How I got my PS2, a memory card, and a GH II set for three bucks.

[Kitsune Sniper]

That's right. THREE DOLLARS. And here's my story.

I have a small eBay business. What I do is buy used stuff at flea markets, and I resell 'em on eBay. There's this guy at a flea market I visit that sells as much stuff as I can fit in a bag for three dollars. What this guy brings, most of the time, is music CDs (though every once in a while, I get DVDs too). For the past six months, I've been going to his booth and buying CDs for myself. I got some good music, but also stuff that I didn't want. Most of this stuff was stored in boxes after a while.

About two months ago, I visited an FYE store in a mall a city away from where I live. I was browsing and noticed that they bought used CDs. So I did a bit of digging around on the internet, trying to find if there was a list of trade-in values somewhere. That search brought me to this forum.

One of the posts said that the trade-in prices on SecondSpin.com are the same ones at FYE stores, since they're both owned by the same company. So I looked up a few of my records, and noticed that I racked up about $50 in credit. So I figured, I'll give it a shot. I went to the store, handed in the CDs, and the guy told me that I could get more money if I got credit. So I did.

I eventually racked up, in five trips, about $300. I handed in the last of the CDs yesterday morning, and bought the items below, only paying $3 or so so I didn't have to use up a bit of one gift card. And I -still- have about $70 in credit. I would've bought a game, but everything is seriously overpriced there. And they didn't have copies of GodHand in stock. :P


http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j238/foxhack/DP/ps2lotw00t.jpg

And this is how I got a PS2 for cheap.

Edit: Oh, and there's a$30 mail-in rebate for the PS2, too. I dunno if I'll go for it, since it involves mutilating my box to remove the UPC...

[Quintox]

Nice is all I can say.

GJ as well

[GizmoGC]

How big is the bag? Seems like WAY to good of a deal if its like a shopping bag from Vons or something.

[Kitsune Sniper]

How big is the bag? Seems like WAY to good of a deal if its like a shopping bag from Vons or something.
The bags are usually about the same size as a grocery bag.

These people usually buy lots and lots of stuff from liquidation sales, garage sales, or Goodwill shops up north - and they put them all for sale on Monday morning. Most of it is gone by the afternoon, but the stuff that stays behind? They sell that pretty cheaply on Tuesday to make as much money as they can.

I haven't done this in about a month, though. There's some jerk who also has a booth in that same flea market that has been getting up pretty early just to hog the CDs so he can resell them. This wouldn't be so bad if only he didn't charge $2 per CD! But the joke's on him, he's got about ten boxes of CDs he can't get rid of because of that. Mwahahahaha. Ahaha. Eheh.

...

I may get up early this Tuesday to get more stuff. Bwahahahaha.

[zman73]

But you had to buy the cds from the vendor right... probably cost you more than 3 bucks in cds alone... although you still got one hell of a deal... assuming the town away wasnt 100 miles away or something ;)

[wubb]

Cutting up a system box is worth $30 IMO.

If you decide against cutting the box apart I would at a minimum try for the rebate using a photocopy of the UPC. That sometimes works even when the form says original UPC is required.

Can't really fault the other guy for buying up all of the CDs to turn a profit, that's basically what you're doing yourself.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Cutting up a system box is worth $30 IMO.

If you decide against cutting the box apart I would at a minimum try for the rebate using a photocopy of the UPC. That sometimes works even when the form says original UPC is required.

Can't really fault the other guy for buying up all of the CDs to turn a profit, that's basically what you're doing yourself.

Yes, I realize I sound a bit hypocritical here. :)

What bugs me is that this guy basically hoards everything. And if you get close to the CDs, he'll snap at you and tell you to go away, "everything is his!" Heh, sorry about that. When I started to do this, I had no idea I could even sell these CDs...

And I dunno, the FYE store guy was adamant about me cutting up the box... I hate mutilated boxes, so I dunno.

zman73: The town is about 30-40 miles away. It's part of the same county, but there's only one bus route that goes there, and it takes an hour or so to get to the mall.

[IAmTheCheapestGamer]

Ummm....first of all, where the HELL do you live that it's 30-40 miles and takes an HOUR to get to a mall? I mean, damn....

But anyway, I'd be leery about the FYE rebates, as it took me forever to actually get that $30 rebate back when I got my slim PS2. They eventually had to do the rebate IN STORE and pay me CASH out of the register.

I later on got what looked like a post card from FYE, but it was actually the rebate check printed on a post card sized card.

So, I got a double rebate and paid essentially the same for my slim PS2 as you did for yours.

[JJSP]

The "all you can fit for $3" sounds like Frank & Son's in LA. There's a dude who sells old wrestling figures for $10 a bag. :)

[encendido5]

Try using the price sticker as the original UPC. I've done that before for several rebates and they all came through. It has the UPC on it, so you should be ok.

[Snake2715]

Do they requrie the paperwork etc? I should trade in some of my old stuff.

* edit I guess they doa nd they deduct .50 for each missing or broken jewel case

[IAmTheCheapestGamer]

FYE is picky as hell about trade ins, believe me. If a game disc has even one too many hair line scratches in it, they'll reject it. Compare their policy with Gamestop's, where you could scuff a disc to hell and it'll still get traded in and you have the main reason WHY I love FYE for used games, even though some of their prices are much more than their competitors.

Of course, if you can find a game they take in and give good trade value for(like Powerdrome Racing for PS2 was, $11-14)and buy the HELL out of it at GS for cheaper, you can get a PS2 like I got my slim PStwo.

I musta traded in like 7-11 copies of Powerdrome which I nitpicked about at GS brand stores, even though the game only sells for $1.99 anymore. The clerks looked at me like I was nuts for wanting to have only the 'most scratch free' copies, etc, etc.

[62t]

on average how much did you get per disc? I probaly have a good number of disc.

[Kitsune Sniper]

IAmTheCheapestGamer:
It depends a lot on the people who work on your store. The clerks at my store don't mind cracked jewel cases; what they do mind is broken jewel cases. You know, the hinges? If they're broken then they'll deduct a bit of the cost.

And about the mall? Well, I live near the border with Mexico. The bus route I take has to go to several places before getting to the mall. If I had a car, I could get there in less than twenty minutes, but since it's a bus, I have to go aaaaaaaaaaaaaall the way to another town and wait until they get more passengers, so it takes me about 30 to 40 minutes to get there. That and it's cheaper to pay $1 to get there and $1 to get back home, than pay those insane gas prices and whatnot. :p

Snake2715:
Yes, they require that you hand in the CD, the front and back inserts, and a jewel case, of course. Items without a UPC and promo CDs can't be sold there, so I'm not sure if this includes Columbia House CDs or not. Items with holes in their UPCs, or with holes on the jewel case itself are fine.

62t:
On average, I got about $1 to $2 per disc. But some got me more, I got almost $20 for "We Are the World" - the Band Aid CD from the 1980's. o_o

encendido5:
FYE price stickers have the UPC printed on them! I'll try that, thank you. :)