I'm Glad They Closed.

[Flack]

Over the years, two local computer/gaming shops have closed down, and I'm not afraid to say it: I'm glad they did.

One was called "SHS" (abbr). SHS was originally a store that dealt with C64, Apple II, and PC software when all those systems were competing. The store got a reputation for opening new software and copying it before selling it to customers. Years later, SHS became a "retro" store (really the same place, they just never changed merchandise). They added a lot of older computer and Atari stuff to their shelves, but kept the prices new. It was not uncommon to see Amiga and C64 games for $20-$30 on their shelves -- in the year 2000!

I had so many bad experiences in that place I can't even tell them all. One time, when I walked in they had an Amiga 500 for sale. The system was set up like a demo but was not hooked up (cables were missing). The price tag on everything was $250. I asked the girl behind the counter if it worked and she told me she wasn't sure, and that the owner was at lunch. I told her I was interested in buying it, and had cash. Then I saw the owner STICK HIS HEAD OUT OF THE BACK ROOM and tell the cashier, "I'll be out in about twenty minutes. So he was THERE IN THE STORE but couldn't stick his head out to say if it worked or not? For a sure sale???

Another time I went there and found a Commodore 16 with a price tag on it for $2. $2? That's awesome! So I go up to the front and asked if they had a power supply for it as well (the C64 power supply is not compatible). Yes! They had one! FOR $20!!! So the computer is $2 (but unusable without the power supply) and the power supply is $20. Nice.

This store eventually closed down. The last time I saw these people they were selling AOL/Flash internet package deals for $10 at the flea market. Good riddance.

There was another store that I'll just call "X". X was the place that threw me out because after they tried to rip off a customer (offering them $10 for an entire grocery bag full of Atari 2600 games) I offered them $20. I did go back a few times but like the other store, they still had NOS games -- new because they were unopened, but not in condition; most of them had smashed boxes and faded artwork. Usually these still had the original sticker price of $30-$35 on them and that's the price he expected, despite the fact most of these games were 10+ years old. He eventually closed down too and I didn't shed a tear.

Has anyone else seen any game-related businesses close down that made you do a little leprechaun jig when the finally shut off the lights? It might sound cruel, but both of these places were known for gouging customers and being rude in general. It's not tough to see why they couldn't keep customers coming back.

[Zaxxon]

I've been in a few of these "mom and pop" VG stores. Usually they start out as a store front in a fading mall/strip mall, and don't sell anything. They'll relocate to a flea market but still not learn that their prices are insane. This is what I think of when people urge us to shop at "mom and pop" VG stores. echh...

[DDCecil]

All video game stores I've ever been to that I absolutely hate are still open today, while the good ones are all gone (including my father's great store :( ). I just want to open my own VG business and show them all (Great prices, good trade-in values, nice employees, etc...)

[Half Japanese]

Well, there's what I like to call the "ebay flea market grannies" that want full price for their markered-up cart that's sunfaded and had a ripped label. Those old bitches can eat my ass. Wanting $10 for SNES commons should be against the law.

Then, there's a local store (I think Cmosfm of these forums also frequents it) called Game Cavern that's just awesome. They may not have the best selection (although what they do have is very impressive for an indie), but they ALWAYS undercut EB's prices by at least $5-10 on new releases (for instance, a new eyetoy there is $39.85). I hope that store is around for a looooong time, and with those prices, they should be.

On the other hand, there's a shitty shop just two stores down that does mostly card games and the like that sells a few video games. They offered my friend $10 for Metroid Prime in Jan. of this year, which was their "going rate for games we don't already have for the Gamecube." The place that was there before knew what they were doing. THey knew they didn't know shit about video games and stuck to card and tabletop games. The new store could burn to the ground for all I care.

[nesuser2]

well it just depends. I know of a mom and pop video store, or it used to be. they rented movies and video games for years. but once N64 and PS1 hit the market, they picked up on a little bit of the selling end and less on the renting. The store transformed into a car stereo and home audio/video place. they were always both but retail became their focus. over the years, i would stop in and check out what they had left......and they had plenty. I would occasionally buy things but they had original nintendo games marked at $30-40. some new, some used. anyways, I went in there a year ago and they marked them down to $7.95 or 5 for $20 or something. so their weird prices told me they were sold. So, I contacted the owner, after I had already bought 15 of them at the prev. mentioned price. Offered him $1.75 a piece for them all. He said he wanted atleast $2, so I told him that was fine and I left. That was around 6 pm and at 8pm i got a voicemail telling me to pick it all up ASAP. And in the lot of new games included quite a few sealed copies of Kung Fu.....etc Excitebike, Ninja Gaiden. And I barely knew their value.....opened a couple commons before I discovered the price hike on ebay. and you can search back to my first post on this board. It's those games LOL and I sold all of them$(&@!_#@*!&# so......it just depends on how you can swindle them. a big wait may yield good profits. and the store recently found out what I did with all of the stuff I bought....they watch me everytime I walk around the store :D But I have either bought or helped them sell over $5G's in Home or Car A/V in the past year or two so i'm sure they aren't too bitter. and if they are, I don't care.....they dick me when they can, Always have!

[Flack]

The new mom and pop "game trade in" place near me has SNES games, commons for $8 and less commons (but still pretty common) for $13. Used xBox, Gamecube and PS2 games are $45. Gamecubes are $129, xbox/ps2 are $199. The only thing I saw decent were some older PSX games (Tony Hawk 2) for $8.

[nesuser2]

Does anybody ever say anything to these places? Try to speak to them kindly and explain the outrageous prices. If they cop some snotty attitude just explain that you thought they should know and that might be why they only sell 2 items a week.....

[Duncan]

Most of the used game shops in my area are fairly reasonable, though they occasionally ask too much when they think something might be "rare". (Such as, Bentley Compu-Vision pong system for...$35?)

Seems like the video game storefront at the flea market (in the "indoor" area) is actually the worst offender. Yes, they sell systems for decent prices, but pretty much all of the actual games are pretty overpriced. Saturn sports crap for $10 (most with cracked cases and no manuals), unboxed SNES carts for $15 and $20, absolute bargain-basement 2600 crap like Pac-Man for $10 (and with really bad-looking labels to boot).

That said, there are deals to be had at the "actual" flea market. I've now mentioned several times how I grabbed my Atari Lynx 2 (plus a bonus copy of Mortal Kombat 3 for Genesis) for just three measly dollars. It's still the nicest "pull" I've had since my baseball-card collecting days.

There's also a used game/video rental store in the town just south of my city that wants, oh, 35 fricking dollars for Super Mario World? Loose? LOL Last thing I ever bought from them was my Power Base Converter, and that might be it.

Otherwise, though, I can't complain. And when I do, it'll only be if I find something cheaper on eBay after I've already bought it. ;)

[cheesystick]

A local pawn show I frequent usually has a pretty good amount of SNES games on hand, as well as NES. It seems to be the only pawn in town that carries them. It is in a kinda shitty part of town, where i think people are really down on their luck, and are willing to pawn anything. I used to go in there all the time, picking up commons or your occasional gem. Most of the stuff is common, but every now and then I would find a game like "metal warriors" for 5 bucks knowing that I could turn around and sell it for 20+. All the games were a set price of 5 dollars, Nes games were four. After some time, the lasy who owns the pawn asked me why I buy all therse old games. I was honest, and told her that I collected them. Within two weeks she hiked the NES games to 5 bucks and the SNES to 8 bucks!
All because of my big mouth. I overheard someone else remarking on the high prices of such old games in the store later on, and she replied "These games are becoming collecters items now"
damn, I'm stupid. I am much less willing to pay 8 dollars for a common games than 5. # commons for 15? good deal. 2 for 16? shitty deal.
Damn, me and my big mouth.
-crispy

[Stringfellow]

In my town there used to be a real nice game shop. They had pretty good prices and selection and you could rent just about anything in the store, real friendly people too. Unfortunately business dropped and they became primarily ebay sellers.

The flea market in town is kind of strange. There are two game booths set up, one is pretty small mostly selling older systems and a few games and the other is two to three times the size of the first selling systems boo coo games and some older action figures. The first booth is run buy some old lady and she over charges for everything. For instance she wanted $45 for a genesis 2 with no games and no guarantee to work, also she wanted $25 for a SNES Super Mario Kart cartridge only no guarantee. If you try to get more information out of the older lady she gets snotty because she has to stop smoking for a second to talk to a customer, fuck her uhh maybe not. The second shop is run by an older guy and he has a pretty good selection of stuff ranging from pong systems to ps2 sytems and games. He also has old action figures and videos. EVerything is used but he guarantees everything to work. If he doesn't have something he tries to find it. Occasionally something will be overpriced and he'll say that he wasn't sure what to charge so he just pulled a price out of his ass but you can wheel and deal and he is happy to do it. He had the same Super Mario Kart for $7 and probably would have gone cheaper and it was guaranteed to work.

[RJ]

@cheesystick- not to be rude, but how many S/NES games are floating around Alaska?

[ReaXan]

their is a gaming store im memphis called "Game's Plus" that sell used consoles at outrageous prices and I went in their one time and their power was out because they didnt make enough money to pay their light bill and they still were open!!!!,their building is painted yellow and looks like a 2 story house,its a really shady place to say the least

[Achika]

Man, there used to be the GREAT place in Flint, Videogames & More, run by an ex-Funcoland manager. He repaired systems, took trade ins, for awhile gave cash, on ANYTHING that was a videogame. If you proved it, he'd take it (I dumped my spare R-Zone carts there) Beat Funco prices by like $10-15 on newer games, and older games by like $5. Unfortunately, I think giving high trade in value and selling games low, put him out of business. He's closed shop and now AFAIK works out of the back of someone elses business repairing systems only.

If he got in a game he knew was rare he'd give a nice amount of credit, but put selections on eBay. It was a nice place where you could go for GP32, 99 cent Atari/Coleco/Commodore carts and pick up Sega CD and PS2 games in one shop. I'll miss it....that and the "Gold Card" reserved for a select few, that entitled some to 20% off used games.

[Daltone]

Sadly the only videogame shop I want to close down seems to refuse to. The only place I can find that carries NGPC games, and the prices are astronomical. £55 ($94) for Metal Slug: 1st Mission. Um, how about no. It doesn't help that the guy behind the counter is a complete moose. He just stands there talking to his mates and gives you a dirty look if you even approach the counter. To their credit, they do actually have a semi-good stock. Admittedly, I've never actually seen them sell anything other than a PS2 game, so maybe that's why it's all priced so high.

[christianscott27]

ohh yeah

i've posted this story many times prior so i'll keep it short if i can. there was a place just outside boston in a dumpy antiques co-op that dealt in games, wrestling tapes and burned games. it was the basic offer the kid nothing for his trade and then mark it up deal but the guy seemed pretty clueless to older systems. he had a few bread pallets of atari commons for $1 each and i filled out my sears label collection there, nothing rare but the price was good. i got to know him a bit and helped him figure some of the older games he got in, like the vectrex and various pongs. he always did the clueless act, and i always avoided commenting on his illegal burned games. one day i came in when he was out and asked if they had any new atari carts in. the teenager manning the counter said yeah theres this bag that came in today. it was like a gold mine, several avalon hill, xonox and spectravision games. i bought 12 rares and went home on top of the world. later in the week i decided to go back to pick the less than commons for trade bait. the kid saw me and got on the phone to the owner who spilled this BS about how the games were for a friend and he'd buy em back from me. so i spilled some BS of my own and said i had so many games i couldnt even remember which ones they were, neither could the owner. the tone of encounter was enough to make me never return and bitter enough to make me happy when he got busted for selling burned movies and games. he's still out at a local flea market but sadly i'm too chicken to buy from him, which is a pity as he has some nice saturn import games...

[Slipdeath]

the only loca game store by my house is a store called Rialto Coins
prety good prices, and it doesnt matter what game it is, always same prices
Nes-$3
SNES-$4
Psx-$8
n64-$6/12
Ps2/gc/xbox-$12

they have about 700 nes titles, and a good selsction of the other systems

[brykasch]

Well the Caveman sotre here where I live is a pretty good place, they are honest , and don't try to screw ya over, they have a fair selection of stuff (oldest stuff is atari 2600) and they do get rare stuff in now and then but nothing is over priced, its one of those used movies, music, comics, figures, all in one type stores, but I have gotten to knwo most of the staff over the years. I picked up a grey import saturn with 3 games for 45, a tg16 with 5 games for 35, picked up metroid prime for 9.99 recently. Their used games for the newer stuff is a lttle lacking, but thats because they sell the good stuff fast, but its nice because I can always browse their stock when I get my comic and sports cards as well. I hate when they have their card tournaments in store, but they have customer appreciation sales about 4 times a year with great deals, like 5/1.00 back issues etc.

[cheesystick]

@cheesystick- not to be rude, but how many S/NES games are floating around Alaska?
Actually, quite a few. We have just as many games as anybody else. Anchorage has a population of over 250,000 people, so you could imagine that a hefty amount of those are gamers. I would say that Alaska is a goldmine, but if you walk into a thrift store you are always guarenteed to find at least one SNES game. Its just not guareneed to be any good. For example, I went to value village and salvation army today. I walked home with two NES games and an N64 expansion pack from value village. They have about 5 snes games, 30 atari games, 10 NES games, and 10 genny games. Oh, and a stack of like 5 genny systems and a boatload of overpriced controllers. Still worth a visist though.

I once got a crapload of SNES Koei games from Salvation Army. I am talking romace of the three kindoms 4, PTO two, Operation europe, and even earthbound. I got all those, a system with 2 controllers (one the sweet Ascii kind), and about 7 other games for only 13 bucks. Probably my nicest score to this day. On the back of the carts i found out that most all of these games had been rentals from a popular local grocery chain called "carrs", except from Kodiak. Kodiak is a small island below Alaska. This was a rather odd find. Kodiak is filled with bears, cops, and hish school kids that have nothing better to do then wrestle the crap out of each other.
Inccidenetly, as I recall, out good friend Maxlords used to live on Kodiak. He probably rented the same games from Carrs that I have in my possesion right now.
-crispy