So I walk into a junk store...

Tempius

Tempius

CAGiversary!
Feedback
59 (100%)
I was on craigslist and noticed a junk store down the road was advertising N64 games. No names or prices. I drive down there and the place is a mess.I ask about the games and a older man tells me to talk to the lady in the store. I find her and she is in this little corner with crap all over the place. I ask about the games and she digs for a bit and pulls out about 25 or so games. I start flipping through them and see Mario Party, Mario Kart, Kirby, Doom, Turok, etc. The one game that really caught my eye was Bomberman 64 The 2nd attack. I have been wanting this for awhile and the cheapest I have seen it before then was $40. I figure since this is a junk store she would be selling them for a straight price, ex. $5 each or something. I ask about Bomberman and she says " I'll have to look it up on ebay". WTF? So she looks it up and tells me it's $40 dollars. I was definitly not expecting that. I counter with $20 and she says the lowest she will go is $30. My brother who is with me ask about a South Park 64 game which she looks up on Amazon and tells they sell it for $5 so she will let it go for $7. WTF!? We said no thank you and left. My question is, should I go back for Bomberman? I dont know if I will find I better price. I have no intention of playing it anytime soon, I just want it in my collection.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Reminds me of a garage sale I stopped at not too long ago. The guy had some vinyl records for sale at high prices. Think $30-40ish per album. The condition of the albums were okay at best. At first I thought the way they were marked they read as 30-40 cents until I asked the guy running the sale. He them proclaimed "well that's what they sell for on eBay." I simply told him "good luck" and walked out. Honestly who is going to pay $30-40 for a vinyl record at a garage sale.... and it was pretty common titles such as Chicago II and what not that I see all the time at used record stores for at most $3-5ish.

So in other words pass.
 
If you're not gonna play it I would say pass. It would be a nice item to have but if it's just gonna sit collecting dust, then there is are better uses for your cash.
 
Pass. I generally pass on any junk store or flea market vendor that prices their junk at eBay prices. If you wait a while, you might find one for much cheaper.
 
[quote name='Chairman_LMAO']Pass. I generally pass on any junk store or flea market vendor that prices their junk at eBay prices. If you wait a while, you might find one for much cheaper.[/QUOTE]

Agreed- sooner or later another junk store/yard sale/etc. will have it for less, or someone will put a cheaper copy online to compete with the ones already out there and sell quick.
 
Yea, especially since its in a pile of junk, you have no idea what condition the game is going to be in if it even works. Maybe pay that much from a collector that has everything, but theres a reason people expect to pay less at these places.
 
Next time make them a flat offer on the whole lot, and if they diddle and daddle pull out some common ones for them to look up on ebay ;)
 
Yeah, I am gonna pass now that I have thought about. Just sucks they have all those good n64 games that should be on my shelf. lol. Like ya'll have said though, they will pop for cheaper in the future. Thanks!
 
There's a pawn shop around here that are shitty on prices like that. They'll have some newer PS3 or 360 titles, but the price will totally not be worth it. Why would I give you $60 for Uncharted 2 when I can go to the store and buy it NEW for either $5 more, or in most cases, less than what you're charging?
 
Ridiculous. You should have told her that if she expects eBay values/prices, TO PUT THAT SHIT ON EBAY! Not to mention, that's $40 not including the eBay/Paypal fees and cut, the time, material etc. to package and ship (although that is offset generally), the potential for getting ripped off etc.

Just like the delusional craigslist sellers, who don't realize a cash in hand is MUCH better than dealing with selling online, and thus items should be discounted appropriately.

"I need to look it up on eBay" FLOL give me a break!
 
On a side note, were you certain the game works? I would be hesitant to buy a game from a junk store, especially one with crap all over the place.
 
Everytime someone tells me, "It sells for $X on Ebay," I always answer back, "Well, maybe you should try selling it on Ebay instead!"

Ugh. I hate people that price crap just because someone lists it on Ebay at a high price that doesn't even sell there. My work has a charity run bookstore, and we had to get rid of one volunteer who spent all her time looking up the donated books on Ebay, would look up the highest price listing (you know, the one outrageously priced that would never sell), and then would use that to determine the price of a used book. As you can imagine, none of the books she put out sold...no one wants to spend $20 for a used, 20 year old beat up romance paperback that smells like cigarette smoke...and soon our used bookstore was crammed with items no one in their right mind would buy at those prices. After we got rid of her and reorganized, and listed stuff at reasonable prices, the books started flying off the shelves.
 
This a bad trend that happens with stores like this.

Mostly it's idiots who don't understand how Ebay works.

On the other hand it can be useful for selling stuff to these people since sometimes they will give you a ton of money for complete crap because someone on ebay is trying to sell it for much more than it is worth.
 
If you look at the completed listings for Bomberman on eBay, it goes for $30-40 shipped, and that's just for the cartridge only. Knowing that, why would anyone sell it for just $5?

I'm assuming owning a store and having employees costs a bit more than driving to the post office to buy envelopes/pay for shipping.
 
[quote name='Dreamcastguy']This a bad trend that happens with stores like this.

Mostly it's idiots who don't understand how Ebay works.

On the other hand it can be useful for selling stuff to these people since sometimes they will give you a ton of money for complete crap because someone on ebay is trying to sell it for much more than it is worth.[/QUOTE]

^This... Open an account on eBay and take something you have that's worth $10 and list it for $1,000; then go into the store and tell them you'll sell it to them for $100. :lol:
 
I would recommend looking for a better deal especially with retro game collecting in general. I keep checking pawn shops, flea markets, and garage/yard sales and patience helps find the best deals in my experience.:)
 
This is a trend that's been occurring at tag sales and flea markets and pawn shops for years now. People automatically assume that their crap is gold, based on eBay prices. People don't go thrift shopping to pay eBay prices. At the very least you can take some solace in the fact that the tag sale and flea market vendors wasted an entire afternoon peddling their crap that will never sell, and the pawn shop owner is wasting valuable merchandise space on it as well.
 
yeah, the whole "it costs X on ebay" is a joke. How many more people does she expect to be willing to pay that much for some old n64 game? Pass on that game.

Are the prices on n64 games really going up that much these days? I'm sure you'll score another copy some place eventually for a much better price.
 
I went game hunting at a pawn shop about a year ago and saw a sign that said, "PS1 games $4.99". Lo and behold, there was one copy of IQ: Intelligent Qube in the stack of games. However, when I brought it to the counter, it was $40. This is the one drawback of the internet: companies that would typically have no idea what an obscure game is worth are now pricing them according to ebay and amazon prices.
 
If you want the game, buy it. Ebay is the closest thing you will find to true market value. While it may not be your asking price, ebay is the best way to see what an item's true worth is. Remember that 10 years ago, she might have looked it up in a collector's guide or something.
 
Yeah It's like with certain games for systems on ebay, such as 3do. People think there worth like $20-40, when there not even worth that much brand new/sealed :D
 
I dont have a problem with someone not trying to get ripped off, but like it has been said, if you want ebay prices, then put it on ebay. I asked why she didn't have an ebay store to which she replied "It's to much trouble". I looked Bomberman up when I got home and there was copy for $31. I think $20 was a reasonable offer. She also had a used 64 for $55. Come on now, really. I saw a watermelon 64 but did even bother asking. And if you are going to use ebay as a price guide you can't always go by the buy it now price. I tried to get her to search completed listings, but she wouldn't.
 
[quote name='hufferstl']If you want the game, buy it. Ebay is the closest thing you will find to true market value. While it may not be your asking price, ebay is the best way to see what an item's true worth is. Remember that 10 years ago, she might have looked it up in a collector's guide or something.[/QUOTE]
Out of curiosity, I looked up Bomberman: The Second Attack in the Digital Press Collector's Guide Advance Edition; it's listed as an R4 (uncommon) and at $27 complete (their price estimates are on the low end, and are also six years old by this point, though). Anyway, agreed with just about everyone else in that $20 for a loose cart sounds absolutely reasonable.

[quote name='Tempius']I tried to get her to search completed listings, but she wouldn't.[/QUOTE]
With that kind of approach, she's never gonna sell anything :lol:
 
[quote name='hufferstl']If you want the game, buy it. Ebay is the closest thing you will find to true market value. While it may not be your asking price, ebay is the best way to see what an item's true worth is. Remember that 10 years ago, she might have looked it up in a collector's guide or something.[/QUOTE]

No disrespect but I really do not agree with this statement. Since ebay is a middle man, I believe any items "true" value on is ebay cost - 17.5% to account for the average fees.

You think a pawnshop selling something for retail is bad, out by me there is a pawn shop that looks on amazon.com and charges the highest available amazon.com price. Occasionally they have a % off based sale, but they put all the "good stuff" in the back, then when the sales over it magically "reappears on the shelf."
 
How does the cost of selling an item affect its selling price? Multiple users bid what they feel is fair for an item - market price. The various fees have nothing to do with the buyers, only the sellers. Excluding shipping, of course, but even those prices are usually known when bidding.

Granted, the fees be too much to make an item worth selling, but I'm looking at the buyers perspective.
 
[quote name='thingsfallnapart']No disrespect but I really do not agree with this statement. Since ebay is a middle man, I believe any items "true" value on is ebay cost - 17.5% to account for the average fees.

You think a pawnshop selling something for retail is bad, out by me there is a pawn shop that looks on amazon.com and charges the highest available amazon.com price. Occasionally they have a % off based sale, but they put all the "good stuff" in the back, then when the sales over it magically "reappears on the shelf."[/QUOTE]

I agree with this fully; that's why any offer I make on games I want tends to be between amazon list price and what I would make after fees if I sold the game myself. The only exception to this is pennied out games, where I believe it would be acceptable to charge 2-3 dollars (it's under the $4 shipping, and you might get the sale if the game is complete and mint).

What kills me is when I see suck-ass games like Resident Evil: Survivor priced on some dealer's shelf for $30 dollars, as if they have no concept of how hard it is to sell that game. A dealer can price a game high, but if it's not liquid they're just banking on somebody making a mistake or just buying off pure nostalgia.
 
If you really want it, wait 2 weeks and send in someone else . . . have them start at $10 and hold fast. When she mentions that someone was willing to pay $20 . . . have them settle at $20.

But it sounds like this person is really a hoarder and they don't want to give up the junk.
 
If it's "junk," then why does OP want the game so bad?

If you're not willing to pay what the game is worth, then what choice do you have but to just troll garage sales/flea markets/etc. until you get lucky and find some seller who doesn't know the value of their stuff.

It's like sellers are damned either way. If they charge what it's worth, people call them stupid. If they don't know what it's worth and let it go for cheap, people call them stupid because they were able to get a steal.
 
[quote name='lmz00']If it's "junk," then why does OP want the game so bad?

If you're not willing to pay what the game is worth, then what choice do you have but to just troll garage sales/flea markets/etc. until you get lucky and find some seller who doesn't know the value of their stuff.

It's like sellers are damned either way. If they charge what it's worth, people call them stupid. If they don't know what it's worth and let it go for cheap, people call them stupid because they were able to get a steal.[/QUOTE]

I see the point you are making, but it really is foolish to charge ebay prices at a flea market for numerous reasons:


  1. Market place is far smaller in comparison. If your games are priced in a class of their own compared to other sellers, you are not going to do as well. It's better to move stock for a smaller profit than hold on to a higher priced item for long.
  2. People don't come to a flea market to spend a lot of money on one product. You need to adjust to your market if you plan to be successful, that's why those seller's charging ebay prices are just sitting on their stock instead of being smart and listing it on ebay.
  3. So, why should I reward lazy behavior on the seller's behalf? If they understand the value, they would know that this isn't the correct market for their items.
 
Ultimately you can be sour grapes but I don't think the complaint can be completely rationalized. You never see anyone complaining about how a CAG got a cheap deal "too easily", why should a seller be criticized when they try to get the most money for a game in the same manner?

I think there is some credence to the fact that when buying on ebay you're also sort of paying a bit more for buyer protection, but I don't think this justifies the idea that sellers should be punished with fees and shipping costs if they want to charge more than you're willing to pay.
 
The one thrift store by here is a friggin' joke. They have PS1 games(sports titles no less) for $15, PC games for $20-25 and cart games for $30 each.

I go in there every so often just for a good laugh, but I have yet to actually open my mouth and ask them what they're smoking to think their prices are good.

The one flea market guy around here is like that too. He prices most PS2 titles $15 minimum and many PS1 titles are $20-25.

Of course it doesn't help that I keep feeding him bad information and the next time I go there the games I mentioned that may be 'zomg rare' he has up on a high shelf with an even higher price.:lol:

When he had his own little shop just selling CD's and DVD's back in the day he was actually more reasonable. You could often get new release CD's from there for $5-7 apiece and movies for $4-5 a week or two after release.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Of course it doesn't help that I keep feeding him bad information and the next time I go there the games I mentioned that may be 'zomg rare' he has up on a high shelf with an even higher price.:lol:[/QUOTE]

You mean you tricked him into thinking the Burger King games are worth a lot so he'll mark them up? Oh wait nevermind ;)
 
[quote name='FOnewearl']You mean you tricked him into thinking the Burger King games are worth a lot so he'll mark them up? Oh wait nevermind ;)[/QUOTE]
Actually, someone suckered him into buying them from them for supposedly $10-15 each.:lol: It wasn't me, but now that I know he's that damn gullible as far as game prices and values go I should go tell him that certain sports titles are 'rare' and bring up a few dozen copies fresh from Gamestop.
 
dont buy it if its the face value.. unless you really want it. if you buy it on ebay at $40 you can use bing and get 8% cash back + ebay bucks if youre qualified.

this reminds me of play n trade.they look up their value on amazon all the time for items they dont have a price on.
 
[quote name='phear3d']this reminds me of play n trade.they look up their value on amazon all the time for items they dont have a price on.[/QUOTE]
Not all of them. One by me does that & one dosnt. The one that dosnt makes way more profit & cant keep anything on the shelf
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top