Tired of people tossing around the word "Rare"

Post by **selfdestroyer** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:58 am

I have been on a mission lately, I have been to Thrift Stores and Yard Sales and ebay. It seems people just love to use the word "Rare". I just bought a Actionmax, not because is a pice of poo, because it was a system I never touched. The woman I got it from was going on and on about it and she msut have used the word rare like 15 - 20 times. Then came the fun part, I asked some simple questions, like... How does it hook up? what year did you get it? Are the games fun? She could not answer one... I said why is it so rare? She said "Honestly.. I use that word to make people think they can't find it anywhere else." So I gave her the $10 and walked.

Ebay is another story... I see everything from "Xbox 360 Rare edition" and its the arcade edition to "Rare custom painted PS2"

Any other experiences?

Post by **glynnahab** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:28 am

The other day I saw a Super Mario Bros. cartridge for NES advertised as "rare" (on eBay, of course).

Maybe words like "old" and "classic" would have been better substitutions. They were also selling it for a Buy It Now price of $9 with a $4 shipping charge.

Post by **Curlypaul** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:17 am

The word is way overuse don ebay, although strangely I never seem to see it used on an item that is actually rare and valuable

Post by **racketboy** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:07 am

I agree -- to some people its like if you can't buy it at Wal-Mart, it's rare.

Post by **Niode** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:12 am

Yeah, it's been used incorrectly for so long now that If a game is old but doesn't have RARE in the title I will actually check to see how much it's worth.

Post by **latenitevacancy** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:00 am

yeah, its overused on e-bay a lot. i've seen stuff like pilotwings, f-zero, and even duck hunt listed as "DUCK HUNT NES ORIGINAL RARE!!"

its just a really bad marketing scheme in my opinion.

Post by **claudio** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:37 am

but.......i thought the action max was rare, right?

Post by **D.D.D.** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:49 am

My Duck Hunt isn't a rare collector's item?

Post by **peace4myheart** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:22 pm

It's just a ploy to make people think the item is rare, if people are foolish enough to believe it. It's all about how much the seller can rip you off and how much you are willing to pay. Hope people do some research about the game and price before buying.

Post by **Anayo** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:23 pm

Good grief I agree! I'm halfway tempted to email these people and say something sarcastic about just how COMMON some of these "rare" items are. If it's rare, the bids will reflect that fact accordingly, this wishful thinking of labeling everything "rare" doesn't make a lick of difference.

This reminds me of another eBay anecdote of mine. I saw this guy selling a Sega Saturn and the title said, "ALSO PLAYS GENESIS GAMES!" The description said something to the effect of, "I'm including Sonic 2, since the Saturn has a cartridge slot on it for Genesis games." I emailed him and said, "Did you have any luck getting Sonic 2 to fit inside the slot?" He never emailed me back, but I'd sure like to have seen the look on his face when he tried.