Overpricing Thanks to Ebay

[gtmtnbiker]

this is a real problem on the DC craigslist. People often attempt to sell their stuff for more than the eBay asking price. And refuse to negotiate. Most of the time I offer at or slightly below VGPC prices to these people only to get ridiculed back.

You shouldn't take things personally. If they won't budge, just move on. If they're able to sell it for that price, more power to them. Vice versa, if you offer something for sale at a certain price, that's your prerogative. If it doesn't sell after a week or two, you need to make a decision to be firm with the price or to lower it.

There's a guy on the Boston area Craigslist who has had the same exact ad for almost 2 years selling the same 17 overpriced Gamecube games. I guess he doesn't have anything better to do with his time.

If the item is not worth much (under $10) I can't be bothered to sell it on CL or at a yard sale. I would just give it to my church for their yard sale and take the tax deduction.

[Jamisonia]

I suppose you're right. Its just irritating.

[Croooow!]

Where I live I find the eBay comparisons aren't as bad as the comparisons to local game stores. We have three in a city of 200,000+ and as a result a lot of people try to sell their stuff their, only to be insulted by their cash offer. As a result they put it up on Craigslist, charge the same price as the store and say its just as good, not realizing that the guarantee the store offers is worth something in and of itself.

[Jamisonia]

That reminds me of when I see people offer new games, and take $1 or $2 off of the Gamestop price and literally say thats what their doing.

[cookie monster]

It's not just ebays fault some retro stores are price gougers as well for instance 3 stores in my area have super mario kart cart for snes
store A 32.00 store B 36.00 and store C is 20.00 all have garuntees so which would you buy i go for the place where i can get more games for my money some times its ebay more times its not

[skere26]

here ya go:

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/sys/2157391837.html

[Hatta]

Then I looked for an NES as the NES I own is having blinking problems so bad I'm messing with cartridges more than I'm playing them. I did buy a new, still shrink-wrapped 72-pin connector for it, but it seems to be doing worse than before I put it in. So I don't want to gamble on one of those again.

Try not pushing down on the toaster. If you screwed in the connector too tightly, it can mess with the video settings, and not pushing it down should cause it to work fine.

Yep. Try not pushing the game down at all actually. And disable the 10NES chip (just cut the fucking pin!). Give your games a really good cleaning with contact cleaner, it helps to disassemble them. That should get you set up.

And yeah, I haven't bought much off of ebay recently. It was great when they were a startup, funded by VC. These days the VC is gone, ebay gets money from sellers, and sellers get it from us. Really pretty hard to find deals anymore.

If you want a commodore, I'd recommend putting an ad in Craigslist. That's how I got mine.

[Soloman]

It depends on the model of C64 and what it comes with but the asking price isn't that bad. While teh C64 was common 25 years ago it's not unreasonable to expect the failure rate coupled with destruction of systems to jack the price up. The NES' failure rate is through the roof but it's still in high demand so people ask more for it.

eBay and other online stores are a godsend for me and other people who work abroad or don't regularly have access to thrift stores/garage sales. I also have pretty distinct taste so the games I want can't be found in the average refuse bin. I don't care about Sonic whatever or 20 copies of EA Sports basketball, I want Alien Soldier and Harmful Park which can only be found in a mass market, online shop.

Also, the high prices ensure that you can make your return back if you invest wisely. I always buy my games in lots because it lowers the individual value of each game. Once I get the titles I want, I sell everything I don't want back. I either break even or make even more money than I spent.

In 2010, I spent about $5000 on games. I probably paid $500 for them out of my own pocket. This year I'm looking to turn it into a little part-time business to help pad college tuition.

[Specineff]

GameTZ.com has been a good alternative to the EvilBay for me.

[Bradtemple87]

My local retro stores definitely price off of ebay and it always gets under my skin!