Official 2012 Yard Sale Thread

[quote name='Rexall']

How much do you think I could re-sell the controller for?

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[/QUOTE]

Lowest for sale on eBay is about $70. Looks like you got a good product. In re-sell value and coolness value.
 
[quote name='Obiwan456']No pictures becuase this stuff is headed right back out the door, but...

Atari 2600 with all cable, 3 controllers, Pacman - $3
Dreamcast, 3 controllers, no power cable - $2
2 DSLites, beat up, really, really bad - free
Super Smash Brothers, Sonic Adventure 2, Soulcaliber, Resident Evil Code Veronica, The House of the Dead 2 (last 4 Dreamcast), Twisted Metal Black - $5
Spongebob the Movie and Harry Potter - $.50
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 360 - $11
CoD: Black Ops, Scribblenauts, Lego Indiana Jones 1, Mario Kart DS (all for DS) - $14

Not a bad day. Taking most of these to GameStop to put towards a PS3.[/QUOTE]
Gamestop doesn't take any games older than PS2 stuff now and I'm not even sure they take those anymore. I'm pretty sure they stopped taking Gamecube stuff a while ago as well.

Not to mention those DSLites may get refurb fees slapped on them like crazy if they're missing the chargers, styluses and are as beat up as you say they are.
 
It was really nice here this morning so I went out early to an advertised game/comic moving sale. Everything was $1 obo.
Gamewise, I got FF7 GH, FF7 GH missing d1 but had an extra d3, FF8 GH, Galerians, Jade Cocoon, Soulblade, Draconus, Megaman 8 and X6, Naruto Uzumaki Chronicles, Chaos Legion, Fear Effect 2, Street Fighter Alpha Anthology, Bust-a-move 2 longbox, Armored core, God of War 2, .Hack Infection, and FFX. She also gave me a GH case/manual for RE3(ps1) and a case w/ rear art for Dragoon(ps1). I didn't haggle on the $1 a game.
In comics, I got johnny the homicidal maniac 1+2, Sincity, The big fat kill, DMC vol 2, Superman 337, 6 evil ernies, and 4 sizzles for $9.
In loose figures, I got Scarface, Earl from the living dead, Leatherface, Tenjho Tenge, a couple mini akira figs, a julia gashapon, and a faye valentine for $6.
And in dvds I got some disc only anime titles... the big one being End of Evangelion.

Then there were 4 really, really bad sales and a horrible estate sale.

The last sale before heading to the flea market yielded 2 flame GBA SPs with one charger, 3 kid games, kingdom hearts, donkey kong country, and legacy of goku 2 for $10. This was right after some guy bought all the ps3 games and asked the kid for Wii games.

The local flea markets were bad... someone said that most vendors were out at the Friends of the Library sale with line that went on for blocks.

Lastly, 1 good find at the pawn shop. Maniac Mansion CIB for $8.48.

I hope there is some left for tomorrow.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Gamestop doesn't take any games older than PS2 stuff now and I'm not even sure they take those anymore. I'm pretty sure they stopped taking Gamecube stuff a while ago as well.

Not to mention those DSLites may get refurb fees slapped on them like crazy if they're missing the chargers, styluses and are as beat up as you say they are.[/QUOTE]

Yes, I know, the only last gen systems they accept are PS2 and DS. I worded that wrong. Everything older than PS2 I'm taking to another local shop to sell for cash.

And I know the DSes will get lots of refurbs, but I got them free, so, no skin off my back.
 
[quote name='AugustAPC']Here's today's bounty:

Metroid Prime Trilogy (Like-New): $10
Pink DSLite with a broken hinge: $2

Tried to get the guy to come down on MPT, but he wouldn't. Still a great buy, though. He also had Smash Bros. Brawl for $10, but that's right on the line for me. After eBay fees, it'd probably only be around $10 profit.[/QUOTE]

Couldve traded that Smash Bros Brawl to Amazon for $27.
 
[quote name='juangrande386']Couldve traded that Smash Bros Brawl to Amazon for $27.[/QUOTE]

I've never traded with Amazon. Do I have to pay for postage? And is the value store credit?

I'm kinda regretting not getting it... but I dunno if I'm buying anything from Amazon in the near future, so I'm not too bummed. It was one of those that was on the fence for me.
 
[quote name='juangrande386']Couldve traded that Smash Bros Brawl to Amazon for $27.[/QUOTE]

WTH? Amazon is selling brawl used for $31.50, so really a small profit margin for them. Anyways, going to go pulga hopping tomorrow and see what I can get.
 
[quote name='ryuk1214']WTH? Amazon is selling brawl used for $31.50, so really a small profit margin for them. Anyways, going to go pulga hopping tomorrow and see what I can get.[/QUOTE]

Amazon doesn't directly run their trade-in program, so there's really no connection there.
 
[quote name='AugustAPC']I've never traded with Amazon. Do I have to pay for postage? And is the value store credit?

I'm kinda regretting not getting it... but I dunno if I'm buying anything from Amazon in the near future, so I'm not too bummed. It was one of those that was on the fence for me.[/QUOTE]

They pay shipping (if you do drop off with the UPS anyhow), and the good thing about Amazon credit is that it's usable on third party listings. I've funneled mine back into bulk bubble-mailers or SNES games (E.V.O for $55 credit, hello)
 
Sales are finally picking up. I hit about 5 this weekend and most of you already read the nemesis confrontation.

These are my meager finds:


Wanted $5. Paid $3


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Wanted $10 for the DVD set and $1 for the cable. Paid $7

I bought the cable because I thought it had a 360 attachment. I guess it is just a regular xbox, GC, and PS2 3 in 1 cord.

The Battlestar set is the special cylon packaging and it is the full series. It had the DVD case and a book, but I am not sure if it is missing anything else that might have come with it.


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This was the sale where I ran into my nemesis. The guy wanted $7 total. I paid $3

The D&D PC game is still sealed.

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Once again I am fighting for scraps...good thing I had a great find at the thrift store.

I will edit/add the post when I post in the thrift store thread.
 
[quote name='Indigo_Streetlight']They pay shipping (if you do drop off with the UPS anyhow), and the good thing about Amazon credit is that it's usable on third party listings. I've funneled mine back into bulk bubble-mailers or SNES games (E.V.O for $55 credit, hello)[/QUOTE]

E.V.O is valuable? Wow - didn't realize that.. I picked up a copy at a yard sale a few weeks back for $3. I just picked it up because I had never seen it before.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Gamestop doesn't take any games older than PS2 stuff now and I'm not even sure they take those anymore. I'm pretty sure they stopped taking Gamecube stuff a while ago as well.

Not to mention those DSLites may get refurb fees slapped on them like crazy if they're missing the chargers, styluses and are as beat up as you say they are.[/QUOTE]

The Gamestop's here won't even take DS Lites with broken hinges, I have seen DS Lite's being refused because they had tiny, tiny cracks in the hinges or tiny pieces missing from the hinges, even though the systems worked just fine. They also won't take any that are missing chargers or stylus's to my knowledge.

I think to fix a hinge you have to do a full case replacement on a DS Lite which is not an easy task, even my friend who is an electronics expert and who can fix almost anything will not even attempt it since it has too many small parts that can end up in the wrong places too easy. I have also seen local game shops flat out refuse to repair this defect even though they advertise repair services for the DS Line of consoles. If someone on here knows how to repair this defect, more props to you, but if my friend can't do it, and trust me he repairs just about anything and has equipment most of us have never even heard of here then I don't think it something that is easy at all to fix and have it come out exactly like an original DS Lite. You can probably get stylus packs and generic chargers super cheap online from china though, it will take a while to arrive but I know there are stylus packs that you can get for like $1 then you can just shove one in each system since they don't care if the stylus is 3rd party or not.
 
[quote name='karkyco']Hey Floopy, is this your ad looking for games? Or did whoever posted that "games wanted" ad steal your pic of 7 copies of Persona 2 (among other PS1 games), because that carpet and the angle of the pics sure match up exactly to yours.

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[/QUOTE]

I wish that picture was mine, but it is not. I see how you might think that, though. Berber carpet + heavy-hitting games. I'll take it as a compliment.
 
[quote name='SaraAB']The Gamestop's here won't even take DS Lites with broken hinges, I have seen DS Lite's being refused because they had tiny, tiny cracks in the hinges or tiny pieces missing from the hinges, even though the systems worked just fine. They also won't take any that are missing chargers or stylus's to my knowledge. [/QUOTE]

I imagine a lot of that is due to the sheer number they deal with. From a business perspective, why bother taking something that you'd need to put money into when you have good ones, and other good ones will surely walk through the door eventually.
 
[quote name='Captain_Insano16']E.V.O is valuable? Wow - didn't realize that.. I picked up a copy at a yard sale a few weeks back for $3. I just picked it up because I had never seen it before.[/QUOTE]

Oh yeah, it's popping $80-100 now with not too many copies available. It's about on the same tier as Ninja Gaiden Trilogy and Castlevania X I'd say. Good gameplay too, keep one in the collection ;)
 
[quote name='Captain_Insano16']E.V.O is valuable? Wow - didn't realize that.. I picked up a copy at a yard sale a few weeks back for $3. I just picked it up because I had never seen it before.[/QUOTE]

I actually never heard of that game until a few months ago. I was in my local retro gaming shop and they had a copy marked at either $90 or $100, I can't remember.

Anyway, it definitely caught my interest and I went home to find out that there's yet another expensive retro game that I'm very interested in playing, lol.
 
[quote name='SaraAB']The Gamestop's here won't even take DS Lites with broken hinges, I have seen DS Lite's being refused because they had tiny, tiny cracks in the hinges or tiny pieces missing from the hinges, even though the systems worked just fine. They also won't take any that are missing chargers or stylus's to my knowledge.

I think to fix a hinge you have to do a full case replacement on a DS Lite which is not an easy task, even my friend who is an electronics expert and who can fix almost anything will not even attempt it since it has too many small parts that can end up in the wrong places too easy. I have also seen local game shops flat out refuse to repair this defect even though they advertise repair services for the DS Line of consoles. If someone on here knows how to repair this defect, more props to you, but if my friend can't do it, and trust me he repairs just about anything and has equipment most of us have never even heard of here then I don't think it something that is easy at all to fix and have it come out exactly like an original DS Lite. You can probably get stylus packs and generic chargers super cheap online from china though, it will take a while to arrive but I know there are stylus packs that you can get for like $1 then you can just shove one in each system since they don't care if the stylus is 3rd party or not.[/QUOTE]

He could always sell them as salvage, check out the completed listings for "ds lite broken hinge" and see all the ebay people who'd love to take them off his hands.
 
[quote name='Obiwan456']Yes, I know, the only last gen systems they accept are PS2 and DS. I worded that wrong. Everything older than PS2 I'm taking to another local shop to sell for cash.

And I know the DSes will get lots of refurbs, but I got them free, so, no skin off my back.[/QUOTE]
I'd be leery of trading in anything I got from a yard sale or thrift store to places like GS due to the ID requirement. If it were to somehow come back 'hot' it'd be on you to prove where you got them and for how much. Games I could see trading, since there's likely a slim chance on those, but systems have serial #'s and if someone reported them stolen you could get in a lot of shit over some used systems.

Maybe I'm being too paranoid, but that's just my thinking on the subject.
[quote name='SaraAB']The Gamestop's here won't even take DS Lites with broken hinges, I have seen DS Lite's being refused because they had tiny, tiny cracks in the hinges or tiny pieces missing from the hinges, even though the systems worked just fine. They also won't take any that are missing chargers or stylus's to my knowledge.[/QUOTE]
I know when I still did trades to GS, they would tell the people with DS systems w/o a charger or stylus that they could simply come back with the console once they found their charger/stylus and do the trade then. But most times the store would take the trade, but charge them for one of the used styluses and one of the charging cables off the wall.
 
I'm not going to BS you all this week and say I had an average day. My day was above average, even for my own standards. Theme of the day turned out to be Nintendo handhelds and games, which is fine by me (easy to store, easy to ship). I even woke up a little later than I had planned (ended up waking up at 6:45 instead of 5:45), but still managed to get up early enough to make some good finds.

Oddly enough, my early prospects turned out to be near-busts. Below is what I found from my first few sales. First sale advertised games/systems, but I arrived to find a nasty gamecube and 2 bad ps3 games. I don't deal with junk, so I just left it all. Next door was also a sale, and I rooted around in the box of board games to find a new, sealed Star Wars Monopoly for $1. Also picked up Starfox Adventures for $3 a few sales later, along with the Yoshi keychain for 25 cents. I'm about 7 or 8 sales in, and getting a bit annoyed.

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Finally make my first decent find of the day at about 8:30am, which is a tad late for my liking. I ended up snagging the below lot for $40. I arrive to find the Mega Man figure on a table, and then ask about games. Seller's kid runs inside and brings out a DS Lite, GBA SP, and a couple of games. Some woman and her younger son (both shoppers) try to butt into my find when the seller's kid comes outside with the items, but I politely inform them that I plan on purchasing everything, and they take no issue with it. The Mega Man figure was $10 non negotiable, and the Gameboy advance SP and DS Lite + games were a total of $30. I suppose I could have left the figure for $10, but I was unsure of its value and wasnt about to bring out my phone at this sale, since the seller (late 40s woman) was quite ornery already. I think she was annoyed that I didn't plan on sharing any of the loot with the younger shopper and his mom, and she told me "I won't go cheap on any of this!" in a slightly nasty tone. Sorry, but if I initiate the find, yard sale etiquette allows me the right of first refusal on all of said items. GFTO!

SDC10122.jpg


A couple of sales later I go to a sale that had advertised video games. I see some junk ps2 games on the table and ask if they have anything else. Seller is a high school, maybe college kid. He tells me that he has some gameboy stuff inside, and brings it out. He is a tough negotiator, and originally wants $20 for the system and $3 for each game. Knowing full well that price structure won't work for me, I start going down the lot offer path. I offer $35, and he counters with $40, which I accept readily since he indicates that he may go inside and ask his brother, who just so happens to be in the shower. I know if he goes inside, I'll end up with nothing, so $40 looks pretty good at that time. Still, I'd have preferred to pay $25 to $30, but $40 is not bad, considering that there are several $10 to $15 games in there, along with a $35 system.

I'd also like to make a tip: when a seller that seems inclined to sell but indicates that they want to go ask someone else in their family, do everything you can to prevent that conversation. It generally ends poorly for the buyer, meaning higher prices or the items ending up not-for-sale. I was able to prevent it here, thankfully, by making a slightly higher offer.

SDC10118.jpg


A few sales later, I snag everything below for $12. Paid $7 for the games, and $5 for Deadwood S1. I offered $3 for Deadwood, but the seller said she actually brought it out accidentally and was going to keep it unless she could get $5 for it. I bought it because I've been wanting to watch it lately. Mario Party 5 is missing manual, Wario is complete. They had some other crappy gamecube games that I just left.

SDC10123.jpg


Next door, I ask the seller's if they have any video games when I don't see any out. The 40s woman runs inside, and brings out the below lot. She claims it was hers as a teenager, but she is ready to part with it. I offer $10 for the system and $1 per game. She asks $25 for all, and we settle at $20. I'll keep everything, as I don't have any of the games or the system itself in complete condition. Best single find of the day for sure, and possibly the year so far for me. System box is in great shape, 8.5/10.

SDC10130.jpg


Last good find of the day followed a few sales later. I see no games out, but ask the family if they have any video games for sale. They run in and grab everything they can find, including a gamecube and some junk games, along with the below lot. I leave the gamecube junk, and pick up the handhelds and games for an easy $20. Offered $15, but that was rejected. Had to try.

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Overall, a great day. I'm sitting on a lot of stuff right now, and will spend a few hours listing. I'll have to miss next week's sales due to vacation, but will be back in force the following week. Good luck!
 
Damn, a lot of great stuff you got there! Handhelds by me always got for ~30 dollars, wish I had as great of luck that you do.

Mostly all the sales by me got rained out, except one across the street. They left all their electronics out in the rain, wasn't even gonna touch that stuff.
 
[quote name='slowdive21']Sales are finally picking up. I hit about 5 this weekend and most of you already read the nemesis confrontation.

These are my meager finds:

[/QUOTE]

I haven't bothered with pics or posts so far this year . . . it is so depressing waiting for sales to start up . . .

I have picked a few things games and systems here and there but I'm hoping things will start to pick with May.

I did have a nemesis sighting yesterday (in my hunt for books, this old guy (like early 70s) is my main competitor) and every year I keep hoping he will just quit and go fishing instead but there is he anyway.

But I don't know why I bother with videogames. Friday morning there was a sale down the block. I went over as soon as she opened the door and there was a stack of total junk Xbox games . . . I paid a buck for a Mortal Kombat DA game. She said there were some textbooks that her husband would bring out a few minutes. I came back 10 mins. later (this was still before official opening) and a woman was buying the rest of the Xbox games . . . this happens at pretty much every sale . . . the videogames (good or bad) are gone instantly.

I did get a PS2 slim (complete with hookups and GTA VC) for $8.
 
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.

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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.

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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.
 
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.
 
[quote name='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.[/QUOTE]
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.;)
 
[quote name='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.;)[/QUOTE]

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.
 
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.:booty:
 
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?
 
[quote name='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.;)[/QUOTE]
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.
 
[quote name='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.:booty:[/QUOTE]

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
 
[quote name='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.[/QUOTE]

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.

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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.
 
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[quote name='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.[/QUOTE]

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. :lol:

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.
 
[quote name='Kingmojo210']Just make a fake CL posting on the other side of town so you get a head start on yard selling lol[/QUOTE]

That screws everyone over though. My method only effects people looking for games (competition). ;)
 
[quote name='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. :lol:

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.[/QUOTE]

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...
 
[quote name='slowdive21']That screws everyone over though. My method only effects people looking for games (competition). ;)[/QUOTE]

Hmmm or you could make your fake post at a swapmeet or flea market and post some of your items you "would" be selling for good deals and f over all the gaming el hoardos in your area :)! I'm a little evil lol
 
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.
 
[quote name='ZombieToast']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.[/QUOTE]

Gang up on him with your normal group of yard sellers consisting of: an old guy with an electric wheelchair and oxygen tank, two old lady's that can never agree on anything and only pay in nickles, and your mom. Then beat the shit out of him with a game gear or another blunt object lol.
 
[quote name='Kingmojo210']Gang up on him with your normal group of yard sellers consisting of: an old guy with an electric wheelchair and oxygen tank, two old lady's that can never agree on anything and only pay in nickles, and your mom. Then beat the shit out of him with a game gear or another blunt object lol.[/QUOTE]

Bring in a posse of friends in electric chairs and occupy all the space at the sale! Great for blocking your nemesis or el hoardo!

I am the girl paying in change, though I am not an old lady, as I save up change specifically for paying at yard sales, I have paid in pennies before (pre-counted though). But I take my pennies to coinstar now since you can get amazon gift cards without being charged a fee.
 
[quote name='SaraAB']Bring in a posse of friends in electric chairs and occupy all the space at the sale! Great for blocking your nemesis or el hoardo!

I am the girl paying in change, though I am not an old lady, as I save up change specifically for paying at yard sales, I have paid in pennies before (pre-counted though). But I take my pennies to coinstar now since you can get amazon gift cards without being charged a fee.[/QUOTE]

Awwwww :( lol I might pay in change at a yardsale to lowball but I mainly use it for car washes and toll roads lol
 
[quote name='SaraAB']Bring in a posse of friends in electric chairs and occupy all the space at the sale! Great for blocking your nemesis or el hoardo!

I am the girl paying in change, though I am not an old lady, as I save up change specifically for paying at yard sales, I have paid in pennies before (pre-counted though). But I take my pennies to coinstar now since you can get amazon gift cards without being charged a fee.[/QUOTE]

I would be seriously annoyed if I was running a yard sale and someone tried to pay me with a pile of unrolled coins.
 
okay, so I got a copy of ghosts and goblins for nes recently, and this is the only game I've ever gotten that I just cannot get to load. I've tried using an eraser, I've tried a qtip and alcohol, and I've tried polishing it with brasso, but to no avail. It kinda bums me out because I really wanted to play it.
 
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