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Thread: Today's Trade-Ins [DP Store]

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    classicus carnivorous
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    Exclamation Today's Trade-Ins [DP Store]

    TO SEE THE MOST CURRENT POSTS IN THIS THREAD, BACK UP AND CLICK THAT LITTL E BLACK ARROW UNDER THE "LAST POST" COLUMN IN THE LIST OF CLASSIC GAMING FORUM POSTS!

    This may be of interest to some, and of NO interest to many others, but I wanted to keep a log on the trade-ins of 2008. We get lots of cool stuff and thinking back I've often wished I'd kept a sort of journal on the very cool, very rare, or very weird stuff that has been taken in at our store. So I'm going to try to document this in some detail for 2008.

    I'm a few days late so I'm going to summarize a bit of the first few days right now, but going forward I'll do my best to check in daily. If I don't post it means either I wasn't working that day and didn't get a good report from whoever was running the store, or I forgot, or I've lost interest in doing this altogether, sorry.

    Let's start by catching up a bit on the first few days of 2008...

    Wednesday, January 2nd:
    32X Spider-Man Web of Fire (boxed, complete) - this came in on Wednesday. Raj was working, wasn't sure what it was worth. In this case, it's worth about 100 times more than what Raj paid for it. Nice early win for the store.

    SNES Earthbound (loose) - this is the third one we've had traded in in three months, which is highly unusual.

    Thursday, January 3rd:
    PSOne w/LCD - not too many trade-ins on this day but one stand-out was a very nice practically new PSOne system with the LCD. To top it off, the guy had a PSOne carry case. It may take me awhile to figure out a good way to package this stuff. This was a guy about my age with kids, they've moved on to PS3 and this system had become obsolete in their home.

    Friday, January 4th:
    GBA 150-in-1 (loose) - I've seen these before but this was the first one traded into the store on Friday. What's cool about it is that 145 of the games are NES or Famicom games and as you scroll through the menu list the game loads in the background so you can see it before selecting it to play. This came from one of the urban teens who was trading in a white DS as well, didn't think I would want the game at all (went into my collection).

    TODAY:

    We had a huge trade-in today, two college-era guys with five gigantic boxes of stuff. The guy who owned the stuff mentioned that he had a Wii now and could download most of this stuff instead, which seemed more like wishful thinking after looking over the final lot. Most of it was common but good condition stuff, but there were a few interesting items in there. Always nice to get Mario All-Stars, Link to the Past, Super Smash Bros, etc. but most notably...

    N64 Worms Armageddon (boxed) - I've never had this traded into the store before. No manual, unfortunately, and I didn't have an orphan manual either (went into my collection).

    GBC Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening DX (boxed, complete) - nice condition.

    Atari 2600 King Kong (loose) - It's not super rare but any $20 Atari cartridge is worth mentioning, and I've never had this traded into the store before. Ironically I sold two Atari 2600 system packages today.

    ALSO

    PS3 40gb system (loose, complete) - first time the 40 gig model was traded in. Wow, it really DOESN'T play PS2 games. Still, better chance I'll sell this used than new at this time. Sold by another of those urban teen types.

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    Bell (Level 8) Nirvana's Avatar
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    This is actually pretty interesting. You should note the kind of person that traded the game in. Do you ever start conversations with the customers regarding rarity and stuff like that? I'd assume you wouldn't, just because it might effect a deal. But I'm just curious.

    SNES Earthbound loose? Third one in three months? WTF...I want one o_O

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    Great Puma (Level 12) Bratwurst's Avatar
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    I'm curious what the percentage is of trade-ins you keep for yourself instead of moving through the store. Judging from the few things you mention here I'm guessing they're probably unusual items you'd have a difficult time selling there anyway.

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    I *love* this because I will know what to look for when I come to the store!

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    classicus carnivorous
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nirvana View Post
    This is actually pretty interesting. You should note the kind of person that traded the game in.
    I'll try to add that in future (and added above where I could recall). Incidentally if you or anyone else has other suggestions for how this might be more interesting, now is the time. I won't want to change the formula halfway or even a month into this!

    Do you ever start conversations with the customers regarding rarity and stuff like that? I'd assume you wouldn't, just because it might effect a deal. But I'm just curious.
    Sometimes. Often times, like in today's big early trade-in, I'm not even the person doing the transaction. Maryah never asks, she's all business. Mike or Raj ask from time to time. The way I teach my team is that from OUR perspective, EVERYTHING is junk and you're lucky you're getting anything from us, but that's just the business talking. Personally, I step away from that when I see a real collector turning their stuff in (and yes, it's very easy to tell).

    SNES Earthbound loose? Third one in three months? WTF...I want one o_O
    One of them was complete in the oversize strat guide box, too. Weird anomaly. I wouldn't be surprised if the game never turns up again in 2008. But that's what this thread is for!

    Quote Originally Posted by Bratwurst
    I'm curious what the percentage is of trade-ins you keep for yourself instead of moving through the store. Judging from the few things you mention here I'm guessing they're probably unusual items you'd have a difficult time selling there anyway.
    I think the percentage is very very low. "Rare" stuff I pretty much have covered already, so the only two other reasons I'd keep something for myself is either a) it's better condition than the one I have in which case it's sort of a trade to the store or b) it's unusual, something I don't normally collect like that GBA 150-in-1 cart above. I guess we'll see as the year progresses, I do intend to be bluntly honest here.

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    Starman (Level 23) Phosphor Dot Fossils's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by digitalpress View Post
    Personally, I step away from that when I see a real collector turning their stuff in (and yes, it's very easy to tell).
    Has this sort of thing actually happened? That's a conversation for which I'd like to be a fly on the wall.

    I can't believe someone unloaded a PSone with LCD; even though I have a PS2, and games for it, I would be lost without my PSone/LCD bundle. Pound for pound, the PS1 has more retro arcade compilations on it than any other machine that isn't a PC running emulation, and it's those games that get the LCD lovin' if I go on a decent trip somewhere. I can't even imagine giving mine away. Then again, I realize that my requirements are unique and, some might say, archaic.
    Last edited by Phosphor Dot Fossils; 01-06-2008 at 12:42 AM. Reason: Hot. LCD. Lovin'.

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    Alex (Level 15) InsaneDavid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by digitalpress View Post
    GBA 150-in-1 (loose) - I've seen these before but this was the first one traded into the store on Friday. What's cool about it is that 145 of the games are NES or Famicom games and as you scroll through the menu list the game loads in the background so you can see it before selecting it to play. This came from one of the urban teens who was trading in a white DS as well, didn't think I would want the game at all (went into my collection).
    Hit L and R at the same time, it'll bring up the system menu - it's running the Pocket NES emulator. I have one of these myself (a 22 in 1), it's a pirate hardcoded version of the Pocket NES emulator and some roms.

    Great thread idea!

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    Peach (Level 3) sirhansirhan's Avatar
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    Yeah, I like the idea of this thread a lot. One thing I'd be interested in is a brief recap of the coolest stuff you've gotten in the, what, year and a half the store's been open?

    I feel bad for whoever traded the Web of Fire in.

    Anyway, it seems like this would be a lot more interesting than the monthly finds thread, which is too clogged with commons and magazines coming in the mail and nonsense like that.
    Feedback thread here

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    Alex (Level 15) boatofcar's Avatar
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    Joe, I'm curious about how you work your trade ins. Do you have a flat fee per game depending on it's system, or do you do a percentage of what you'll turn around and resell it for? Or is it a trade secret that you don't want to discuss? (If so, it's totally cool).

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    Joe, fantastic idea for an ongoing thread. I'm curious though; when you get a trade in like that Web of Fire, do you ever have it sabotaged by other customers? I could easily see a scenario in which a trade-in transaction is about to be completed, and the store is getting a valuable game for a song, and another customer notices and warns the person doing the trade-in of the true value of what they're trading in. If that has happened, how did you handle it?
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    Man the joys of owning your own store. I wish i was close enough to invade your store. That 145 in 1 sounds nice. How do you or set trade in value or price to obscure items like I wish I lived close enough to invade your store. I also really enjoyed the new video snippets of the store.

    Will the dp store ever go online? or is it just too much trouble? Is there a way to request items or browse through rare system inventory. Up until now I have to stare hard at the pictures of the systems in glass enclosure Ha HA HA
    Last edited by gepeto; 01-06-2008 at 07:18 AM.
    neo geo system

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    Definitely a cool thread, I hope you can keep it going Joe.

    I'd also like to know about any customer sabotage and/or undercutting. I think maybe you mentioned it once or twice on your MySpace blog, but I don't remember.
    "Where my finger goes is none of your goddamn business." -Metropolisforever

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    RACES MINI MOTORCYCLES Videogamerdaryll's Avatar
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    Awesome thread..

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    I love hearing about items traded in.
    I often hang out in my local game store and watching or hearing about some stuff being traded in is great.

    Out of curiosity, how often do you have people bring in things that aren't even plausible for a game store to take?
    For instance, a guy brought in a guitar and amp, and another brought in some slip over the head rest dvd system. It's a video game store, not a pawn shop.

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    classicus carnivorous
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    So many questions, but I kinda expected that at the outset of this thread.

    Quote Originally Posted by Phosphor Dot Fossils View Post
    Has this sort of thing actually happened? That's a conversation for which I'd like to be a fly on the wall.
    Yes, on several occasions a bona fide COLLECTOR has unloaded or partially unloaded his collection at the store. People really do "get out of this", priorities change and on a number of occasions I've heard "I'm keeping the few games I play, everything else must go".

    Quote Originally Posted by sirhansirhan View Post
    One thing I'd be interested in is a brief recap of the coolest stuff you've gotten in the, what, year and a half the store's been open?
    That's gonna take some serious time to think about. We're open over two years now. Part of what makes me want to document this year is because so much of the last two years is lost in my memory. Plus this would make a great chapter to that book I'm going to write someday.

    Quote Originally Posted by boatofcar View Post
    Joe, I'm curious about how you work your trade ins. Do you have a flat fee per game depending on it's system, or do you do a percentage of what you'll turn around and resell it for? Or is it a trade secret that you don't want to discuss? (If so, it's totally cool).
    It's a combination of things. For most current get stuff it's a percentage of the resale value. For older stuff it's flat based on condition, completeness, and quality of title. For the very high quality stuff we present what we think will be a fair price. All of this is kept on spreadsheets in our store's computer. I don't get a lot of complaints about our values, often people share with us how much less GameStop had offered them just before they took it to us.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hawksmoor View Post
    I'm curious though; when you get a trade in like that Web of Fire, do you ever have it sabotaged by other customers?
    I have a blog on MySpace (see link below) that touched on this. It has only happened once. I've discovered people who do that are really rude, so I'm equally rude if I see it starting to happen. There's a deal on the table, they can wait until that deal is settled to negotiate their own deal. By that time it is most likely property of the store.

    I should also add that although this forum community immediately knows the value of something like 32X Web of Fire, the average customer has no idea and often no interest in it. The likelihood of one of us hardcores being in the store at the exact moment someone was trading in something like that is extremely low. It's the common stuff that everyone is looking for that is usually "sabotaged". Tyson for the NES is a perfect example of that.

    Quote Originally Posted by gepeto View Post
    Will the dp store ever go online? or is it just too much trouble? Is there a way to request items or browse through rare system inventory.
    I've given this a lot of thought and there are only two reasons for me to put the store online. 1) people aren't coming in and buying stuff or 2) there is too much overstock to manage. I do have an eBay store but I add to it in spurts. That could change as time permits.

    Quote Originally Posted by WarLordAG View Post
    Out of curiosity, how often do you have people bring in things that aren't even plausible for a game store to take?
    Not very often, but sometimes I've taken them anyway if it's something I deem useful to a friend, family member, or myself. I've bought a few cheap iPods and own two portable DVD players.

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    Do you ever get in pirate games, eg "burnt" PS2 games, fake GBA games (not counting xx in 1) and such? and what do you do if this happens?


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    Quote Originally Posted by -_-Nintendo-_- View Post
    Do you ever get in pirate games, eg "burnt" PS2 games, fake GBA games (not counting xx in 1) and such? and what do you do if this happens?
    No one's ever tried to sell a CD or DVD "backup" game but I've turned down lots of bootleg games and movies (the store takes in *selected* DVDs as well). We just don't take them.

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    Cherry (Level 1) alexkidd2000's Avatar
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    For a joke a bit back I took my sealed Coleco Vision Sports controllers and sealed Roller Controller with 5 sealed games to Electronics Boutique and asked how much trade I would get.

    Funny because the guy said they couldnt take it it was too old, butttt his "brother" was a big fan and if I can in after work he would give me $20 for it all.

    Heh. I prob would have said the same thing...
    My System History in order of purchase: Coleco Vision - Master System - Genesis - Game Gear - Sega CD - 32X - Saturn - Nomad - PS1 - Dreamcast - PS2 - DS - PS3 (60GB) - PSP - 360.

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    Default hmmmm...

    Cool idea here. The only thought I had is perhaps you could add pictures...perhaps a 'Trade-ins-of-Doom' page, at least for the really uncommon stuff like the 150-in-1.

    Did you ever take a trade like Earthbound, that you paid very little for then put it back out at it's street price and then have the seller come back and be ticked off that you did not give them enough for it?

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    ServBot (Level 11) TonyTheTiger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by digitalpress View Post
    I have a blog on MySpace (see link below) that touched on this. It has only happened once. I've discovered people who do that are really rude, so I'm equally rude if I see it starting to happen. There's a deal on the table, they can wait until that deal is settled to negotiate their own deal. By that time it is most likely property of the store.

    I should also add that although this forum community immediately knows the value of something like 32X Web of Fire, the average customer has no idea and often no interest in it. The likelihood of one of us hardcores being in the store at the exact moment someone was trading in something like that is extremely low. It's the common stuff that everyone is looking for that is usually "sabotaged". Tyson for the NES is a perfect example of that.
    Other than the fact I'd never even consider doing something like that, I do wonder if the rudeness of it depends on perspective. For instance, from the store's point of view it's certainly rude for someone to stick his head in and say to the person "I'll give you twenty bucks more." But it's certainly not rude from the seller's perspective. It's the nature of negotiations. Not quite the same thing as someone just wanting to be a jerk and yelling "No! You can get x dollars on Ebay for that!" with no interest in the game himself.

    The only reason I can see the former being a problem (and it's a very good argument) is that the third person would be using the store itself as a location to undercut the store's own business. Kind of like a scalper selling tickets right outside Giants Stadium.

    I don't know if this has ever happened but what if the situation were reversed? Someone walks to the counter and points to something in one of those glass cases and presumably wants to pay the sticker price and just before the transaction some other guy comes over and says "I'll pay twenty bucks more." Now it's a negotiation that's happening in the store's best interest and the problem of it taking place on the property of the losing party is not an issue anymore. What happens then?
    Last edited by TonyTheTiger; 01-06-2008 at 06:07 PM.

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