Virtual Boy on Pawn Stars yesterday

[pollmonster]

Guy wanted $200 for it but Corey talked him down to $80. Anybody watch this? The old man played with it at the end of the show lol.

[ryborg]

Guy wanted $200 for it but Corey talked him down to $80. Anybody watch this? The old man played with it at the end of the show lol.

Yo Triumph:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...=141356&page=3

[Retronick]

I missed that one! Still, unless the thing was NIB I can't really justify $200 for a Virtual Boy. I think I could see $150 if it was CIB, but if it was loose I'd only think it was worth around $80. Sounds like the guy knew what he was talking about.

[CrazyGamesDude]

Yeah I saw that. It looked like the old man liked it at first until it hurt his eyes. That was pretty cool seeing that on the show.

[bohproper]

well it looks like i know where im going with my Game Gear, i might be able to buy a house

[Ayce]

The thing is yes it had the box but it also had the notorious horizontal lines in the screen. They filmed the screen of the VB so if anyone wants to buy that they will have to fix it first. I don't think they really knew what they were doing when taking in that item. The guy said recently they had just found 500 Virtual Boy systems in a warehouse so asking $200 was out of the question because the market was already saturated with them.
First of all I don't recall this ever happening. There was a case a few years ago of 100 systems found... that is far from saturating the market, and those 100 systems would have sold so fast that in 2008 when this happened it would not effect us in 2011.
Anyway... yeah I was still shocked to see that last night.

[wingzrow]

If you're stupid enough to sell your complete virtual boy for $80.00 without looking up what it's worth, then you deserve the $80.00 you get and not a penny more.

[Polygon]

If you want what something is worth you don't take it to a damn pawn shop. I like like that show, but it baffles me that people don't understand that they are a middle man and need to make money. You're not going to get what it's worth. The idiot should have just listed it on eBay.

[bunbunz23]

I tottally agree with listing the VB on Ebay.

[Bojay1997]

If you want what something is worth you don't take it to a damn pawn shop. I like like that show, but it baffles me that people don't understand that they are a middle man and need to make money. You're not going to get what it's worth. The idiot should have just listed it on eBay.

You're making a lot of assumptions. While Ebay and Paypal may be easy to navigate for most of us, if you don't have a bank account or the desire to hunt down packing materials or a car to drive something to the post office, using them can be very rough. I would agree that selling to a pawn shop is a good way to not get what something is worth, but frankly, for some people it's a quick way to get some cash in your hand that could be the difference between eating that night or not or paying your rent and avoiding eviction for another day.

[ttc817]

Just joined the forum today. Always nice to meet some of my fellow classic gamers.

But after seeing the sheer number of people in this thread referring to me as "stupid" or "idiot", I am not so sure this is a good place for this sort of thing.

Think twice before you post hurtful comments like this - you never know who might be reading it.

[megasdkirby]

If you want what something is worth you don't take it to a damn pawn shop. I like like that show, but it baffles me that people don't understand that they are a middle man and need to make money. You're not going to get what it's worth. The idiot should have just listed it on eBay.

Not everyone has the option of Ebay. And with so much shit happening on the 'Bay right now, I would understand why they would avoid it.

Also, if they needed the cash right away, I don't blame them for selling it to a Pawn Shop.

Also, it could be that the person simply did it to see if he/she would get a shot to be on TV...who knows.

But after seeing the sheer number of people in this thread referring to me as "stupid" or "idiot", I am not so sure this is a good place for this sort of thing.

Think twice before you post hurtful comments like this - you never know who might be reading it.

Ignore it. There might be a few who don't seem to care, but many here are great to talk and deal with. Don't let a few posters deter you from becoming part of the forum.

Welcome to DP, btw.

[Ryaan1234]

Just joined the forum today. Always nice to meet some of my fellow classic gamers.

But after seeing the sheer number of people in this thread referring to me as "stupid" or "idiot", I am not so sure this is a good place for this sort of thing.

Think twice before you post hurtful comments like this - you never know who might be reading it.

Sooo....

Did you knowingly sell Corey a Virtual Boy with a screwed up screen? Those horizontal lines aren't normal.

Or is that the reason why you didn't take it to eBay?

Oh, and it may interest you that there's another thread discussing this episode in our "Off-Topic" section.

[Carey85]

Just joined the forum today. Always nice to meet some of my fellow classic gamers.

But after seeing the sheer number of people in this thread referring to me as "stupid" or "idiot", I am not so sure this is a good place for this sort of thing.

Think twice before you post hurtful comments like this - you never know who might be reading it.

Cool story bro.

[InsaneDavid]

Cool story bro.

Beat me to it.

Also, Gunpei Yokoi. Next thing you'll be telling us how Reggie Fils-Aime invented the directional pad.

[Gameguy]

I don't see how it was a bad deal, to me a complete Virtual Boy is worth around $100. Getting $80 from a pawn shop is pretty good.

[InsaneDavid]

I don't see how it was a bad deal, to me a complete Virtual Boy is worth around $100. Getting $80 from a pawn shop is pretty good.

Especially when it needs repair!

[Polygon]

You're making a lot of assumptions. While Ebay and Paypal may be easy to navigate for most of us, if you don't have a bank account or the desire to hunt down packing materials or a car to drive something to the post office, using them can be very rough. I would agree that selling to a pawn shop is a good way to not get what something is worth, but frankly, for some people it's a quick way to get some cash in your hand that could be the difference between eating that night or not or paying your rent and avoiding eviction for another day.

Not everyone has the option of Ebay. And with so much shit happening on the 'Bay right now, I would understand why they would avoid it.

Also, if they needed the cash right away, I don't blame them for selling it to a Pawn Shop.

Also, it could be that the person simply did it to see if he/she would get a shot to be on TV...who knows.

For starters, I have yet to see an episode of someone so desperate that they had to choose between selling something and eating. That's not stupid. If you'll re-read my post I said that it baffles me that people go into a pawn shop expecting to paid retail price. Now, as for my comment calling him an idiot. Perhaps I was a bit harsh. However, he wanted $200. The only way he was going to get close to that was listing it on eBay. Listing on eBay is NOT hard. And it can totally be worth it. Especially if it gets you $150 instead of $80.

You had to find a way to the pawn shop which would be just as hard as going somewhere to ship it. Shipping places have supplies, some will even take care of the packing for you. Setting up eBay and PayPal accounts is easy. There are valid reasons for not using eBay but those are all poor excuses for such.

That's my opinion and I stand by it. As long as you're not desperate for money, a smart person would go where they had the best chance of making the most money.

[Bojay1997]

For starters, I have yet to see an episode of someone so desperate that they had to choose between selling something and eating. That's not stupid. If you'll re-read my post I said that it baffles me that people go into a pawn shop expecting to paid retail price. Now, as for my comment calling him an idiot. Perhaps I was a bit harsh. However, he wanted $200. The only way he was going to get close to that was listing it on eBay. Listing on eBay is NOT hard. And it can totally be worth it. Especially if it gets you $150 instead of $80.

You had to find a way to the pawn shop which would be just as hard as going somewhere to ship it. Shipping places have supplies, some will even take care of the packing for you. Setting up eBay and PayPal accounts is easy. There are valid reasons for not using eBay but those are all poor excuses for such.

That's my opinion and I stand by it. As long as you're not desperate for money, a smart person would go where they had the best chance of making the most money.

Look, you and I and most of the people on here have no problem using Ebay and Paypal, but I would also venture to guess that most of us are better educated and financially better off than the typical pawn shop customer. Just because something is easy for us doesn't mean it's easy for the rest of the world. Pawn shops don't make most of their money buying and selling items. They make it doing what are essentially high interest short-term loans collaterized with merchandise.

I have been using Ebay and Paypal since they started. Having said that, I know lots of people who won't or can't use Ebay for a variety of reasons. Using Paypal without a bank account is a massive pain as it takes time to get a check and you need somewhere to deposit or cash it. You also have to deal with deadbeat and picky bidders on Ebay (heck, look at how much play the display problem with this particular unit roused in this crowd), and shipping hassles and costs. Being able to take a bus or walk down to a pawn shop (the Pawn Stars shop is in a light commercial/industrial area with a lot of low end motels and apartments in the immediate area), hand the item to the clerk and have $80 in cash two minutes later can be very attractive to people, even if it means you lose out on another $70.

Finally, Pawn Stars is a TV show. I won't go so far as to say it's staged, but there is a lot of producing that goes on and a lot of screening of what actually gets featured on the show. Someone who comes in and wants a lot more than something is worth but ends up taking a lot less is a lot more interesting than someone who takes whatever is offered immediately or knows the fair market value of something.

[ttc817]

A few things I wanted to clarify:

-The story about Virtual Boys being discovered in a warehouse overseas is a hundred percent true. I have read this online on different sites, numerous times prior to that experience.

-The system DID have a messed-up screen - it started fowling up the night before I took it down. I told them about this to see if they were even still interested in the item. They still bought it. Given that the item was more-or-less defective in that manner, I was LUCKY to get 80 out of it.

-I sell stuff online frequently, but only SMALL stuff. When you get into eBay and Amazon and all that good stuff, shipping costs get expensive. Could I have gotten more on eBay? Possibly, but if you look on there, you probably won't see a whole lot of them going for greater amounts of money. Besides, I wouldn't have gotten on TV if I'd sold it on there.