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Thread: Does Goodwill actually sell games!??!??!

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) Promophile's Avatar
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    Default Does Goodwill actually sell games!??!??!

    In their stores, not in their online auctions, that is. For the past two years I've been visitng the two goodwills in my area. Granted, they are relatively new stores, only being in operation for about 5 years, but I have YET to find anything pre-PS1 in either location. Whats worse, they have the same video games they had when they first opened, and no others. I know them all by heart now. A PSX controller, Sims: Nights Out Expansion, Madden 2002 PS2, and a copy of morrowind PC. Thats it! Are my Goodwills just really sucky?

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    Just about 3 or 4 weeks ago. I went to a goodwill and picked up 6 Dreamcast games all in there original cases, some where scratched pretty badly and I had to game doctor them. But none the less after I docted them they all worked. Plus they were only 2 dollars a piece. The best 12 bucks I spent all month.

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) ryborg's Avatar
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    Yes, they do, but almost every GW I've ever been to has sucked, even those that don't sell on the shopgoodwill.com site.

    In years upon years of stopping by the closest location to me (it's right next to a plaza I frequent), I've only gotten a few good video game hauls. There have ALWAYS been stacks of Genesis sports games for $3+. They never get marked down and they never get sold. Awful.

    I don't even go anymore. It's not worth my time. There are other, better thrift stores to go to.
    .

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    Insert Coin (Level 0) rustblackend's Avatar
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    I got several CIB NES games there not to long ago, nothing to amazing but they were in nice shape. Also got Lunar I and II for Sega CD CIB box there a few months ago.

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    I used to be able to stop into any local Goodwill and walk out with a handful - or more - of Atari carts. And 50% of the time, I'd also be able to find the system too. Those truly were the Good Ol' Days.

    Lately though, I've been stumbling across Playstation games tucked in witht he music CDs. And not just a space disc or two - I'm talking complete, in good condition. Weird.
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    Strawberry (Level 2) JerseyDevil65's Avatar
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    They suffer from the same problem as any other store that sells older videogames, the amount of people who have classic games in their attic/basement is dwindling and when they do decide to sell the stuff, they are turning to E-Bay more and more.

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    Key (Level 9) Jimmy Yakapucci's Avatar
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    My local GW occasionally has some stuff. I have bought NES and Genesis games there before. Yesterday I saw that they had an Intellivision cart and a few TI99 carts.

    JY

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    Ive gotten a few good things from Goodwill, my best score being 2 Atari 2600 mini's and about 30 games for $30, all in great condition. A few Sega Saturn games and last week I got Mega Man X3, Super Mario Kart, Super Mario All Stars, and Castlevania 4 all lose for SNES for $3 a piece.

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    Banana (Level 7) thetoxicone's Avatar
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    Just a couple weeks ago I found an atari game case (fake wood drawer style like the old cassette tape holders) stuff with all the cd and cassette cases. It was filled with atari games best of all being a copy of tanks but no tanks (needed a little glue to put the label back). All that ran me was $2 for the case and about 14 games inside. At the same goodwill, I picked up ddr extreme 2 for ps2 for $5 and turned around and sold it for $25. The other two goodwill in my area are utter crap though

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    Goodwills in my area aren't that bad.

    I picked up a bag of Atari parts and games just last night.

    Got a pair of Joysticks, paddle controllers and 14 games (Including Robin Hood) for $9.99

    I also generally find a lof of classic boxed PC games for $2.99 each.

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    I've gone to sooooo many goodwills and salvation armys, and have never seen more then one or two PS1 sports games if any games at all. I make my friends stop there sometimes and they look at me wierd and go "videogames? dude I think you just wanted to check out the middle aged women buying clothes."

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    Insert Coin (Level 0) jferio's Avatar
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    My experience is it depends on the area more than the chain. The Goodwill down the street from me, I got a 4 switch 'woody' in the old Imagic case with about a dozen games and manual for $5 (woulda been $10 if it weren't for the sale that day) and an almost complete NES (no zapper) with a couple of extra games, including Mappyland. And I saw (but didn't get) an old Pong clone yesterday at the same store.

    Still, I'll admit, the hunt's gotten a lot tougher even over the past couple of years.
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    My Goodwill seems to be the one of the last shopgoodwill.com holdouts. I've seen boxed/complete Genesis games, complete PSX games, loose N64 games, loose SNES games, etc. They also seem to get a lot of nice music in, so I make it a point to visit often.
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    My local Goodwill - the one that primarily deals with electronics - has sucked hard for about the last four or five years. The place is completely overrun by flea marketers, Ebay pimps and resellers from Mexico who drive all the way up here from Juarez for stuff. They all start queuing up a full two hours before the place even opens up, all the while I'm at work. It's practically impossible to find anything there beyond 2 or 3 loose Genesis sports carts. I have better luck at Savers or Thrift Town, but still not great luck like the salad days before Ebay.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Clong View Post
    Just about 3 or 4 weeks ago. I went to a goodwill and picked up 6 Dreamcast games all in there original cases, some where scratched pretty badly and I had to game doctor them. But none the less after I docted them they all worked. Plus they were only 2 dollars a piece. The best 12 bucks I spent all month.
    Was this in Lansdale, by any chance?

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    Occasionally, I find stuff at my local Goodwill, but for the most part, I never find anything. When they do get some game stuff in, it's always sports games (Rarely does any good games come in, like Startropics II).

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    I found a complete copy of Raid 2020 for the NES among the VHS tapes for $1 a few weeks ago. They also had about eight boxed Intellivision games. Before that I found a complete Dreamcast for $18. My most recent find was a bunch of jewel case PC rpgs. I got Pool of Radiance and Arcanum for $2 each. They had more, but I don't play PC much anymore so I passed on them.

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    I've found tons of stuff in my goodwill stores, not all of it great but i tend to buy a game or 2 each time i go. You just have to look everywhere in the store for games, sometimes mixed in with VCR's and such you'll find systems. Sometimes Games mixed in with cd's and vhs tapes. They randomly place em in my stores, I think i have been to all but 4 of em in NJ lookin for games.

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    Great Puma (Level 12) bangtango's Avatar
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    To me, I'd chalk it up to less people turning in stuff than in previous years. I think over time, the idea that (some) old games are "valuable" is starting to sink in with people who used to turn in games by the bucketloads. I believe more people are holding onto their stuff which is why it is harder to find things at a Goodwill store.

    Sure, ShopGoodwill.com doesn't help but part of the reason they use it is just to get a presence on the web for the organization. The money is better obviously but they DO have to go online and make their presence felt, like other similar groups, to stay relevant in this day and age. They have to do this regardless of how much money the auctions pull in. You also need to consider they can't just place giant lots of Atari/NES/SNES stuff into local stores that may not have the shelf space at the moment. No point in them sitting on it for 2-3 weeks waiting for good shelf space to be freed up in said stores, either.

    The other thing is that a lot of the choice old stuff has already been turned in long before now. Why would large numbers of people who don't want the stuff just sit on Turbo Duo's, Colecovisions or a bunch of assorted games from that era for over 10-20 years before finally turning it all in during 2007? It still happens but it is few and far between compared to the 1990's when people were getting that stuff out of their attics or game rooms to make room for something else. Hence you see a lot more PS stuff, since it sold so well and many of those PS1 games that kids/adults have tired of or no longer use are now heading into the Goodwill stores.
    Last edited by bangtango; 07-06-2007 at 12:20 PM.

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