Game Trading Shop ...

[Flack]

So, there's a new "game trader" store in town. I just dropped by Friday to check it out.

The first thing I see is a huge selection of PS2 games. I start looking through them and then notice the prices. Most of them are $44.99. Yikes! Then I move to the PSX area. Many of the games were still marked at $20. Is this normal?

Then I move over to the SNES area. All the SNES games are on little tiny cardboard backings, and shrink wrapped. SNES game prices were $8, $13, $18, and $23. The also had Sega Genesis games with the same price structure.

Is it just me? Has eBay, flea markets and thrift stores ruined me? I can't imagine paying $23 to play an SNES game -- without the box and/or manual, these are just for playing.

I talked to the owner for about 2 minutes and got the impression that he's one of those "whatever you have is crap and whatever I have is gold and if we have the same thing mine's still better" types of guys. I saw lots and lots of bundled N64 systems for $39 ... the going rate in every pawn shop in town is $19.

I'm all for the "small guy" going into business, but with those prices I don't see how he can keep kids coming in.

[jonjandran]

Well I hate to wish anyone bad, but hopefully the kids don't go in and he does fail.
People need to do a lot of research before they start a business. And it doesn't look like this guy did.

[sisko]

The going price for an N64 anywhere is $20. Well, hopefully he will figure it out and change his attitude.

NCAA Basketball for the SNES is definitely not worth $8.

The good thing about those independent stores is that you can sometimes find the more obscure systems there. If he doesn't have any of that.......oh well :/

[Darth Sensei]

I'd guess it'll take him a few weeks with abysmal sales and he'll change his tune.

D

[xfactor1984]

I have a store just like that around here called game exchange, where they have unbeleivable prices on some stuff there. like dw 1,2,3 on nes for 100$! and thses are just loose carts no instructions or boxes. they also have a 3 ninja gaidens sold in the same manner for 80$. a super mario rpg loose for 65$ and 65$ loose for chrono trigger. I don't know about you all but I think you are right that ebay has ruined the game market a little since before ebay i could go to a flea market and get a sack of loose nes games for like 20$, same thing at a garage sale. Now if a game had the smallest markings of a rare game the flea markets and stores and garage sales jack up the price a lot just because of how its going on ebay.

I use ebay but only for stuff i cant find in the open though like panzer dragoon saga and stuff like that.

[sisko]

I have never seen a loose Mario RPG go for more than $30.

eBay has tainted the market, but I would nt go so far as to say it has ruined it. These asinine prices are direct result of the owners' stupidity, either that or the customers who are stupid enough to buy them.

[jonjandran]

I have never seen a loose Mario RPG go for more than $30.
.

Last year I was selling them on E-Bay for $39.99.
This year I get $29.99 for them.

And I agree that E-Bay has kind of screwed up getting good deals from most places.

[GrandAmChandler]

Is it just me? Has eBay, flea markets and thrift stores ruined me? I can't imagine paying $23 to play an SNES game -- without the box and/or manual, these are just for playing.

Interesting enough, you should read the "Villains" issue number 52 of the Digital Press Newsletter.

[RJ]

Anyone hit GameCrazy yet? We got a full color glossy ad in the Sunday paper last week (& again in the mail) touting their huge collections of retro games ("classic plastic"). The ad showed a few Genny (Gunstar Heroes!) & SNES boxes, implying they're available.

Upon visiting, their Genny collection was about a dozen loose carts, half of which were Sonic 2. The SNES games werent much better off. They were displayed loose under a glass counter, w/ several more on the back shelf, turned sideways so the labels werent visible. Some of the prices were OK. The clerk said there wasnt enough room for all the SNES to be out front (MAKE ROOM!!!) & that they kept some "good stuff" behind, like "the first Madden game". Not being a sports game fan, I didnt know any better, nor did I care; I just nodded along.

All in all, I wasnt too impressed w/ the place- an obvious attempt to grab part of GameStop's market. What are some other member's views/thoughts on this "new" place?