How come everybody knows how much their old games are worth?

[Mythik]

It seems like everyone knows how much they're worth nowadays...what happened to people selling old nes/snes games for $1/ea, no matter what they are?

the only time I've ever seen games at a flea market/garage sale, they had common games for $5, and a boxed Zelda for NES for $25...when I asked the guy how much for the zelda and he told me he was like 'This is a good price! I can easily get over $30 on ebay!'

what happened to the average ignorant person who doesn't know what an old game's worth?

[Richter Belmount]

i dunno internet?

[christianscott27]

annoys the crap out of me, a little knowledge is a bad thing. case in point this weekend at the flea market - some guy has a copy of some genny college football game. i dont own it so therefore i want it but i know its worth next to nothing, esp loose. to be fair i offer $2, its actual guide price. he turns me down and asks for $5 cause he "knows" he can sell it for that online. UGHHH, no you cant, it would never get that on ebay, this aint friggin phantasy star stupid. somebody told this guy old games are worth money, now he figures that applies to every old game. end result, i dont get a game and this doofus doesnt make any cash off it, lose-lose situation.

even worse example...some guy has 6 sealed radio shack brand N64 mem. cards, the store price on them reads "1.97", obviously some old stock the shack clearance priced. so i try and work out a fair deal, $10 for the lot. these might be some low-grade trade stuff. he says no way, then i say well they're only two bucks at the store so how about it? he then procedes to fingernail the pricetags and the plastic seal off so nobody else can try and lowball him on the price...lose-lose.

[swlovinist]

those days are over, I guess you'll have to pay more for your games now. It sucks to remember those good ol days doesnt it?

[Richter Belmount]

I feel better with knowledge like , now i wont be a idiot who pays 70 bucks for a loose chrono trigger.

[Dimitri]

I feel better with knowledge like , now i wont be a idiot who pays 70 bucks for a loose chrono trigger.

Hey! I'm not an idiot!

...bit of a newb back then, sure, but... x_x

[YoshiM]

It seems like everyone knows how much they're worth nowadays...what happened to people selling old nes/snes games for $1/ea, no matter what they are?

the only time I've ever seen games at a flea market/garage sale, they had common games for $5, and a boxed Zelda for NES for $25...when I asked the guy how much for the zelda and he told me he was like 'This is a good price! I can easily get over $30 on ebay!'

what happened to the average ignorant person who doesn't know what an old game's worth?

It's because everyone talks about eBay, what gets sold on there (ie practically anything) and how much they can get for stuff. Like comic books or action figures, video games have become the next "collectable" and when anyone hears that magic word, dollar signs appear in their eyes. So instead of just getting rid of stuff by donating or blowing out for cheap at a garage sale, the people hang on to the stuff in hopes that someone will cough up "top dollar".

[Big Papa Husker]

I know... everywhere I go.. even Goodwill has games higher than they used to be. Heck they have Asteroids for the 2600 for $1.99 along with Mario Bros/Duck Hunt for $1.99 as well.

Ive had my best luck at Pawn Shops where I found Suikoden and Lufia for $7. At a different shop I found XCOM (disc) for a buck. Its really sad that the good ole days are gone.

But this summer I will still check out garage sales... I should get lucky/hit the jackpot once this summer at least.

[Fuyukaze]

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

No one likes to be taken for a fool these days and with the internet its easy to compare prices and see whats going for good and what isnt. Problem is all to often people look at a few examples and believe its true of everything. They see games like Chrono Trigger fetching 80$ for a complete copy and think, "hey, I got a copy of it loose right here!" so they try selling it for 20-40$. Good deals for old games isnt a dead thing, its just that people have to tighten their grip on the wallet and be willing to shop around better. Find the good deals and know when its an actual good value, and skip the crap that just isnt worth it. Be frugal! Shop smart! Look for them deals! They dont come easy, and sometimes they dont come cheap. They do happen so long as your willing to search and barter. Flea markets though realy have gone down hill over the past 10 years I will admit. Last one I went to was trying to ask 20$ for a Oddesy 2. No games, no cables, and no controlers. Just the system itself. Also had some extremly used GBC systems for 30$. Best deal found there was Galaga NES for 5$, Super Metroid SNES for 10$, and King Arthurs Knights of the round SNES for 10$.

[FooFighter]

Had a guy at a pawn shop up in Montana a few months ago tell me how "those old Atari abd Nintendo games go from $50 to $100 on the internet. I just nodded and tried not to laugh as I looked at the loose NES game "The Black Bass" in his case with a $75.00 price tag on it.

I did learn a lesson at a Salvation Army the other day though.
I saw two Boxed SNES games in the case with $2.50 price tags on them and waited in line 10 minutes to get them. I get up to the counter and the girl gets them out for me and starts to ring them up. The lady next to her (the manager I think) takes 1 look at my shirt and then looks up at my face and says to me "those are $15.00 each" I tell her they are marked $2.50 and she says "Well they were mismarked". Needless to say I walked out mad

The lesson you ask??????? Don't wear your Nintendo t-shirt out when you are shopping for games they really see you coming....

[FlufflePuff]

I would have raised some hell with that woman if I was you. I'm never a fan of being the angry customer, in fact, I generally hate anyone who complains to managers, but she is discrimating against you because you don't look poor. That would be like someone refusing to sell me a Mozart cd because I had a Reel Big Fish tshirt on. I'd tell her they were marked that way and unless she could prove to me that they were mismarked I wouldn't leave without them.

[thegreatescape]

Its not quite so bad down here, due to games always being comparitively expensive, but it has gotten worse lately. Case in point: the local gamestore used to sell all Mega Drive games for $10, and I was pretty much the only person to buy them. All of a sudden they notice that the Mega Drive games arent just sitting there so they start hiking up the prices. Now i cant afford to buy games there and the pile is getting higher and higher (probably around 150+ MD games there, all boxed). $10 is a little high to start with, but $20 for a complete High Seas Havoc is too much :/

[Videogamerdaryll]

How come everybody knows how much their old games are worth?

Ebay...

[Sniderman]

Sorry gang, but:

Several years ago: "What, those old games? I ain't got the system, so Hell, how about $1 each?"

Today: "What, those old games? Those are collectable and I could sell 'em on eBay for , let's say, $10 each?"

So, when the sellers had no idea that they were collectable, everything sold for cheap. Combat went for the same price as Chase the Chuckwagon - on the low side. And we rejoiced. Same thing today, only in the revese direction. The sellers price Combat the same as Chase the Chuckwagon - on the high side. And we curse them.

Blame eBay. Blame the media for letting folks know that these are collectible. Blame the baby boomers who are now looking to recapture their youth at any price. Blame the buyer who crows "Woo-hoo! You know what this is WORTH?!?" when he snags something at the flea market. Blame Jakks Pacific and their best-selling retrogame joysticks. Blame the remergence of Atari and the Atari Flaskback. Blame the companies that produce classic game compilations (MIdway's Arcade Treasures, Sega Classics, Pinball Hall of FAme, Atari Antholgy, DRagon's LAir updates, every Namco collection, etc.)

Blame everyone you wish, including yourself and myself. The videogame collectors cliche is no longer underground. It is mainstream. And the sellers know it.

[Cryomancer]

I think a lot of the "mainstream"-ness is probably a fad. So maybe right now things are tough, but eventually all these trend followers will get bored, and then dump the stuff off cheap. Maybe in a year or two we'll have some weird resurgance of cheap stuff? Who knows.

[Teo]

I once found a prototype in a pawn shop. When I was paying for it the guy says hmm, You can probably sell this for a couple hundred on ebay eh? :/

[Super Mario Fan]

I think a lot of the "mainstream"-ness is probably a fad. So maybe right now things are tough, but eventually all these trend followers will get bored, and then dump the stuff off cheap. Maybe in a year or two we'll have some weird resurgance of cheap stuff? Who knows.

I hope, for the sake of collecting, you are right.

[lurpak]

you simply need to educate the people. if they claim that they go for $75 on ebay you simply state that "that would be the rare games that sell for that much, common games go unsold at $2, these are all common games"

if they still dont understand bring it to thier level try saying "I have a (insert your car here), yesterday a car on ebay went for $125,0000, do you want to buy my car for half that, then you can sell it on ebay"... this is only a good idea if you dont have a car worth more than $63,000/

[Kejoriv]

Yes there are some sellers that try to sell common Atari games for $10 each, but Im trying have nice finds this spring. Many of these sellers in flea markets or yard sales just want to make a quick buck and dont have a clue how much this stuff is worth.
In the past month Ive bought 4 nes systems, 2 snes systems, 400 + nes games, 20 snes games, sega saturn, 20 snes games. All that stuff and I didnt even spend $250. Since there are more people buying videogame items you just have to get lucky or look for the stuff in different places.

[Griking]

Carry your DP guide with you in the car. The next time someone tries to sell you an old Genesis sports title for $5 show him the guide. He probably won't change his price because he probably overpaid for the game himself and needs to make his money back but at the very least he may buy the guide for his own use. If the guy knows betten than to overpay for the next game perhaps he won't have to over charge for it when he tries to resell it.