42 replies to this topic

[AtariLeaf]

A woman advertised a group of 20+ Atari games for $20 on Kijiji a couple of years ago that included a Gas Hog and a Vulture Attack. I paid exactly what she asked and I don't feel one damn bit bad about it either.

These kind of finds are what keeps the hobby of collecting interesting and fun. I don't see any moral issues here.

[bennybingo]

RedTank, on Sun May 15, 2011 1:31 PM, said:

I guess that's why I'm more of a player than a collector; this aspect of the hobby, the idea that duping someone is something to be celebrated, makes me uncomfortable.

duping
present participle of dupe
Verb: Deceive; trick.


Who exactly got tricked?  

My thought is that a seller should either research the value of items they are selling or be happy with accepting what they decide is acceptable to them. It takes maybe 60 seconds to google search Rescue Terra I. Here is what you get:

R9 - extremely rare (AA rarity guide)
R8 - extremely rare - Auction Value $100 (atariguide.com)

This information is all on the first page of a Google search, without even scrolling down! I feel as though the seller wanted $45 and received it...promptly. If the guy haggled with the seller (knowing it was already a good deal) it might be a bit over the top for me, but still, well within a buyer's rights.

If you want to buy classic video games, and pay at or above the "fair market value", be my guest!  I'm not sure why you would ever tell someone to increase their price though...would you go to a car dealership to make a purchase and ask to pay more just because the book value is higher than the sale price?  Confusing logic sir...to say the least!

[Rom Hunter]

RedTank, on Sun May 15, 2011 1:31 PM, said:

atari181, on Sun May 15, 2011 1:08 PM, said:

Not sure why anyone would say it was ripping someone off? If you saw a car for 5k that was worth 10k and you bouhgt it, did you rip someone off???? I am pretty sure the seller agreed to sell for that price and Mr Gamegavel paid him. Maybe I am wrong and he beat the shit out of him and left him with $45, but I doubt it.

Taking advantage of an uneducated seller and posting a 10-minute video about it? More power to him if that's the way he wants to collect, but it feels a bit unethical to me. Thankfully it doesn't appear to be all that valuable in the grand scheme of things.

I guess that's why I'm more of a player than a collector; this aspect of the hobby, the idea that duping someone is something to be celebrated, makes me uncomfortable.

C'mon.

That's the thrill of collecting.

Spotting a glimpse of treasure, driving to the place in excitement and finding out you've hit the jackpot before someone else did.

That's what colllecting is all about.

It's treasure hunting.

Great fun!

Again: congratulations on your find.

Now go seek Go Go Home Monster (I still hope to discover that one in the wild one day).

[Red 5]

RedTank, on Sun May 15, 2011 1:03 PM, said:

Uh, congrats for ripping someone off I guess? Hope they don't check YouTube.

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[Parrothead]

Ya, he asked $45 and that is what I gave him.  I couldn't in good faith offer him less.  I do see both sides of this though, but feel it is the thrill of the hunt and paying someones asking price for something is not out of line.  Now if this were a multi thousand dollar title I could maybe see the other side of the argument but all in all this is not that expensive of a title compared to what alot of you guys pay for the really rare stuff.  I was just excited to finally come across a game I've always wanted but never wanted to pony up over $100 for.

bennybingo, on Sun May 15, 2011 2:42 PM, said:

RedTank, on Sun May 15, 2011 1:31 PM, said:

I guess that's why I'm more of a player than a collector; this aspect of the hobby, the idea that duping someone is something to be celebrated, makes me uncomfortable.

duping
present participle of dupe
Verb: Deceive; trick.


Who exactly got tricked?  

My thought is that a seller should either research the value of items they are selling or be happy with accepting what they decide is acceptable to them. It takes maybe 60 seconds to google search Rescue Terra I. Here is what you get:

R9 - extremely rare (AA rarity guide)
R8 - extremely rare - Auction Value $100 (atariguide.com)

This information is all on the first page of a Google search, without even scrolling down! I feel as though the seller wanted $45 and received it...promptly. If the guy haggled with the seller (knowing it was already a good deal) it might be a bit over the top for me, but still, well within a buyer's rights.

If you want to buy classic video games, and pay at or above the "fair market value", be my guest!  I'm not sure why you would ever tell someone to increase their price though...would you go to a car dealership to make a purchase and ask to pay more just because the book value is higher than the sale price?  Confusing logic sir...to say the least!

[98PaceCar]

Nice find! If you are willing to part it out, I need the manual to complete my boxed copy.

Side question (and I mean no disrespect, I really don't understand this), what is the draw to people posting videos of stuff like this? A pic conveys the same information in a very short amount of time. In fact, I'd argue that most pics are of better quality than most vids by the time youtube gets a hold of them. Maybe I'm just getting grumpy as I get older, but this is one fad I just don't get. <shrug>

But still, great find!

[Parrothead]

98PaceCar, on Sun May 15, 2011 2:58 PM, said:

Nice find! If you are willing to part it out, I need the manual to complete my boxed copy.

Side question (and I mean no disrespect, I really don't understand this), what is the draw to people posting videos of stuff like this? A pic conveys the same information in a very short amount of time. In fact, I'd argue that most pics are of better quality than most vids by the time youtube gets a hold of them. Maybe I'm just getting grumpy as I get older, but this is one fad I just don't get. <shrug>

But still, great find!

This video just plays along nicely with my other Big Game Hunter Swap Meet videos.  Personally, I enjoy similar type videos myself.  To each his own

[Schizophretard]

Great find!

[orangest]

Didn't mean to cause a fuss; just figured it was already up there in the L.A. Craigslist listings anyway. Sorry (and congrats again) Parrothead.

[Krytol]

I appreciate your videos, because this how I collect. In the wild.

It's all about the hunt.

[Cynicaster]

Geeze, you can’t go anywhere on the internet without bumping into sanctimonious moral high-grounders of one shape or another.

It’s a freaking Atari game, and we’re talking about a less-than-exorbitant sum of $45.  Some might argue that no 30-year-old piece of crusty black plastic should have any business selling for more than a few cents; it’s strictly in the eye of the beholder.  If the seller decided to part with the game for what it was worth to him rather than doing his homework and figuring out what he *could* have got for it with a little patience, well, that’s his loss.  

My grandmother used to have these bulky, tacky looking ceramic mugs with big smiling faces on them.  I think my grandfather got them somewhere in the UK decades ago—I can’t remember what they were called.  For years, they sat on this shelf in my grandma’s living room.  My grandfather had since passed away, so if he knew anything about these mugs, he wasn’t around to say so.  One day, my grandma had some service/repair guys over to do some work at her house and they saw these mugs.  They offered my grandma $5 each for them, and my grandmother happily accepted the offer thinking that they were only helping her to clear out junk that she should have donated to a garage sale ages ago.  Well, she learned later that these mugs—for whatever reason—are considered highly collectible, and could have sold for a heaping pile of cash.  I don't think this story is in any way equivalent to the deal described in this thread, but it's just another example of what happens when you don’t pay due attention to what you have.

[Crazy Climber]

$45 is good but not crazy cheap or anything. I sold one for $75 a few years ago and I have a good idea of what games are worth..

[AtariLeaf]

Crazy Climber, on Tue May 17, 2011 10:41 AM, said:

$45 is good but not crazy cheap or anything. I sold one for $75 a few years ago and I have a good idea of what games are worth..

No but considering all the other games plus the system he got with it makes it an excellent deal. Without the Rescue Terra 1 it was a good price for an Atari with that many games.

[atari181]

Anyone who thinks the seller got "ripped off' if just fkn ridiculous. I go to Garage sales all summer, I am sure many of you guys do as well. When I find an item, Game related or not, I do not inform the seller of its value prior to buying it. I really don't think anyone would. It is Part of the allure of collecting anything, finding something in the "Wild" is the ultimate rush and anyone who sees it as ripping someone off, is just a fool.

[Random Terrain]

atari181, on Tue May 17, 2011 3:41 PM, said:

Anyone who thinks the seller got "ripped off' if just fkn ridiculous. I go to Garage sales all summer, I am sure many of you guys do as well. When I find an item, Game related or not, I do not inform the seller of its value prior to buying it. I really don't think anyone would. It is Part of the allure of collecting anything, finding something in the "Wild" is the ultimate rush and anyone who sees it as ripping someone off, is just a fool.

It's knowledge vs. ignorance. Diligence vs. laziness. People with knowledge about the true value of things buy them from people who don't have a clue. That's how it's always been and it's getting harder to do thanks to the Internet. Now ignorant people can take a few seconds to look up the value of anything before selling it, but the good news is that most ignorant people are too lazy to look up the price of anything.

If you take the time to teach yourself the prices of rare items, is it your responsibility to educate the lazy, ignorant, unwashed masses or do you use your knowledge to make a profit? I don't know what it's like in other countries, but in the USA, you buy low and sell high. The more ignorant the other person is, the more profit you can make. Thank god for lazy, ignorant people or no one would ever get rich.

To alleviate any guilt, you could ask sellers if they have access to a computer with an internet connection. If they say yes, then you have nothing to feel guilty about. They could have looked up the price and gained the same bit of knowledge that you have, but they were too lazy. Ever hear the saying "f*ck 'em if they can't take a joke"? Well, buyers should adopt the saying "f*ck 'em if they won't look sh*t up."

[Fr0st]

I recently picked up a bunch of Master System games for 50 cents each, one of them being Power Strike II PAL. I stuck it up on eBay and sold it for €62. This €62 helped me buy four 2600 games I didn't have from a member here, a new Homebrew from this site, and a copy of Miner 2049er off eBay that I've been wanting to get for a long time.

Isn't this how it all works? It's not like you get something like this every week! Once a year would be more like it for me. And when I do, the cash is put straight back into games I'd prefer to own.

Unless there are Bills piling up, which happens too..

[jhd]

Random Terrain, on Tue May 17, 2011 6:16 PM, said:

It's knowledge vs. ignorance. Diligence vs. laziness. People with knowledge about the true value of things buy them from people who don't have a clue. That's how it's always been and it's getting harder to do thanks to the Internet. Now ignorant people can take a few seconds to look up the value of anything before selling it, but the good news is that most ignorant people are too lazy to look up the price of anything.

Well said!

Not video game related, but a major hobby for me is collecing books. I recently picked-up a scarce title for all of $1. While I plan to keep it for my collection, I could easily resell it for $25 (or possibly more). This same vendor also had other books priced significantly above their market value.

The vendor did not care to take the time to evaluate their merchandise and price it accordingly (or they just have no sense of the market for rare books). Either way, it is certainly not my job to set prices for them.

[bennybingo]

One man's junk is another man's treasure.

Enough said.