So I stumbled across that ad while doing the usual CL exploring/keyword searches. I was VERY suspicious of the ad, as there was no asking price for anything, and Earthbound wasn't actually on his list of games, yet had its own pic. Was the ad real, and he simply didn't know the value of everything? The pics matched each other i.e. shot from the same camera and same carpet background, and I figured, what the hell it's only a (mostly) anonymous email.
Thus I sent an email to the seller, asking if they still had the Super Nintendo bundle and if so, how much they wanted.
I quickly get back a terse "yeah still got it how much you want to offer?"
So now, this is where it gets tricky, as I'm unsure if he knows the value of his bundle. Don't want to lowball too much yet I obviously want to pay as little as possible. I figure he doesn't know the value because at that point I had searched around craigslist and found a couple more similar ads in the Simi Valley (searched videogame section for "simi") area that are very cheap, with similar pics, and presume they came from him since they're all posted around the same time.
So I send an offer of $100 for everything. I get a response back a day later "is this a serious offer"
So I'm thinking, oh shit I lowballed way to low and the guy is obviously insulted. But I go for broke because the response is so vague, and so I reply "yes, $100 cash money what do you say?"
And he goes,"okay, when can you pick up?"
So we exchange numbers and I set up the meet for early this morning (thinking all last night and this morning that this is either bullshit or this dude is going to rob me because twice last night - once in email and once on the phone when I called to verify/confirm he said "bring cash $200 cash").
Best part is, he was at his friend's place in Woodland Hills right off the 101 at Topanga, so I didn't have to drive all the way out to Simi Valley to get it. I get there, the guy meets me at the pool area of his friends' condo/apartment complex, and he opens his car and just starts pulling the games out of a bag...he literally just casually threw the Earthbound box down on the seat and I'm just thinking to myself OH
!!!
I check the contents of the SNES boxes, carts are all pristine, ALL the boxed games are complete and mint, Earthbound box is practically new, the guide is near mint with the scratch and sniff cards in perfect condition, the cart is perfect. He's also including the system and a ton of controllers. I cannot believe this deal.
Now, I had seen his other ads (after first communicating with him, I had just searched the video game section in LA for "simi" and found about 6 other ads of his) - he has (had) a PS1 with LCD listed for $30, FF12 (actually FFVII) listed for $10, and a Gamecube with "sealed games" listed for $40 or $50 - now listed for $30.
Well, I had asked about his other games, as I had told him I'd be interested in the Zelda games on the Gamecube and I'd like to see anything else he might have. He pulls out the Zelda OoT/MasterQuest on Gamecube, it's complete and mint, and a sealed Zelda Collection on Gamecube, and says he'll throw them in for free.
.
The Gamecube ad is still up, but those Zelda games are now in my possession.
I tell him I'll also take
the Final Fantasy "12" and
the PS1, so he gives those to me for an added $20.
Finally, he pulls out a small box, about the size of half a shoebox, and it's full of cart only Gameboy/Gameboy Color games. I quickly skim through it, the carts are all mint and pretty much all high quality games so I ask how much he wants, he wants $30 for the box I tell him I've only got one more $20 so he agrees.
