Anyone else notice Flea Market vendors 'catching on' ?

[PDorr3]

A recent visit to PN and the fleamarkets this weekend sparked up a thought. I do not have any fleas by me on LI, but when I have gone to them in the past years vendors that carried games in the pile of their used clothes had no idea of their value, so coming across a $2 NES was fairly easy. Come today, more and more vendors are marking the prices of their systems to $20-40 because I am affraid they are catching onto our antics of getting steals from them.
Maybe its the popularity of eBay, or recent Retro Boom, but when an 80 year old woman starts selling game systems and games for not-so-cheap prices, it gets you wondering, where are they getting these prices from? Not only that but she knew the game names like "sega genesis" instead of simply "games".
Also I remember when loose NES games could be picked up for at most $1 easily, now we are looking at $5 for a chewed on, drooled on, and who-knows-what-on mario/duckhunt cart.

So I am wondering, anyone in the recent years notice more inflations on retro games, or is it just me?

[s1lence]

I think it depends on the flee market. Some places have no idea what they have and the items are so cheap you almost feel bad. Others know exactly what they have and charge to accordingly. Though I will admit I'm seeing more NES SMB/duckhunt games going for 5 bucks or more, which is a bit excessive. I think ebay is the number one cause of it, with knowledge of the "retro" craze being the second cause.

[Gzilla23]

I'm pretty new to collecting, only been doing it for about a year and I will say that getting a "steal" on a price is difficult but I have lucked out.....I have a guy at the flea market near me that always offers a fair price, usually lower than most people in my area, plus he has access it seems to anything I need. That and a small videogame store near me that deals in retro games and I'm lucky to not have to deal with ebay and EB and other flea market people that charge 5.00 for Super Mario Bros/ Duckhunt. I just hope the prices of games dont go a lot higher cause I just couldnt afford it.

[Matt-El]

Seeing 5 bucks on a copy of SMB/Duck Hunt isn't that outrageous. I know a person who easily sells the NES Mario games at his store for 5 bucks a piece. And they sell pretty quick.

Not that I think that It's an appropriate price, but in the market of competitive commerce, If there's a price you know you can get, it is wiser to put that price on it.

[Immutable]

Yep, I had an experience once trying to buy an Atari 2600 with about 20+ games. I gave the woman an offer to buy, and she paused and asked a family member about it. Then she explained that she would make more on eBay. I should have told her that she should try to sell on eBay if she wanted those prices, not at the local flea market. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only time I bumped into a "knowledgeable" vendor. But in any case, I'm getting a bad feeling about this as you are, PDorr3.

[racecar]

Yep, I had an experience once trying to buy an Atari 2600 with about 20+ games. I gave the woman an offer to buy, and she paused and asked a family member about it. Then she explained that she would make more on eBay. I should have told her that she should try to sell on eBay if she wanted those prices, not at the local flea market. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only time I bumped into a "knowledgeable" vendor. But in any case, I'm getting a bad feeling about this as you are, PDorr3.
i got something similar @ a garage sale...but it was for a bmx bike part(frame)....she said' it's worth $600 on ebay but i gave her $50 offer..it's worth $250 @ the local bike shop

[Moon Patrol]

There is one vendor who I have used the past two months I have gone to the flea market, who charges a base of $20 dollars for every system, without hookups. His games are priced straight $5 though, so I suppose he's just selling because he knows of a retro craze going on. Im in an area where its all NES craze as of right now, and I pray im not going to start one with the Genesis by buying up lots and lots of stuff and talking about it at college. I haven't run into many knowledgeable vendors yet though, I bought an Atari 2600 for 50 cents my first week. I just hope the vendor's don't catch on to what the papers are in my hand when I look at their goods :-) I carry a rarity guide EVERYWHERE I go to shop.

[Captain Wrong]

Here (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55705)
Here (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40352)
Here (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=41046)
Here (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43330)
Here (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37741)
and here. (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20889)

Those are just a few of the many threads about thrifts and fleas raising their prices on retrogaming goodies. So to answer your question, yes, we're noticing.