Where can you buy vintage games these days?

Im just wondering where a good place to get vintage games these days are? (stuff like Genesis/SNES, PS1 games, ect)

I used to get a lot of my stuff on ebay years ago. Sometimes the prices were a bit high but if you kept an eye out you could get good deals. It was better than half.com and other places. However i dont know wtf happened but it seems in the last several years the prices have gotten RIDICULOUS. games i payed around 12-20 bucks for are going for over $50. The games that were going for around 40 or so are climbing to or past the $100's. Its absurd. I was just recently trying to get TMNT Hyperstone heist for Genesis. I remember last time i was looking for it i passed on some auctions that got to about $18-$20 because i thought that was a bit high. These auctions are going for around $40 easily now.

Its like an absurdly overpriced flea market! Have the prices just gone up that much for vintage games in the past few years, or is Ebay just shit now?

Anyway, whatever the reason, i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on where to look? THere were a few PS1 games i didn't get for my collection as well as SNES/Genesis games, ect. I think im set for NES games right now though

Locally-owned used game stores are the best, in my experience. If you haven't done so already, I'd suggest googling to see where your nearest one is. Seems like it would be unlikely to not have one within 30 miles or so.

Pawn shops are also great for this. There's a nation-wide pawn shop chain near me (Pawn America) which has games dating back to Atari, with very low prices, so check any large pawn shop near you.

eStarland is still around, variety is hit and miss though. Pawn shops are also a good idea.

eBay is up because that's where the market is right now, just check completed auctions first to see if a BIN or starting bid is out of line.

amazon has fair prices on old games sometimes.
marketplace is good too

[quote name='Josh1billion']Locally-owned used game stores are the best, in my experience. If you haven't done so already, I'd suggest googling to see where your nearest one is. Seems like it would be unlikely to not have one within 30 miles or so.

Pawn shops are also great for this. There's a nation-wide pawn shop chain near me (Pawn America) which has games dating back to Atari, with very low prices, so check any large pawn shop near you.[/QUOTE]

^
This. Around here we have a store called The Exchange, and depending on what store you go to they have varying amounts of older games for different systems. Got "Toki- Going Ape Spit" for genesis there about 2 weeks ago CIB for 2.50! So just keep an eye out for (or do a google search) for local games stores.

Also, craigslist has brought to my attention of a few local places (pawn shops and the like) that have older games for pretty cheap. Check on there for items and see where that leads ya.

Try pawn shops.

Prices go up in time, not only due to scarcity of remaining copies, but because of whether digital releases have been placed up in online stores or not (like Earthbound on the Wii; that never happened, & when people were settled on that fact, it rose up several dollars). What was more abundant before is now going to be more scarce; & what becomes scarce typically becomes more expensive, especially over time. That's just the reality of it all; it's the nature of the free market.

I can't vouch for pawn shops, thrift stores, or flea markets; I've had too much bullshit go on in those places. It's a bitch to find any good deals in California, & if the stuff you get is cheap, it's usually in a shitty condition. Right after you go "Wow, I got ______ so cheap! I'm gonna brag on CAG right when I get home!", blissfully unaware of what you really purchased, you look down at the quality of the item(s) you get & you go "...God damn it.".

But hey; if you live in other states, it might be better (& probably is). I find that these sort of things just depend on where you live. I found a huge stack of manga someone was getting rid of at a garage sale when I used to go garage-sale hunting on Saturdays in my old town, & got it for 10-15 bucks. Got around 30-45 books. Still haven't read them all.

Got a lot of old grandpas trying to make a few bucks in your neighborhood? Jackpot.

^^^ Note to self: Stop feeling bad for not buying that nice old-guy's Atari. It's okay.

Yard sales