Video Game "Look what I found"

[bmoc]

Just curious, how much time did you end up spending at SEGE? And did you spend it mostly checking out the vendors, or did you also check out panels and the arcades?

I bought a VIP pass and got into the con 45 minutes early at 9:15AM on Saturday. I stayed until 3PM that day and only took 1 break to sit down in the lobby where it was cooler. It was getting hot in the convention hall as the place filled up. I spent all my time with the vendors. By the time I made it over to the arcade section, there was someone on pretty much every cab and I didn't feel like waiting in line.

I didn't eat lunch because the food there was so pricey and the line was long. It was movie theater concession expensive. A fountain drink was $6! By 3PM, I was starting to wilt and need to get some food and drink.

I came back on Sunday and we were all let in at 10AM. Sadly VIPs didn't get early entry on Sunday. I did another pass on all the vendor tables which took about 2 hours. I want to say only 4 or 5 of the games that I got were on Sunday but vendors were willing to discount more. Silent Hill Downpour for example was priced at $58 and the vendor let me have it for $50 without even haggling.

[elricorico]

My luck seems to have carried on this summer, after I had basically resigned myself to the big finds having dried up. A couple weeks ago in a Goodwill I found an original XBOX, the translucent green model for $45 CAD. Unfortunately it had some video issues when I tested it, but recapping took care of that. Still well worth picking up for me.

Then just yesterday I made a quick stop between errands at a Value Village. The games section had a pretty boring selection, but I scanned the DVDs and spotted Silent Hill 3 on the shelf! I suspect that an employee was trying to set up to buy it, as it was marked at $89.99 and slipped into the DVD shelf. I had a 30% off coupon so it was still a hot find for me.

In the span of a month I've found Silent Hill 1 and 3, complete, in the wild. Any guesses when I'll find Silent Hill 2?

[pierrot]

Silent Hill 3...$89.99. I had a 30% off coupon so it was still a hot find for me.

Holy moly! For a real hot-second, I thought you mistyped "$8.99" or something. Maybe six or seven years ago I picked up a CIB Silent Hill 3 from a flee market for $35 in trades (basically Killer 7 for the PS2 and a couple other things I didn't care about). This friggin' game is up to what I sold Rule of Rose for ten years ago! (I did in fact make the mistake of also looking up completed listings for Rule of Rose on Ebay--.)

Video games, man. Congrats on the finds, anyway.

[KingSudlow]

Elricorico...great finds! Congratulations especially on the translucent green Xbox...the best looking hardware variation in my opinion. Glad you were able to get it up and running again.

[Note]

I bought a VIP pass and got into the con 45 minutes early at 9:15AM on Saturday. I stayed until 3PM that day and only took 1 break to sit down in the lobby where it was cooler. It was getting hot in the convention hall as the place filled up. I spent all my time with the vendors. By the time I made it over to the arcade section, there was someone on pretty much every cab and I didn't feel like waiting in line.

I didn't eat lunch because the food there was so pricey and the line was long. It was movie theater concession expensive. A fountain drink was $6! By 3PM, I was starting to wilt and need to get some food and drink.

I came back on Sunday and we were all let in at 10AM. Sadly VIPs didn't get early entry on Sunday. I did another pass on all the vendor tables which took about 2 hours. I want to say only 4 or 5 of the games that I got were on Sunday but vendors were willing to discount more. Silent Hill Downpour for example was priced at $58 and the vendor let me have it for $50 without even haggling.

Appreciate the details on your experience at the convention, bmoc. Good to know about some of the benefits of the VIP ticket at SEGE. It doesn't look like the convention I'm planning to attend offers something similar.

I had another question for you. Do you know if vendors were willing to do deals if paying with Venmo or a similar app? I'm curious as I plan to take public transportation and don't necessarily feel comfortable taking a lot of cash with me, but I wouldn't mind doing F&F on a payment app, if vendors are willing to.

[bmoc]

I had another question for you. Do you know if vendors were willing to do deals if paying with Venmo or a similar app? I'm curious as I plan to take public transportation and don't necessarily feel comfortable taking a lot of cash with me, but I wouldn't mind doing F&F on a payment app, if vendors are willing to.

I'm not sure about that. I suppose some vendors might be willing to. I mostly saw people paying cash. A few vendors ONLY took cash.

[Note]

Good to know that might not be a viable option. Appreciate all the info, bmoc!

[Markies]

So, I don't know about SEGE in particular, but I have been to several retro gaming conventions in my area and beyond.

I would say it mostly depends on the time of the day. The first few hours, they more than likely won't budge because they know they have a litany of people coming to their table. It's important for the vendors to sell as much as possible at these conventions because that is where they make their most money. It's a simple and easy transaction.

So, as the day goes by, they are more than likely to make deals. If you hit the vendor hall like an hour before they close, you can get some real good deals. They don't want to lug all that stuff home and unpack it again, so any time you can make their load lighter, they would appreciate it. I'm not saying they are giving it away for free, but there is more wiggle room.

Also, any time at the convention, it doesn't hurt to scrape off a few bucks. See, a game you want for like $17, offer $15. Makes it easier for both of you instead of dealing with singles. On that note, I have only dealt with cash, so I don't know about the Cash Apps. But, I would agree some vendors are only accepting of Cash, so I would say it is the easiest. If you are looking to buy a more expensive game, something costing several hundred, then the Apps are probably safer.

[marurun]

Also, any time at the convention, it doesn't hurt to scrape off a few bucks. See, a game you want for like $17, offer $15. Makes it easier for both of you instead of dealing with singles. On that note, I have only dealt with cash, so I don't know about the Cash Apps. But, I would agree some vendors are only accepting of Cash, so I would say it is the easiest. If you are looking to buy a more expensive game, something costing several hundred, then the Apps are probably safer.

Most of those cash apps, if you send the money as a purchase instead of a friend/family transaction, the seller loses a cut to fees. So if you're wanting to use a cash app to pay for something, you're already basically asking them to discount it for you because even though you pay the same amount, they receive less money. So cash is going to be the best way to get a good deal. It MIGHT be worth taking your check book. Many bank apps support taking a picture of a check and doing electronic deposit, and usually there's no fees on either side of the transaction. There's risk, of course. Check fraud is absolutely a thing. But electronic payments also have risks. That's why cash is king.

The moral of the story is: if you want faster sales and better deals, carry cash.

[emwearz]

Kerbside Collection!

On Facebook I am part of my local community page, mostly used to post "my bike was stolen" or "what's the best shop for x" style posts. Someone posted that they had put out some hard rubbish, they said there was a some DVD's and a few games. The post was over an hour old so I figured I would be too late, but it was like 5 minute walk from my house, so I went and took a look and walked away with these!



Very happy!

The top two rows will slot into my collection, the others I have taken some manuals or upgraded cases if they were better than what I owned. I am starting to rack up a collection of double / games I am not interested in as I have never really sold or traded much.