Retro Stores: The death of retro gaming?

[ShadicChao]

I have 2 retro stores near my house

1.TRX2 they over price anything new and nintendo contra goes for $50 there while gunstar heroes only went for $2 (i bought it)

2.Bookmans There it goes on how much amazon costs. I got Super Mario World for $15 boxed
Link to the past $12 CIB and sonic and knuckles $6 CIB. While Clockwork knight 2 $50 MvC2 $40 dreamcast $70 ps2 and $90 xbox AND A VIRTUAL BOY (headset only) $100

So its hard to say why we have retro stores honestly I'd like it if retro stores only went as far as to know that just because its an nes copy doesnt make it worth over $50.

Its just like flea markets.

[Gamerforlife]

I have 2 retro stores near my house

1.TRX2 they over price anything new and nintendo contra goes for $50 there while gunstar heroes only went for $2 (i bought it)

2.Bookmans There it goes on how much amazon costs. I got Super Mario World for $15 boxed
Link to the past $12 CIB and sonic and knuckles $6 CIB. While Clockwork knight 2 $50 MvC2 $40 dreamcast $70 ps2 and $90 xbox AND A VIRTUAL BOY (headset only) $100

So its hard to say why we have retro stores honestly I'd like it if retro stores only went as far as to know that just because its an nes copy doesnt make it worth over $50.

Its just like flea markets.

Those prices on Link to the Past and Sonic & Knuckles aren't too bad for CIB, assuming they're in really good condition. I think 40 for MvC2 on the Dreamcast is pretty reasonable too. Wish I had a nice retro store like that near here.

[Pichu]

Well here's my two cents:

My retro store, is both awesome and shitty.
They have the best NES titles, SNES and N64 titles at $20+. I mean, I want Contra badly, but $24.99? WTF?
.
But GEN titles are $1.99 a cart, guides are $4 a book, and the rest are all excellently priced. Plus, if a complete copy of a cart game comes in, it is the same price, so that's how I saw 6 copies of Link to the Past for $20, while one was sealed for the same price. I am lucky, because I lack a car, so I can free roam to pawn shops, flea markets and garage sales when I want. So it truly depends on how much of a dick your respective retro store owner is.

[Golgo 14]

I really like retro stores, but I don't really buy from them. I found a new retro store in my area just a few weeks ago thanks to this board. It's a great place and the staff was shockingly pleasant, but the prices were just too high. I was casually looking for a copy of the Adventures of Batman & Robin (SNES) and they had one, but it was $40 + tax. No thanks. Got one on eBay for about $15 shipped. It's too bad, because I would like to support this great little store with all kinds of obscure items that make me smile, but I can't afford to throw money away by paying double for items when buying off eBay is so easy. Great finds can be had at garage sales and thrift shops, but I don't feel like driving all around town just to save a few bucks.

[AppleQueso]

We have a retro store run by a man who knows fuck-all about retro gaming. He obviously doesn't care much about the games and doesn't even really know what's valuable and what isn't, he just takes a stab in the dark and makes rough guesses as to what he can sell for how much. As a result you have some absolutely insane prices on certain games, the worst that comes to mind is $68 for a used Final Fantasy Anthology, a ps1 game that you can still buy on ebay new for $20!

Only reason I go there really is because he has a nice and large selection, and because pretty much nabbing deals on old games anywhere else in town is pretty much impossible because he regularly makes rounds around the city (which isn't very big) to buy stuff up. I'm just waiting for the day he severely undervalues and extremely rare title so I can snag it up from him.

He's not the only retro store in town, though, at least. Anybody ever notice how Ps1, NES, N64, and SNES games seem to always be extremely inflated price-wise at these places, while Genesis games and other systems seem to be extremely cheap?

As for the appeal of retro stores? Convenience. It's like ebay without the stock photos and shipping.

[slowslow325]

A lot of business the retro stores do is with people that had an NES or whatever as a child, and want to play it again. So the common titles, which are usually the most popular, are going to be more expensive to bring in more money.

When you're running a retro game store, demand is slightly more important than supply.

[ShadicChao]

I have 2 retro stores near my house

1.TRX2 they over price anything new and nintendo contra goes for $50 there while gunstar heroes only went for $2 (i bought it)

2.Bookmans There it goes on how much amazon costs. I got Super Mario World for $15 boxed
Link to the past $12 CIB and sonic and knuckles $6 CIB. While Clockwork knight 2 $50 MvC2 $40 dreamcast $70 ps2 and $90 xbox AND A VIRTUAL BOY (headset only) $100

So its hard to say why we have retro stores honestly I'd like it if retro stores only went as far as to know that just because its an nes copy doesnt make it worth over $50.

Its just like flea markets.

Those prices on Link to the Past and Sonic & Knuckles aren't too bad for CIB, assuming they're in really good condition. I think 40 for MvC2 on the Dreamcast is pretty reasonable too. Wish I had a nice retro store like that near here.

Thats the point on amazon sonic and knuckles is only $6 so even if it cam in with box they have no choice but to put it up on $6 thats sorta AWESOME some times but its not when its just cartridge only

[Rurouni_Fencer]

My $0.02 :

I definitely sympathize and can relate to wanting to get a pretty common game at a local retro store, only to have it marked all the way up to what-the-hell.. But I also find it to be part of the fun of collecting, too.. Sure, call me crazy, but if every good game that we missed out on 10 years ago was $2-$5, then everybody would have it, and what would make it so special to have in the first place? For me, looking for that copy of Castlevania Legends in the box for under $150 is fun because it's challenging. There shouldn't be a one-stop shop for affordable gems! And how awesome do you feel when you find a copy of something that regularly goes for $100 on ebay for only 10 buck or even less at a yard sale. It's as close to treasure hunting as most of us will ever get - and I don't remember Indiana Jones walking to his local Bed, Bath, & Beyond for an in-stock Cup of Christ.

Sure, it sucks that plenty of old and abundant copies of Mario Bros./Duck Hunt sell for an outrageous $5, or TMNT II: The Arcade Game for $15, but don't forget, you'd be paying $50-60 back when it was released, for a new or used copy.

Somebody already made a really valuable point - price is all in how badly and how soon you want that particular title.

[videogameexperiment]

Speaking from a strictly business point-of-view, Retro Stores need to charge that much. Retro stores don't have much turn around time on their games so the longer your product sits on the shelf the higher your profit margin has to be. Same model is used in many sectors like furniture, some furniture is 200-300% markup. Unless you sell most of your inventory online or you have side income like repairs, retro games need to be high margined. Selling Super Mario 2 for $20 is not supposed to target you. It's for the person who found their old NES in the closet and wants to play around.

To be honest the topic should be "Retro Gaming: The death of retro stores?". Times are changing in that business Atari inventory is borderline worthless and more and more interest is lost in NES and Genesis games each day. But from alot of stores you all explained, it sounds like they aren't great at adapting to that.

[J T]

There's the terrible retro store in Seattle called GameTown. Their sign is a rip-off of the GameStop logo, with "Game" written in white, and "Town" written in red. The manager is this gruff guy with an Eastern European kind of accent. He does not put price tags on the games. Instead, when you want to know the price of a game, you have to take it to the counter and wait for him to visit a few websites so he knows its current value, then he charges above whatever that is. So damn annoying. They have a lot of the most rare and valuable games, but you definitely pay the cost and the customer service is obviously horrible. I went a few times because I was wowed by the selection, but I'm always disappointed in how jacked up the prices are PLUS I have to sit and watch him calculate how much he wants to jack up the price while I wait. I decided I don't want to give them any of my money, so I haven't been back in some time.