Doesn't it suck when thrift stores have a game.....

[Anthony1]

that you want, but they are charging like twice it's going price on Ebay? I mean, alot of times you expect to get games at a thrift store for about $2 or maybe $3, and usually they price all their games at that price regardless if it's a crappy sports game, or a harder to find action game, but sometimes I go to a thrift store and see a game that I've been interested in, I see it complete with good instructions etc,etc, but then they have a price of $6 on it or something like that, when the game is only worth 50 cents loose and maybe $2 complete.


It sucks, because you really want to make your trip worth it, you want to come home with something, but it's hard to pay more for something at a thrift than what you would pay for the same item on Ebay. Usually thrifts will get you some really good deals, but I've noticed that alot of thrifts are more hip to the game now, and they price their items alot higher. A place like GameCrazy has tons of Genny games for $1 or so each loose, yet at thrifts I see the same games being sold for $5. It makes it kinda discouraging to go to thrifts very often.

[EnzoSangiorgio]

That's how it is where I live. I've never found any good games at thrift store, pawn shops around here. They all think $20 is a fair price for a loose Sonic 2 cart, and that Dreamcasts are still worth $150.

[chrisbid]

if its a game im looking for, and its complete, i dont mind paying 5 or so dollars. thrift stores arent ebay in at least the money you spend there is going to charity rather than some ebay whore.

[Videogamerdaryll]

that you want, but they are charging like twice it's going price on Ebay? I mean, alot of times you expect to get games at a thrift store for about $2 or maybe $3, and usually they price all their games at that price regardless if it's a crappy sports game, or a harder to find action game, but sometimes I go to a thrift store and see a game that I've been interested in, I see it complete with good instructions etc,etc, but then they have a price of $6 on it or something like that, when the game is only worth 50 cents loose and maybe $2 complete.


It sucks, because you really want to make your trip worth it, you want to come home with something, but it's hard to pay more for something at a thrift than what you would pay for the same item on Ebay. Usually thrifts will get you some really good deals, but I've noticed that alot of thrifts are more hip to the game now, and they price their items alot higher. A place like GameCrazy has tons of Genny games for $1 or so each loose, yet at thrifts I see the same games being sold for $5. It makes it kinda discouraging to go to thrifts very often.

I don't have any (game) thrift stores in my area that I know of.. :puppydogeyes:


Many times at the Flea market= they are charging like twice it's going price on Ebay..(too many times)



.......................
Last week a vendor I know hands me a loose SMB deluxe GBC cart that I have several of(flea $1.00)..He says $15.00 for you....
.WHAT!! x_x
He handed it to me like I was going to buy it too.. :eek 2:

[smokehouse]

We have a local pawnshop that completely changed their SNES and NES game prices about 2 years ago. When I asked why their reply,

“We’re now using internet pricing.”

Basically that translates to them going on eBay, finding the absolute highest price that a game is going for and making that their price. This would not be a huge deal but figuring that they have around 200 NES and close to that many SNES titles, many of them killer, it really sucks. All their NES games are $10 and up, all their SNES are $15 and up. No bargaining, no budging. I go in from time to time to see if they’ve changed their mind but nope, no luck. Strange…they never sell any…

And to think, I once bought titles like Final Fantasy and River City Ransom from them for $1 each.

[Perkar]

pretty much all my "finds in the wild" are from thrifts around here. and the pricing scheme is generally anywhere from $1 to $5, never really seen anything priced more than that. but i have a few rules... unless it's really rare, i won't even touch a genesis game unless it's complete. call me picky. and even then, i generally try to keep any genesis game i buy under $3. sometimes that means waiting until the correct "weekly colored price tag" which is usually 3-4 weeks. sometimes they'll be gone by then, sometimes not. NES i'm somewhat less picky on. as long as it's got a nice label, i'll spend $3-4 on a loose cart, no problem, as long as i don't have it. buying tradebait i try to keep it cheaper than that, no more than $2. anything else is case by case.... NES and Genesis are what pop up the most around here.

[nik]

I guess it depends how much you want the game really and the condition.

If its pristine mint, and you really want that game I'd go for it, but if its loose and in shoddy condition, pass, it'll come again.

[Captain Wrong]

Yes.

[Griking]

Keep in mind you don't have to pay an additional $4 to $7 shipping for the game you find in the thrift store either.

Maybe it's just me but I've always believed that almost any game was usually worth more than the $1-$3 we have come to expect from thrift stores. When we find a great game for a buck it generally isn't because the game is only worth a buck, it's usually because the seller was ignorant of what the game's real value is. This is part of there reason why there's a regular "finds" thread here, to brag about the game that you just got a great deal on. Nobody brags about a game that they paid the regular going price for.

[rjohnson]

if its a game im looking for, and its complete, i dont mind paying 5 or so dollars. thrift stores arent ebay in at least the money you spend there is going to charity rather than some ebay whore.

i SOOOOOO agree with you.... If it is one that you want, and they have it...consider the potential rip off ebay whore that will stick you on shipping or send you what you "won" that is NOT what was described / shown online, OR even worse that they not even send it at all but take your funds

... VS. just outright buying it and contributing to a very worthy cause in the process...

PLUS, if they stay around (the thrift shop) you may score again in the future...

[rjohnson]

We have a local pawnshop that completely changed their SNES and NES game prices about 2 years ago. When I asked why their reply,

“We’re now using internet pricing.”

Basically that translates to them going on eBay, finding the absolute highest price that a game is going for and making that their price. This would not be a huge deal but figuring that they have around 200 NES and close to that many SNES titles, many of them killer, it really sucks. All their NES games are $10 and up, all their SNES are $15 and up. No bargaining, no budging. I go in from time to time to see if they’ve changed their mind but nope, no luck. Strange…they never sell any…

And to think, I once bought titles like Final Fantasy and River City Ransom from them for $1 each.

I'd keep going there if i were you.... they will run out of room, and one day...one magical great day (for you) they will have to clear them out for all of the new stuff that neo cool gamer zombies want to buy (360, etc...).

THEN.... you will be a VERY happy person...

be patient, and become a regular there.... make a friend or two...

then post on your KILLER day of clean out buying here! :)

[Truffle]

Yes! Be patient! Ive managed to get my claws into quite a few game deals simply because I understand that (1)time is generally on my side(2) most people are too lazy to go through with selling their shit online(3) they know Ill give them cash now. ;)

Yes I know we are talking about stores, but the same applies.
Buddy up with some employees for sure.

[Tan]

i think even worse than that is when employees disregard store policy and snipe the best ones for themselves before they hit the shelf, then again some shops don't even have a policy.

one of the Sally Ann's in this city has a policy of "if there's no price tag on it, we can't sell it" that can get in the way from time to time.

[Fuyukaze]

I hate to say it, but becoming friends with one of the workers or a manager is your best bet. Myself, I've been on a first name basis with one of the local pawn shop for a few years and to be honest, it has been very good for me. I've managed to get a number of great games there for deals few ever could. Sometimes complete games, sometimes expensive ones even, but always at a damn good price. The fact they know I'm willing to spend good money doesnt hurt either as there have been a number of times I've spent the majority of a C-note on old games like the NES, SNES, and GEN. Not alot of people buy what they got, and not alot of people shop there either for what I want which means they know when I walk in I'm a low maintance customer who spends more per inch then the guy looking to buy that new lawn mower or TV.

[Fuyukaze]

Ack! Double post!

[Jibbajaba]

It just depends on how bad you want the game. Even if it were just a Genesis sports game, if it were a game that for some reason I REALLY wanted, it was complete and in nice condition, then I'd plop down 5 or 6 bucks for it. Factor in a lack of shipping fees and the convenience. Now if it were just a game to fill a hole in my collection and I didn't really care about it one way or another, then I wouldnt pay that much. But then it wouldn't bother me to leave it there.

Chris

[EricRyan34]

the only game i have EVER seen at a thrift store was Final Fantasy for NES for a buck :-P

[DKTheArcadeRat]

At this "trading post" near me, I have been In there a few times and looked at the games. They have a game that I considered picking up, a sealed copy of Wayne Gretzky & the NHLPA All Stars(SNES). Price marked---$25!! Weather it is sealed or not. sports games(there are some exceptions) shouldn't go that high in price, I mean I like sports games and all but that is nuts for that.

So yeah i agree.

[Ralph Wiggum]

that you want, but they are charging like twice it's going price on Ebay? I mean, alot of times you expect to get games at a thrift store for about $2 or maybe $3, and usually they price all their games at that price regardless if it's a crappy sports game, or a harder to find action game, but sometimes I go to a thrift store and see a game that I've been interested in, I see it complete with good instructions etc,etc, but then they have a price of $6 on it or something like that, when the game is only worth 50 cents loose and maybe $2 complete.


It sucks, because you really want to make your trip worth it, you want to come home with something, but it's hard to pay more for something at a thrift than what you would pay for the same item on Ebay. Usually thrifts will get you some really good deals, but I've noticed that alot of thrifts are more hip to the game now, and they price their items alot higher. A place like GameCrazy has tons of Genny games for $1 or so each loose, yet at thrifts I see the same games being sold for $5. It makes it kinda discouraging to go to thrifts very often.

And, when the doctor said I didn't have worms any more, that was the happiest day of my life!

[davepesc]

Even worse, the thrift shop by me likes to print out completed ebay auctions, circle the selling price and charge that.

Now you all know why I cry when I see a newbie bidding war on a common game.


Also, (I don't go to the thrift much any more because of this) they like to write the price and rarity of the game on the label, box AND instructions. There's nothing like seeing RARE! in black marker on what would otherwise be a desirable game.

EDIT: to continue rant.

This place sells NES $8+ and Genny $5+ They use sites like this and AtariAge to gague rarity, but pay no attention to those sites' members' opinions on pricing. Atari is $3+ and the black marker, oh the black marker.

[Haoie]

That always happens to me too. I see games being sold at more than the price you can get them new. It's crazy.

[almostgotthemall]

I used to be able to contest an overpriced game at Value Village up until about 8 months ago. After some haggling, they would generally lower the the price.
But not anymore. I think store policy has changed, or they are just simply too busy to haggle.(They do seem to get annoyed now.)

Salvation Army still has some elbow room to haggle. Depends on the employee you talk to though.

[Anthony1]

You guys are always talking about pawn shops over and over. A while back I tried to hit up every pawn shop within 20 miles of me, and all I found was a box of CD-I games, that the guy wanted too much money for.

I don't understand how you guys find things at pawn shops. The pawn shops that I went to only had like PS2 systems and GameCube's and some PS2 games and Cube games and stuff like that. Sometimes I've seen a pawn shop that had some SNES carts or something, but nothing special, and usually the prices were way too high.

But the way you guys talk about pawn shops, I would expect to find a Neo-Geo AES or a TurboDuo or something.

[smokehouse]

I’ve had some pretty decent pawnshop finds in the past, things like:

-Multiple NES titles for cheap (back in the day, say around 1997/1998)
-Jaguar system, extra controller, s-video cable (new) and 15 games. $25
-Many odd games like Final Fight Guy ($6), Contra Force ($2), Castlevania SotN ($10)
-Lots of other small finds throughout the years.

As for a Neo Geo or Turbo Duo, I’ve never seen one in the wild. As a mater of fact the first time I ever laid eyes on a Neo or Duo was the first time I got mine in the mail. It also play to live in larger cities. Many large cities have great specialty shops that carry rare stuff. In Peoria Illinois, we don’t.

[XYXZYZ]

Even worse, the thrift shop by me likes to print out completed ebay auctions, circle the selling price and charge that.

That is such bullshit; just because this game was worth $30.00 to some guy on the other side of the world doesn't mean that guy's going to come into your thrift shop.

Have you ever seen the value of a complete box/manual game applied to some filthy loose cartridge with mold and cheese all over the connectors, and "BILLY THOMAS" written in marker across the faded label?

[smork]

You guys are always talking about pawn shops over and over. A while back I tried to hit up every pawn shop within 20 miles of me, and all I found was a box of CD-I games, that the guy wanted too much money for.

I don't understand how you guys find things at pawn shops. The pawn shops that I went to only had like PS2 systems and GameCube's and some PS2 games and Cube games and stuff like that. Sometimes I've seen a pawn shop that had some SNES carts or something, but nothing special, and usually the prices were way too high.

But the way you guys talk about pawn shops, I would expect to find a Neo-Geo AES or a TurboDuo or something.

I've always had such good luck at pawn shops, not only for games but for other stuff, too. There's one near my mother's house that always has some old stuff -- got a nice box of 7800 carts last year. And I bought almost all of my stereo stuff (which is nice and somewhat obscure equipment) at pawn shops for far less than what I would have paid at a normal store. OTOH, I've never found a single thing of use at a thrift shop.

Guess it all depends on where you look.

But my main pawn shop rule is basically to stay away from the Cash Americas and the big chains of the world and stick to the smaller mom-and-pop shops.

[freckledpeas]

It certainly can be discouraging to find the game you want at a high price - especially when it's at a thrift store. We have a local mom & pop thrift store 'round these parts, and when I hear the words "I could get at least $_____ for that item on eBay..." come out of the store owner's mouth, it makes me wince. The joy of shopping at thrift stores, garage sales, swap meets, etc. is the possibility of finding that hallowed item that YOU know is rare/valuable, but the seller does not. It takes the joy out of thrift shopping (a.k.a. treasure hunting) when you know what you're looking for will probably be over-priced.

[dukenukem1990]

dude this is the best...

I found my atari 2600 at savers thrift store for 3.99

yeah 8-)

[MoreEbolaForYou]

to you guys complaining: are you serious? you went to ALL the thrift stores ONE TIME and didn't find anything? want to know why? because you have to go several times a week. my mother is an antique dealer, and she has found tens of thousands of dollars of things at thrift stores. because, she goes everyday. every single day. persistance always pays off.

[Cryomancer]

Yeah well if i buy a handful at 3 or 4 bucks each and a couple are only 2 dollar games and a couple of the others are 10 dollar games, i think i made out ok.

[Darren870]

This is why thrift stores (even over priced ones ROCK):

So there is a thrift store me at home that I went to last year a few times. Prices were SO HIGH, wanted $30 for a boxed SMB3 and all these other rediculous prices. I said I would never to go to that store again.

My friend comes up from the city last week and wants to go to the comix book store near by. I say okay and while we are there I decide to stop in that thrift store again.

I noticed he FINALLY cleaned up the store and things could be found easily now. Saw his boxed NES games, not to my surprise he still had all the same ones from over a year ago, minus the SMB3. So I go the good ol' how much? He picks up black bass and goes...meh $6. Im like okay, how about that one? $6, and that? $6 I wound of taking 10-12 boxed NES games for $6 a piece.

As im paying i look over and sitting right there is a massystems super nova (supergun). I look at it..but I only see the controllers. So I go online, and post here about it trying to get info on it. I go back a few days later, and see it actually has all the parts I just didn't see em. So I pull it out and I go how much for this? He goes $100 and ill throw in these three jamma games, which i didnt even see!!!!.

He gave me a fully working 100% supergun, 2 mass systems controllers, and 3 games. Street Figher II and two wrestling games all for $100. The best find of my life!

I will now be going back to that "over priced" thrift store.

[Anthony1]

to you guys complaining: are you serious? you went to ALL the thrift stores ONE TIME and didn't find anything? want to know why? because you have to go several times a week. my mother is an antique dealer, and she has found tens of thousands of dollars of things at thrift stores. because, she goes everyday. every single day. persistance always pays off.


Well, I'm sure that if you go to every thrift anywhere near you, and you go every day, of course you're going to find something pretty good eventually, but time is money and gas is money. If you spend all day, driving around to all kinds of thrift stores and pawn shops and you come up empty handed, and you do this over and over, you're spending quite a bit of money and coming up with nothing.

time = money

gas = money


Sure, if you are that persistent, then eventually you are going to find something relatively decent for a good price, but if you factor in all the gas and wasted time you used up for all the trips that you didn't find squat, then that item that you bought for a really good price, just got a helluva lot more expensive. Don't get it twisted, I still go to thrift stores, and I still hope to one day see a Neo-Geo or TurboDuo in one of them, but honestly, I would probably have better luck winning the lottery.

[davepesc]

Dude, you have to think about what was popular in your area. Everyone and their grandmother gad Atari, Nes, Genny etc, that's why thrifts are bursting with them.

I knew ONE person who had a 3do and a CDI, so I don't expect to find them in the wild very often.

[Darren870]

Neo-Geo or TurboDuo in one of them, but honestly, I would probably have better luck winning the lottery.


I was pretty much like that, but then I found a Supergun in the wild. Those things are much more of a rare find in the wild then a ng or duo. Whoever had it before me knew what it was and payed $400 to get it. Who knows in god names why they sold it. A duo or geo well those were released in stores across the US, while a super gun is special ordered or made. Well I will now be going thrifting much more often because of this find.

[wrldstrman]

our pawn shops you can get a decent deal unless it has mario in the title or if marios picture is on the game...somehow they think the game becomes pricless

[swlovinist]

thrift stores are getting greedy, hands down. Yes SOME of thier money goes to charity, but some it pays their admin A TON of money. A thrift store chain where I live is paying its head president like 2 million. On one hand they help the poor, on the other they walk a very grey line being "NON PROFIT". I have decided to speak with my wallet. I only buy what is reasonable at the thrift stores, and just walk away from high prices. I agree with these stores making what they need to substain, but shit, their price gouging as of late is out of hand. Where I live the prices are up and down, but recently I have seen loose nes carts(crappy ones) marked up to $6. Sometimes you can find them cheaper, but it is getting more scarce. The thing that these places dont think about is that if they start to try to sell this stuff for ebay prices, eventually it might turn off some of their cleints who shop for a good deal. If I wanted to pay ebay prices, I would then use ebay.

[Anthony1]

For some reason, I have this vision of a scenario that goes like this......


A very wealth child in the early to mid 90's get's a Neo-Geo from their Grandmother. It stays at Grandma's house, so the little brat can play it when he comes over. As the child grows older, he loses interest in it, and ends up forgetting about it. It's in a closet in his grandma's house, and one day about 12 years later, his grandma donates it, along with a bunch of other crap to a thrift store. The thrift store has no idea what the hell the thing is, they assume it's some weird Video Game system that never became popular, and they put a $35 price on it.


I just happen to stroll in about 10 minutes after it hits the floor, and I gasp in disbelief at what I'm seeing with my own eyes. I immediately snatch it and take it to the register. As I'm walking out of the store, I have a ridiculous smile on my face, like I just hit the lottery. :D







Of course, you can substitute a TurboDuo or FM Towns Marty or whatever other system you can think of, that you would dream of finding in a thrift store. Hey Darren870 found a freaking Supergun, so that proves that my fantasy scenario is actually possible. This fantasy scenario is what actually keeps me going back to thrifts, even though all I find is crap like Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, with a $5 price on it, and all kinds of permanent ink all over it.

[Darren870]

Of course it is possible!

Someone on the N-G boards found neo-geo games at a flee market. The guy selling them had no idea there worth so he priced them $1 per meg. Though there was nothing really rare there was still a few good deals.

Its just luck i guess.

[davepesc]

I might have to change my tune a bit.


I am driving with my daughter and we pass by the same local thrift I like to trash. She gets excited when I let her pick out a piece of costume jewelry from behind the counter, so we go in.

I stop in the game section and find:

Mr. Do!'s Castle for ColecoVision!

The price (which WAS written on the label in black magic marker :angry: )?







$4!


Still a good day. :)