Ways To Find Old Games Hidden Around Town?

[superyoda41]

Here are some of my ideas. I'm in the Baltimore-Washington Metro area.

3 years ago the thrift stores around here were gold mines. I literally probably found every SNES general release title at one point or the other back then. The prices were always reasonable (SNES +20 games would run 50 bucks. Keep what I want and flip the rest to pay for it).

Not the case so much anymore.

They have gotten smarter because of shows like Storage Wars and all that other garbage. About a month ago I came across a SNES bundled with some decent titles (DKC, Mario World 2, Mario Kart etc.).

What was the price?

$170.00--I literally had to take a double take.

The worse part is that someone paid that because it was gone in two days.

I have found that thrift stores are not the boom towns for this stuff that they once were. Your likely to find plenty of PS2 Sports titles and they probably will cost 7 bucks.

Your best bet is yard sales. As much as smart phones has enabled every single person the ability to easily look up values (and these people are part two of the thrift store problem-they know nothing about the games, they just saw some Auction Hunters episode and know they might be worth some money), if you are at a yard sale, you are generally dealing with a mom/dad who wants to get rid of junior's stuff.

I think you are likely going to find a lot of GBA/Gamecube/PS2-era stuff right now, but all for fair prices. This past weekend I picked up Tales of Symphonia, Mario Kart Double Dash, Mario Super Sluggers and Pokemon Colosseum for $14.00. I passed on Mario Party 4 and 7 for an additional $5.00.

It is logical that you are going to find that era because the kids that were 8 or 9 in 2003-4 are college sophomores now and their parents just want to dump the stuff.

(remember, stuff ends up at thrift stores, how? It is donated. Who donated it? these same parents trying to make money on it at a yard sale. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen video game stuff that someone attempted to sell at a yard sale for $1.00 end up at a thrift store for $5.00)

It also helps to get away from major metro areas. Go two hours into the sticks and you will start to find better deals.

When I come back from the beach, I always stop at a few junk/antique shops. Last summer I found a R.O.B. for $6.00 and. Just the robot, but it works and it was still a deal. I also picked up two boxes of N64 stuff with tons of titles (Smash Bros/Kart/Party) for $30.00.

Two summer ago I found a case of Smash TV for the NES all unopened.

Total=$22.00

Not the same as finding a case of Zelda, but still a good deal.

That's my two cents on the matter.

Good Luck.

[AppleQueso]

^Fantastic post. There's definitely a lot more competition out there nowadays, and my own experiences with thrift stores (especially how they used to be a gold mine) reflects yours.

[Menegrothx]

I got a NES w/43 games at auction for $40.

[BurningDoom]

My local Goodwill (as in the actual chain of stores named "Goodwill") has games for dirt cheap. Sometimes they don't have much, other times we get spurts of a lot of great games. But they're always cheap:

-DVD sized-case games (PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, Wii) - $5.99
-CD sized-case games (PS1, Dreamcast, PC) - $3.99
-Cartridge games - $3

So, if I were you, I'd scope those stores out. I've built up my PS1 collection, specifically, A LOT in the last year thanks to Goodwill.

[Balasubbie]

Granted, I ain't in the US, but the only luck I've ever scored is scowering thrift/charity shops or markets in bumblefuck towns.

I'm not disputing how raggedy the retro-game trade is getting these days, but outside of Japan, every non-US collector I've met considers the States to be 'the' place for thrifts, bargains and all-round hootenannies.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Granted, I ain't in the US, but the only luck I've ever scored is scowering thrift/charity shops or markets in bumblefuck towns.

I'm not disputing how raggedy the retro-game trade is getting these days, but outside of Japan, every non-US collector I've met considers the States to be 'the' place for thrifts, bargains and all-round hootenannies.

I cannot vouch for the first two, but I can confirm that the U.S.A. simply can't be beat when it comes to good, ol' fashioned, all-round hootenannies.

[foxhound1022]

I got a NES w/43 games at auction for $40.

Granted, this was about 4 years ago, but even now, most auction goers in my area are looking for antiques, furniture, jewelry, or tools, so I can still fly in under the radar on game stuff most times.

[Balasubbie]

Granted, I ain't in the US, but the only luck I've ever scored is scowering thrift/charity shops or markets in bumblefuck towns.

I'm not disputing how raggedy the retro-game trade is getting these days, but outside of Japan, every non-US collector I've met considers the States to be 'the' place for thrifts, bargains and all-round hootenannies.

I cannot vouch for the first two, but I can confirm that the U.S.A. simply can't be beat when it comes to good, ol' fashioned, all-round hootenannies.

Ho-downs, on the other hand.....

[Damm64]

I wish i live in USA, there are so many places to buy retro stuff there... here we have 1 site of sales and since the last year the prices have been going really really really high. A few days ago i made a call for some gamecube games she said "I check them on amazon and i want 600$" i was like uhmmm i call you back other time. I think in a couple of years the nostalgia of people around here will go off and the prices will go down again. In the meantime i was SERIOUSLY thinking about putting a bunch of "wanted" sign all over my college with retro consoles pictures on them to see if i get a good deal

[Jrecee]

I was at a thrift store today, looking through their little game shelf. Just a bunch of crappy PS1 games.

Then I went back into the sports equipment section and found a stack of sega genesis sports games in a bucket of baseballs. You just never know what goes through the mind of a non-gamer when stocking these items. Granted it wasn't stadium events in there, but still shows that you can find games anywhere. A friend hooked a Vectrex from a guy who "had an old atari" in his closet.