Retro hunting at yard sales - is it dying?

[brandman]

I don't remember the last time I found any sort of video game at all in a yard sale. I've been looking diligently, too; this must just be a total dead zone for this sort of thing.

Same here.

I was going to agree to this but then a yard sale sprung up literally across the street and I picked up a handful of things. Nothing terribly rare or expensive but some stuff I wanted so it was nice.

Lucky SOAB.

[Konacha]

I think one main reason is because the systems are just getting older. Think about it for a moment, kids who are teenagers or are in college grew up with the PS1 & PS2 games. Not many normal people keep their old games so they sell them at yard sales or Gamestop to get a quick buck for a newer games. When the kids go off to college the parents will sell their older games. Of course, there are exceptions I'm just using a general rule.

Unless the parents have an older video game system and games that they kept around, I find it highly unlikely we will see older games at yard sales anytime soon. Most 80s kids are now in their late 20s to early 30s and sometimes they sold them a long time ago. That's at least how I see it as I've noticed that yard sales tend to have PS1 and up games. Only once within the past couple of months have I seen a game before that point (which was a sports title for the Sega Genesis)

[brandman]

I actually didn't think about that Konacha, great point.

[Retrogamer0001]

I think one main reason is because the systems are just getting older. Think about it for a moment, kids who are teenagers or are in college grew up with the PS1 & PS2 games. Not many normal people keep their old games so they sell them at yard sales or Gamestop to get a quick buck for a newer games. When the kids go off to college the parents will sell their older games. Of course, there are exceptions I'm just using a general rule.

Unless the parents have an older video game system and games that they kept around, I find it highly unlikely we will see older games at yard sales anytime soon. Most 80s kids are now in their late 20s to early 30s and sometimes they sold them a long time ago. That's at least how I see it as I've noticed that yard sales tend to have PS1 and up games. Only once within the past couple of months have I seen a game before that point (which was a sports title for the Sega Genesis)

Very true - I'm 28 and went through multiple rounds of selling off my NES, SNES, PS1, and N64 games growing up (as well as throwing out many boxes and manuals for absolutely no reason) and have had to quest around to re-aquire them all again, and not cheaply in many cases.

[GirlGamer55]

I think one main reason is because the systems are just getting older. Think about it for a moment, kids who are teenagers or are in college grew up with the PS1 & PS2 games. Not many normal people keep their old games so they sell them at yard sales or Gamestop to get a quick buck for a newer games. When the kids go off to college the parents will sell their older games. Of course, there are exceptions I'm just using a general rule.

Unless the parents have an older video game system and games that they kept around, I find it highly unlikely we will see older games at yard sales anytime soon. Most 80s kids are now in their late 20s to early 30s and sometimes they sold them a long time ago. That's at least how I see it as I've noticed that yard sales tend to have PS1 and up games. Only once within the past couple of months have I seen a game before that point (which was a sports title for the Sega Genesis)

Very true - I'm 28 and went through multiple rounds of selling off my NES, SNES, PS1, and N64 games growing up (as well as throwing out many boxes and manuals for absolutely no reason) and have had to quest around to re-aquire them all again, and not cheaply in many cases.

Dat necro bump!

Well in case I didn't post it in this thread before which may or may not be likely...Seattle is a black hole for retro games or just good games in general. Oh you'll find the good retro stuff...at pawn shops and video game stores. Thrift stores...maybe if your very lucky and then it's only sports games or junk games no one wants.

I mean right now it's Winter and a dead zone for yard sales so it's no wonder I haven't found anything in forever. But even during the Summer/early Fall (which is Seattle's yard sale "season") you'll be out of luck unless you love shittastic Xbox games, and shovelware/kids/family games for the Wii and DS. I mean some yard sales will have retro games...hell maybe a system or two as well, but I'm going up against a few hard core collectors around here. They'll beat me to the games and systems 9 times out of 10.

I've pretty much given up hope for ever having a good collection unless I bite the bullet and spend way to much on games off of ebay or buying from local video game stores.

[Retrogamer0001]

Threads are never dead, they're simply abandoned

[prfsnl_gmr]

Threads are never dead, they're simply abandoned

Which, in a way, is even sadder...

On topic, two of my very best finds last year were at yard sales less than one mile from my home. Accordingly, I am firmly of the belief that retro hunting at yard sales is not dead or dying.

[Gunstar Green]

I find most yard sales these days to be PlayStation and N64 stuff or GameCube/PS2/XBox/GBA stuff. I'm not a big collector of any of those except maybe GBA so it doesn't help me much but I can find them pretty regularly.

[Blu]

I find most yard sales these days to be PlayStation and N64 stuff or GameCube/PS2/XBox/GBA stuff. I'm not a big collector of any of those except maybe GBA so it doesn't help me much but I can find them pretty regularly.

Snag those deals and spread them around the community, Gunstar Green.

[bacteria]

I have been going to the same 3 large car boot sales in the UK for a few years now; in the last 2 years the only games I tend to see are PS1, PS2, Xbox, Wii, GameCube, Xbox360; the older systems you only see with trade sellers who charge a lot more than normal car boot sellers. It is rare to see the consoles either for the retro systems; 2012 and before, it was common. Fortunately I got a number of titles in time, and the rest of course you get on ebay now.