Why do some eBay sellers have so many sealed games?

[TazVag]

I was just looking at eBay for Sega Genesis stuff and noticed this seller: http://myworld.ebay.com/airmichael2000/

I'm sure I've seen others like him too. How is it possible for someone to have so many sealed games? Am I the only one who would never think to buy such pricey items from someone who suspiciously has them in such vast amounts? I'm no professional on this kind of stuff but I really am convinced that anyone with this many sealed games for sale is just resealing crap and making away like a thief. Even if one were to have access to warehouse stock or whatnot it would have to come to an end someday, yet people like this seem to be able to make a living off a seemingly endless supply of brand new vintage games. Anyone else care to give their opinion?

[The 1 2 P]

Why do some eBay sellers have so many sealed games?

Um.....because they bought them with their money. I don't get why you are so worked up about it. This seller is just trying to make a living for himself and family like the rest of us. If you don't like the fact that he has so many sealed games thats fine but nobody is putting a gun to your head and forcing you to buy from him. You can buy(or not buy) from any seller you choose. I don't see any real issue here.

[Leo_A]

He finds it odd and questions the validity of the objects being sold.

I really don't even see how your reply applies to his post.

[ConsoleAddict]

Seeing that he has a 100% approval rating with 2302 deals, I'm sure he's a legit dealer who sells pristine games as advertised. I don't see any reason to question him, either.

[retroman]

i agree....seems like a good seller..

[phreakindee]

Looks fine to me...

but that's not to say there aren't some sealed games sellers that aren't shift. When you start seeing awkward-looking seals for games of the time (obviously you have to know what to look for) or all games that are beat up somewhat but still sealed, or they don't show actual pictures just stock photos but claim it to be sealed, then you've got a potential problem. I've bought "sealed" games from some of the above types and they were either obvious reseal jobs on relatively decent condition games or they just straight lied, because technically some part of the game was still "Sealed" like the manual inside or something. I only deal with those shift types if it's cheap and I really want the box but don't care about seals.

I've even seen someone go so far as to tape up the edges of a cardboard PC game box with clear packaging tape and call it "Sealed".

[PapaStu]

Moved to Everything Ebay, since it really doesn't have a place in Classic Gaming.

People focus on certain aspects of sales. Sealed Genny games arn't all that hard to come by, tend to be cheap and that alone is a good enough basis for someone like them. Besides you can hunt down cases of games and break em open and bam! 6 sealed copies of a game.

[TazVag]

Um.....because they bought them with their money. I don't get why you are so worked up about it. This seller is just trying to make a living for himself and family like the rest of us. If you don't like the fact that he has so many sealed games thats fine but nobody is putting a gun to your head and forcing you to buy from him. You can buy(or not buy) from any seller you choose. I don't see any real issue here.

I think this response is kind of uncalled for. My question doesn't deserve the "if you don't like it then don't buy it" defense since I'm simply asking about people who sell sealed games in such huge amounts in general. I was trying to use that one guy as an example but didn't mean it as any personal attack on him. Sorry if that was unclear at first though.

I really have been seeing people complain a lot in the NES community recently about reseals on eBay though, especially recently with how some titles are getting ridiculous values attached to them. I get the feeling it's a business catching on among scammers on eBay to reseal stuff. I just fear the hobby of vintage game collecting is starting to be taken advantage of :/

I'm mainly just looking for experiences people have had.

[The 1 2 P]

I think this response is kind of uncalled for. My question doesn't deserve the "if you don't like it then don't buy it" defense since I'm simply asking about people who sell sealed games in such huge amounts in general. I was trying to use that one guy as an example but didn't mean it as any personal attack on him. Sorry if that was unclear at first though.

I really have been seeing people complain a lot in the NES community recently about reseals on eBay though, especially recently with how some titles are getting ridiculous values attached to them. I get the feeling it's a business catching on among scammers on eBay to reseal stuff. I just fear the hobby of vintage game collecting is starting to be taken advantage of :/

I'm mainly just looking for experiences people have had.

I get what you're saying but there are several ways to tell which games are reseals or legit. If you have any factory sealed games of your own you can always compare them to the pics in the auction. Otherwise you could ask a more knowledgable friend. Here's a guide for spotting resealed Nes games, which can also be applied to Snes and N64 games. Genesis games are a bit tougher to tell because some of the early clam shell games that are factory sealed simply look like they were shrink wrapped. There are guides for those too although I didn't find a usable one in my preliminary search.

And if ebay is your main source of tracking down sealed games, make sure to check feedback and compare one sellers items with another. This usually helps but from time to time you're run into a situation where you have two legit copies of a game where one is the factory seal y-fold wrap and the other is just factory sealed shrinked wrap. Thats how some of Nintendo's Ds games were packaged(Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow comes to mind). That should be enough to get you going in the right direction.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Just sharing an anecdotal offering I recently acquired.

Telegames US dumped their NOS (new-old stock) a some years ago and the UK division seems to be doing the same thing now. I asked an ebay store, recently, where they got their stuff and they said Telegames. NOS distributors/dealers do exist, but they seem to be shifting out. Telegames was a big one. Recent economy woes might be a contributing factor too, if not the main one.

I'd guess that with the dealer price reductions, the cost and liability that one party is selling out of is just changing hands.

[jonebone]

I get what you're saying but there are several ways to tell which games are reseals or legit. If you have any factory sealed games of your own you can always compare them to the pics in the auction. Otherwise you could ask a more knowledgable friend. Here's a guide for spotting resealed Nes games, which can also be applied to Snes and N64 games. Genesis games are a bit tougher to tell because some of the early clam shell games that are factory sealed simply look like they were shrink wrapped. There are guides for those too although I didn't find a usable one in my preliminary search.

It's ironic that the guide you linked is actually written by a notorious resealer, Nick Morgan, aka burnambill333 who was banned from NintendoAge over a year ago. I think he was actually criminally prosecuted as a juvenile for selling reseals and had to do community service as well as pay restitution. But the article still provides valuable info.

You could apply it to SNES, but N64 is a different breed. I collect some sealed N64 games and I've seen at least 3 different types of seals, all of which are factory. There's an overlap seal, great example = Perfect Dark. There's the traditional V-seam, great examples = 1st party games like Mario. There's the seam on top, seam on bottom, example Indy Jones. N64 is very difficult to collect for unless you know what you are doing.

As for the original question, there's plenty of people who have been collecting sealed games for 10+ years since they were cheap (rarebucky). They have tons of stock and always have expensive items for sale. Also a canadian seller, Dov, has been selling sealed NES / Gameboy / Sega / SNES for well over a year now and still has continuous stock. He discovered an abandoned family warehouse full of games that he inherited.

Anything is possible, always check a seller's feedback.

[portnoyd]

When games aren't sold, they are clearanced out. When this happens, people buy them and sit on them. And there you have it.

[GarrettCRW]

When games aren't sold, they are clearanced out. When this happens, people buy them and sit on them. And there you have it.

Clearance labels aren't necessarily that easy to tear off. As has been debated in the 'bender endlessly, there's a good chance that the "experts" at picking out reseals have no clue what they're talking about.

[pooch]

Has anyone bought from "rpgarcana" on Ebay? The seller has a lot of sealed genny games, but he/she claims that he does not know if they are factory sealed. I am interested in some games but just to get some advice before I do. Thanks!

[Dark_Sol]

RPGarcana is a scam.

As for the rest - yes, some people may have many sealed games. As for airmicheal - none of his games are super rare.. just common crap which is easy to amass

[Sammelhammel]

airmichael was one of my biggest enemies 2-5 years ago when it comes to sealed games. He bid on every sealed game on ebay and he got a lot.
And now he is selling all this games...nothing special.