Buying older consoles and games in a lot.

[filmbucket]

I have recently met up with someone who has amassed a reasonable collection of video game items and was hoping that some of you who are more informed would possibly
help me out on an appropriate price to offer for all the items. The seller doesn't know anything about video games, they just purchase old storage trailers and have contacts that offer them random items from time to time. He doesn't want me to just pick through everything and
is really only willing to sell everything in one lot. I know it's difficult to make an approximation without knowing all the titles involved, but I tried my best to grab some titles here and there for each system in the short time I had to view the items. They are
as follows:

2 Nintendo toasters, 54 Nintendo games, no boxes or instructions. Some titles include Baseball Simulator 1.000, Flinstones 1, SMB 2, Klax, Vindicators, Puzznic, Paperboy, Paperboy 2, Defenders of Dynatron City, Fester's Quest, MUSCLE, Rad Racer, Excite Bike, Sky Kid, Donkey Kong, SpyHunter. Most of the games are in good condition, and I
know there were no hard to find titles. The hardest to find game out of all that were there was probably Puzznic.

34 Super Nintendo games, no boxes or instructions. Some games are: Super Mario Allstars, Donkey Kong Country 1 & 3, Spanky's Quest, SKO Boxing, Super Punch-Out!!!, Pac-Man 2, Shaq Fu, Ninja Warriors

9 jaguar games, no boxes or instructions. The only one I remember was Zool 2, but there weren't really any standouts. I think there was possibly a controller for
it as well...

13 Colecovision games. The only two that had boxes are Fortune Builders and Telly Turtle, don't know if they were complete. Others are Lady Bug, Carnival, Frenzy and
Cosmic Avenger.

1 Atari system, 93 Atari games, no boxes or instructions. Some games include: Mountain King, Solar Force, Mouse Trap, Stargate, Pigs in Space, Towering Inferno, California Games, Star Master, Reactor, Lost Luggage, Amidar, Robot Tank, Eggomania, Sneak n' Peak, Alpha Beam w/ Earnie, Cookie Monster, Rebellion.

There are also 2 Sega Saturns, 3 Sega Genesis systems (all three are different versions) and about 7 sega games (Nothing good).

Any help would be appreciated so thank you very kindly in advance!

[hezeuschrist]

I personally wouldn't offer anything over $250, MAYBE $300. But then again, I don't have any clue about anything pre-NES. If the guy really doesn't know much, I'd offer $150 - $200 and see if he'd bite.

[boatofcar]

Personally, I'd offer $200 for the lot if it's all in good cosmetic shape.

[Arcade Antics]

Holy cheapskates, Batman! LOL

Presuming everything is at least in decent, working shape and there are zero big ticket items in the pile, anything less than $400 is ripping the guy off.

If there are any big ticket items in there, that just makes things worse. Whether or not you can live with buying all that stuff from him for a price that's much less than fair is up to you.

If it was your lot, I'd guess you'd be insulted by any offers less than $500, but I could be wrong. *shrugs*

[Blur2040]

This isn't eBay. In a private setting...$200 to $300 seems appropriate. Start low. If he takes it, great. If not, negotiate.

[rcgamer]

Holy cheapskates, Batman! LOL

Presuming everything is at least in decent, working shape and there are zero big ticket items in the pile, anything less than $400 is ripping the guy off.

If there are any big ticket items in there, that just makes things worse. Whether or not you can live with buying all that stuff from him for a price that's much less than fair is up to you.

If it was your lot, I'd guess you'd be insulted by any offers less than $500, but I could be wrong. *shrugs*

its the dealers responsibility to know about the things he is selling. its the customers responsibility to try to get the best value he can for his money. if the guy sells it to him really cheap then thats the dealers fault not the customers.

[Arcade Antics]

its the dealers responsibility to know about the things he is selling.
True.


its the customers responsibility to try to get the best value he can for his money.
I wouldn't say it's their responsibility, but it's what most would try to do, sure.


if the guy sells it to him really cheap then thats the dealers fault not the customers.
Still, the poster asked for "an appropriate price to offer for all the items." Lowballing the guy isn't an appropriate price, especially when it's as low as the other responses posted.

Yes, the seller could sell the lot for an absurdly low price, and yes, it's up to him to decide how much work he wants to put into figuring out what a fair offer is, but still. Better the buyer knows what an appropriate figure is since anyone knows what a lowball figure is. If the seller isn't as ignorant of the value of the lot as responses are hoping, he's gonna tell the buyer to take a flying leap and offer it to someone else who isn't a cheapskate. ;)

[playgeneration]

i wouldnt offer much for that lot, unboxed games are not worth much. If the seller tried to trade in that lot at a game shop, they would be paid hardly anything for it. As said before the value of something on ebay is not really what something is worth, the seller always looses soemthing for the convenience of a quick cash in hand deal.

[Ed Oscuro]

Plan C: recruit friends to lowball him aggressively and spread rumors about the people who posted higher offers!

On the lot: I don't know. There are some QUALITY games in there, but what about the ones not listed? I think it would be possible those are all the highlights, and given that those systems can be found cheaply (not including shipping, though - does $400 cover the shipping?), and that you probably only need one NES toaster, only one Saturn (until its CD-ROM drive mech burns out I guess), that the unmentioned games are mostly bargain bin quality and you won't be pleased with the purchase.

That's a major issue when buying lots: you're going to get stuff you like along with probably at least as much you don't like. I find it more worthwhile to pay a bit more per item individually to get things I like, but y'all know how much I like reselling things. If you think you can make some money back reselling, go for it - but remember it can be a hassle and some games just won't move, ever.

[Kevincal]

That lot is worth about $450. A fair offer would be $350-400 imo.

[TisLord]

I'd say no more then $200-$250 but I am cheap....and if I saw these in person I would offer $100 and let them bicker...

[mills]

Like some else said 1. This is not ebay.
2. All the games and systems are loose.
3. All items are used, opened, preowned etc.
3. there are no "rares"
4. This is a private deal and you want to get the best deal without insulting the seller at the same time.

I would offer 300 tops.

[rcgamer]

Still, the poster asked for "an appropriate price to offer for all the items." Lowballing the guy isn't an appropriate price, especially when it's as low as the other responses posted.



true true. :hail:

[Oobgarm]

I'd say $400, no more than $500. Either as personal collection additions or eBay fodder.

Look at it this way.

Figure $2 a cart. I'm sure that not all of the VCS carts are worth that much, but I think it's a good, even number across the board considering that there are some uncommon titles you've listed.

54 NES
34 SNES
9 Jag
13 CV
93 VCS

That's $406.

Not to mention 2 NES, 2 Saturn, and 3 Genny systems.

[Keir]

1 Atari system, 93 Atari games, no boxes or instructions. Some games include: ... Rebellion.What is this?

[filmbucket]

1 Atari system, 93 Atari games, no boxes or instructions. Some games include: ... Rebellion.What is this?

That could be a typo or from a different system. The atari games and coleco games were put into the same boxes and I was just scribbling random games onto my palm pilot as I'm not very familiar with either system.

On a different note, I would like to thank everyone who has replied with comments and suggestions so far; it is greatly appreciated. I'm still not certain exactly what I am going to offer him, but I will say that he told me to make a reasonable offer where both he and I can make a reasonable profit if I decide to sell some of the items.

[Coleman]

There are a lot of things that need to be considered here.
1. Are you buying the games to sell or are you buying for your own personal collection.
2. Do you have systems for all of the game types mentioned? If not and the prchase is for you then you will be spending more money just to play the games you bought. If you will be selling this stuff then it may be harder to sell without the approriate systems.
3. Is there anything here you really want or are you just looking to take advantage of a situation that you know is good.
4. Is there anyway to verify that everything works?

Myself personaly when i buy a lot of ames i break things down into catagories: Every game is worth a dollar - at least. If you offer a dollar a game you are not getting ripped off. If the toasters are working then you can offer $20 each since you will probably end up investing more to replace the pin connectors. Games that you actualy want are worth what your willing to pay for them. That is pretty much how this market works and why it is great that there are no "official Price guides". If you really want mountain king and will pay up to $12 to get it thats what its worth to you - I would offer half of what you are willing to pay for games you want for two reasons. First this gives you room to bargin. Second when you buy a lot there is an inherent discount associated with it. Total up everything basd on this information and round down to the nearast $25 dollar incriment. If there is only a couple of games you want then this lot is being purchased so it can be resold. With that in mind you should try to get as much of a deal as you can since your purpose is to turn a profit. Chances are he will be happy with $100 for a bunch of crap that he does not know what to do with ;)