Puppydogs and Unicorns

[noiseredux]

alright I'm usually one of the saps who defends Gamestop. Not because I like them especially. But because I shop there often. As long as they still have Gamecube and GBA games, and I can check their local inventory online, then it's a convenient place for me to nab things I'm after.

Every week I check the ad to see what games are part of their "Used Deals Of The Week," just in case it's a GC or GBA game that I've been wanting at a reasonable price. I've actually grabbed a few titles this way. But this week's ad is really insulting. Here's the breakdown:

Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA) is on sale for $19.99! Now remember this is cart-only. And this is supposed to be a DEAL. But the real smack in the face is that the ad says regular price is $24.99, which is a lot and why I've never picked it up. But the thing is, if you look up the game on the site it says that there was a recent price drop and the game is actually $22.99. So this isn't even much of a discount.

I mean is anyone really thinking that $20 for a used GBA cart is a DEAL???

okay, I'm done.

[the7k]

Believe it or not, people pay that much (and more) for GBA carts all the time. Most people just accept it, as there seems to be a common belief among consumers that Nintendo products don't decrease in value.

[noiseredux]

I know. It's really weird. I just can't do it. I know that if I hold off, I'll find it eventually at a reasonable price, or score it in a trade. I mean, if I saw it CIB, then maybe I'd consider paying $20 for it. But...

[Anayo]

eBay.

[noiseredux]

yes. ebay exists. I certainly understand that.

But like I said, I use Gamestop for a certain convenience. IE: there's one location around the corner from my work. There's another down the street from my house. I can easily check their inventory and then go pick up what I'm looking for. No shipping and waiting and hoping that my GBA cart isn't a bootleg when it arrives.

But when a cart is $20, I don't purchase it from Gamestop. So yeah, if I absolutely MUST have SMB3 right now, I'll probably look at ebay. But my point was if the cart was on sale for say $10 (which cut down from $23 actually WOULD come across as a DEAL) then I might go pick it up impulsively.

[lwcook]

Think of it as a convenience charge then. Heck, if you have an edge card, you can get it for $18, which is about 4-5 dollars more than ebay at the moment.

Although the best time to buy things like that are the buy 2 get 1 free weekend deals they have. It'd end up being about $13 that way, is par for the course.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

The problem with this is supply and demand, people buy more - the price goes down - stock runs low - the price goes up- we get flooded with these in trades somehow - the price goes down - we sell all of those in record time - supply then again runs low and the price goes up - lather, rinse, repeat.


This isn't some ploy to take your money, this is just appropriate business when it comes to buying and selling something specific and extremely popular en-masse after it's out of print. After all it's not like we can just call up Nintendo and order more new $19.99 Player's Choice copies now, can we?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Think of it as a convenience charge then. Heck, if you have an edge card, you can get it for $18, which is about 4-5 dollars more than ebay at the moment.

Although the best time to buy things like that are the buy 2 get 1 free weekend deals they have. It'd end up being about $13 that way, is par for the course.

Exactly, plus the extra $4-$5 you'd spend at GS is what you would lose in shipping costs.

[Limewater]

At least your Gamestop still carries GBA and (I assume) Gamecube games.

[noiseredux]

I'm not sure you guys understand my thread. I'm not saying I don't understand supply and demand. I'm not saying I think GS is ripping us off charging $23 for the game, when that tends to be the going price. I'm simply saying that knocking $3 off and calling $20 a DEAL is ridiculous.