toiletunes Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 There's a new game store in the neighboring town- the old store is long gone. The old store had a few 2600 carts- Pac Man etc- for $10 apiece. When I asked the owner if there was something special about the carts, she said "uh, they're vintage?" Anyhow, the new store looked like they might have a clue, so I went inside. I asked the guy behind the counter if they had any 2600, and he calls the owner at home. The owner shows up 15 minutes later with a bag of carts. Apparently there's a bunch more but he couldn't get to them quickly. I go through the bag- mostly commons, and they're very dusty/dirty around the opening. I ask prices, and "most are $1," so I pick out Super Football. The owner goes to the computer to check prices (bad sign). He comes back and says: This game sold on Ebay for $4 with $4 shipping, I can give it to you for $6. I wanted to say, "Okay, if you want to charge me for shipping, here's my address." I wanted to say "There's one on Ebay that didn't sell for $1.99 with $1.99 shipping, so how about I not pay you $2.98" I wanted to say "I'll just go to Atariage, thanks." I was too busy trying not to laugh as I ran for the door. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HatefulGravey Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 The local store here has both problems actually. They are a "classic gaming store" so long as you define that by selling NES games and having something stuck up your ass. I can't tell you how many times I have had to just call them out on their pricing and knowledge of these things in general. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that most of those stores are there to rip off the guy that thinks he might enjoy playing something from his past. They certainly aren't there to support and build a community of classic gamers. I'm not asking you to give away your product, as a matter of fact I expect to pay a little more for the item in a place like that because I can hold it before I buy it, take it home now, and return it if it doesn't work properly, but $30 for Contra, no thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybingo Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Lack of knowledge + storefront overhead = a terrible combo. Even with the knowledge, the overhead can be a killer. I'm glad I have digital press 10 minutes from my house. Joe's prices are pretty darned fair, even with his overhead factored in. I consider myself lucky to have a really good classic gaming store right in my neighborhood. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 "This game sold on Ebay for $4 with $4 shipping, I can give it to you for $6." I wanted to say, "Okay, if you want to charge me for shipping, here's my address." I wanted to say "There's one on Ebay that didn't sell for $1.99 with $1.99 shipping, so how about I not pay you $2.98" I wanted to say "I'll just go to Atariage, thanks." I was too busy trying not to laugh as I ran for the door. All very good choices. I'd like to think I'd have gone with "Uh there's plenty that didn't sell for $8 shipped on ebay so go **** yourself." 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jferio Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I only frequent the gaming stores actually run by people in the hobby. You can usually tell the ones that it's not around here... they have a nasty combination of price, and carrying things other than DVDs, which tends to be various toys, both new and vintage. We had one in one of the malls here a while back that it was incredibly obvious. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 There's a store near my house that sells "retro" carts: .25/ea. and boxed games for $1. I go in there all the time and snag up what I can. Doesn't matter if it's Combat or Miner 2049'er. 25 cents each. I grabbed some 7800 titles the last time I went in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 There's a store near my house that sells "retro" carts: .25/ea. and boxed games for $1. I go in there all the time and snag up what I can. Doesn't matter if it's Combat or Miner 2049'er. 25 cents each. I grabbed some 7800 titles the last time I went in. Nice! My local place is okay, but their minimum prices BLOW GOATS. $9 minimum NES, Genesis is minimum $9 bare/$12 boxed, and $5 minimum VCS. They're definitely not just in it for profit alone, as they have a ton of classic gaming events all year round, but those prices.... Miner 2049er is either $60 or $99, I can't recall which. Montezuma's Revenge is the other price. I tend to just buy hardware there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 You should've shoved the cart in his ass and then sent him a Paypal invoice for the services 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jferio Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Right now, local prices at the good stores for Atari carts are anywhere from $1-5, although the higher prices tend to actually be boxed. Sometimes the thrift stores will match (my last boxed scores were $3 each at a thrift), but sometimes a clueless thrift worker will put them at $6-7 each, loose. I haven't actually paid more than $3 for an Atari cart for years... but I've also tailed off considerably, since I've put a "cap" on my collection as it stands. NES, Genesis and SNES games tend to bottom out at $5 at my local favorite store. Many of the games at that price point don't tickle my fancy, though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylark68 Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 There is a store not too far from my house in an old shopping center. He has a pretty cool setup with a game room next to the store (6 or 7 TVs with different systems hooked up to them). He hosts birthday parties and other types of get togethers. Most of the Atari games can be found in a bin and the games were right around $1 a piece if I remember correctly. He has some more uncommon games that are marked with prices, but I've found plenty of good games in the bin that weren't Pac Man or Asteroids. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtshark7 Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 The place near my house Next Level Videogames has a great stock of classic games and consoles...they also host south jersey classic every 1st Saturday of the month; which includes tournaments and game trading with other gamer's. I think more classic video game stores like NLV should emerge tho. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 There's a store near my house that sells "retro" carts: .25/ea. and boxed games for $1. I go in there all the time and snag up what I can. Doesn't matter if it's Combat or Miner 2049'er. 25 cents each. I grabbed some 7800 titles the last time I went in. Nice! My local place is okay, but their minimum prices BLOW GOATS. $9 minimum NES, Genesis is minimum $9 bare/$12 boxed, and $5 minimum VCS. They're definitely not just in it for profit alone, as they have a ton of classic gaming events all year round, but those prices.... Miner 2049er is either $60 or $99, I can't recall which. Montezuma's Revenge is the other price. I tend to just buy hardware there. Game Over Video Games? They seemed really cool when I was visiting Austin this year, prices weren't horrible. Maybe they've jacked up prices a bit? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Leach Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Any video game store that has to cvheck online for a price is not worth my time. I went to a local store 1 1/2 hours from my home cause they just opened.... WELL...I look over the goods..I pick some stuff....like 20 games...the dude who si the owner takes an hour to look up prices...then I have to haggle every price..then I gotta explain to my wife who staye din the car reading her kindle why the jerk off took so long.. Price your shit if you own a store...Prices dont change daily.... Dont use the net to price yer stuff unless you got something rare..in that case, you will prob have to consult some peeps that own the rare stuff and not fetch a price from ebay! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 There's a store near my house that sells "retro" carts: .25/ea. and boxed games for $1. I go in there all the time and snag up what I can. Doesn't matter if it's Combat or Miner 2049'er. 25 cents each. I grabbed some 7800 titles the last time I went in. Nice! My local place is okay, but their minimum prices BLOW GOATS. $9 minimum NES, Genesis is minimum $9 bare/$12 boxed, and $5 minimum VCS. They're definitely not just in it for profit alone, as they have a ton of classic gaming events all year round, but those prices.... Miner 2049er is either $60 or $99, I can't recall which. Montezuma's Revenge is the other price. I tend to just buy hardware there. Game Over Video Games? They seemed really cool when I was visiting Austin this year, prices weren't horrible. Maybe they've jacked up prices a bit? That's them. They are cool, but their prices for cartridges stink. If you're ever in the area again, ask 'em how much some of those R4 VCS carts in the case cost. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 That's them. They are cool, but their prices for cartridges stink. If you're ever in the area again, ask 'em how much some of those R4 VCS carts in the case cost. LOL! That might be why, then! I never really looked at prices on the carts in the case at all. Their SMS prices were pretty reasonable and I bought a couple rarer CIB releases for I think $10-ish, which was not horrible at all. The hardware prices were pretty dang good though, I have to admit! I think I went home with a couple additional joysticks and some SMS pads for $3-$4 each, which was reasonable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) Yeah, if they get anything that looks slightly desirable, they lock it in a case & slap a $30+ price tag on it. No clue how you got SMS pads for $4 either; they're like $15 normally. Edited August 18, 2011 by Rex Dart 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raskar42 Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) Any video game store that has to check online for a price is not worth my time..... Price your shit if you own a store...Prices dont change daily.... This. no other stores would get away with this kind of behavior - it's disrespectful and ridiculous. if you don't like animals, you shouldn't own a pet store and if you don't know games don't try to run a game store. edit: thats imho for all you game store owners out there... Edited August 18, 2011 by raskar42 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 No clue how you got SMS pads for $4 either; they're like $15 normally. Must have gotten lucky or something, or maybe the cashier and I both read the price tag wrong, as they were $3.99. Maybe they were mispriced and meant to be $13.99. Don't know, but I jumped on it when I saw it. Got an Epyx 500J for $3.99 as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Leach Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 This is of the same topic, but not about a video game store! My older brother and I went into Joann Fabric for a replacement zipper for his daughters winter coat last winter. We live in Michigan. If you are a craft store you should fuckin carry zippers. Its cold in Michigan etc... The clerk said they do not sell zippers, but if you go on line you can buy them cheap..... Why do you own a store front if you are just gonna go on line for anything. Maybe in a video game store you price yer stuff using the net, but you do it behind closed doors...and you ahve shop on line or somehting as well..... Trade n games does the store front/ online store Amazing, but to me going to a used game store is about the experience. and if I get the internet experience, I tell them where to stick it! Then I call them up a week or so later and I tell them where to stick it...and I dont go back to their store..... By online...its saves time and makes yer day better.! There are so many great people here in the marketplace to buy from..save yer time goin to those other wanna bees unless they know the business 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Any video game store that has to cvheck online for a price is not worth my time. I went to one of the monthly "Computers For Kids" yardsales that they have here and snagged a boxed TI/99 with some non-game boxed carts and when I asked I got the old "I'll have to check ebay before I can give you a price" Luckily even boxed TI's don't sell for much so I got it for $10. As an aside, I'm glad I didn't pay more than that as it was dead anyway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1500 Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Any video game store that has to cvheck online for a price is not worth my time. I went to a local store 1 1/2 hours from my home cause they just opened.... WELL...I look over the goods..I pick some stuff....like 20 games...the dude who si the owner takes an hour to look up prices...then I have to haggle every price..then I gotta explain to my wife who staye din the car reading her kindle why the jerk off took so long.. Price your shit if you own a store...Prices dont change daily.... Dont use the net to price yer stuff unless you got something rare..in that case, you will prob have to consult some peeps that own the rare stuff and not fetch a price from ebay! Really? I think that would have been just the right time to raise a stink if he/she/it was checking ebay for EVERY single dang item. Did the store owner not have any prices up front? I mean, if they want to change the prices up or down each time they open the store, they'll have to get up way early. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philflound Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 I run across people all the time, usually at a flea market or thrift store that charge really high prices on things that aren't worth it. Anytime someone gives me the Ebay comment, I tell them to then go sell it on Ebay. The fees now are impossible between the store cost, the listing fee, the sale fee, and the shipping price fee. Ebay is taking 20% of my sale easily. It's outrageous. Anyway, if you have extras of the stuff you see people pricing really high, then offer them to the seller. If they ask $10 for Pacman, tell them you'll gladly sell them copies for $3 each. They'll have a 300%+ markup then. Phil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariTexas Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 The Game Over Video Games store here in San Antonio is a little high here too, but sometimes they have decent deals. They do hold a lot of tournaments and show movies during the summer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonoidTentacle Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 i've considered doing a heap of phoney eBay auction with NES carts of Super Mario Bros selling at $400 a piece, just to stuff with the resellers minds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philflound Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 i've considered doing a heap of phoney eBay auction with NES carts of Super Mario Bros selling at $400 a piece, just to stuff with the resellers minds. I guess if you don't have much to sell, you can use your "free" listings to have some fun. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.