The Gamestop Thread

[FamedGuardian]

Current Ad is 8/22 - 8/28/18
Weekly Ad:
https://www.gamestop.com/weeklyad
 
PDF version:
https://www.gamestop.com/gs/pages/weeklyad/current/082218/pdf/OLFSI_082218.pdf
 
​Current Trade in Promos:
 

GS FAQ​

 
How many copies of a game can I trade in?
​You are allowed to trade in 4 copies of the same game (same system) within a rolling 30 day period.
 
What do I need to trade in an older console?
The console, power cable, av cable, and controller. Sometimes they don't care about USB charge cable but ymmv. 3DS XL trade would be console, charger, and stylus. Some have reported being charged a refurb fee for missing the stylus, but again ymmv (answer stolen from anarchyburger)
 
FAQ will be entered when those questions get asked frequently.
 
Does the Pro Membership B2G1 coupon apply to only games, or accessories as well?
The coupon applies to both games and accessories, per the wording on the coupon.
 
I have a $XX.xx pre-owned reward certificate, and I want to use it on a B2G1 transaction. Should I?
It depends. If the three games are equal value, do not use your certificate. The value of the certificate would be applied to the free game, which would not benefit you. If one game is more expensive, you can use the certificate to make it the same value as the other two games ($5 reward certificate applied to transaction with two $10 games and one $15 game would make all three games $10).
 
 
TERMINOLOGY AND LINGO:
ASL/SL: Assistant Store Leader, Store Leader; manager positions at GS.
B2G1: Buy two, get one free. Typically refers to the coupon you receive when becoming Pro.
GCU/BB: Gamer’s Club Unlocked, Best Buy
GS: GameStop
JD: Junior detective, an employee who is out to get someone
LP: Loss Prevention; this is the department that actually bans accounts after being flagged.
TC/TiC: Trade credit.
TIV/TV: Trade in value, or what a game currently trades for. When posting a TV for a game, always use the base value.

 

[aircobra]

I’d say an admitted reseller really has no place here. That’s not what this site is about. Not surprising it’s someone that’s only been here for a year and clearly doesn’t contribute much based on their post count.

 

[Daniel_Shadow170]

Okay you asked for it. Do you know what brings [customspoiler='better returns?']
Even better returns than spending time driving around to yard sales, taking gambles on GS orders, wasting time with CS with the inevitable screwups that will happen? An actual job. And you'd potentially actually contribute more to society than just being a bottomfeeder off capitalism.

Anyway, live how you choose but don't tell me I'm doing my life wrong by viewing gaming as a form of entertainment. I'm hear to talk about deals and games for that hobby. There's gotta be a better place to boast about your reseller margins then in a deals forum.[/customspoiler]

I mean I also run a moving company that I've talked about before.


And just FYI resellers are why GameStop is still in this fight.

We all like deals however sometimes we can talk about other things besides deal's. If you have an issue block me or ignore I discuss anything under the sun.

 

[Daniel_Shadow170]

I’d say an admitted reseller really has no place here. That’s not what this site is about. Not surprising it’s someone that’s only been here for a year and clearly doesn’t contribute much based on their post count.

I've been here for awhile just a newer account. I post deal's when I see them. I'm sorry you feel that way about reseller's but it is a business to fund my collection. You don't just get collections out of thin air.

 

[ThatOneGuyWho]

I’d say an admitted reseller really has no place here. That’s not what this site is about. Not surprising it’s someone that’s only been here for a year and clearly doesn’t contribute much based on their post count.

I've been here just as long as you and I resell. I also started the latest Target thread and Walmart thread where I actively post deals in both threads for others to find. I likely wouldn't even know about those deals if it wasn't for my sourcing stores and seeing those deals in person to report back here.

This community is for sharing and finding deals, doesn't matter what you do with the deals once you find them.

 

[strongarm]

I don't know about NCAA guy but Phoenix does good and I do so well It's stupid. If you collect and have knowledge about games and aren't reselling you are doing life wrong. Chase after the right price is a guy I watched he went from making a few bucks here and there to he can drop 10-20 Grand like nothing.

I live in Florida I don't have hard numbers (currently buying for collection/inventory) but I made during this virus 13 thousandish of profit.

Yard sales also haven't stopped where I live. You buy a Wii 10-30 sell it for 100-130 (I sell those local) easy profit.

As a reseller I need GameStop because I've learned how the system works.

What sources do you use to determine how much to sell a game for? I put mortal Kombat 11 for the switch for 20 - locally and nobody shows interest, for example

 

[strikeanywhere]

I've been here just as long as you and I resell. I also started the latest Target thread and Walmart thread where I actively post deals in both threads for others to find. I likely wouldn't even know about those deals if it wasn't for my sourcing stores and seeing those deals in person to report back here.

This community is for sharing and finding deals, doesn't matter what you do with the deals once you find them.

I've seen how many deals you've posted in various threads. You've always been about as altruistic about trying to help other people on this forum as anyone I've seen.

I have no comment on anyone else, but I wanted to mention this about you, specifically.

 

[Daniel_Shadow170]

What sources do you use to determine how much to sell a game for? I put mortal Kombat 11 for the switch for 20 - locally and nobody shows interest, for example

Price chart or eBay or trade bait or game eye. Sometimes you have to hold on to something or take a loss.

Mortal Kombat 11 is a very tough sell.

 

[detsportsfan3]

I resell a bit as well, and am fine with resellers in general. I personally enjoy "the thrill of the hunt", and if you want to shop local gamestops, yard sales, flea markets to find a good deal, that's awesome. Coming upon a rare/expensive game is always a nice feeling. However, the dude that bought 50+ NCAA games used a bot, and that's more of what I have an issue with. There's no "thrill of the hunt". If I go to GameStop and find a copy of NCAA, it's "wow, people had a chance to buy this and missed it, their loss is my gain." You use a bot and it's "yeah no one else ever had a chance and I put zero effort into this." Imagine standing in line for hours on PS5 release day with 30 other people and some dude just cuts to the front of the line at 11:59 and buys every last one. I understand "work smarter and not harder", and that it's a business to them, but obviously you're going to face some backlash if you go about it that way. I know it's illegal to use bots to scalp tickets specifically, but not sure about bots in general.

 

[ThatOneGuyWho]

Just a small bit of info that you wouldn't know unless you resell a lot and have a business license but you can order mass quantities from Gamestop as a business despite their limits. I can go to Gamestop.com and order 100 copies of a game if I wanted because of my credentials. I don't know if that guy used bots but they could have easily just ordered from Gamestop that amount without much trouble. 

Gamestop, well any store, doesn't really care if you buy a lot of a product. They love fast easy sales and the more you buy the better for them.

 

[detsportsfan3]

Just a small bit of info that you wouldn't know unless you resell a lot and have a business license but you can order mass quantities from Gamestop as a business despite their limits. I can go to Gamestop.com and order 100 copies of a game if I wanted because of my credentials. I don't know if that guy used bots but they could have easily just ordered from Gamestop that amount without much trouble.

Gamestop, well any store, doesn't really care if you buy a lot of a product. They love fast easy sales and the more you buy the better for them.

They did. That guy's entire Twitter is promoting the bot. And yeah I agree, GameStop doesn't and shouldn't care who they sell to, a sale is a sale. And to clarify, it's not that the bot "let" him buy 50 copies of a game, anyone can, so long as they follow the limit of games per order. It's that the bot automatically buys the game as soon as it comes in stock, meaning no one else gets a chance to.


And yeah checking out the Phoenix dude for the first time, I have no issue with him. He's buying hundreds of different games, even ones where he's probably only making a few bucks. It's pretty obvious he's just looking through the site for good deals (something all of us do).

 

[juubei1i]

I resell a bit as well, and am fine with resellers in general. I personally enjoy "the thrill of the hunt", and if you want to shop local gamestops, yard sales, flea markets to find a good deal, that's awesome. Coming upon a rare/expensive game is always a nice feeling. However, the dude that bought 50+ NCAA games used a bot, and that's more of what I have an issue with. There's no "thrill of the hunt". If I go to GameStop and find a copy of NCAA, it's "wow, people had a chance to buy this and missed it, their loss is my gain." You use a bot and it's "yeah no one else ever had a chance and I put zero effort into this." Imagine standing in line for hours on PS5 release day with 30 other people and some dude just cuts to the front of the line at 11:59 and buys every last one. I understand "work smarter and not harder", and that it's a business to them, but obviously you're going to face some backlash if you go about it that way. I know it's illegal to use bots to scalp tickets specifically, but not sure about bots in general.

I dont know much about it myself, but this is a big complaint with toy collectors now. Hasbro or whatever company makes a deal with Target or Walmart then those stores list some exclusive toy online and they are gone instantly within seconds. Everyone claims resale bots. Online reseller markup is 300% and the items are impossible to ever find in a physical store. Seems like some legit complaints but Im not into that stuff.

 

[Cybernator]

It has been quite a long while since I set foot at a GameStop store. I had recently gone to a GameStop to buy my 4-year old son a Funko POP ICEE polar bear mascot and was very dissatisfied with the way they handled the new video games which they haven’t changed one bit. As soon as I had stepped in to search for this Funko ICEE bear some customer was roaming around the new video game section, he was coughing and sneezing while he would grab and opened the video game cases. I immediately left the store when I saw that. I would think that with the whole coronavirus disease going on that GameStop would have stopped selling these new gutted games. I mean these are the same games they ship out to customers for online orders what a way to spread COVID-19.
 
This pandemic should have changed that business practice or at least offer a gutted new game at a discount price since Best Buy offers opened items at a discount why can’t they. Also, didn’t GameStop get sued over selling gutted games as brand new a few years back. GameStop should at least make an effort in offering cardboard place holders for new games on their shelves much like Sam’s Club does for their stores which would insure that a new game is not gutted although as for pre-owned items that can stay as is. The last time I placed an online order with GameStop which was a few years back, I received my brand new game gutted so I filed a complaint on PayPal for false advertisement since getting in touch directly with the GameStop customer support sucks. They failed to reply and I received a full refund and kept the game. That was the last time I ever bother with their online orders.
 
It’s no wonder GameStop is doing bad I think when the competition was still around the used game business from Blockbuster, GameCrazy and Movie Exchange did a better job at their service. Sometimes it’s just good for businesses to evolve with the trends and make necessary changes to stay operational. I have slowed down on my game purchases ever since Best Buy did away with their Gamers Club Unlocked program. As of late, I only try to purchase retail games at a bargain or clearance price as well as when a good promotional sale occurs.

 

[Davem]

I resell a bit as well, and am fine with resellers in general. I personally enjoy "the thrill of the hunt", and if you want to shop local gamestops, yard sales, flea markets to find a good deal, that's awesome. Coming upon a rare/expensive game is always a nice feeling. However, the dude that bought 50+ NCAA games used a bot, and that's more of what I have an issue with. There's no "thrill of the hunt". If I go to GameStop and find a copy of NCAA, it's "wow, people had a chance to buy this and missed it, their loss is my gain." You use a bot and it's "yeah no one else ever had a chance and I put zero effort into this." Imagine standing in line for hours on PS5 release day with 30 other people and some dude just cuts to the front of the line at 11:59 and buys every last one. I understand "work smarter and not harder", and that it's a business to them, but obviously you're going to face some backlash if you go about it that way. I know it's illegal to use bots to scalp tickets specifically, but not sure about bots in general.

As much as I'd like to join in on these "bots" that buy up all the stock of something, it's just a fancy script that automates inputing your info. Nothing immoral about that if you know how to code a few lines. Just another bit of technology granting either convenience or access.

Like if you've been to Sams or Costco on a busy day and see the lines stretching halfway across the store - if you just download their app you can self-checkout with your phone and just stroll right out.

On the topic of reselling - I wouldn't consider myself anywhere close to a reseller, I stick to buying a few copies from GS and selling to Amazon. That's it. My ebay account from 98 has under 100 feedback.

 

[Blade]

This thread's always a riot. I imagine half of you were slinging toilet paper straight out of the back of your minivans a few months ago. Anything to make a dollar when you only have your GED, right fellas?

 

[ThatOneGuyWho]

They did. That guy's entire Twitter is promoting the bot. And yeah I agree, GameStop doesn't and shouldn't care who they sell to, a sale is a sale. And to clarify, it's not that the bot "let" him buy 50 copies of a game, anyone can, so long as they follow the limit of games per order. It's that the bot automatically buys the game as soon as it comes in stock, meaning no one else gets a chance to.


And yeah checking out the Phoenix dude for the first time, I have no issue with him. He's buying hundreds of different games, even ones where he's probably only making a few bucks. It's pretty obvious he's just looking through the site for good deals (something all of us do).

Oh ok, yeah I can see people having a problem with that.

Phoenix is a cool guy, I don't think I've ever heard him say he uses bots and he has mentioned that he buys stuff until it sells out. The guy mostly does thrifting and local gaming stores though.

Either way, I hope we (resellers and just hobbyist) can come together on CAG as we have been doing. We're all in it for the sharing and finding of deals at the end of the day.

This thread's always a riot. I imagine half of you were slinging toilet paper straight out of the back of your minivans a few months ago. Anything to make a dollar when you only have your GED, right fellas?

When you know you're not a reseller

Trust me, any actual reseller wasn't out there wasting time trying to sell toilet paper. The few crazies on the news doing so aren't the majority.

 

[detsportsfan3]

As much as I'd like to join in on these "bots" that buy up all the stock of something, it's just a fancy script that automates inputing your info. Nothing immoral about that if you know how to code a few lines. Just another bit of technology granting either convenience or access.

Like if you've been to Sams or Costco on a busy day and see the lines stretching halfway across the store - if you just download their app you can self-checkout with your phone and just stroll right out.

It's not apples to apples though. That would be if Costco gets 20 Nintendo switches in stock, but they never make the store shelves because as soon they are scanned into the system you have them ordered for pickup. It is what it is, you play that game you're only relevant until someone else creates another bot that's faster than yours.

 

[BudzMcGee]

Gamestop, well any store, doesn't really care if you buy a lot of a product. They love fast easy sales and the more you buy the better for them.

Many stores actually have buying limits or limitations or outright bands on re-sellers as they view having a large steady stream of a wide variety of consumers who enjoy frequenting their business is much better for business than a very small group of people buying up all inventory to then sell for an inflated cost 2nd hand. If a certain local store was always wiped out of stock by re-sellers looking to make a profit you're probably not going to go to that store anymore cause why would you? This is maybe a bit more true for stores like Target and Walmart which want you to come into the store and buy some groceries or other items when you come in to buy the game you want, but gamestop has plenty of things (read: collectibles) they largely depend on foot traffic to move.

For the record I'm not hating outright on resellers. I've done a lot of reselling and flips in my time; when I was unemployed Blockbuster's pre-owned sales and Best Buy's inflated trade in values (and no rules against buying pre-paid credit cards with your gift cards at the time) was a great way to be able to afford gaming and maybe on occasion put a couple bucks in my pocket, but never went into it at this scale. Think the most I ever did was buying up tons of pre-owned PS2 games at best buy when they clearanced them out for like $0.25 that I was able to sell for like $5-$10 each. Had a few lucky big finds too (for example, brand new copies of 40 years of Avengers comics on DVD-Rom that had gone out of print and sold for $150-$200 online but half price books didn't know that and were clearancing 4 of them for $3 each). I just never enjoyed this enough to want to make it a full time job (can't image the amount of hours I'd sink into vs the results it if I did).

 

[ThatOneGuyWho]

Many stores actually have buying limits or limitations or outright bands on re-sellers as they view having a large steady stream of a wide variety of consumers who enjoy frequenting their business is much better for business than a very small group of people buying up all inventory to then sell for an inflated cost 2nd hand. If a certain local store was always wiped out of stock by re-sellers looking to make a profit you're probably not going to go to that store anymore cause why would you? This is maybe a bit more true for stores like Target and Walmart which want you to come into the store and buy some groceries or other items when you come in to buy the game you want, but gamestop has plenty of things (read: collectibles) they largely depend on foot traffic to move.

For the record I'm not hating outright on resellers. I've done a lot of reselling and flips in my time; when I was unemployed Blockbuster's pre-owned sales and Best Buy's inflated trade in values (and no rules against buying pre-paid credit cards with your gift cards at the time) was a great way to be able to afford gaming and maybe on occasion put a couple bucks in my pocket, but never went into it at this scale. Think the most I ever did was buying up tons of pre-owned PS2 games at best buy when they clearanced them out for like $0.25 that I was able to sell for like $5-$10 each. Had a few lucky big finds too (for example, brand new copies of 40 years of Avengers comics on DVD-Rom that had gone out of print and sold for $150-$200 online but half price books didn't know that and were clearancing 4 of them for $3 each). I just never enjoyed this enough to want to make it a full time job (can't image the amount of hours I'd sink into vs the results it if I did).

So buying limits are more of a store level issue but not company wide. Target for example does have in store limits, but if I contact Target corporate directly requesting x of an item with proof of my business, they'll gladly sell it directly to me.

The stores have an issue as they (understandably so) don't want other customers not having a chance to get items there. Head office, doesn't care as much as you'd think.

Some stores, at the store level, are more open to it as they have more constant inventory such as Gamestop or Walmart. Gamestop you might get a junior detective who limits you but Gamestop corporate doesn't care if a store chooses to sell out of an item to one customer as they are constantly looking for ways to clear inventory for shelve space. Walmart on the other hand could care less because they can get any quantity of an item in stock very quickly. If the item is limited otherwise, they rather all that stock be gone than to wait years for it to sell which takes up shelve space.

I understand your stance though. Think a lot of people here forget that they have resold before by doing trades or the more immoral, return fraud. You buying that game from BB for $5, to trade into Gamestop for $20 is reselling and many people do it. Nothing wrong with making a bit of extra money on the side or as a business. I know people have issues with scalpers or when they can't find an item which I don't blame them for. I don't personally but I usually work harder to get the items I want, if I miss out, oh well. It is what it is.

EDIT: Great find on that DVD though. OOP stuff is always good money. Anyone would be crazy to see that profit and say to themselves "I hate resellers, I'm not going to make a couple hundred selling this, someone else might want it". It just doesn't make sense.

 

[nbskid]

I'm not sure why Gamestop doesn't block these massive purchases of a single game. That's silly. They even say "No Dealers" in their ads, etc, you think they could follow through with the OBVIOUS dealer purchases.

 

[ThatOneGuyWho]

I'm not sure why Gamestop doesn't block these massive purchases of a single game. That's silly. They even say "No Dealers" in their ads, etc, you think they could follow through with the OBVIOUS dealer purchases.

And yet they allow businesses to buy whatever quantity they want if you just ask them and have a business. Companies say a lot of things to scare off people and still sell whatever and however they want.

They like making money at the end of the day but also pleasing customers. Same with Best Buy. Best Buy doesn't want you going to their stores buying out all their iPads, but if you have a Best Buy Business account, they'll sell you 25 iPads at once without a problem. They like money, but they also like customers being able to find items in store.

 

[Davem]

Random question for those that have been buying retro games from Gamestop over the years - how often / if ever do they ever restock their PS1 / 2 generation of games? I've been looking to fill out a few random series on my shelf and been mastering cover printing part (from The Cover Project) and just need some discs. (specifically Suikoden 3/4/T, Wild Arms 3/4/5, Beyond the Beyond - lol .. never beat this one, but have fond memories of grinding it before FF7)

 

[detsportsfan3]

And yet they allow businesses to buy whatever quantity they want if you just ask them and have a business. Companies say a lot of things to scare off people and still sell whatever and however they want.

They like making money at the end of the day but also pleasing customers. Same with Best Buy. Best Buy doesn't want you going to their stores buying out all their iPads, but if you have a Best Buy Business account, they'll sell you 25 iPads at once without a problem. They like money, but they also like customers being able to find items in store.

Yeah from what I remember from my contract law class in college, it is up to the company or individual representing the company to honor whatever sale they want. They can chose to sell you one game or 100 games or just deny you outright, and that's 100% their choice (of course things could get sketchy if you can argue race, gender, etc. played a role, although even then I think it may just be unethical/douchey but not illegal). Having a proper license like yourself probably makes you more likely to be sold large quantities to, but they aren't required to have to. Same thing with honoring coupons/ads, no company has to, and there is no legal recourse.

So yeah it is just going to vary case by case on whether the company/representative wants to sell to whoever is asking.

 

[Daniel_Shadow170]

Random question for those that have been buying retro games from Gamestop over the years - how often / if ever do they ever restock their PS1 / 2 generation of games? I've been looking to fill out a few random series on my shelf and been mastering cover printing part (from The Cover Project) and just need some discs. (specifically Suikoden 3/4/T, Wild Arms 3/4/5, Beyond the Beyond - lol .. never beat this one, but have fond memories of grinding it before FF7)

It's random. You have to hope someone trade's it in or find one at one of the "retro" store's.

 

[inkcil]

So I’m seeing NCAA 13 for $20, 2012 for $15, and earlier games for $5 and under. Is 14 actually that much better, or is it just unique because it’s the last one, or what? All these posts are getting me interested in playing one, but not at anything close to those prices for 14.

Among those of us who are "sports gamers," NCAA was generally considered better than Madden year after year. NCAA 14 was considered a large leap from 13 on the field (or gameplay wise), while cutting back several presentation elements that made NCAA 13 so immersive. But over time, it being the last one and the community continuing to mod the rosters (and mod in the new playoff format), it's "currently" an instant classic.

However if another game is ever made it won't be worth much to write home about. Madden actually threw a few college teams into last year's game in a locked franchise story mode, but it was just slapping paint on mud. Just college skins for about 8 teams. No specific commentary team or atmosphere.

Another tid-bit: the 360 version looks and plays much much much better on 360 than PS3, to the point where a collector would not even want to collect the PS3 version after playing both (side-by-side).

Fascinatingly, NCAA 14 was $5 on the PSN back in 2015 or so before it was finally delisted. And I remember back in 2014 and 2015 (the game released July 2013) it could be found at places like Target or Best Buy for under $15 brand new.

 

[friggotha]

Many a potential sale from GS got hosed because the games I was interested in were already sold out.  If I need to buy 4 or 5 games to get the deal, yet the 1 or 2 games I really wanted are gone, that kills it.  No sale.

I can resell or flip excess shitty games, sure, but I consider myself small time.  I'd rather not buy shovelware just to make a couple bucks per game.  If the deal includes games I actually want to play or add to my collection, then I'll buy the extra garbage and deal with it.  If it's all garbage - then forget it GS.

This all stems from the earlier discussion regarding dealers (mass resellers) purchasing large amounts of quality items from a business, thus leaving unattractive inventory that very few want.

Most of the inventory GS has is unappealing.  They have been getting NEW Nintendo brand HW in, that is definitely a plus.  Their quarter ends this coming week.  Camelot331 has a new reveal video on the secret conference call Reddit/gamestop took down.  Worth a peek I suppose.

Can't meet goals, no problem we'll raise them.

 

[kraftwerks]

Only difference between a reseller and a collector is the way you spell it. 

I've yet to meet a "collector" that if he happened across a game that he already had, but was way under priced, wouldn't snatch it up to sell/ use as trade bait for something else. That's still reselling! 

I actually dislike collectors MORE than resellers. Resellers at least are putting product back into the market. Collectors hoard everything so people that want it can't get it. 

 

[Xenogears]

Not the best place for it, but lots of retro and reseller talk here so thought I’d ask.  Anyone have any trade show, small shop, eBay experience in CIB games to speak towards how prevalent fraud is?  I have a perfect CIB record of every game I’ve ever owned since NES days, I still have my original copy, except my NES games which cousins trashed or sold for pennies when they were at an uncles house.  Over the years I have replaced a few i’ve managed to get an ok deal on, but I see “repro” boxes and case listings all over eBay.  Is there an easy way to tell the difference?  Are there probably many that buy a cheap GameStop cart, then put it in a distressed looking repro box for sale?  I just assume there are even operations that do this on a large scale.  There has got to be some of that going on, right?  I remember reading some stats on how big a problem it was for sports and trading cards.

 

[kraftwerks]

I have many sealed games, because I bought them cheap when they were current and never got to playing them. I'd never spend real money on new old stock these days.

A buddy of mine was a sealed collector until about 5 years ago, and then he got fed up with all the fakes out there and sold off the hundreds of pre-PS2 era games he had. 

I don't think anyone has perfected faking new games, but they've come close enough that it's obnoxious to have to parse out what's real and isn't. 

 

[Xenogears]

I actually dislike collectors MORE than resellers. Resellers at least are putting product back into the market. Collectors hoard everything so people that want it can't get it.

If you define “collector” as someone who has no appreciation of the object and it’s just a long term investment or status symbol, I guess I’d agree, but someone that buys and keeps something cause they value it, I’d see that as a positive over reselling.

 

[aluinsertion]

Not the best place for it, but lots of retro and reseller talk here so thought I’d ask. Anyone have any trade show, small shop, eBay experience in CIB games to speak towards how prevalent fraud is? I have a perfect CIB record of every game I’ve ever owned since NES days, I still have my original copy, except my NES games which cousins trashed or sold for pennies when they were at an uncles house. Over the years I have replaced a few i’ve managed to get an ok deal on, but I see “repro” boxes and case listings all over eBay. Is there an easy way to tell the difference? Are there probably many that buy a cheap GameStop cart, then put it in a distressed looking repro box for sale? I just assume there are even operations that do this on a large scale. There has got to be some of that going on, right? I remember reading some stats on how big a problem it was for sports and trading cards.

If you receive an item that is fake or in worse condition than described you can easily force a refund, Ebay is known for being VERY favorable towards buyers such that you can buy with virtually no risk to you.

 

[Xenogears]

I have many sealed games, because I bought them cheap when they were current and never got to playing them. I'd never spend real money on new old stock these days.

A buddy of mine was a sealed collector until about 5 years ago, and then he got fed up with all the fakes out there and sold off the hundreds of pre-PS2 era games he had.

I don't think anyone has perfected faking new games, but they've come close enough that it's obnoxious to have to parse out what's real and isn't.

Ok, I think I get what you mean more. The complex and inflated thing that collecting has become is kind of odd now. A sealed collection for example, I have a hard time seeing the reason for that other than as an investment

 

[bmcgrevy]

I’d say an admitted reseller really has no place here. That’s not what this site is about. Not surprising it’s someone that’s only been here for a year and clearly doesn’t contribute much based on their post count.

This thread's always a riot. I imagine half of you were slinging toilet paper straight out of the back of your minivans a few months ago. Anything to make a dollar when you only have your GED, right fellas?

Devil's advocate here: The problem is that reselling, despite what many resellers tell you, is not a real job. If you work a job with a salary you will get health insurance, benefits, etc. Not to mention if you are in a relationship and have kids you will also not have time to buy and resell used junk on the weekends, either. It's good money for someone in high school, college, etc. that hasn't been able to do actual work yet but for anyone older than that who works an actual work week, has a girlfriend, kids, social life, exercises, etc. there is no time and it's barely any money. I would argue that most minimum wage jobs pay more money than reselling. Resellers love to post gross earnings but not net for a reason.



Not to mention resellers, such as that Phoenix guy, drive the prices of games up. Want to get a game for sale on $10 a GS? Too bad, he bought all 50 copies and now you have to either pay his inflated price or someone else's like him. Goodwills and garage sales used to be great places to buy retro games you just wanted to play. Now resellers scan everything on their phones and instead of paying $1 for Mario you now have to pay $50 because the resellers literally cleaned out every single garage sale and thrift store. Limited Run Games is the same. Want to buy the game for $40 from them? Too bad, resellers with their bots bought every copy and now you have to pay $60. Which is barely anything after fees and less than working Burger King but it ends up pissing you off because it is above MSRP.




Also, resellers are not self made entrepreneurs like they say they are. Without Amazon or eBay's platforms they would have nothing. No one would buy from their own sites or local store if they had one. They are really working for Amazon or eBay in a way and that's why the fees are so high and they have to basically be the customer's bitch and return everything, accept returns on games the customer's broke, etc. or face getting their account shut down from a few complaints or bad feedbacks.




And of course, there's el hoardos who buy up every copy of a popular game during the holidays and then return them when they don't sell after Christmas which denied many people being able to buy those and now stores and stuck with inventory that won't sell.



Also, if you want to work an actual job one day if gaming sales die out then what are you going to put on your resume? Thrift store game flipper? It's not your own store, so you can't just lie and claim it is since you're selling on Craigslist or whatever.

 

[kraftwerks]

It's a take fueled by being into this hobby for over 30 years and seeing how things have changed over the last 10.

 

[Xenogears]

It's a take fueled by being into this hobby for over 30 years and seeing how things have changed over the last 10.

Ok, yeah, I edited my reply a bit, I think I get what you mean more. There are different types of “collecting”

 

[kraftwerks]

"Not a real job" is the dumbest put down ever. Know how many actors/writers/artists have to hear that shit when they're starting out? I've listened to plenty of interviews to know it's quite a few. I'm not as pro reseller as these comments make me seem, but I'm very anti-anti reseller so it basically equates being pro reseller. 

I like cheap shit, I'd like there to be less competition to get it. But no reseller has every copy of any game out there. The only reason prices get so stupid high is because some jerkass "collector" will pay them. 

If everyone on the planet decided a 6 year old football game wasn't worth more than $15, guess what, it'd soon be at that $15 price. It's not so much that resellers are setting dumb prices, it's that speculators are more than willing to pay dumb prices because they think it's all only going to get higher and higher- which it will as long as dorks continue to spend more and more.

 

[friggotha]

Not the best place for it, but lots of retro and reseller talk here so thought I’d ask. Anyone have any trade show, small shop, eBay experience in CIB games to speak towards how prevalent fraud is? I have a perfect CIB record of every game I’ve ever owned since NES days, I still have my original copy, except my NES games which cousins trashed or sold for pennies when they were at an uncles house. Over the years I have replaced a few i’ve managed to get an ok deal on, but I see “repro” boxes and case listings all over eBay. Is there an easy way to tell the difference? Are there probably many that buy a cheap GameStop cart, then put it in a distressed looking repro box for sale? I just assume there are even operations that do this on a large scale. There has got to be some of that going on, right? I remember reading some stats on how big a problem it was for sports and trading cards.

As a retro CIB collector, I'd say study the boxes you know are real. Feel the texture. Feel the weight. Look at the creases carefully. Study the printed ink around the creases and how it doesn't "crack/peel". Look at the inside portion of the box. Study the flaps. Essentially, examine everything possible with a known real example. You mentioned NES - look at the Nintendo seal of quality - if should be brilliant and super fine print (more later).

However..

Some 3rd party, unlicensed, or late releases may vary. Find examples of those. Toward the end of a systems life cycle the package quality goes down.

Known bad fakes include blurry images, bad creases, art that gets cut off, cheap feel to the box, inner portion lamentated ....

But hey, a quick way to at least disspell any fears is to look at the Nintendo seal of quality, with a bright light. Nintendo used foil, not ink for their seal .. so if you tilt around the seal you should see it turn from gold / yellow / BLACK, at different angles. A Fake Box will be gold at all angles, unless it's, again, a 3rd party, unlicensed, or late release. I miss NintendoAge.

Others will likely have other helpful hints. [I detest fakes.]

 

[Xenogears]

If you receive an item that is fake or in worse condition than described you can easily force a refund, Ebay is known for being VERY favorable towards buyers such that you can buy with virtually no risk to you.

My hang up is that even once I receive it, I’d have no way to know if it was fake really, the box and materials. There are even repro carts and discs out there too, so even if it worked in the system, that may not mean much for its authenticity. The few trade shows I have been to, I enjoyed them for what they were, and don’t mean this as a personal insult to anyone, but wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of vendors were unknowingly, knowingly or actively involved in selling fakes. Just that thought is enough to mostly keep me from buying, I get the impression the market is already flooded with fakes, even though that’s not based in much reality or hands on experience. Just common sense, if there is money to be made in it and fraud is easy, it’s going to happen, and probably already has been for 10 years plus at this point...Or maybe that’s just my justification to avoid paying the inflated prices.

 

[kraftwerks]

I had two sealed DBZ games for GBA (buu's fury and adventure) that I sat on for a year after finding out they were suddenly worth money because the shrinkwrap on them both was more like the crap you find on fake reseals than on legit shrinkwrapped games (even though I know I bought them from a real store forever ago because they were like $5). Finally was able to compare to other sealed copies and discovered that yes, Atari used some cheapass shrink for these games. 

 

[Xenogears]

Nintendo used foil, not ink for their seal .. so if you tilt around the seal you should see it turn from gold / yellow / BLACK, at different angles. A Fake Box will be gold at all angles, unless it's, again, a 3rd party, unlicensed, or late release. I miss NintendoAge.

Thanks for the great tips! I’ll check this when I have a chance

 

[Davem]

It's random. You have to hope someone trade's it in or find one at one of the "retro" store's.

Guessing the warehouse retro never gets restocked... ? I have 2 GSs near me that have retro in glass cases, and I already raided them of stuff I wanted.

Side note - where is a good place to buy replacement PlayStation double clear/black jewel cases?

 

[Daniel_Shadow170]

Devil's advocate here: The problem is that reselling, despite what many resellers tell you, is not a real job. If you work a job with a salary you will get health insurance, benefits, etc. Not to mention if you are in a relationship and have kids you will also not have time to buy and resell used junk on the weekends, either. It's good money for someone in high school, college, etc. that hasn't been able to do actual work yet but for anyone older than that who works an actual work week, has a girlfriend, kids, social life, exercises, etc. there is no time and it's barely any money. I would argue that most minimum wage jobs pay more money than reselling. Resellers love to post gross earnings but not net for a reason.



Not to mention resellers, such as that Phoenix guy, drive the prices of games up. Want to get a game for sale on $10 a GS? Too bad, he bought all 50 copies and now you have to either pay his inflated price or someone else's like him. Goodwills and garage sales used to be great places to buy retro games you just wanted to play. Now resellers scan everything on their phones and instead of paying $1 for Mario you now have to pay $50 because the resellers literally cleaned out every single garage sale and thrift store. Limited Run Games is the same. Want to buy the game for $40 from them? Too bad, resellers with their bots bought every copy and now you have to pay $60. Which is barely anything after fees and less than working Burger King but it ends up pissing you off because it is above MSRP.




Also, resellers are not self made entrepreneurs like they say they are. Without Amazon or eBay's platforms they would have nothing. No one would buy from their own sites or local store if they had one. They are really working for Amazon or eBay in a way and that's why the fees are so high and they have to basically be the customer's bitch and return everything, accept returns on games the customer's broke, etc. or face getting their account shut down from a few complaints or bad feedbacks.




And of course, there's el hoardos who buy up every copy of a popular game during the holidays and then return them when they don't sell after Christmas which denied many people being able to buy those and now stores and stuck with inventory that won't sell.



Also, if you want to work an actual job one day if gaming sales die out then what are you going to put on your resume? Thrift store game flipper? It's not your own store, so you can't just lie and claim it is since you're selling on Craigslist or whatever.

All of this is ridiculous. You have no concept of how much money this makes. Many people especially where I live have made this a full time job. I have 3 kids. Still can do all of this and run my company. You have to know the market.

Also on a sidenote for people here. Screw a resume. You live in 2020 start a business form an idea. Make a game or an app. Don't listen to people who get you down. You know what my first stupid idea was? Making a popcorn bag into the shape of an animal.

As for eBay and Amazon. I do 85% of my sales local. Again the way you think is really terrible and it's telling who makes money vs who doesn't

 

[Daniel_Shadow170]

Guessing the warehouse retro never gets restocked... ? I have 2 GSs near me that have retro in glass cases, and I already raided them of stuff I wanted.

Side note - where is a good place to buy replacement PlayStation double clear/black jewel cases?

I'm not sure. Ordering online at GameStop bothers me. I like to see the game and case.

I buy jewel cases at a family run dollar type store. I don't buy official one's.

 

[kraftwerks]

I live in upstate NY and though I don't resell that much (I have a "real" job and so can't hit all the stores/yard sales/etc) I've met several resellers in the community that have houses/families/etc and pay for it all by reselling games/books/media, and there's such demand for it locally that ebay/amazon is only for extremely niche items. Ever increasing shipping costs and fees have made ebay and amazon (on top of increasing fraud) less and less attractive to these guys. 

 

[Daniel_Shadow170]

Pokemon is the most faked game I've ran into.

Yes you have companies mainly from China who make them and fake boxes. They also now make many fake n64 game's

I will never own a fake game or sell one. I don't like repros.

 

[EndOfGreen]

I've been here just as long as you and I resell. I also started the latest Target thread and Walmart thread where I actively post deals in both threads for others to find. I likely wouldn't even know about those deals if it wasn't for my sourcing stores and seeing those deals in person to report back here.

This community is for sharing and finding deals, doesn't matter what you do with the deals once you find them.

Just letting you know, even though you clearly don't care and have no morals, you look like a major goofball walking up with 15+ locked copies of clearanced games at Walmart/Target every week. The target and walmart employees are probably laughing under their masks at you. That should be a sign. I'm sure you haven't played a video game in years.

Resellers are less respectable than people with no jobs that collect unemployment or homeless people, as none of three have a positive impact other than making people spend more money than they need to or should have. But hey, as long as you make a few bucks a game and have no shame, right? They

 

[friggotha]

Thanks for the great tips! I’ll check this when I have a chance

Sure thing!

The important part is that the seal should change intensity of the color at different angles. Some games fade out, some get lighter, some darker. That is something to look for. Printer ink wont do this, it will just stay the same color.

If the seal disappears at a particular angle, that is a great sign.

 

[kraftwerks]

walmart employees don't wear masks. 

 

[bmcgrevy]

I'm going to need to see some proof of people supporting their families, buying houses, paying bills, etc. off of flipping thrift store stuff otherwise that's just a larp. Not to mention if you're educated and have a professional job that pays six figures or more, has benefits and health insurance you will need a resume.




Let's theoretically say someone actually does make a living off flipping but then gets cancer one day. He is going to go bankrupt from medical bills and lose everything. That is why flipping is not a real job. Someone with a resume, professional job, etc. will have health insurance to pay those bills. Not to mention if you have a family and kids it is very irresponsible to have them not covered by insurance because what if they get sick?


And no, I don't consider wannabe actors or soundcloud rappers being real jobs, either.

 

[kraftwerks]

I like you, you're funny af. 

 

[Vinny]

Not the best place for it, but lots of retro and reseller talk here so thought I’d ask. Anyone have any trade show, small shop, eBay experience in CIB games to speak towards how prevalent fraud is? I have a perfect CIB record of every game I’ve ever owned since NES days, I still have my original copy, except my NES games which cousins trashed or sold for pennies when they were at an uncles house. Over the years I have replaced a few i’ve managed to get an ok deal on, but I see “repro” boxes and case listings all over eBay. Is there an easy way to tell the difference? Are there probably many that buy a cheap GameStop cart, then put it in a distressed looking repro box for sale? I just assume there are even operations that do this on a large scale. There has got to be some of that going on, right? I remember reading some stats on how big a problem it was for sports and trading cards.

When it comes to repos/fakes, there are some things worth considering:

1. Is the game worth a decent amount where a high quality reproduction would be worth it for someone selling the item?

2. Do you have something else to compare the item to? Game case inserts or original boxes almost always stayed uniform through a majority of a console's life cycle, only near the end do they change. Like for N64, I noticed some of the latter boxes have this weirder print pattern. For some latter GBA games (Mega Man Battle Network 6), I noticed boxes were cheaper and the insides were a brown paper material and not the light grey like most games.

But ultimately, at the end of the day, there's one thing that reproduction stuff can't replicate: the natural deterioration due to age. If you have your originals, unless you kept them in conditions that the library of congress archives things, likely have some natural deterioration.

I'll say this too: the repo market irritates me to no end... not because I mind the repos existing, but because those sellers keep listing them under the video games category and not in the reproduction cases/manuals.

I had two sealed DBZ games for GBA (buu's fury and adventure) that I sat on for a year after finding out they were suddenly worth money because the shrinkwrap on them both was more like the crap you find on fake reseals than on legit shrinkwrapped games (even though I know I bought them from a real store forever ago because they were like $5). Finally was able to compare to other sealed copies and discovered that yes, Atari used some cheapass shrink for these games.

Ugh, I'm kicking myself for passing on a new Buu's Fury because the seal looked fake. At the time, didn't realize how some latter GBA games were really lazily sealed by the factory.