18 Sealed Stadium Events hit the market, many more.

[Vant3c]

Pat is dead right, no one deserves to control, manipulate, blackball or screw with people to corner the hobby to make it some market game picking winners and losers. And this guy not giving them an inch, any help, any favoritism at all is like the gaming 'pope' as Pat put it...he's in charge in this one.

This is what I most agree with. I am fine with collecting as long as the free market decides what a fair price is for certain games based on rarity or collectable. But lots of people corner the market and inflate the prices which do not reflect the true market value at all. I agree with Pat on all of this because he is right in what he is saying and this Atwood as well.

[Exhuminator]

But lots of people corner the market and inflate the prices which do not reflect the true market value at all.

Sounds like a smart business strategy to me. There's no such thing as "true market value" anyway. Market value is just a number based upon perceived worth of any given product. If something is perceived rare, yeah it's worth more cash. But if that rare thing suddenly becomes less rare, it makes perfect sense that its market value decreases. That's pure and simple capitalism. The guy who unleashed a bunch of fresh copies of Stadium Events is not evil or bad. He's just selling his goods like anybody else. This whole brouhaha sounds like a bunch of sour grape collectors who bet on the wrong horse. I think it's hilarious honestly.

[fastbilly1]

This is why you dont invest in videogames.

On the side, I hope this tanks the price of Little Samson. I would love to get a copy.

[Tanooki]

But lots of people corner the market and inflate the prices which do not reflect the true market value at all.

Sounds like a smart business strategy to me. There's no such thing as "true market value" anyway. Market value is just a number based upon perceived worth of any given product. If something is perceived rare, yeah it's worth more cash. But if that rare thing suddenly becomes less rare, it makes perfect sense that its market value decreases. That's pure and simple capitalism. The guy who unleashed a bunch of fresh copies of Stadium Events is not evil or bad. He's just selling his goods like anybody else. This whole brouhaha sounds like a bunch of sour grape collectors who bet on the wrong horse. I think it's hilarious honestly.

You're right it is, and I can't fault someone for it, be angry sure. That's why I usually say it's like trading oil or mineral stocks and what a few people do screw the rest. Look how oil was up over $100 a barrel and we getting raped for $4/gallon on it. Then a new supply shows up (shale, largest supply in the US) and the barrel rolls donkey kong style into the 30s then levels off in the 40s to the real market value. Obviously more shale is there, not old games, but anything to cause a correction and screw with those who sought to screw others I have zero pity or empathy for in the least bit.

The former owner of all those games isn't evil as you said, he's good. His property, his choice, and I read up he was basically quoted more or less saying he's doing the sale because of those people who hare screwing with prices, jacking up values across the board and lording games especially multiple copies over others like some false god trophy. He felt it was time to create a correction and he's also not saying if this is all he has either or just some of it.


fastbilly -- no doubt. It's fun, had a powerpak some years ago. I'm very tempted to pop the $20 on that Super Games 150 in 1 new quality parts multicart as it's on there along with much of the other licensed $100 and up club games too (notably not duck tales 2, bubble bobble 2 or bonk, but it has the others.)

...and nightrnr that crossed my mind too, these fools with that much cash to cry over new stock it wouldn't surprise me if someone started flinging death threats or publishing personal info online for a crazy to find as cheap revenge.

[Fragems]

Really it's his property he can do what he wants with it nobody is entitled to control his decision. Really more games on the market is better for everyone the people whining about it are a negative influence on the market itself and come off as asses trying to argue differently. Video games are not a sound financial investment and if you are buying games solely based on potential monetary gain your doing it wrong .

I myself flip games all the time to help offset my costs capitalism is great . I however don't buy up multiple copies of games to hold on to for years. I buy and pretty much immediately sell duplicates which expands the available market online and inevitably lowers the price.

One tool that I'm not to big a fan of is VGPC. I use it pretty frequently myself to help sort sold eBay listings faster and it's a great tool for doing that. However I really think it has hurt the market over time. The tracking isn't very reliable(it misses some listings and has a hard time differentiating CIB/Loose), shipping isn't factored in, and many other factors are overlooked as well such as materials, market fees and etc. A lot of people however overlook those short comings and rely heavily on the values presented there when pricing both on and offline and it's really driven the market up.

Here is my standard expense table for eBay and take into account this is after factoring in 20% off eBay fees for Top Rated Seller status and the profit column isn't taking into consideration the initial cost of the item itself. So in all honesty most games that are sub $10 which is probably 70+% of the market are actually worth substantially less then people believe. I would say 99% of the local resellers at least in my area not only match eBay/VGPC, but add a 10+% gratuity for providing their services so yeah the market is heavily influenced not only by availability but ignorance as well .

[Vant3c]

Sounds like a smart business strategy to me. There's no such thing as "true market value" anyway. Market value is just a number based upon perceived worth of any given product. If something is perceived rare, yeah it's worth more cash. But if that rare thing suddenly becomes less rare, it makes perfect sense that its market value decreases. That's pure and simple capitalism. The guy who unleashed a bunch of fresh copies of Stadium Events is not evil or bad. He's just selling his goods like anybody else. This whole brouhaha sounds like a bunch of sour grape collectors who bet on the wrong horse. I think it's hilarious honestly.

I have no problem with capitalism. I have a problem with a select few holding the keys to certain titles and creating a inflation when honest collectors want them either to play or collect. Some of these people hoard the titles to create artificial inflation to make a perceived rare title worth a crazy amount. Its like the FF15 ultimate edition. People pre order like 5 to 10 of the PS4 or Xbox one. Then turned around on the market and sold them for double or more. What I mean by true Market value is stemming from the fact of non inflation: due to someone or people creating this high end exclusive club to buy into.

Also video games are not a investment at all. Anybody who buys games should be buying to play and have fun. Not looking at them like they are bonded goods that they make money off down the line or so.

[Exhuminator]

I have a problem with a select few holding the keys to certain titles and creating a inflation when honest collectors want them either to play or collect.

It might not be ethical sure, but it is not an uncommon capitalist strategy.

[Vant3c]

It might not be ethical sure, but it is an honest capitalist strategy.

What we need is more ethics in the gaming collecting community. For people to call out these individuals who hoard and inflate. I do not mind games having value weather it be $50, $100 or hell even $1000 but if the game truly commands the price. I understand what you say and its a gray area if there is one, but I think to help our community is to hold people to higher standard of business and ethics.

[Sarge]

I call the strategy smart. If you're in a position to snap up that kind of stuff, you do it. You're betting on the future worth of that title. And despite how it may seem, those bets don't always pay off. There is a risk that you'll be left holding the proverbial bag.

Games are worth what someone is willing to pay for them. If we're going to debate the ethics of sellers hoarding the games and selling to the highest bidder, then we must also debate the ethics of the person that has more money than sense and pays that much for the games. They're the ones setting the price when they overpay in eBay auctions. They, one could argue, hold more culpability than the seller.

Of course, I'm not actually arguing either is in the wrong. The market is what it is. It sucks for most of us, but then, that's how it's always been with items that become collectible.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I call the strategy smart. If you're in a position to snap up that kind of stuff, you do it. You're betting on the future worth of that title. And despite how it may seem, those bets don't always pay off. There is a risk that you'll be left holding the proverbial bag.

Games are worth what someone is willing to pay for them. If we're going to debate the ethics of sellers hoarding the games and selling to the highest bidder, then we must also debate the ethics of the person that has more money than sense and pays that much for the games. They're the ones setting the price when they overpay in eBay auctions. They, one could argue, hold more culpability than the seller.

Of course, I'm not actually arguing either is in the wrong. The market is what it is. It sucks for most of us, but then, that's how it's always been with items that become collectible.

+1

I agree with you completely. The "market price" for these games is what someone is willing to pay for them, and speculating on any commodity is a risky proposition. Sometimes the bet pays off and sometimes is doesn't. If it does, the person who took the risk is entitled to the reward, and barring any sort of fraud, misrepresentation, etc. should not be labeled as unscrupulous.