Thift stores are the way to go, BABY!

[Anthony1]

After being on this site, I learned that Thrift stores and Pawn shops are two places that alot of people might not think about, that are great for getting old school games.


Sure, it's incredibly hit and miss, but I think it's much better than GameStop, GameCrazy, Flea Markets, Ebay and even Garage Sales.

After being in this hobby for a little while now, I've learned a couple of things.


#1. You don't HAVE to get that game, right now. You don't have to pay whatever it takes to get that game RIGHT NOW. Patience is a virtue for a retro gamer. It's best to be stingy, play all the games that you have, and buy stuff, when the deals are so damn good, that you just can't pass them up.

#2. The mentality of, "If I just buy this one last thing, then I will be content, and I will stop buying", is a bunch of crap, and deep down we all know it. We will never stop buying. So don't use that excuse, so that you can overpay for something on Ebay, that you've just been "dying to get at some point", because after you buy this "last thing", then you are done. Yeah...Right!

Basically, if you keep those two things in mind, then you can take your time, and enjoy all the games you have, and play through all the games you have, and only add games to your collection, when the deal is so ridiculously good, that you just can't pass it up.

And that is where thrift stores come into play.

I go to alot of thrifts, and although the prices are almost always low, I'm extremely patient, and I even wait for the thrifts to have 50 percent off day, and stuff like that. I wait for them to mark down their stuff, where you are getting a really solid game for a buck or less.

Just the other day, I got John Madden Football, for the Turbo Duo, for 1 buck. It was complete, and although I don't have a Duo, I couldn't pass on getting that game for just a buck.

I got Tomb Raider for the Sega Saturn for 83 cents. It was just the loose CD, and nothing else, but for less than a buck, I have to snag it.

I also got a package of 10 loose Genny games for 5 bucks. It had Ecco the Dolphin, Home Alone, Shining Force, Sonic 1, Primal Rage, Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition, Mortal Kombat II, The Great Waldo Search, Menacer 6 in 1 cart, and another Sonic 1. All those games for 5 bucks. And If I was more patient, I could have bought them for $2.50 on half off day.

Anyways, Thirft stores are the way to go. You have to find a couple of Thrifts that turn up goodies on a regular basis, and price their games decently. And then just hit them up on a once a week basis, and snag all the good stuff that comes your way.

[Captain Wrong]

You have a great attitude and I agree 100% with all you've said.

The beautiful thing is, while everyone else is complaining about how thier thrifts have dried up, you're going to be the one causing the drought.

Hehehe.

[Anthony1]

You know, there are certain thirft stores around me, that are totally worthless. Some of them, I never find anything. Sometimes I will even hit up my favorite thirfts and come up empty.

But more often then not, I will usually find something for a great deal. Alot of times, it's for a game or piece of hardware that I already have, but if the price is super, super low, then I get it anyways, and I use it for trade bait, or even Ebay.

[Kevin Listwan]

I agree and practice your "wait for a deal" mentality. Sadly I cannot wait for sales on games at my thrift stores since their is compitiion here for the stuff. I do not know who else is buying the stuff but they are out their and when I find them, wham! This is my teritory!

[Ed Oscuro]

I'd agree, if only there were some games to be found at my local Goodwill (haven't tried the Tiger Room in downtown Battle Creek yet, though).

Last thing I saw was a really dirty Genesis 2 for $8, and last time I was there there was only that stupid NES baseball game cart and nothing...absolutely nothing. No PlayStation games on the swivel rack at the register, either.

[Balloon Fight]

I really dont like thrifts that much. Flea markets are for me.
Everyone has their crap laid out, and i dont have to drive to multiple shops.
Also almost every thrift around hear doesnt have jack (or jill).

[Anthony1]

Alot of thirfts that I go to have horrible security in terms of where they put their video games, and I would imagine that over 50 percent of the games they put out are actually stolen.

I even thought about talking with the manager about it. Some thirfts do a good job of putting the stuff behind a counter or in a glass case, but other ones are really stupid, and they just have that stuff floating around in the store, and a lot of punk kids come in and steal them.

[o2william]

I would imagine that over 50 percent of the games they put out are actually stolen.

Yep. Most of the thrifts in my area lock games up in glass cases now. I figured it was due to theft. I asked a cashier about it once and she confirmed it.

I understand the need for this, but it leads to my single biggest gripe about thrift stores. Namely, if you're going to lock up stuff in a glass case, don't hide the labels. Ninety-nine percent of the time the games are upside down, turned so their backs are facing the customer, or stacked on each other so that you can only read the label of the game on top. It's so irritating to see a stack of unidentifiable carts, find and flag down a cashier, then wait for her to open the case, only to discover a bunch of worthless sports titles. If they'd stack the games so you could read the labels, it'd save the customers and the cashiers a lot of time.

But back to the point of the thread: I agree. Shopping at thrifts is great. You can go hog wild with your purchases and still not spend that much money. It's amazing what'll turn up at a thrift if you wait long enough.

[MarioAllStar2600]

My thrift just about allways comes up empty, or commons for 5 bucks.The store near me told me I had to leave unless I was with a parent. the age limit is 14. But yea I always open up game cases to find no games. :o

[Balloon Fight]

The store near me told me I had to leave unless I was with a parent. the age limit is 14.

Thats always a good way to get sales. :o

[WiseSalesman]

At my local malt shop, no more than two students are allowed in the store at a time. Sure, it doesn't effect me anymore, but I have to wonder what the hell they're thinking. It's a MALT AND ICE CREAM SHOP for god's sakes, who do they think their target demographic is? Middle age CEOs?

[KirbyStar27]

Thrift Stores are awesome because evrything is cheap and there is always something cool in them. yesterday I bout a cool gameboy carrying case modeled after the original gameboy. :D

[KirbyStar27]

Alot of thirfts that I go to have horrible security in terms of where they put their video games, and I would imagine that over 50 percent of the games they put out are actually stolen.

I even thought about talking with the manager about it. Some thirfts do a good job of putting the stuff behind a counter or in a glass case, but other ones are really stupid, and they just have that stuff floating around in the store, and a lot of punk kids come in and steal them.

Ya I hate people that steal like that. Like some of the good wills, they leave their sms games and genesis game out by their videos. People can just take and put multiple carts and manuals in with another game. Thats why I always see empty SMS cases on the shelf.

[WiseSalesman]

I've never seen an SMS cart in the wild.

[Anthony1]

I've never seen an SMS cart in the wild.


Really?


All of a sudden, I've been seeing them all over the place at thrifts. Usually the price is 2 or 3 bucks, but I haven't been buying them, because I don't have a SMS, and I don't really know what they are worth. Most of them are the case and the cart with no instructions. All I've seen are the most common of SMS titles, so I haven't bought any. I might buy some if I can get them for a buck or less each.

[WiseSalesman]

Let me rephrase that. I have never seen an SMS cart in the wild, and I have never seen a Sega Master System in my life, period. :D

[Anthony1]

Let me rephrase that. I have never seen an SMS cart in the wild, and I have never seen a Sega Master System in my life, period. :D

I got a Sega Master system at a thirft for 2 bucks, that I used in a trade. It didn't have controllers, or adapters or anything. Just the bare system itself.

I hope I find another one for that price, and I will keep it myself, even though I never owned a master system, and I don't have that nastalgia factor.

[Flack]

Let me rephrase that. I have never seen an SMS cart in the wild, and I have never seen a Sega Master System in my life, period. :D

Ditto. And I grew up gaming with gaming friends. Must not've been real popular here in the Midwest.

[YoshiM]

It all depends on your area. In my area it's VERY hit and miss. Usually I don't find a thing except old PC games or maybe an SMB cart. Sometimes I'll find a good deal on an item I don't collect (like a complete Sega Master System for $10 with arcade sticks) and outrageous price for something I may consider collecting (Sega Genesis and Sega CD 2-beat up and missing a power supply for $20 I think is outrageous). The Goodwill in town is also starting to price certain items with "collector's prices". Like a 4 port Atari 5200 with sticks and NO power supply (but it had the special switch box, thank goodness) for $25 when they couldn't give these things away for $5 a few years ago.

Then there is the patronage-I've found there are other people like me who search through the endless cameras, answering machines and printers to find treasure. What used to be an area that was avoided there are many people looking for the next Ebay hot seller (as discovered doing random question asking). Heck some of the stuff never makes it to the floor as the store associates buy it for either collections or eBay.

As with anything, just remember your mileage will vary. I'm pretty patient too (hey, I held off buying a Tengen Tetris and I ran into one at Goodwill for $3) but as a collector I know that sometimes you just have to pony up if you want something as the opportunity may never come up again. While not thrift related to this day I kick myself for not getting an Aladdin Deck Enhancer with ALL the games for a simple trade thinking "oh, I'll get them on eBay for cheap, no problem."

[GamecubeFreek]

where I live, there are not any decent thrift stores, pawn shops, etc. And Ive been looking for a long time. Not even yard sales are good(just a bunch of ugly clothes or completely packaged toys that they stole, its pretty ghetto). I do however have a buttload of gamestores around. 3 gamecrazy's, 3 gamestops, three EBs, and more mom and pop stores within fifteen minutes of my house. However, its all expensive...You know how most of those places are

[VinnyT]

Today I found the section that usually held video games JUST cleaned out by some guy in a cap that said"DP" But, that could have been a coincedence(sp). Anyway, I then found that Barney game fro Genesis for $1:50 in the videos. It's funny when idiocy helps you in the end.

[Six Switch]

I wish I knew of some good thrifts around Detroit,I've been to a few out of state with no luck.

[PackratMarty]

I go to the thrift stores everyday. I find good stuff, but my husband found the best deal so far. I finally drag him along one day, we split up and a few minutes later he finds a ps2 in a bag marked $20.20. i grab it to pay for it and get out of the store before someone decides they have made a mistake, it has 2 controllers but no cord to hook it up to the tv ( which i already have at home) We get it home and plug it in, open it up and inside is a vice city game.
I already have a PS2 so I traded it with a friend who wanted to get rid of a afterburner stand-up.
The only other big score I have gotten is Powerlords for Oydssey2 for .99
I still wonder if somebody marked that PS2 low intending to buy it themselves later.

[josekortez]

In my experience, privately owned thrifts are better than Goodwill and Salvation Army. The people there don't know what the items are worth and you can always find a pretty decent deal. There's a street here in town that has three different thrift stores, and they all get older games regularly. I found four complete NES games at one of them last week for $8. All I've ever found at Salvation Army was 3 loose Game Gear games...

Today, I went to one of the thrifts on that street and found Super Mario Bros. 2 and Ninja Turtles II and III loose for $9. $3 a cart is decent, considering I had been looking for those since I sold them as a kid. (I still have my original manuals for SMB and TMNT II.) They also had 3 boxed 32X games for $2 each (no manuals), but I figured that I should check the rarity of them before I go back on Monday. They were Star Wars Arcade, Doom, and Shadow Squadron. I don't even own a 32X. They also had a boxed Game.com system for $10, but I can do without that...

I'd stopped going to pawns, and I wish I hadn't. One of the pawns I stopped frequenting blew out their Dreamcast games at $5 a piece! I asked the owner about it the other day, and he said they won't be accepting them anymore! O_O

[WiseSalesman]

Man....the privately owned, church operated thrift in my city, called "Th Second Mile" has never had a damn thing.

[bigdaddychester]

well, around these parts, pawn shops are considered the next stop for your shopping needs if you can't get it at Wal Mart. Therefore, anything video game related falls in two categories.....1) " it's like a PS2 or XBOX game $39.95" or 2) it's a classic NES or Atari system "I hear they get $75 for them on Ebay..we sell em for $65"

the flea markets are the same way........BTW, what happened to the real flea market I used to go to as a kid. It was usually set up at the local drive in on Saturday morning, in the back of someones station wagon or truck. You brought junk from your house and tried to sell it to people. Now you have businesses that set up at a flea market that don't have to pay local or state taxes, floods the place cheap knock off's, and insults your intelligence by repeatedly stating that the Atari 2600 is making a comeback that will be $50 for that VCS.

So that brings us to the thrift store. not a lot of them in our area maybe about 9 or 10 in a 60 mile radius. I find a good bit of games and stuff at these places. During the summer on saturdays, I work at a racetrack in Southern Ohio so I get to hit a few other thrifts and yard sales that I normally wouldn't get to. Also church yard sales, used toy sales, etc always turn up some good stuff and always seemed to be the fairest priced. I've seen complete Playstations for $10 at a thrift while the pawn still wants $35. x_x

[sisko]

Most thrift stores around here are usually pretty dried up, but I also have a LOT of competition. I can think of at least a dozen people on this board alone that live within 30 minutes of me.

I still manage to get lucky at a few places though. Its not often, but it does happen. Frankly, its all hit and miss. Some weekends, I strike out, others I strike gold.

I prefer flea markets and yard sales more though, probably because I'm really good at haggling.

[Flack]

AOL's Yellow Pages lists over 40 thrift stores within 20 miles of me. I think I'm going to make a list of them all and hit them all Saturday and see what the scene is like around here. For the most part, I see the occasional Sega Genesis and a lot of Atari 2600's, that's about it. Maybe I'll make a list and post it and it'll be as popular as my arcade review was (yuk yuk yuk).