Yeah, I think the main problem with looking for games is that a LOT of people buy them at sales, regardless of the condition and otherwise, unlike cloths and other junk stuff..

Here's some stuff I picked up at yard sales and thrifts recently.


Wiimote w/ strap (works great)
Half-Life: Opposing Force big box
Half-Life: Blue Shift big box

$3 each at the thrift store. Love Half-Life and big old PC boxes so I had to get these. Keys should be Steam redeemable too.


Duke Nukem 3D sealed jewel case $.25.
PS1 Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus $1, beat to hell.
NES Goonies 2, Godzilla, and Marble Madness - around a $2 each. I think with these I broke 100 unique NES games.

Yard sale games. I also got a pack of brand new bubble mailers for $1 and some nice black media shelves for $5 each. Can't wait to get those set up.

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Its good to see someone else has a Nemesis. I have a comic Nemesis that I get along with decently, but my game nemesis' are pricks and I dont think the recognize me each time I see them. One of them freaking locked at ebay while buying a game I just put down. I don't understand why people sell their crap to someone who is OBVIOUSLY trying to make a few dollars on them. Especially when said person then tries to talk them down. Never. Ceases. to. Amaze. Me.

Finds
16 classic Rap CDs complete (some new) - $2.75
Genesis box and game (missing Manual) Justice League Task Force (really wanted this game that Ill probably never play) and Insector X - $5 total
Pokemon Heart Gold, Soul Sivler, Platinum, Ranger DS (all complete) and cart only GBA Pokemon Leaf Green and Fire Red - $20 total
Find of the day

Advent Children Import Plushes Cloud Strife and Vincent Valentine - $3.60 total (Cloud's Buster Sword had fallen off but they still had it, definitely the coolest find in awhile).

The Pokemon games will give me a little bit of profit. Bought a small (1500-2000 cards) modern MTG collection (mostly m12, Innistrad and Dark Ascension) earlier this week for $20 but there is nothing in it that will allow me to recoup some of the cost.

This was the best yard sale day all season. Lots of people looking for video game stuff here and I may have to go out of Orlando to find games. I've run into some jerks too as someone had a very nice lot of Pokemon cards a few weeks back that I tried to buy. After they declined my first offer, they said to come back in an hour or so and if no one bought them we could bargain. I cam back a few hours later and the guy still had them. I asked how much and said he doesn't want to sell them so they wasted my time TWICE. There is also a lot of people pre-buying stuff before yard sales and I heard from a few people (games or not) that someone emails me them for game stuff when they post on craigslist they are having a yard sale. Most of the game buyers here seem to be people 50 years or older.

Originally Posted by Otherguy676 Its good to see someone else has a Nemesis. I have a comic Nemesis that I get along with decently, but my game nemesis' are pricks and I dont think the recognize me each time I see them. One of them freaking locked at ebay while buying a game I just put down. I don't understand why people sell their crap to someone who is OBVIOUSLY trying to make a few dollars on them. Especially when said person then tries to talk them down. Never. Ceases. to. Amaze. Me.

There's a reason why people sell their stuff via yard sale/garage sale that they could likely sell on eBay/Amazon for more. It's called convenience. They don't have to wait for payment, pay for shipping or deal with a potential claim via Paypal if someone decides they don't like their description of something. Moreover, they don't have to deal with taking returns because someone changed their mind.

This is the main reason why Gamestop continues to exist for the used game market, since people like being able to just sell their crap in one spot without a lot of hassle.

The only solution for you is to get there earlier than this competition and if you're not earlier than them, then butt in and make an offer higher than they did for the items. But if you turn around and resell even one item that you buy at one of these sales, then your argument is null and void since you're the same as the other people, except maybe you paid more.

Originally Posted by IAmTheCheapestGamer The only solution for you is to get there earlier than this competition and if you're not earlier than them, then butt in and make an offer higher than they did for the items. But if you turn around and resell even one item that you buy at one of these sales, then your argument is null and void since you're the same as the other people, except maybe you paid more.

Preach, Pastor IAmTheCheapestGamer!

All jokes aside you're right. I notice a lot of gamers bitching about resellers stepping on their toes, while doing the same thing. I buy games all the time to resell to support my collecting habit. I really can't be mad at someone else for doing it.

Well, I almost always buy games solely for myself, so I still get to bitch about resellers without being a hypocrite!

Almost always? Unless you ALWAYS buy for yourself and don't 'sell one thing to offset my costs for the rest', then you can't bitch about resellers.

It's like me bitching about the local game store owner and his one friend clearing out clearance or games from a good sale sometimes. I can do it, but I do the same exact thing. So while I'm a hypocrite for doing so, at least I admit I'm a hypocrite.

I've never bought anything with the intention of flipping it. I know the value of certain things and sometimes if I buy and don't care for something i will flip it but I don't buy it with the intention of doing so, I buy games to play. Does that count, lol?

Originally Posted by IAmTheCheapestGamer Almost always? Unless you ALWAYS buy for yourself and don't 'sell one thing to offset my costs for the rest', then you can't bitch about resellers.

Okay, then ALWAYS. Now that I think about it, I don't know why I said "almost" because I've actually only sold games that I got for free (which is technically only selling, not reselling). I've never bought a game at a yard sale or thrift store and then turned around and sold it. But I probably would if I could, which I guess technically makes me a hypocrite as well.

Well, regardless, whenever I go searching for games, my primary goal is to find stuff to keep. I'm too lazy and absent-minded to keep track of what's valuable, so I only seek out what I think looks interesting. And I normally don't bitch about resellers anyway. What I really bitch about are hoarders and scalpers, especially when they start messing with kids...but that's an entirely different discussion.

I've come across resellers in the past and most of them are total dicks. I don't understand it, being a reseller myself, I'm super nice to everyone I meet and it pays off! I saw a guy walking away with some games as I walked up to a sale, and after talking to the owner, he pulled out a boxed NES from his attic for me even though "the other guy was asking about games as well". Strange.

The last week I encountered a guy and a girl who didn't even bother to look around, directly walked up to the people running the sale and said "GAMES! Do you have any old games!?",

The person running the sale asked what kind they were looking for, and they responded "Nintendo. Playstation.". Meanwhile the guy walks off to look at DVDs.

She says they may have some Gamecube games, the girl says "That will work" then yells to her boyfriend "HEY COME TALK BUSINESS!!!". The girl running the sale walks up to her mom and says they wanted the Gamecube games and the mom quickly says "No, were not doing that today". Ha!

Just an overall attitude about typical resellers that bother me, money doesn't talk, but how you approach a situation speaks tons about what kind of relationship you're going to build with the seller. And you can build a relationship in a matter of minutes.

Originally Posted by IAmTheCheapestGamer Almost always? Unless you ALWAYS buy for yourself and don't 'sell one thing to offset my costs for the rest', then you can't bitch about resellers. It's like me bitching about the local game store owner and his one friend clearing out clearance or games from a good sale sometimes. I can do it, but I do the same exact thing. So while I'm a hypocrite for doing so, at least I admit I'm a hypocrite.

That's not true, anyway. There are certainly different levels of magnitude. Someone that will buy ONE extra copy of something to put up as an auction, not an inflated BIN, is different from the people that run to Toys R Us every morning to horde Skylander for ebay. (Just as an example) lol

Originally Posted by Cmosfm I've come across resellers in the past and most of them are total dicks. I don't understand it, being a reseller myself, I'm super nice to everyone I meet and it pays off! I saw a guy walking away with some games as I walked up to a sale, and after talking to the owner, he pulled out a boxed NES from his attic for me even though "the other guy was asking about games as well". Strange. The last week I encountered a guy and a girl who didn't even bother to look around, directly walked up to the people running the sale and said "GAMES! Do you have any old games!?", The person running the sale asked what kind they were looking for, and they responded "Nintendo. Playstation.". Meanwhile the guy walks off to look at DVDs. She says they may have some Gamecube games, the girl says "That will work" then yells to her boyfriend "HEY COME TALK BUSINESS!!!". The girl running the sale walks up to her mom and says they wanted the Gamecube games and the mom quickly says "No, were not doing that today". Ha! Just an overall attitude about typical resellers that bother me, money doesn't talk, but how you approach a situation speaks tons about what kind of relationship you're going to build with the seller. And you can build a relationship in a matter of minutes.

I'll second this. Being polite and not coming off as a dirtbag definitely helps a lot. I spend a few seconds browsing before I ask nicely if they have any old video games. Jumping out of the car, running right up the seller on a mission to loot anyting of value tends to raise suspicion. You have to disguise your motives somewhat. The entire time, I try hard not to waive a bright red flag saying "I'm going to resell 80% of what I find here." It helps a lot, and also helps when I bring my very lovely gf with me. She browses genuinely for a minute or 2 as well. Makes us seem like a young couple that just wants some old games to play. Which is true, but we have most of them already, so they end up online.

First time in a long time, I'm doing a picture.



Dragon Ball, Bull, MK, GTA, World at War, Club, Gundam, SOCOM, and the PSP were all one sale. Paid $8.50 for all.

I had originally paid $7 for the PSP, which they said had no charger (which was no big deal, I have one at home). After getting in the truck I noticed that there wasn't a battery in it either, so I got back out and asked them about it. The boy went inside and looked around for a while and couldn't find it, so they offered me a full refund. I asked how much they wanted for it even though it didn't have the battery. They sold it to me for $2. Now I don't know what to do with it though. I bought it banking on GameStop still selling PSP 1000 batteries, which they apparently don't. So I'm stuck with it until I can find a battery cheap enough. But it does work, so, that's a plus.

Oh yeah, one other thing. Does anyone know how to get around parental passwords on a PSP?

Okay, Secondly, CoD : Bo and Dead Space were $12. The kid originally said $30 but ended up talking himself down to $15, and I offered $12. Almost thinking about keeping Dead Space for myself, but I'll probably sell it and pick it up for 360 sometime down the road.

Going to yard sales and only looking for games is foolish as I have said in the past, there are many other items available for picking that are great for reselling, you must broaden your spectrum a bit if you are a reseller only looking for games. If you are bothering to drive to yard sales and use up gas then you may as well pick over everything that is there or at least buy some things for yourself while in the process. If I was going to sales and just looking for one category of items then I wouldn't even bother wasting the gas to do it, as there is no way there is enough profit in it even if I went to every single yard sale in my whole area. I would still have limited time to hit every sale as sales only go on for so long. I may get a few games per summer that I can turn a profit on but most of the time the games I find at yard sales are close to ebay prices because most of the games I find at yard sales are shovelware that doesn't sell for more than $3-7 on ebay, and even if you are buying those games for 25 cents to a dollar, you can't make enough money off it to justify the time and gas money spent.

My advice would be to figure out what is common in your area at sales then look them up on ebay ahead of time and figure out which are the highest price items, if you see a lot of kids clothes, you can make money off that too if done right, find out which brands are ripe for selling and buy those up in good condition for 25 cents or 50 cents a piece then package them together in lots by size for selling...etc.

90% of the items I get also require a holding time before they are sellable, summer isn't exactly prime ebay season, and I can't exactly sell a winter coat in summer if you know what I mean, so I have to hold most of my items until they are ripe for selling which is usually around the holidays.

You also have to think about local selling opportunities, I know I can trade most cell phones into this stand at the fleamarket for around $5 each if they are working, so if I see phones for $1 which I do frequently, then I pick them up, these phones won't sell on ebay since they don't have high enough value (some do and if so, bonus for me!), but I can trade them to the flea market to make money. One time I walked out of the flea market with $95 cash in my pocket from items I brought to different vendors and traded in for cash, and it only took me about 30 min and no hassle to do it, also no ebay fees!

Like the person who grabs skylanders from TRU to resell, that is not worth it for me either, for each trip I would have to drive 30-45 to the nearest TRU for them, that is a lot of wasted gas just to see if they have some. I think this bubble will burst fast as Gamestop is gonna start taking in trades on skylanders. It would be different if I lived within walking distance of a TRU store but I don't, and most TRU's here are in huge shopping districts with no housing close by so it would be very hard to be located within walking distance of one. The hot items like this are also more prone to people buying them and then claiming the item is damaged or not working or that the package arrived empty, then you are out money because ebay almost always sides with the buyer.

Super easy to combat resellers at your yard sales, if you are running a yard sale and you get people that are obvious resellers (run up to your sale and ask for games) then just tell them you have to look up the price of the item on ebay before you decide how much you want to sell it for. Sit there with a laptop or a smartphone. That should put them in their place.

The reason people have yard sales is to unload junk, however where I am its simply not worth it to have a yard sale, if you truly have junk that is not worth ebaying then you can only count on making about $50-70 on it, the ad in the paper costs $35-40 and you have to have an ad or else no one will come (trust me, tried it before). That isn't really worth getting up at 5am on saturday and sitting out with the stuff all day for a few bucks, and not everything will sell either so you have to deal with leftovers. You are better off just donating all your stuff, throwing it out or giving it away to friends. The only way to make good money at a yard sale here is to unload large things like furniture or large appliances and put an ad on craigslist advertising each large item and say its viewable at yard sale on x and x day.

I am super friendly and I stop to look at all the wares before I ask for something I may be looking for in specific, and I only do that if I really want them item or if I think the person might have the item that I want. I also look like I have kids, and I am the perfect age to have kids, but I really don't have kids, but all the toys and games are really for me, lol.

Originally Posted by SaraAB Going to yard sales and only looking for games is foolish as I have said in the past, there are many other items available for picking that are great for reselling, you must broaden your spectrum a bit if you are a reseller only looking for games. If you are bothering to drive to yard sales and use up gas then you may as well pick over everything that is there or at least buy some things for yourself while in the process. You won't make much on games here alone. Super easy to combat resellers at your yard sales, if you are running a yard sale and you get people that are obvious resellers (run up to your sale and ask for games) then just tell them you have to look up the price of the item on ebay before you decide how much you want to sell it for. Sit there with a laptop or a smartphone. That should put them in their place.

I have a dirtier tactic I would like to try. Have a friend or family member run a sale the same day that there is one that advertises games. Start at the same time and make your ad more enticing, so your competition starts at your sale while you hit the good sale.

You could also have them purposely delay bringing out the games and/or say "come back later since the game person isn't here".

I would do it, but I don't want my nemesis to know where I live in case things get ugly on the road.

Well I only look for games, but I can afford to do that because I go garage saleing with my dad, who looks for basically everything but videogames. So I don't have to pay for gas.

Plus, I can't sell online, and that seems to be where this other stuff is worth the money, so....yeah.

Originally Posted by Kingmojo210 Just make a fake CL posting on the other side of town so you get a head start on yard selling lol

That screws everyone over though. My method only effects people looking for games (competition).

Originally Posted by slowdive21 I have a dirtier tactic I would like to try. Have a friend or family member run a sale the same day that there is one that advertises games. Start at the same time and make your ad more enticing, so your competition starts at your sale while you hit the good sale. You could also have them purposely delay bringing out the games and/or say "come back later since the game person isn't here". I would do it, but I don't want my nemesis to know where I live in case things get ugly on the road.

Haha I did this once when my neighbors and I had a block sale, but with clothes. We had a lot of clothes so we underpriced them at fill a bag for $2 which is about the cheapest you can go because we wanted to get rid of them, after checking what my neighbor was charging for clothing. My neighbor was charging $2 per item. Though with clothing its a bit harder to undercut as people have different sizes etc. They didn't even care that we were doing it as they wanted what they wanted for their stuff and they wouldn't budge.

If you had a family or trusted friend do it while you hunted games then they wouldn't actually know where you lived. But you would have to trust that your friend was doing it correctly as you wouldn't be there. I know a guy who sets up survelliance at his yard sale to prevent stealing and to watch people buy stuff, its hilarious but if you had the sale at a friend's house you could set it up if you had the equipment then you could be in the house watching the camera so you could see when the nemesis came. The nemesis wouldn't know you were there since you would be in the house watching the camera and would be unseen. It wouldn't be too difficult to set up a webcam or something simple for the day. Of course then this would waste your time as you wouldn't be able to be hunting for games yourself but it would be really funny.

I vote for delaying the nemesis by telling him the games are in the house but you haven't found all of them yet so tell them to wait while you go look for the games, go into the house for a while and see how long he will stand out there and wait

I don't actually have a nemesis that I have seen, its honestly just the fact that all the old stuff is gone by now, or its welled up in some hoarder's basement under mountains of trash, or the fact that most game buyers in my area think the walmart bargin bin is gold so all that was originally bought was shovelware games...

I'm totally in support of all of this. And be sure to beat the shit out of the guy to let him know who really runs your town.

Then there are the people who just want to go out and buy games to play them.... Eh. Its a 50-50 thing....Maybe 30-70. Don't forget there are people just looking to get a deal on games..coughcheapassgamercough.