I'm trying to work on a report on the average cost of used consoles. All the major consoles from the Atari 2600 to the XBOX. I could use any and all suggestions on this.
The price that I'm trying to determine for each console, is if you wanted to get one of these consoles, and you were willing to search all the various avenues and try to find the best possible deal. From paying full retail for a used console at a place like a GameStop, all the way to getting one at a Garage Sale.
Basically, the price that you are likely to have to pay for a used system, if you were a bargain hunter, and you took some time to try to find the best possible deal, of course, within reason.
When I'm talking about a used system, I'm talking about the system itself, in addition to a power cable and some type of video cable, and one controller. Basically, the bare minimum to have the thing up and running, if you had a game to play on it, but not including any games or extra stuff.
Ok, lets look at the sytems that I'm interested in:
1. Atari 2600 - $15 - Alot less if you can find it locally, and don't have to pay shipping.
2. Intellivision - I honestly don't have the slightest idea
3. Colecovision - Again, I don't have the slightest idea
4. NES - $20 - This is to get one locally, that has all the necessary hook ups. Sure you can find them much cheaper all by themself, but I'm talking about ones that have the power adapter and RF thing and at least one controller. Sometimes you can find them at Garage Sales for like 5 bucks, and sometimes a thrift store will want $25 for one. I'm going to say that $20 is good to get one with all the hookups.
5. Sega Master System - I never see these, I saw one at a thrift store, but it was a bare console. I don't know what the going rate is for these, and likely it would have to be the going rate on Ebay, with shipping included, because I don't find these locally in the wild.
6. TurboGrafx-16 - $30 - TG-16's are very hard to find in the wild, you pretty much have to go the Ebay route, and it's very hard to get one with all the hookups for less than $30, when the shipping is factored in.
7. Sega Genesis - $10 - The only reason I'm saying $10, is because you need the hookups. I can find Genny's all over the place for like $5 each, but usually they have no hookups.
8. Super Nintendo - $20 - I'm going to average it to $20 , because if you hit alot of Garage sales, you can find them cheaper, but thrift stores don't give usually have the SNES systems really low in price. And if you have to go Ebay, the shipping adds some cost.
9. Sega CD - $25 - I'm talking about just the Sega CD part, not the genesis part. Sometimes you can find Sega CD's for pretty good prices, but there isn't tons of them in the wild, and the shipping adds up, when you go Ebay.
10. 3DO - $45 - The 3DO is pretty damn expensive. I never see any in the wild, and they aren't cheap on Ebay. With shipping and everything, and the necessary cables, I'm going to say an average of $45
11. Atari Jaguar - $40 - Again, here is another expensive system that you just don't find in the wild very often. Pretty damn expensive on Ebay, when you add in the shipping.
12. Sega Saturn - $20 - I'm going with an average of $20, sometimes I will find a Saturn at a thrift for very cheap, and sometimes you can get them at a GameCrazy for $20, and there is always Ebay. But with the shipping on Ebay, it might go more towards $25
13. Playstation (old style) - $25 - The old style PSX don't seem to be as popular anymore, people like the new smaller version for the convience, so I'm seeing more of the old style PSX's going for around $25 or so with all hookups.
14. PSone (new version) - $30 - This is about the average price for a PSone with necessary hookups.
15. Nintendo 64 - $15 - I'm going with $15, unless you have to pay shipping. It seems that there are tons of N64's floating around, and people really don't want them.
16. Dreamcast - $25 - It used to be easy to find used Dreamcasts for $19.99 at places like GameStop and GameCrazy, but I haven't seen one at either chain in a long time. On Ebay, they go for more and then you have the shipping. So I'm going with an average price of $25
17. PS2 (old style) - $100 - Hard to get any used PS2 for less than $120 at a retail place, but in the classifieds you can probably get one for about $90, for the old school version. So I'm going with an average of $100 for the old version.
18. PS2 (new style) - $140 - Probably very few new versions that have been traded in, or are being sold. So I think you only get 10 bucks off if you can find one.
19. XBOX - $115 - You can buy them used for $119.99 at some places, and in the classifieds, probably about $105 or so.
20. GameCube - $70 - This is an interesting one, because with some of the bundle deals being offered, it might be better to just pay extra and get a new one. Or get a new one on sale. I'm not sure if you get that much of a break buying one used. Until you can get used ones with all the hookups for $55 or $60, it might be better to try to find a good deal on a new one, in terms of being on sale, or a special bundle or something.
Ok, these are my guesses for these systems, what are yours, and if any of my guesses look particularly off the mark, please let me know and explain.
Atari 2600 - $15
Intellivision - $30 (total guess)
Colecovision - $35 (total guess)
NES - $20
Sega Master System - $25 (total guess)
TurboGrafx-16 - $30
Genesis - $10
SNES - $20
Sega CD - $25
3DO - $45
Jaguar - $40
32X - $30 (with the hard to find little cable)
Saturn - $20
PS1 original - $25
PSone - $30
Nintendo 64 - $15
Dreamcast - $25
PS2 original - $100
PStwo - $135
XBOX - $115
GameCube - $70