Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2010

[miaandjohnrule]

I've got tons and tons of cool stuff for sale this year...
Can't wait to see everybody, last year was epic!

Hell yeah, can't wait!

[loop006]

I do still have the HK Xbox, is there gonna be an auction this year? I can bring it if there is any interest.. I'm willing to lower the reserve price from last year.

[rick weis]

is there gonna be an auction this year?

100% YES!!

Rick

[nhm]

Neo stuff is ALWAYS welcome at our show

Funny, I was just thinking of you last week, because I know you are in Longview and you check out Craigslist. There was a Craigslist listing in Kelso for 9 Virtual Boy games, including Waterworld and Jack Bros. I just about crapped my pants. He was asking $25 for the lot. I sent him an email but never heard back. I assumed that you may have swooped in and got it, being that you are in the immediate area.

Back on topic, I might bring some Virtual Boy Stuff too. Maybe if I complete my VB collection by then, I'll think about parting with my Flashboy.

[recycledgamer]

Dear classic video game fans,

To help make the next Portland Retro Gaming Expo the best ever, we are asking anyone who has been to our show or is planning to attend to complete a short survey. Your opinion is valuable and the information we collect will help us determine some of the choices we will make for the 2010 Expo in September.

The survey can be taken online by clicking the link below. We really appreciate your help and look forward to seeing you at the show!

Click here to take the survey

Best regards,
The staff of the Portland Retro Gaming Expo

[mobiusclimber]

I have my fingers crossed that myself and two friends will be vendors this year. Maybe if we make enough money over the weekend we can secure a booth. How quickly do the vendor tables fill up? (ie How soon in advance do we need to reserve a space?)

[rick weis]

I have my fingers crossed that myself and two friends will be vendors this year. Maybe if we make enough money over the weekend we can secure a booth. How quickly do the vendor tables fill up? (ie How soon in advance do we need to reserve a space?)

I would not wait till the last week like some did last year, we fit them in, but it took a lot of work fitting everyone in the room, we were PACKED with vendors last year. and this year will be the same, but we will have much more room for vendors this year. that said, it's first come first served, we have 15 paid now and 8 more i'm just waiting on payment. one vendor even paid for a MEGA booth (7 tables)

when you're ready, contact me ASAP.

Rick

[nhm]

Shameless plug follows....

I was a vendor last year, and I will be a vendor again this year. If you have good stuff to sell, you will make money. I had two tables last year and sold about $1,000 worth of stuff. All of the prices I got for items were above what I would've gotten selling stuff on ebay. That being said, the prices I charged were well below the TOTAL cost a person would pay for items on ebay (factoring in shipping). That's a win win situation. The only challenge is to escape with the money you made. You might just leave with more stuff than you arrived with. Now for the non-business related goodness...

You will meet lots, and lots of great people. The friends you make, the stuff you see, and the experience you take away are worth the price alone.

[miaandjohnrule]

Damn, Can't wait! Had such a blast vending last year and I'm sure this one will be no different.

[coreys429]

This will be my 3rd year vending and I am in a place with other vendors that I can be comfortable with. Even if you only seen some of the people once a year, it seems to be a tight knit family.

[evg2000]

From a buyer's perspective I thought there was a lot of good stuff to buy. Both of my suitcase topped out at 50 pounds, and I had my clothes and some other things I bought in my carry on back pack and small duffle bag I brought!

[mobiusclimber]

Shameless plug follows....

I was a vendor last year, and I will be a vendor again this year. If you have good stuff to sell, you will make money. I had two tables last year and sold about $1,000 worth of stuff. All of the prices I got for items were above what I would've gotten selling stuff on ebay. That being said, the prices I charged were well below the TOTAL cost a person would pay for items on ebay (factoring in shipping). That's a win win situation. The only challenge is to escape with the money you made. You might just leave with more stuff than you arrived with. Now for the non-business related goodness...

You will meet lots, and lots of great people. The friends you make, the stuff you see, and the experience you take away are worth the price alone.

Here's what I'm worried about: I was told that a good idea is to price things at 30% below Ebay, which would be fine if I didn't have to pay for gas, lodgings and $50 for a table. I'm not sure how I'd end up making better money there than if I just sat on my ass at home and sold on Ebay.

I'm still planning on going, just wondering if you (or anyone) have any tips. Because from a business standpoint, it just doesn't make any sense.

[rick weis]

Here's what I'm worried about: I was told that a good idea is to price things at 30% below Ebay, which would be fine if I didn't have to pay for gas, lodgings and $50 for a table. I'm not sure how I'd end up making better money there than if I just sat on my ass at home and sold on Ebay.

I'm still planning on going, just wondering if you (or anyone) have any tips. Because from a business standpoint, it just doesn't make any sense.

That depends on how much you bring and what items you have. Ebay (and Pay Pal) charge fees. If you sell $500-1000 how much are you paying in fee's vs. paying for a table and lodging. And you have to deal with all the idiots on Ebay :-). If you are coming to our show either way, why worry about gas? Since you are coming why not spend the 50.00 and fill up your car with items to make some cash to spend on all the great stuff from other vendors? And you get in early if you're a vendor :-). Or were you planning on flying here?

Glad to hear that you plan on coming either way. :-)

Rick

[y-bot]

Here's what I'm worried about: I was told that a good idea is to price things at 30% below Ebay, which would be fine if I didn't have to pay for gas, lodgings and $50 for a table. I'm not sure how I'd end up making better money there than if I just sat on my ass at home and sold on Ebay.

I'm still planning on going, just wondering if you (or anyone) have any tips. Because from a business standpoint, it just doesn't make any sense.

I think it depends on what your interpretation of "Ebay" prices are. As a vendor I think you can sell most items for the same price that most Ebay auctions with multiple bids end at. When I'm pricing stuff I try to price it slightly above the average auction price and less than most Ebay fixed price listings. I hope that makes sense. Right now I see a huge difference in auction prices (my definition of an auction is something that gets multiple bids and sells for significantly higher than the minimum bid) and Ebay fixed prices or items with high minimums fishing for that one bid. I think if you are a vendor and your prices aren't crazy you will do well.

y-bot

[recycledgamer]

Here's what I'm worried about: I was told that a good idea is to price things at 30% below Ebay, which would be fine if I didn't have to pay for gas, lodgings and $50 for a table.

I can totally understand your concerns.

As anyone who has been to our show can attest, I probably bring more to sell at PRGE than any other vendor. While I LOVE being part of the PRGE show, I would definitely not sell there if it didn't make business sense for me. Here's my take on it:

You are certainly welcome to charge whatever you want, but I find that a 20% discount from shipped eBay prices works well and I can show you why.

eBay charges 15% commission on the first $50 for video games. Most of my items sell for less than $50. PayPal then takes somewhere between 3 and 5% depending on the situation. Finally, some of the revenue must be spent for postage and materials to ship the item to the customer.

Here is my experience - I'll use Mario Kart 64 as an example:

Scenario 1 - Sell Mario Kart 64 on eBay
Buy It Now price: $17.00
Shipping: $3.00
Total received from buyer: $20.00
eBay fees: -$2.55
PayPal fees (2.9% + $0.30): -$0.88
Shipping cost: -$2.50
Padded envelope and label: -$0.50
Net revenue: $13.57 (68% of total sale price)

Scenario 2 - Sell Mario Kart 64 at PRGE
Sale price: $16.00 (20% less than the buyer would pay on eBay)
Your cost here is harder to calculate. You have to amortize your expenses across all of your sales. Obviously the more you sell, the better your expenses are per-purchase. The bottom line is that you now have $16 cash in your hand.

Pros of selling at PRGE (or any game expo for that matter):
- You make more and your buyers save too. In the scenario above, you save $2.43 (minus some part of your show expenses) and the buyer saves $4.
- Buyer gets to examine the game first.
- You can make all sales final at the show so there are no "forced returns" or buyer scams like on eBay.
- You get to talk face-to-face to a bunch of AWESOME gamers as they shop your stuff.

One caveat: On rarer games and hardware, I start at full retail (if you can figure out what that is). There is no reason to take a bath on the good stuff. Something like a boxed SNES Chrono Trigger or a rare prototype will generally earn a solid price at PRGE. You can always cut someone a deal if they buy a lot from you.

If you have a REALLY rare item or two, you can always put them in the live auction. Some attendees did really well in the auction last year and we expect a much larger crowd this time since it is on Saturday night instead of Sunday.

I hope this helps and I look forward to seeing you at the show.

Chuck aka RecycledGamer

[mobiusclimber]

Rick - I'm definitely going to be selling. I wouldn't be able to go to the show otherwise, actually. And if I sell $500 worth of stuff I'll be happy.

y-bot - I understand what you're saying. Part of my problem is that I do way more sales on Amazon, which means the fees are higher but so is the sale price (on most games). Import titles especially. Amazon is basically nothing but Ebay BINs. It's just slow as hell (which is probably just like Ebay BINs). So it's going to be tough to adjust the prices. I'm going to have to do a lot of research to get ready for this since a lot of stuff I don't even know what it sells for on Ebay.

Chuck - That makes sense, but it means I'd have to sell quite a lot of stuff just to make it worth it. If I spend $100 on expenses and only get $2.50 more per sale than I normally would, I'd have to make over 40 sales to see any gain. What I'm hoping is that I make a lot of sales. Even if I don't get as much money as I normally would, getting a lot of sales all at once will be nice. The other thing is that I have a lot of weird, rare, or "collector" things that don't sell as easily in the other places I sell stuff (like repros or pirates, as a for instance).

As far as dealing with "idiots on Ebay" I really haven't had too much bad luck. Knock on wood, I guess.

[swlovinist]

Videgame oddities are most welcome at our show. Others have said some great things, I will add my two cents: We have several vendors that have expressed in the past the same things. Most who have been vendors in the past have commented after the show that they were profitable and have continued to be longtime vendors. Almost everyone who has been a vendor in the past has continued to be a part of our show, and many commented surprise at their sales. The bottom line is that vendors with reasonable prices do VERY well at our show. I would much rather sell at a videogame venue than deal with ebay and its current state.

[mobiusclimber]

Ok one more question: How well do commons sell there? Should I even bother to bring a box of cheap NES/SNES/PS1/PS2/etc games or are people only going to be looking for rarer items?

[swlovinist]

Commons can sell, espically for NES/SNES systems. Typically games that have been discontinued by Gamestop do very well at our show. Are we talking sports titles or non sport titles?

[mobiusclimber]

I have a mix of sports and non-sports (tho I think NES-era sports games aren't viewed the same way as, say, Madden is, especially black box games). For PS1 & PS2, I don't think I have any sports titles (except a few "extreme sports" ones).