If Ebay is the only option, is it worth it?

[TK Island Boy Gamer]

Despite being a huge admirer of retro game collecting since like 2010, I still have had no chance to use my disposable income, whenever I get that, on building a vast, retro game collection that you see all over Youtube.

Here's my story. Where I live is an island out in the Caribbean, can't exactly find any flea markets out here. Anybody who might have NES or etc. games would want to keep them for their own keepsakes.

I only ever get a chance to get new cartridges if I either lived in the USA from 2008-2010, or when I go on vacation and actually find a cart I'm willing to pay that price for.

I hope someday to find me a Conker's Bad Fur day for $70 max or Japanese Gen 1 Pokemon games for something like $20 max each.

So this leaves me with one option, eBay, since I do have addresses in the United States which further ship to my island. Is it recommended to rely solely on eBay to at least start somewhat of a beginners collection?

[Anayo]

That depends on what you're trying to collect. I could never find Sega Saturn stuff locally, so I ordered most of my stuff from eBay about ten years ago. I got disc only copies of some of the rare ones like Shining Force III and Dragon Force, as well as some eh-ok stuff like Quake and Sonic R. Almost everything I bought then has since shot up in price. I kinda wish I had bought more...

Anyway, my point is that while now probably isn't an opportune time to get bargains on stuff like Nintendo 64 or original Pokemon games, you could put together something like a Wii U or PS Vita collection just over eBay these days. I'm not sure if those systems are necessarily what fancies you, but if trends continue, it's foreseeable that whatever you pay for them on eBay in 2017 would seem like a bargain in 2027.

[Segata]

Gamegavel is pretty good. (no worries about the owners,new people took over after the whole Coleco thing) I have bought many games from here. Vink is an esp good seller.
http://www.gamegavel.com/

[Sarge]

If you have a good reputation, you can also try buying/selling/trading on forums like this. A lot of times sellers might be willing to cut you a break compared to eBay prices.

[Fragems]

Ebay and Amazon are probably the best online stores to check out in terms of availability. Gamestop also has a pretty good selection of "retro" games on their online store and they on occasions have pretty good sales as well as free shipping on larger orders.

[Segata]

Ebay and Amazon are probably the best online stores to check out in terms of availability. Gamestop also has a pretty good selection of "retro" games on their online store and they on occasions have pretty good sales as well as free shipping on larger orders.

But they don't give online pics of the actual product and Gamestop is terrible about throwing out cases even for stuff like Genesis. Gamegavel isn't as vast as eBay but you get the pics of the items and sellers like Vink amazing prices and really reasonable shipping from Japan. I have a rule personally that I never buy anything used off eBay unless it's a picture of the actual game of the case and the cart/cd. Gamestop also isn't very good at telling the difference between repros and the real thing. Seen videos of people going in and trading in a fake Earthbound and MUSHA and getting 80 bucks. No doubt some fakes on eBay but you are more protected there as a buyer.

[theclaw]

The reality is many games are that difficult to find in the wild in remote areas. Stereotypical people from bigger cities may be elitist, out of touch, or whatever, I don't know. But they give the wrong impression. Just because stores in your area regularly stock low-print-run titles doesn't make it so for others.

[Anapan]

Even just being a little vertical from the bulk of the English collection available in the USA (I'm in west Canada) I consistently have problems getting them shipped a little more vertically to me. That said, on Ebay, a short PM conversation usually makes shipping available (tho not always at a favorable price). For availability of rarer titles, I almost always depend on Ebay. Usually my only other recourse is to get the same item from Amazon. Consistently both Amazon US and Amazon UK do not generally ship outside of their respective countries. When I ask sellers about changing their shipping policy for an item it's generally a Hard NO if I get any response at all. At that point I can only rely on courier services. After a few failures with other courier services, I settled on ReShip unless it's Yahoo Japan. ReShip's service prices are not uncommon or unreasonable for the service they provide - they're just often almost as much as the item costs. Still, the service is always fast and reliable, and their extended services are far more impressive than any of the others I tried - they have agents fluent in all languages to negotiate any deals through tons of portals for a reasonable price.
Of course it's always more desirable to have a forum member living in the country make the transaction and do the reshipment, but for many items, my only recourse was to have the courier service do the transaction and ship it to me.

Ebay on the other hand has it's own courier service (Pitney Bowes). It ensures that what is listed for price and shipping is what I pay (when logged in), and that price is always final - I do not incur a "pay-to-receive" service fee as most other online retailers and sites often incur. That is very important. Yes, Ebay is worth it. The other options are almost always more expensive.

[Reprise]

Only you can really decide that. I think it's important to try and prioritise what you really want and budget accordingly. For example, I paid about £80 or £90 for Panzer Dragoon Saga nearly a decade ago. Although that was actually a really good price at the time (and certainly very good compared to its price these days), people thought I was mad for spending that much on an 'old' 'second hand' game. That said, I feel the enjoyment I got out of that game has far outweighed the cost in the long run. I've completed it at least 3 or so times and it's one of my favourite games of all time.

People think nothing of spending 60 dollars on a brand new, just released game, so there's no reason people can't spend that much on retro games or even more as long as they manage their finances and spend what they feel is a reasonable amount from their disposable income.

What I will say is, prices are getting ridiculous, but then I remember people saying the same thing a decade ago. They seem to be only going up, so unless the market crashes (which I don't think it will), I would jump in sooner rather than later.

[Sload Soap]

The bulk of my collection is from ebay. Even living in the UK in a major city, finding games on certain systems is unlikely, often borderline impossible. I have never seen a PC Engine in the wild or anything like that.

When you use ebay just make sure to be discerning and not jump on the first auction you see. Dupes and repros seem to have increased in number on the site as well and not all sellers are forthcoming about admitting they are fakes.

Shipping might be an issue for you. I know some sellers both in Europe and Japan who don't ship anywhere below the equator and if they do the prices can be steep. But yes, in general it is probably the best way to go in many cases.