Where do you buy your old games at?

[80sGamer]

Do you trade with another collector? get them from dealers? or garage sales? thanks for the info. I am going to try to get a collection of the NES games going somewhere down the road and need info on where the best places to get the games would be.

[ozyr]

Old games? In WI, at least my area, it has become rather hard to find any 'good' older games. They've just dried up - or should I say GWH has most of them. ;)

Seriously though, I find most of my stuff through deals here on DP, or on some web sites that sell old games. Some stuff on get on eBay, because it is the only way.

Lately, the last 6 month or so, I've gotten most of my older games through direct contact with other gamers who sell extra stuff - either through a Forum, or their own web site.

that's by two bits...

[Pantechnicon]

That's a very broad question taking into account everybody's different needs, preferences, capabilites and spending power. If you average out the responses you're going to get and subtract the smart-alecky ones, the answer will be all of the above, plus thrift stores.

Since you live in Omaha, though, I will suggest you check out one of the 3 or so "Gamers" stores in town. They should have lots of NES in stock, although imho they're prices have shot up a little in the last couple of years...but there are very few local shops anywhere where this is not the case, so meh. The Gamers closest to Crossroads Mall will probably have the best selection. And if you can get down to Lincoln, you'll probably find an even better selection at the two Gamers therein: One just north of 48th & O Streets, and the other one north of 27th & Cornhusker, which is sort of tricky to find since it doesn't face the main road (it's around the back of the strip mall). Give them a look.

[chrisbid]

wherever i can find them at a good price

[cyberfluxor]

There have been other similar threads that aren't so broad, but I'll give it a go. :)

The most frequent places I go to is a pawn shop chain called Cash Converters. They originated in Australia and created branches throughout Europe and America from what I understand. Currently they have 5 locations in my area, each a good 5-15 miles apart from one another. The nearest one is around the corner from where I work and stop in there once a week, genearlly on Tuesday. That's the sweetest day to me because they more often rotate their game section that morning/afternoon. Another plus to their store chain around here only follows the pricing of newer generation games. I can pick up nearly anything earlier than 1996 for $1-3, even complete sometimes. If I happen to stumble across Dreamcast games it's expected to be $1-5.

Because of the cheap finds I'll buy titles I already own and end up trading them in at more professional used game stores (We're not talking Gamestop or EBGames). The 2 places I most often hit are Cool Stuff and Replay. Both are roughly the same trade-in values and sell prices. Usually I can wing $2-5 off trading in games I got for $1 and use that profit to afford more difficult to find games that I want.

A failed example of this is last night I went to Cool Stuff and got $22 in trade-ins. They had Guardian Heros for $26 complete and ended up passing it by due to the large amount scuffs and scratches. After looking through the mass collection of games they have for sale I was tempted by buy several but passed them up due to feelings of sleeping over it.

When it comes to PC games, I dig through the bins at pawn shops and thrift stores to find classic software or random things that are nifty. I got Lords of Lure complete and very nice for $3 the other day. For new games Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and Gamestop are where I go. Last month I used a gift cards to Walmart (Got Simcity 4 Rush Hour delux pack) and Target (Got the Battlefield 1942 complete collection).

That just about sums most of it up, besides rarely going to other cities farther away to see random shops.

[Haoie]

90% of my collection I've bought online.

The remaining 10% I'd say were from various 2nd hand stores.

But then again, the PS isn't that old, so it's not too difficult to collect for.

[christhegamer]

Video Game X-Change, Preplayed, Gamecrazy, Garage sales, Flea Markets, Antique Stores, Goodwill, St. Vinney's, Friends, Family, {sometimes} EB games: Whatever floats your boat :D

[BydoEmpire]

I used to get games a garage sales (like a giant box full of 2600 games and hardware for $20 - ah, good times), but that was years ago. Lately it's been all eBay, the Game Traders store at the Flea market, and the occasional ps1 find at Gamestop/EB. I recently ordered from Vintage Fun World online and was very impressed, so I'll order from them again. I also found out about a few more gaming stores in the area, so I'll hopefully be able to check them out.

[Sailorneorune]

About 1/3 to 1/2 of my older games come from the (in?)famous Book Broker; most classic games there are pretty cheap, and they even have good deals on current-gen games and accessories.

Whatever I can't find there, I try to find at Game Crazy, or Book & Music Exchange... I sometimes check the pawn shops and thrifts here, but the only things I've EVER found of note there were my Saturn and first copy of Phantasy Star IV.

For everything else, there's here and CAG.

[nebrazca78]

That's a very broad question taking into account everybody's different needs, preferences, capabilites and spending power. If you average out the responses you're going to get and subtract the smart-alecky ones, the answer will be all of the above, plus thrift stores.

Since you live in Omaha, though, I will suggest you check out one of the 3 or so "Gamers" stores in town. They should have lots of NES in stock, although imho they're prices have shot up a little in the last couple of years...but there are very few local shops anywhere where this is not the case, so meh. The Gamers closest to Crossroads Mall will probably have the best selection. And if you can get down to Lincoln, you'll probably find an even better selection at the two Gamers therein: One just north of 48th & O Streets, and the other one north of 27th & Cornhusker, which is sort of tricky to find since it doesn't face the main road (it's around the back of the strip mall). Give them a look.

Even though I now live in Chicago I'm from Lincoln. In fact I've been to all 5 Gamers stores you speak of. You live in NM, how come you know practically all the game stores in Nebraska? Do you know where all the game stores are in every state? More interestingly you seem to even know about the selection in the different stores. That's cool.

If you're looking for games older than PS1 you may have to go to certain stores. In Lincoln they moved most of the older stuff to the 48th + O St. store. The last time I was in Omaha I only made it to one Gamers and they didn't have any selection of classic games. Maybe one of the Omaha stores has all of the classic games now like Lincoln.

Interestingly enough I had one of by best finds in one of the Omaha stores. Right during the SMS demise they were practically giving away complete SMS games for $2. I looked at the games like I was still on the fence and asked if I could have them for $1 each. The guy shrugged and was like "sure". I bought as many games as I could, about 38 or so if memory serves, actually spending so much we almost ran out of gas on the way home.

Since I lived in Lincoln I don't know too much about Omaha game stores, but if you can make it to Lincoln there is one place you might want to hit. It's called Audio Visual North, on North 33rd St. just south of Cornhusker Hwy. Last time I went there they had 4 pristine factory sealed copies of Time Gal, 1 Prince Of Persia and a bunch of other sealed games that I got for $5 each. I sold 3 of the Time Gal games on eBay for $100 and of course I kept the best one. I also got Lunar:TSS for PS1 complete for $10 which I also sold. What I wasn't able to grab was a bunch of other Sega CD games that had no CDs. The owner said he was going to call me when they got the CDs out of the storeroom but he never did. Maybe he's found them by now and you can snag them. There were also a ton of more common sealed games which may be reduced in price now. Additionally there were a ton of other PS1 games which I don't collect but may be of interest to you.

[Felixthegamer]

The flea market has been a haven for Atari, Nes, Snes and N64 here. Thrift stores have been good too Garage sales and ads in the paper pan out too. Also there are two local used game stoes (Not counting the EBs or gamestops) that have nes and sometimes older stuff. I know in one of the used game stores, somebody had their name on a list to be called in case somebody can in with pre-nes stuff because he would buy it all even if the store didn't take it, they would give out his number.

[Captain Qb]

Most of my boughts are from Flea Markets,
but nowadays I try to get only those games that
I want, soo I have to use this Finnish "Ebay"..
And of course friends gives or sells cheap..

But like I said most of my collection is from Flea Markets.. ^.^

[J2games]

if you are looking for a broad selection of classic games for any system from Atari to Xbox, try www.j2games.com.

We stock 1000's of titles both brand new and used (but all in excellent condition!)

Good luck finishing your collection! (as a collector myself, I know the satisfaction of a complete set of such and such system!)

[Pantechnicon]

Even though I now live in Chicago I'm from Lincoln. In fact I've been to all 5 Gamers stores you speak of. You live in NM, how come you know practically all the game stores in Nebraska? Do you know where all the game stores are in every state? More interestingly you seem to even know about the selection in the different stores. That's cool.

I went to UNL in the early 90's. Additionally my mother's family and my in-laws all live scattered around between Dwight, Omaha, and Nebraska City. Thus I have plenty of occassion to visit Nebraska and make the obligatory pilgrimage to all the Gamers shops between Lincoln and Omaha, eating Runzas all the while ;) .

As a general rule, anytime I travel somewhere new in the U.S. I find out if there are any local game shops or decent-sized thrifts in the area. It's always worth the time to find out about local shops, emphasis on local, since EB's and Lamestops are universal. All it takes is opening up the local yellow pages, followed up by a quick phone call from the hotel.

Me: "Do you have any Atari or old stuff like that around?"
Them: "Uh, we've got a big box of dusty sh*t that's been sitting here for ages but I don't know what's in it. Come down and I'll make you a deal."
Me: (/says I'm from out of town asks for directions).

Nothing to it.

[EricRyan34]

I basically get all of mine from one of my local game stores which isnt GAMESTOP, very rarely do i buy them online, too expensive

[Lord Contaminous]

Just nothing but online dealers lately. No Game Crazy in sight in my neck of the woods, Fleas, pawns and thrifts are dead where I live. But I'm not all that riled up about it since I just buy Japanese stuff.

[Slate]

Goodwills, thrift stores, flea markets, yard sales, secondhand shops, and, sometimes, in the garbage.

Also, maybe some day i'll buy some complete games from a rental shop going out of business, or find a Sega CD unit at a junkyard.

[nebrazca78]

Even though I now live in Chicago I'm from Lincoln. In fact I've been to all 5 Gamers stores you speak of. You live in NM, how come you know practically all the game stores in Nebraska? Do you know where all the game stores are in every state? More interestingly you seem to even know about the selection in the different stores. That's cool.

I went to UNL in the early 90's. Additionally my mother's family and my in-laws all live scattered around between Dwight, Omaha, and Nebraska City. Thus I have plenty of occassion to visit Nebraska and make the obligatory pilgrimage to all the Gamers shops between Lincoln and Omaha, eating Runzas all the while ;) .

As a general rule, anytime I travel somewhere new in the U.S. I find out if there are any local game shops or decent-sized thrifts in the area. It's always worth the time to find out about local shops, emphasis on local, since EB's and Lamestops are universal. All it takes is opening up the local yellow pages, followed up by a quick phone call from the hotel.

Me: "Do you have any Atari or old stuff like that around?"
Them: "Uh, we've got a big box of dusty sh*t that's been sitting here for ages but I don't know what's in it. Come down and I'll make you a deal."
Me: (/says I'm from out of town asks for directions).

Nothing to it.


That's a very good idea, I guess I need to travel more. I don't often make it east of Chicago or west of Lincoln. Man those Italian Runzas are good, aren't they? GBR!!!

[tornadostormxl]

Trading sites and EBAY

[wrldstrman]

yard sales flea market but i think the way to get games the cheapest but will cost a lot at the time is to save up a large amount of cash and buy a big lot...Ive seen so many large lots of games go on ebay which when averaged out the games were dirt cheap, only thing is you had to have a large amount of cash to buy the lot..

[Jumpman Jr.]

95% of my games come from forums on the internet.
90% of those come from DP.

[Anthony1]

1. Flea Markets - The best way to buy NES games at a Flea Market is to find somebody with a big box of NES games, and browse through them and quickly make a decision on what you think their true value is, and then offer the guy about 60 percent of their true value for the whole box. Sometimes it will work, as sometimes the flea market seller has been hauling that box of NES games around forever and it simply glad to get rid of them. Of course the other method at Flea Markets is to find the most rare/valuable game in the whole box, and just try to buy that game for a low price. You can build a collection pretty fast this way.

2. GameCrazy - Being a national retail store that actually sells NES games, this is a good way to fill in gaps in your collection. They charge too much for alot of the NES games, but you will find certain games priced for like a dollar, and it's a good way to get alot of games to fill gaps in the collection. Especially when they are having one of their sales where you buy 1 and get 1 free, or buy 2 get 1 free or whatever.

3. Thrift Stores - Thrifts are very much hit or miss, often they just have Mario/Duck Hunt and Baseball and 10-Yard Fight, and they have them all priced at $3.50 each. But once in awhile they will also have a game like Contra or one of the Mega Mans or something and it will be priced $3.50 too.

4. Garage Sales - This really depends on your area, cause the garage sales that I go to don't have many NES games at them. But usually Garage Sales can be your best place for value. Cause sometimes you can buy a whole box of stuff for like 5 bucks. Biggest problem with Garage sales is the fact that it's so hit and miss.

5. Pawn Shops - I don't really ever have success at Pawn Shops, but other people sometimes have big success at them. What you do is go in and ask them if they have any old video game junk that they've had for a long time, that somebody pawned in a long time ago. They might have a box in the back with stuff they think is practically worthless, but you might find some good scores there.

6. Craigslist - Sometimes you'll find somebody on Craigslist selling a bunch of their stuff like a virtual garage sale, and they might have some video games stuff for good prices. Only problem is the competition is fierce, and you have alot of people that are just trying to make money and they know too much about the Ebay values of stuff

7. Ebay - This is usually the last resort, cause you usually have to overpay for stuff. Sometimes you'll find an auction that has a certain game or a group of games real low, and nobody is noticing it for some reason and you get lucky. But be very carefull, cause you can go broke in a hurry with Ebay. I strongly recommend Esnipe.

8. Friends & Family - You can ask various relatives if they have any old games in their Garages that they would like to get rid of. It's always worth a try.

9. Digital Press Buying and Selling forum - this is a great place to buy and sell stuff. The Prices are usually better than Ebay, none of us like the super inflated Ebay prices, so usually you can get better prices for common stuff here. Of course rare stuff is still expensive. Alot of DP people have no interest in loose games, so if you don't mind loose games, you can get those for good prices. Trading is a good way to go to. Why spend actual $ if you don't have to? Of course there are lots of other websites besides DP where this is done.