax so total would be 67, Im like whoa! So then he replies that Amazon is to blame. I mention Ebay and he's just like no Amazon. Later when I got home I checked Amazon and it was going for like 40-45. So the idiot is just making BS to cover for his ridiculous price. I asked prices for Pilotwings...$20 Baseball Stars 2 $28..I saw a copy of Fantasy Zone for the Sega Master System inbox had no price. So I asked how much and he goes that he has to look up the price. I just got annoyed so left. Im pretty sure those games are going to sit there.
Another store is charging 19.99 for TMNT. I bought the thing for $3 total on Ebay. This store also charges way above EBay. They have a lot of stock but the reason they have so much is because if their asinine prices. They have a few vids on Youtube. These retro stores look cool but only because they overprice everything. These stores I don't support and could not care if they go under.

[PizzaKat]

Contra for $17 isn't crazy, it's a $20 game and it's been that way for at least several years. A game store close to me has a loose copy priced at $100 and that's a crazy price for Contra.

Lol I know what store your mentioning. Well I think I do. Its right near a Pizza Pizza right? That is pathetic. I did manage to snag a few decent deals I guess you can call them. For the most part that stores a joke.

[zakthedodo]

Does this individual run charities for a living?
Ohhh! Top rated seller as well.
Say what you want, but this game (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Racing-A1-Agetec-Sony-Playstation-PS1-DISK-ONLY-/230940981202?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item35c527b7d2) at that price you'd be a fool not to ask he he has a couple more hanging around for the same price.

[bigbacon]

As long as the price inflation stays mostly on the Nintendo side of things, I'll stay a happy person. Sega stuff just doesn't move, specially SMS.

It is sad though, I would really like a copy of contra, but I refuse to pay 20+ dollars for it when there are probably a bajillion copies of it out there.

As much as I would hate to admit it, I would do what some of the others have suggested and get versions from somewhere else and slap it in a US game cart and consider it done, specially to complete a collection because of things like stadium events.

[Daria]

I'm guilty of it too, but sometimes it amuses me when collectors so adamantly refuse to pay something in the under a $100 range for a game that retains its value when new titles cost $60+ and depreciate rapidly.

I know everyone wants to score a "deal", but seriously with a few chase examples games aren't actually worth all that much. $20 for a game you'll keep as long as you care to is about the same cost as eating for two at Wendy's.

[Tanooki]

Can't say I'd blame you one bit bacon. There's a few notable NES titles that really were just re-stickered and put on a 72pin board for the system you could totally get away with that crap using a Nintendo in cart adapter for the board. Only you or the next guy, if he had a security bit, would ever know. I'm positive just discussing this would piss some people off, but hell it's your theoretical property so do whatever you want with it as no one has a right to tell you or force you to do otherwise.

I've seen talk of people rebadging PAL Little Samson into NTSC look alike shells due to the horrid price it floats, and if people are doing this and seriously discussing it as a possibility now you know things have got out of hand.

[Gameguy]

Lol I know what store your mentioning. Well I think I do. Its right near a Pizza Pizza right? That is pathetic. I did manage to snag a few decent deals I guess you can call them. For the most part that stores a joke.
That's the one, it's in the same plaza as that Pizza Pizza. I think they reduced the price of Contra to $60 recently but it's still too high. I only went back recently because I was told they were looking for certain things including broken consoles. They offered a fair amount in trade value but I really wanted cash, and while the trade value was fair what they had available for trade was overpriced so spending $30 in trade for an item really worth $5 wasn't worth it to me. It's nice to know more members are near my area.


As for refusing to spend much on games even with them having value, I'm basically like this with common games. If I could find actual rare games for cheap prices I see no reason to buy a common game for a large amount of money, especially not for loose carts. I know I'll find those common games eventually for a good price.

[wiggyx]

As long as the price inflation stays mostly on the Nintendo side of things, I'll stay a happy person. Sega stuff just doesn't move, specially SMS.

It is sad though, I would really like a copy of contra, but I refuse to pay 20+ dollars for it when there are probably a bajillion copies of it out there.

As much as I would hate to admit it, I would do what some of the others have suggested and get versions from somewhere else and slap it in a US game cart and consider it done, specially to complete a collection because of things like stadium events.

It hasn't been just Nintendo for a while now. Saturn games have gone through the roof (the good ones at least). TG-16 has become quite pricey as well. AES carts keep going up. What was once "holy crap, that's the price of one game?!", has become "Oh God, there's no way on Earth that I'm gonna be picking that title up. Ever."

The one that blows my mind is the Virtual Boy. There was a point when landfills were refusing to take any more, and now they're actually worth something despite being the most awful thing that Nintendo ever produced.

[bigbacon]

It hasn't been just Nintendo for a while now. Saturn games have gone through the roof (the good ones at least). TG-16 has become quite pricey as well. AES carts keep going up. What was once "holy crap, that's the price of one game?!", has become "Oh God, there's no way on Earth that I'm gonna be picking that title up. Ever."

The one that blows my mind is the Virtual Boy. There was a point when landfills were refusing to take any more, and now they're actually worth something despite being the most awful thing that Nintendo ever produced.

Yea, I always kick myself for not picking up a virtual boy many years ago when I used to see them for sale, CIB with near complete sets of games and accessories for next to nothing. :(

I guess with Sega stuff it is the 8bit/16bit stuff that is still dirt cheap. I think most of the SMS games I have now that are CIB (which is all of them) cost me no more than $7.50. Maybe about 6 of them actually cost more than $20. Though most of he ones I have left to get are the 15+ range.

[wiggyx]

I've been grabbing a lot of genesis stuff for that very reason. Very few super pricey titles (for now...)

[Mattiekrome]

I find this thread quite entertaining, as I've often wondered about the bubble bursting myself. I've got tens of thousands of baseball cards at home, most not worth the cardboard that they are printed on. Times have changed, there's so much to do these days, not like I remember back in the mid 80's before Nintendo became a household name. Now with the Internet, smart phones, current gen video games, 500 channels on TV, I've got a feeling that children these days don't have that same urge to collect that I remember having when I was a child. There's just too much to do, and everything happens so fast in today's world.

I'm still a collector, it's part of me, it's in my blood. A lot of times, it has nothing to do with monetary value, but just the satisfaction of collecting. I had a college fraternity brother I went to school with. He played for 10 years in the NFL, and has probably over 75 different football cards that were printed. All of these cards are practically common (unless short print or variant), but I've been collecting them since 2001. Still not done, and haven't really added any thing new In a couple years, but I still look online every now and then to see if I can find some of the 1/1's out there for sale. It's just a satisfying feeling adding a missing piece to a collection that up put so much time and love in to.

Now this makes me wonder. My father in law is a big time antiques and pottery collector. A couple months ago, he mentioned that the antique market in our area has slowly declined over the last few years. 10 years ago he could have sold one of his antique kitchen tables for $3000, but now he'd only be able to get half of that out of it. He said that its because the younger generation (meaning his daughter and me) just don't have the same interest in antiques as his generation does. As the Oder crowd gets too old and feeble or dies off, there's nobody there to pick up the slack, eventually the market just can't survive with decreased demand and goes the same way as 80s/90s card collecting.

looking at today's children, or the ones from a a few years back, what will they be into as they try to recapture their youth once they graduate school and get a source of income. 25 years from now, what will today's kids be collecting? I can't think of anything really "collectible" in the same sense as baseball cards, comic books, action figures, matchbox cars, or retro games that has come out for today's kids. Then again, I've not really been paying close attention. I thought maybe Beanie Babies , but that was a really short lived fad, lol.

[bigbacon]

looking at today's children, or the ones from a a few years back, what will they be into as they try to recapture their youth once they graduate school and get a source of income. 25 years from now, what will today's kids be collecting? I can't think of anything really "collectible" in the same sense as baseball cards, comic books, action figures, matchbox cars, or retro games that has come out for today's kids. Then again, I've not really been paying close attention. I thought maybe Beanie Babies , but that was a really short lived fad, lol.

one o fthe big problems here is the stuff won't work. it will either be broken or just unusable because of some other outside means.

[JakeM]

looking at today's children, or the ones from a a few years back, what will they be into as they try to recapture their youth once they graduate school and get a source of income. Then again, I've not really been paying close attention.

I think its kinda naive to think people will stop collecting anything. Bad economy or not people will still collect stuff. Maybe older games wont be collected as much because people already have their copies of SNES games, and the only people looking for stuff want PS2 era games, but by that point those will be retro. Right now theres $10 and $5 copies of God of War crowding selves, and in 5 years theyll be $30 to $50.

[Bojay1997]

I think its kinda naive to think people will stop collecting anything. Bad economy or not people will still collect stuff. Maybe older games wont be collected as much because people already have their copies of SNES games, and the only people looking for stuff want PS2 era games, but by that point those will be retro. Right now theres $10 and $5 copies of God of War crowding selves, and in 5 years theyll be $30 to $50.

That's not what he said at all. In fact, he said that he doesn't know what they will be collecting to recapture memories of their youth. I tend to agree with his points and I think the antique example is a great one. There will always be people who collect antiques and coins and stamps and comics and everything else. That doesn't mean that the number of collectors will continue to grow or that values will remain high.

I do think at some point that near instantaneous distribution technology will be so cheap and so ubiquitous that the idea of having a closet or room full of plastic cartridges and optical discs of games in their original format will seem unexciting to most people. I remember how I used to eagerly await the weekly new release DVDs at Costco and Best Buy and now the idea of owning a copy of a movie on an optical disc seems downright ridiculous to me in most cases. Same thing with music CDs. I haven't reached that point yet with games, but the day will soon come when massive libraries of older games are available on demand on many digital devices without the need to buy them for a specific device, for next to nothing, and when it does, I find it hard to believe that all but the most dedicated collectors will be actively collecting libraries full of older games.

[Daria]

I haven't reached that point yet with games, but the day will soon come when massive libraries of older games are available on demand on many digital devices without the need to buy them for a specific device, for next to nothing, and when it does, I find it hard to believe that all but the most dedicated collectors will be actively collecting libraries full of older games.

ROMs? I know it's a dirty word around here but seriously, you just described emulation (which personally I think has done more to fuel collecting habits rather than extinguish them).

[Bojay1997]

ROMs? I know it's a dirty word around here but seriously, you just described emulation (which personally I think has done more to fuel collecting habits rather than extinguish them).

No, I'm talking about properly licensed massive commercial libraries of video game content that can be accessed from any device virtually instantly. We are still a few years away from having the infrastructure needed to do that for the most part (ultra-high speed wi-fi everywhere and next generation broadband, as well as massive and inexpensive cloud based storage), but it's clearly coming and it's really more of a matter of publishers having the will to participate and understanding the financial value.

While ROMs may heighten your collecting habits, I think it has exactly the opposite impact on many consumers. I mean look at how many millions of people bought those Intellivison and Atari branded TV units. That certainly didn't translate into a massive new pool of collectors for those systems. If anything, it satisfied their urge and gave them an option other than hunting down an original unit and cartridges.

[BricatSegaFan]

ROMs? I know it's a dirty word around here but seriously, you just described emulation (which personally I think has done more to fuel collecting habits rather than extinguish them).

Its sounds like he's talking about services like virtual console or xbla downloads and such.

Edit: looks like someone beat me to the punch

[JSoup]

No, I'm talking about properly licensed massive commercial libraries of video game content that can be accessed from any device virtually instantly.

We have that now.
The system is called "torrent the ROMs".
Don't even need all that fancy technology you were talking about, a standard 56K connection can acquire the entire library for four of five systems in under an hour.

Edit: Before we all get bent out of shape, I'm being facetious.

[Bojay1997]

We have that now.
The system is called "torrent the ROMs".
Don't even need all that fancy technology you were talking about, a standard 56K connection can acquire the entire library for four of five systems in under an hour.

Edit: Before we all get bent out of shape, I'm being facetious.

Sure, but most consumers aren't going to torrent ROMs just like they won't download movies even though both are fairly easy to do. A lot of consumers also aren't super comfortable with emulators unless they are fully integrated into whatever device they are using. The point is that we are rapidly reaching the point where there will be massive amounts of every kind of entertainment available to the majority of consumers at all times with no effort required and that kind of environment is likely going to change how most people feel about actually owning physical pieces of media when there isn't a need. That doesn't mean that there won't be collectors, of course there will be. I think it does mean, however, that the collector pool will shrink to something more niche like it was a decade or two ago and values will drop significantly, at least on anything that isn't extremely rare and totally pristine and complete.

[JSoup]

Sure, but most consumers aren't going to torrent ROMs just like they won't download movies even though both are fairly easy to do.

I see this as something that will eventually solve itself, as more people become aware of the faster, illegal route, although that will come with it's own set of consequences. I get a similar feeling when I watch these pawn shop shows or that storage hunters things....are people not aware of the internet when they price/sell things?

[Bojay1997]

I see this as something that will eventually solve itself, as more people become aware of the faster, illegal route, although that will come with it's own set of consequences. I get a similar feeling when I watch these pawn shop shows or that storage hunters things....are people not aware of the internet when they price/sell things?

I don't know, iTunes has sort of shown that if you give consumers a very easy way to purchase downloads at a reasonable price that they will do it in droves. I suspect games will join movies and music as commodities that companies like Apple and Netflix and Amazon will bundle into all you can eat entertainment streaming packages in the near future and when that happens and the technology catches up to make ultra high speed low cost Wi-Fi and broadband available everywhere, there really won't be much of a demand for packaged goods or frankly pirated goods, at least if the pricing model is done right.

[wiggyx]

I find this thread quite entertaining, as I've often wondered about the bubble bursting myself. I've got tens of thousands of baseball cards at home, most not worth the cardboard that they are printed on. Times have changed, there's so much to do these days, not like I remember back in the mid 80's before Nintendo became a household name. Now with the Internet, smart phones, current gen video games, 500 channels on TV, I've got a feeling that children these days don't have that same urge to collect that I remember having when I was a child. There's just too much to do, and everything happens so fast in today's world.

I'm still a collector, it's part of me, it's in my blood. A lot of times, it has nothing to do with monetary value, but just the satisfaction of collecting. I had a college fraternity brother I went to school with. He played for 10 years in the NFL, and has probably over 75 different football cards that were printed. All of these cards are practically common (unless short print or variant), but I've been collecting them since 2001. Still not done, and haven't really added any thing new In a couple years, but I still look online every now and then to see if I can find some of the 1/1's out there for sale. It's just a satisfying feeling adding a missing piece to a collection that up put so much time and love in to.

Now this makes me wonder. My father in law is a big time antiques and pottery collector. A couple months ago, he mentioned that the antique market in our area has slowly declined over the last few years. 10 years ago he could have sold one of his antique kitchen tables for $3000, but now he'd only be able to get half of that out of it. He said that its because the younger generation (meaning his daughter and me) just don't have the same interest in antiques as his generation does. As the Oder crowd gets too old and feeble or dies off, there's nobody there to pick up the slack, eventually the market just can't survive with decreased demand and goes the same way as 80s/90s card collecting.

looking at today's children, or the ones from a a few years back, what will they be into as they try to recapture their youth once they graduate school and get a source of income. 25 years from now, what will today's kids be collecting? I can't think of anything really "collectible" in the same sense as baseball cards, comic books, action figures, matchbox cars, or retro games that has come out for today's kids. Then again, I've not really been paying close attention. I thought maybe Beanie Babies , but that was a really short lived fad, lol.

Or it could just be that our economy is in the crapper.

[Yorkie]

The best way to get back at the resellers is to list $150 games for $1.

Ya know, to get revenge and stuff.

*refreshes ebay search*

[JSoup]

I don't know, iTunes has sort of shown that if you give consumers a very easy way to purchase downloads at a reasonable price that they will do it in droves. I suspect games will join movies and music as commodities that companies like Apple and Netflix and Amazon will bundle into all you can eat entertainment streaming packages in the near future and when that happens and the technology catches up to make ultra high speed low cost Wi-Fi and broadband available everywhere, there really won't be much of a demand for packaged goods or frankly pirated goods, at least if the pricing model is done right.

In all practicality, I see it going both ways. People accepting the convenient streaming methods and some level of piracy. I already see people doing this, hell I do this. If I can find something I'm looking by simply dialing it up on Netflix, great. If not, off to search torrents.

[MarioMania]

Me I never sell any games in my collection, I took a 2013 New Years Res...But Last Year

I lost like 4 hard to find game & it hurts not having it in my bins with my other games, But I had to trade to get something

With the TurboGrafx-16, I love the system..I traded 3 game for it..I don't regret getting a TG-16, But I'm begenning to play the NES and SNES Games more then the TurboGrafx ..So 3 games missing now hurt..

Mega Man 5, Mighty Final Fight, Mega Man 2..I have a Dupe of MM2 so I got that, I also got the Famicom Mighty Final Fight, But that's not the same...

Mighty Final Fight & Mega Man 5 I got at Gamecrazy for $5 each...

Mega Man X2 traded for a Boxed Avenue Pad 6...Now MMX2 goes for over $100

I'm just upset at Greedy Dicks who drive up Games, If it's Nintendo expect to sell out of your ass for a Game

Owner of Retro Stores who jacks up the prices just they can, They can go fuck them self serious..I had enought

Fuck Amazon, Ebay, Craiglist, Retro Stores

[bigbacon]

^---

the only people driving up prices are the ones that are paying said prices. if people don't buy, prices come down. it isn't amazons or ebays fault..

it is a market like any other.

[Greg2600]

I really do feel that the reason is that more people are collecting than ever before. For whatever the reason. People may scoff, but the popularity of the YouTube starts like the AVGN, or a couple of my favorites (Metal Jesus Rocks, Game Sack, Alpha Omega Sin) have only made it "cooler" to collect games. Now granted that's not going to push up the price for a run of the mill Genesis or SNES game.

Though it will increase the demand on the games everyone wants to have, like Castlevania's, Mario's, Zelda's, etc. How far back does it go? I think it stops with NES, as any kid old enough to have even seen an Atari growing up has already passed that "I want to recapture my childhood phase." I say that because prices on the old, old stuff have not risen much.

[swlovinist]

Another thing to remember is that while alot of Nintendo prices have gone up, Some prices have remained stable. Atari 2600 loose common games are still affordable. Its the popular and high end games that are really selling for alot right now. Also some PS1 stuff is still affordable as well as some Xbox games. You just have to be smart about what to collect and when.

[wiggyx]

In all practicality, I see it going both ways. People accepting the convenient streaming methods and some level of piracy. I already see people doing this, hell I do this. If I can find something I'm looking by simply dialing it up on Netflix, great. If not, off to search torrents.

This is pretty much exactly what I do.

[bigbacon]

Another thing to remember is that while alot of Nintendo prices have gone up, Some prices have remained stable. Atari 2600 loose common games are still affordable. Its the popular and high end games that are really selling for alot right now. Also some PS1 stuff is still affordable as well as some Xbox games. You just have to be smart about what to collect and when.

agreed. The price hikes are really, for the most part, only on the Nintendo system. I've been collecting SMS and stuff is dirt cheap. Hell even local stores don't know what to do with SMS stuff because it doesn't sell.

[calgon]

Interesting points in this thread. It's been a very long time since I've scoured a flea market or goodwill hoping to find a gem but the older and more financially stable I get it becomes more and more practical to just buy them off ebay despite the inflated price. I think it's just the new reality that these games went up in value and we should be paying more for them sort of the same way that gas and taxes will always rise.

[Sailorneorune]

Pricing for popular classic games has gotten out of hand. One of my colleagues at work dug a boxed Kirby Super Star out of storage, and had no SNES to play it on. Like a dumbass, I offered to help her get a console, since she was not happy with the Virtual Console. Getting the console was no problem, and thankfully, I already have a spare copy of one of the more expensive non-RPG titles (Super Mario All-Stars) to put in with it...

but it has been an absolute BITCH trying to get Link to the Past. :angry:

Cart-only copies in good shape? $25+. Cart-only copies with half the label gone? About $20. And that's if you want it mailed in a bubble mailer that was already used (at least) once. :bullshit:

I know it will probably be a bad time to seek out LttP until Link Between Worlds is out and people have this case of the nostalgia virus out of their system, but copies have all but disappeared locally. I've given many people deals on hard-to-find titles before, and I don't feel it's too much to ask for people to help me out for a change.

[BricatSegaFan]

Pricing for popular classic games has gotten out of hand. One of my colleagues at work dug a boxed Kirby Super Star out of storage, and had no SNES to play it on. Like a dumbass, I offered to help her get a console, since she was not happy with the Virtual Console. Getting the console was no problem, and thankfully, I already have a spare copy of one of the more expensive non-RPG titles (Super Mario All-Stars) to put in with it...

but it has been an absolute BITCH trying to get Link to the Past. :angry:

Cart-only copies in good shape? $25+. Cart-only copies with half the label gone? About $20. And that's if you want it mailed in a bubble mailer that was already used (at least) once. :bullshit:

I know it will probably be a bad time to seek out LttP until Link Between Worlds is out and people have this case of the nostalgia virus out of their system, but copies have all but disappeared locally. I've given many people deals on hard-to-find titles before, and I don't feel it's too much to ask for people to help me out for a change.

Funny story, I happened across a copy of Link to the past at a local thrift store for $4. I dont have a snes to play it on but I should in due time.

[MarioMania]

Funny story, I happened across a copy of Link to the past at a local thrift store for $4. I dont have a snes to play it on but I should in due time.

Was it the Players Choice version or the Normal cart?

[wiggyx]

Pricing for popular classic games has gotten out of hand. One of my colleagues at work dug a boxed Kirby Super Star out of storage, and had no SNES to play it on. Like a dumbass, I offered to help her get a console, since she was not happy with the Virtual Console. Getting the console was no problem, and thankfully, I already have a spare copy of one of the more expensive non-RPG titles (Super Mario All-Stars) to put in with it...

but it has been an absolute BITCH trying to get Link to the Past. :angry:

Cart-only copies in good shape? $25+. Cart-only copies with half the label gone? About $20. And that's if you want it mailed in a bubble mailer that was already used (at least) once. :bullshit:

I know it will probably be a bad time to seek out LttP until Link Between Worlds is out and people have this case of the nostalgia virus out of their system, but copies have all but disappeared locally. I've given many people deals on hard-to-find titles before, and I don't feel it's too much to ask for people to help me out for a change.

In wager prices will keep going up before down on aLttP.

[Sailorneorune]

In wager prices will keep going up before down on aLttP.

The notion that I may eventually have to spend $50 or more on a game that went Player's Choice is:bullshit:. Unfortunately, thanks to OMGSEQUEL! :o you're probably right, at least for the foreseeable future.

(Yes, I use the BS guy emoticon a lot. Appreciating games often means one has to tread through a lot of BS.)

[SparTonberry]

I may eventually have to spend $50 or more on a game that went Player's Choice is:bullshit:.

Hasn't that already happened to Super Metroid?
And is close to happening to Mega Man X1 (well, Majesco reprint. Similar enough.)

[bigbacon]

Hasn't that already happened to Super Metroid?
And is close to happening to Mega Man X1 (well, Majesco reprint. Similar enough.)

like Contra...

I swear people are just crazy. I found a local guy this morning with a copy. I offered $10 bucks for it and I'd get it today. He lives like 5 minutes away. He said no because he has someone who offered $18 and he is holding it until NEXT weekend!!

So I offered $15 and I'd get it today and he said no......geeze.

I joied a could of facebook groups for local game selling and it is just amazing the pricing people throw out there and don't budge or deal. It amazes me that people would rather sell 1 game at a time and drive all over the place to do it and not take good offers on entire lots of stuff and get it over with in one go. Because game X is worth $6 and not $3. that kind of crap.

[MarioMania]

like Contra...

I swear people are just crazy. I found a local guy this morning with a copy. I offered $10 bucks for it and I'd get it today. He lives like 5 minutes away. He said no because he has someone who offered $18 and he is holding it until NEXT weekend!!

So I offered $15 and I'd get it today and he said no......geeze.

I joied a could of facebook groups for local game selling and it is just amazing the pricing people throw out there and don't budge or deal. It amazes me that people would rather sell 1 game at a time and drive all over the place to do it and not take good offers on entire lots of stuff and get it over with in one go. Because game X is worth $6 and not $3. that kind of crap.

Offer $25 and see what he says

[BricatSegaFan]

Was it the Players Choice version or the Normal cart?

Appears to be normal

[Gameguy]

like Contra...

I swear people are just crazy. I found a local guy this morning with a copy. I offered $10 bucks for it and I'd get it today. He lives like 5 minutes away. He said no because he has someone who offered $18 and he is holding it until NEXT weekend!!

So I offered $15 and I'd get it today and he said no......geeze.

I joied a could of facebook groups for local game selling and it is just amazing the pricing people throw out there and don't budge or deal. It amazes me that people would rather sell 1 game at a time and drive all over the place to do it and not take good offers on entire lots of stuff and get it over with in one go. Because game X is worth $6 and not $3. that kind of crap.
If he has an offer of $18 you'd have to offer more money to get it, not less. I often get replies from people offering me a fraction of my asking prices telling me they'll pick it up today, usually I only get replies like these on stuff I have no trouble selling, the type of stuff I get multiple replies within hours of posting the ad. It just makes me want to avoid dealing with those people. They know they have to pick it up immediately or it'll get sold the next day to someone else, it's like they're trying to rip me off.

Why would I need the money today? Why can't I wait a few days or a couple of weeks? I'm not starving and I don't have a drug addiction, I see no reason to just lower the price immediately on a single item that would easily sell at full price. Would you accept getting just half of your wages on a job if you were paid at the end of each day instead of once every two weeks? Most people would just wait the two weeks.

Personally I wouldn't pay that much for Contra, I've found several copies over the years for under $5 with the cheapest price being $0.99. Still if you want something cheap you have to wait to find it priced cheap, if someone has a copy priced at what they normally sell at, I doubt you'd be able to haggle the price down to half it's value. The only way around it is in buying large bundles of games and taking your time selling off the extras.

[wiggyx]

If he has an offer of $18 you'd have to offer more money to get it, not less. I often get replies from people offering me a fraction of my asking prices telling me they'll pick it up today, usually I only get replies like these on stuff I have no trouble selling, the type of stuff I get multiple replies within hours of posting the ad. It just makes me want to avoid dealing with those people. They know they have to pick it up immediately or it'll get sold the next day to someone else, it's like they're trying to rip me off.

Why would I need the money today? Why can't I wait a few days or a couple of weeks? I'm not starving and I don't have a drug addiction, I see no reason to just lower the price immediately on a single item that would easily sell at full price. Would you accept getting just half of your wages on a job if you were paid at the end of each day instead of once every two weeks? Most people would just wait the two weeks.

Personally I wouldn't pay that much for Contra, I've found several copies over the years for under $5 with the cheapest price being $0.99. Still if you want something cheap you have to wait to find it priced cheap, if someone has a copy priced at what they normally sell at, I doubt you'd be able to haggle the price down to half it's value. The only way around it is in buying large bundles of games and taking your time selling off the extras.

I DO avoid these types. Also people who email asking how I do what I do and what materials/paints/etc I use (totally unrelated but equally annoying).

[StoneAgeGamer]

I DO avoid these types. Also people who email asking how I do what I do and what materials/paints/etc I use (totally unrelated but equally annoying).

I get this a lot too, my only guess is people want to try to do it themselves and think you will just divulge all the information you spent a lot of money in R&D costs to figure out yourself.

[wiggyx]

I get this a lot too, my only guess is people want to try to do it themselves and think you will just divulge all the information you spent a lot of money in R&D costs to figure out yourself.

Exactly.

I used to give a lot of that sort of info out all the time. But, now that I've spent TONS of time and money on these products and processes, no way. Not to mention that I have zero time to just write up a grocery list of items for everyone that wants one AND explain exactly how to use said items.

[JSoup]

And it's not even complicated to learn, really. You can easily look it up online or otherwise go to any given community college for the basics.

[Gameguy]

Exactly.

I used to give a lot of that sort of info out all the time. But, now that I've spent TONS of time and money on these products and processes, no way. Not to mention that I have zero time to just write up a grocery list of items for everyone that wants one AND explain exactly how to use said items.
I can understand keeping that stuff a trade secret, that sounds reasonable to me. The only thing that comes to mind is if someone were to ask you if you use paint on your consoles or if you dye the plastic instead. That type of question seems like a normal consumer type question, not too annoying like asking how they can do the same thing themselves.

I've seen someone dye a SNES black btw, it looked pretty good all finished. It seemed like a good way to cover up the yellowed plastic and you wouldn't have to worry about paint getting scratched off.

[Baloo]

If he has an offer of $18 you'd have to offer more money to get it, not less. I often get replies from people offering me a fraction of my asking prices telling me they'll pick it up today, usually I only get replies like these on stuff I have no trouble selling, the type of stuff I get multiple replies within hours of posting the ad. It just makes me want to avoid dealing with those people. They know they have to pick it up immediately or it'll get sold the next day to someone else, it's like they're trying to rip me off.

Why would I need the money today? Why can't I wait a few days or a couple of weeks? I'm not starving and I don't have a drug addiction, I see no reason to just lower the price immediately on a single item that would easily sell at full price. Would you accept getting just half of your wages on a job if you were paid at the end of each day instead of once every two weeks? Most people would just wait the two weeks.

Personally I wouldn't pay that much for Contra, I've found several copies over the years for under $5 with the cheapest price being $0.99. Still if you want something cheap you have to wait to find it priced cheap, if someone has a copy priced at what they normally sell at, I doubt you'd be able to haggle the price down to half it's value. The only way around it is in buying large bundles of games and taking your time selling off the extras.

Because the buyer mentality on craigslist is that a lot of the people selling are people desperate for cash at the moment and are selling their stuff off only because it's a last resort kind of option, so they figure they can offer you less for it right now and be able to get it. Money for bills or drugs or whatever one needs it for at that very moment.

[wiggyx]

And it's not even complicated to learn, really. You can easily look it up online or otherwise go to any given community college for the basics.

Not all of it, but some of it isn't as easy as you might think. For instance, designing and engineering plastic parts isn't something you can pick up on a whim. A lot the stuff that is less technical still requires a TON of practice to master. There's actually very little "dummy" work involve at this point. If I were just cutting up GBA shells and adding the new LCDs then, yes, there's very little skill involved at all. One solder point and some patience with and Xacto knife will get the job done. But that's FAR from what we do.


I can understand keeping that stuff a trade secret, that sounds reasonable to me. The only thing that comes to mind is if someone were to ask you if you use paint on your consoles or if you dye the plastic instead. That type of question seems like a normal consumer type question, not too annoying like asking how they can do the same thing themselves.

I've seen someone dye a SNES black btw, it looked pretty good all finished. It seemed like a good way to cover up the yellowed plastic and you wouldn't have to worry about paint getting scratched off.

If we're talking about a customer or potential customer that wants to know what they're buying, then of course I will divulge that sort of info. In fact, our product descriptions generally contain all of that info. But those aren't the questions that I'm talking about.

I have a pretty thorough painting plastics FAQ on my blog. Like I said, I used to gladly offer a lot of info up, but people's laziness (as in unwilingness to look for and read through info that I've shared publicly) coupled with many folks literally wanting to know the EXACT paints and materials that I use is rather insulting. As much as I am obviously present in the community and try to help out when and where I can, I am also trying to run a business. There's a reason McDonald's didn't want people to know what was in the Big Mac secret sauce...

[Tanooki]

The buyer mentality on craigslist when it comes to a lot probably is desperation but let's be real, if it says Nintendo, it's not desperation it's resellers either buying or selling. If they want to offer you like 1/2 your asking price for an immediate buy, they're looking for a suckerfish to reel in and abuse, probably beat down even lower with the bundle on the table in front of them so they can turn around and ask high dollar asking ebay prices back on craigslist or ebay. It's predatory. Sure a few probably are desperate and they'll price stuff legitimately low (ie: pre-hype train bullshit pricing from 2010 and back) and it'll get pounded to death with resellers and some collectors all trying to backdoor each other to get the best lowest price deal as fast as possible.

I don't bother with craigslist anymore because of it. I've when using it back west would price stuff under what the average ebay paying price was minus shipping and I'd get no fair offers. I'd get lowballs or insulting lowballs with dicks trying to treat me like i had no idea what I had trying to get a $20 item for $5 or less telling me how it wasn't worth more. I haven't tried it since returning to KY but I don't see a reason to either anymore as it's just a headache. I'll do it for non-gaming stuff though and those types are an entirely other form of person, usually honest and friendly which will use it for themselves.

[Gameguy]

Because the buyer mentality on craigslist is that a lot of the people selling are people desperate for cash at the moment and are selling their stuff off only because it's a last resort kind of option, so they figure they can offer you less for it right now and be able to get it. Money for bills or drugs or whatever one needs it for at that very moment.
Yeah but when the amount they are offering is something like $5-$20 I don't even see a point why anyone would be desperate enough to accept it. If it were more than $100 I could understand it, even then I'm not usually desperate to sell something if it's too cheap for what I have. Somebody wanted to buy a bundle of games from me for $100(my asking price), but only if I agreed to sell them a bundle of other games for $50 when they were priced more. I wouldn't even break even if I did that. I offered to swap out another game for one of them and sell those for $50(the one I swapped was actually worth more than the one listed, I just paid less for it and it wasn't listed in the ad), but he then offered me $40 so I just turned him down. This guy was just plain rude as well.

Another thing I dislike is when people tell me what they'll give me rather than actually asking if I'd be willing to accept a certain amount for something. When I hear "I'll give you $x.xx for ......." it makes me want to say no, if they actually asked "Would you accept $x.xx for .......?" I'm more willing to consider it. Sometimes I do accept offers, it just depends on what the item is and how long I've had it.


If we're talking about a customer or potential customer that wants to know what they're buying, then of course I will divulge that sort of info. In fact, our product descriptions generally contain all of that info. But those aren't the questions that I'm talking about.

I have a pretty thorough painting plastics FAQ on my blog. Like I said, I used to gladly offer a lot of info up, but people's laziness (as in unwilingness to look for and read through info that I've shared publicly) coupled with many folks literally wanting to know the EXACT paints and materials that I use is rather insulting. As much as I am obviously present in the community and try to help out when and where I can, I am also trying to run a business. There's a reason McDonald's didn't want people to know what was in the Big Mac secret sauce...
I'm sure the questions you've been getting weren't anything reasonable like that, it wouldn't surprise me if people weren't just asking what exact products/supplies you use but also where it would be cheapest to buy them.