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Thread: Anyone Else Refuse To Buy Classic Games Online?

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    Cherry (Level 1) Cambot's Avatar
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    Default Anyone Else Refuse To Buy Classic Games Online?

    I, for one, enjoy the "thrill of the hunt" so to speak. For one thing, buying old games on sites such as Amazon or eBay usually means overpaying. Plus, nothing beats the feeling of finding that old, neglected classic on the shelves of a moldy thrift store and hearing the lady say "they're two dollars each." I have quite a few complete games doing it this way.

    Though I may have purchased a couple of newer games online for convienience's sake, (I think I got Shenmue for Dreamcast about a year ago from a seller on Amazon), but for the older, hard-to-find stuff, I'd rather pound the pavement. I just think it's more fun.

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    It's definitely more fun, but unfortunately it becomes less possible and less practical to do every year. If you own a lot of systems without many games then you can still get a lot of stuff this way, but once you get all the commons it becomes harder and harder to find things you don't have, especially at reasonable prices.

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    Apple (Level 5)
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    Yes, definitely. It's getting harder all the time to find stuff in the wild, even in areas like NYC. You just don't see old stuff sitting around like you used to. In my experience, buying online is fast becoming the only option if you really want to find anything that you actually want.

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    Strawberry (Level 2) lkermel's Avatar
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    It is indeed getting difficult to find stuff in the wild. And, personnaly, I think they are the ones who inflate prices ! Few weeks ago, I went to a garage sale and a guy had a boxed version of Pac Man for the 2600. I asked how much it was (expecting an answer around $2), and the guy said, " $50, this is highly collectable you know..."
    I still happen to find interesting stuff in garage sales, but most of my shopping happens online. And I still think in can be cheaper (it has been for me in many cases). Super Famicom games are cheaper to buy on Ebay, including postage from Japan, than at my local import game shop...

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    Strawberry (Level 2) Damaniel's Avatar
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    I've found a few really nice items 'offline', and have actually built up most (well, more than half, anyway...) of my NES collection from offline sources, but these days I usually buy games online. It gets discouraging to go to thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales, and find nothing but stacks of SMB/DH and sports titles. Since I work full-time, my only opportunities for game hunting are on weekends. This pretty much means that by the time I head to the local thrift/game stores, any inventory updates have already been picked through multiple times, leaving only commons that aren't even suitable for trade bait. And don't even get me started on the local game stores that have started to price their inventory by logging onto eBay and picking the highest sale price (right in front of you, no less! )

    Yes, this means that I end up paying a few bucks more than if I had found the same game in a thrift store somewhere, but it also means that I won't spend 10 years trying to find a copy of Ultima: Warriors of Destiny or Faria.

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    With the price of gas and the low likelihood of finding things near me, there just isn't a point to looking locally.
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    Strawberry (Level 2) lkermel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Damaniel
    local game stores that have started to price their inventory by logging onto eBay and picking the highest sale price (right in front of you, no less! )
    I forgot about this. This also happened to me a couple of times. The second time I just told them I wasn't interested by the games anymore... I couldn't believe it ! They literally logged-in onto Ebay and checked for the prices from there ! I do not mind if they do it, but not in front of the customer ! I hate that !

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    I still try to avoid buying online if I can help it, but then, I only really hunt the thrift and game stores within four miles of me, or in areas where I'm there for something else, and have a few minutes to spare that I can drop in and browse.

    There's a couple games on my list, though, that I'll have to bite the bullet and start hunting ebay for.
    "I've not seen such bravery!"

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    I don't do my hunting online unless its a Buy it Now for a really low price. I have a couple flea markets and a couple of game stores near me, so most of my collections come from that. I found Chase the Chuckwagon for $5 at a local gameshop, but the same store is selling Shining Force 3 for $100. Also the flea market I go to gets completely raided first thing in the morning by the game vendors so any good deals are snatched up by him and raised in price. But even then, the guy who buys everything off everybody there can be talked down pretty easily and he always has a couple rare games that you can get him to go lower than ebay on. But I feel like going online is kinda cheating (only in my opinion) so the only online shopping i do is in the winter or if its a game that i really want and would probably never find.

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) FantasiaWHT's Avatar
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    Nearly everything of interest I've come across in the wild has been ridiculously overpriced- way over ebay prices. I've pretty much given up except when my wife wants to go bargain shopping for something else!

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    i would if i could but i can't
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    Everyone in the wild inflates their prices. Buying online has been cheaper for me for years now.

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    Cherry (Level 1) Synergy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PingvinBlueJeans
    Yes, definitely. It's getting harder all the time to find stuff in the wild, even in areas like NYC. You just don't see old stuff sitting around like you used to. In my experience, buying online is fast becoming the only option if you really want to find anything that you actually want.
    Ding Ding Ding! Correct.

    But seriously, I don't have that many places around me (northeast PA), and working on the weekend when the flea markets open up sucks. I'd imagine it being overall harder to find complete games in very good condition in stores, in my opinion. But on the other hand, NES games on eBay are so inflated. $50 for a complete Contra? $99 for a boxed Mario Bros. trilogy? $40 for a complete Mike Tyson's Punch Out!!? Yeesh. Also, CueWarrior brought up the gas prices which is also a good point.

    In summary, yes it's more fun to pound the pavement and go hunting, but it's not as fun as it used to be.

    My first PC games and favorite game of all-time.

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    ServBot (Level 11) Steven's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone Else Refuse To Buy Classic Games Online?

    Quote Originally Posted by Cambot
    I, for one, enjoy the "thrill of the hunt" so to speak. For one thing, buying old games on sites such as Amazon or eBay usually means overpaying. Plus, nothing beats the feeling of finding that old, neglected classic on the shelves of a moldy thrift store and hearing the lady say "they're two dollars each." I have quite a few complete games doing it this way.
    You, my friend, are definitely, gotta be, in the minority. (Mostly) cutting off resources such as eBay and online in general is WAAAY too limiting yourself, IMHO. In an ideal world we would find tons of classic games on our want lists at the store 15 minutes away from our homes for $2 a pop, but that is not reality.

    The bold I quoted you on -- eBay is the HOME of bargains, but you have to be patient and know when/how to strike. I've gotten countless good deals on eBay and online in general. Of my nearly 1,000 games, I'd say 80% came from buying them online.

    But if you prefer the wild, more power to ya. Less competition for me

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    It would be basically impossible for me to import without the Internet. So nope. Though I did have a $90 set of two soundtracks "lost in the mail" (apparently) recently...

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    Default Re: Anyone Else Refuse To Buy Classic Games Online?

    Quote Originally Posted by Steven
    You, my friend, are definitely, gotta be, in the minority. (Mostly) cutting off resources such as eBay and online in general is WAAAY too limiting yourself, IMHO. In an ideal world we would find tons of classic games on our want lists at the store 15 minutes away from our homes for $2 a pop, but that is not reality.

    The bold I quoted you on -- eBay is the HOME of bargains, but you have to be patient and know when/how to strike. I've gotten countless good deals on eBay and online in general. Of my nearly 1,000 games, I'd say 80% came from buying them online.

    But if you prefer the wild, more power to ya. Less competition for me
    This is quite true. I've spent months, sometimes years waiting for the right bargain to appear... and I get lucky most of the time.
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    I bought very few games online, most of them I find at cash converters or game crazy.

    Recently I found dragon force for sega saturn at cash converters for 3.99

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    Strawberry (Level 2) JerseyDevil65's Avatar
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    I try to avoid buying online, but I do have a couple of favorite online retailers for classic games. I almost always avoid buying one game at a time because shipping can double the price you pay for a game.

    I do a lot of driving for my job so I have access to a lot of Game Crazy, Pawn Shop, Goodwill, etc., thats how I find most of my stuff.

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    Cherry (Level 1) Cambot's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone Else Refuse To Buy Classic Games Online?

    Quote Originally Posted by Steven
    Quote Originally Posted by Cambot
    I, for one, enjoy the "thrill of the hunt" so to speak. For one thing, buying old games on sites such as Amazon or eBay usually means overpaying. Plus, nothing beats the feeling of finding that old, neglected classic on the shelves of a moldy thrift store and hearing the lady say "they're two dollars each." I have quite a few complete games doing it this way.
    You, my friend, are definitely, gotta be, in the minority. (Mostly) cutting off resources such as eBay and online in general is WAAAY too limiting yourself, IMHO. In an ideal world we would find tons of classic games on our want lists at the store 15 minutes away from our homes for $2 a pop, but that is not reality.

    The bold I quoted you on -- eBay is the HOME of bargains, but you have to be patient and know when/how to strike. I've gotten countless good deals on eBay and online in general. Of my nearly 1,000 games, I'd say 80% came from buying them online.

    But if you prefer the wild, more power to ya. Less competition for me
    I guess I can understand that. You go with whichever method has brought you the most luck. Maybe I'm still feeling the euphoria on the heels of this Salvation Army find, yesterday:


    And a while back I scored this about a mile away from from the last place:



    All those game came out to less than $2.00 each. Plus many other smaller and single game scores. I guessing it's the instant gratification I like. I'd be happy to learn how to score decent deals on eBay. So far, I've found their prices appalling.

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    Cherry (Level 1) Synergy's Avatar
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    Man, that's nice. Less then $2? Wow. My favorite game of all-time, by the way.

    Nice find on Shining Force CD too.

    My first PC games and favorite game of all-time.

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