Did I get a bootleg?

[pitfallharry219]

I got Pokemon Ruby of ebay. It gets here and I start the exam. First thing I notice is there is no official Nintendo seal of quality on it. I figure that's evidence enough that I got screwed. I checked the contacts to see if it had the white lettering, and it didn't. So I'm definitely sure it's a bootleg. Fuck. I guess I'll have to send it back and get a refund. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

[Scrubsy]

Go after them and if they try to screw you over, report them to ebay for pirated copies. Also as a helpful tip, do not buy GBA games on ebay, 3/4 of them are pirated.

[pitfallharry219]

I just checked their feedback and they've sold around 250 GBA games in the past month. Nobody has left bad feedback yet though, so I guess no one else has noticed.

[Sir_Fragalot]

Well he seems to be a power trader, maybe it was just he got a bad copy from somewhere and didn't bother to notice because there is no feedback, lol. I would see about a refund and if not then give him bad feedback.

[pitfallharry219]

His feedback score is only 259, and almost all of that is from the GBA games he's sold in the last month.

[briandadude]

I blame the freakin mods for not stickying the GBA bootleg thread.

WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!

[rabbitt]

I checked on eBaY for the first time in a long while today, and I am astounded that there are still a ton of these sellers. That makes me ask the question, "What the fuck, ebay?"

[itachiitachi]

who is the seller?

[pitfallharry219]

dnasim

[RAMSTORIA]

I checked on eBaY for the first time in a long while today, and I am astounded that there are still a ton of these sellers. That makes me ask the question, "What the fuck, ebay?"

well its can be hard to notice in the picture, especially if they use a stock photo, and my guess is joe america doesnt notice until the battery goes dead or the game breaks in some other way.

when i worked with gamestop people came in all the time with broken gba games asking what was wrong, usually a 40 year old dad and his 7 year old son and their pirated copy of pokemon that they got a great deal on, and the story was always the same, they bought it on ebay, craigslit or a flea market. and then id have to tell em they got a bootleg.

[itachiitachi]

Most people (less than 1%) know about bootlegs and since this seller is new( about 90% of his sales are in the last month) if he is a bootleggers than no one is going to have noticed yet.

If you wan't to be sure about the legitimacy of the game you can open it and see if it has the right kind of battery(most gba games don't have battries but pkm ruby has it for its internal clock), you could also compare it to the insides of a legit gba game bootlegs have a noticable different circuit board.

If you used paypal you can probably get your money back by fileling a dispute, or you can just ask the seller for a refund on the bootleg, his total sales numbers are low enough that ebay would ban him instead of just suspending him.

[yayece]

http://ap.nintendo.com/gba_pokemon_ruby_sapphire.html

A BIG BIG BIG red flag should be if the cartridge is black. All the GBA pokemon games are a translucent colored plastic. See that link for a picture.

[pitfallharry219]

The cart is red, but like I said, there is no seal, no lettering above the contacts, and the little Nintendo oval logo on the back is clearly fake.

[itachiitachi]

^^ if the oval on the back is fake then its a bootleg, get your money back

[pitfallharry219]

I'm working on getting a refund.

[UncleBob]

To report infringing items on internet auction sites, please call us at 1-800-255-3700 or e-mail us at auctionpiracy@noa.nintendo.com

[Ace Harding: Private Eye]

That's funny, I just bought a GBA game from him two weeks ago. It was a bootleg version of Double Dragon.
I emailed him: "You sent me a bootleg. I want my money back" and he gave me an immediate full refund and asked if I'd mail it back to him.

[pitfallharry219]

That's funny, I just bought a GBA game from him two weeks ago. It was a bootleg version of Double Dragon.
I emailed him: "You sent me a bootleg. I want my money back" and he gave me an immediate full refund and asked if I'd mail it back to him.

He probably wanted it back so he could resell it.

[rabbitt]

well its can be hard to notice in the picture, especially if they use a stock photo, and my guess is joe america doesnt notice until the battery goes dead or the game breaks in some other way.

when i worked with gamestop people came in all the time with broken gba games asking what was wrong, usually a 40 year old dad and his 7 year old son and their pirated copy of pokemon that they got a great deal on, and the story was always the same, they bought it on ebay, craigslit or a flea market. and then id have to tell em they got a bootleg.

I've never seen a legitimate seller from Thailand (as far as portable games goes). I know you can't judge on that fact alone, but I'm sure it's within ebay's power to at least lessen the amount of these sellers on the marketplace.

[Kendro]

CAG Bootleg FAQ (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/faq.php?faq=cag_trading_guide#faq_bootleg_pirated_ gba_gameboy_advance_games)

[Puffa469]

Any seller from Asia is probably selling bootlegs. If they sell hundreds of GBA games, they are definitely selling bootlegs.

Look for signs in the auction description like "Game is new but theres no box, it was damaged" Orly? Boxes were damaged for all 900 carts you sold? :roll:


- Demand your money back.
- After you get your refund, give him a neg feedback.
- Then report him to ebay for selling pirated material
- Then report him to Nintendo

and KEEP the bootleg cart. He's just gonna sell it to someone else.

[pitfallharry219]

I know better than to buy from sellers in Asia. This guy had all positive feedback and the item came from Charlotte. I've still not heard back yet. I'll give him a bit longer before I decide what to do next.

[pitfallharry219]

I just heard back from him a minute ago. He said he'd give me a refund, but he does want me to send the game back. He said he'd "check with his supplier to find out what went wrong".

[SmellsLikeRandyMossGuy]

How do you tell with original gameboy games?

[Scrubsy]

How do you tell with original gameboy games? Mostly the GB pirate games are hundreds crammed into one cart like 147 games in 1! They rarely pirated 1 game per cart when dealing with GB.

[Cao Cao]

Bootleg GB carts are/were quite common, even for single games. From what I've seen, the only way to tell with original GB carts (without opening the cart up) is to look for the numbers imprinted in the label. With GBC carts, it's a little easier, since they're all clear, and you can look for a Nintendo logo on the cartridge board.

[SaraAB]

I found another person selling obvious fake gba games on ebay yesterday, reported it but nothing has been done yet!

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZlollywestQQhtZ-1

Seller name is Lollywest

[EXStrike]

From that guy's auctions:

Yes, for all of you Nintendo DS fans, there's a slot on the bottom front on the DS to put gba games in (It's where the wi-fi adapter would go).

So, where can I get this wi-fi adapter?