Sudden price jump in atari items

[Polybius]

I have noticed lately (within the last year and a half) that the prices of atari games have surged. I used to be able to pick up boxes full of them (40 and 50 at a time), for about 35-50 dollars on craigslist, and the consoles were about $25. Now, they are $85-$200! I cant hardly find a console for under $75 , and thats without games! Its just as bad in the game and resale shops i go to, in one, the console was $100, and the games were $15 a piece. Why is this?

[Rex Dart]

Umm... collectors.

[Mirage]

Where's Homer? lol

 

I think it depends on specifically what you're referring to. Commons have gotten anything but more expensive whether CIB or loose. Can barely give them away. I've been seeing the same items sit on CL month after month with no takers (they are reposting, not just old undeleted ads) for common items at low prices. Also, are you referring to "asking" prices or "selling" prices? Because I certainly think "asking" prices have gone way up, but not necessarily "selling" prices in many cases.

[Keatah]

True enough! The high asking prices are not necessarily moving stuff.. Same thing with Apple II expansion cards, there are common cards listed for $400 bucks that should be properly priced at 29.95 tops. It is good that my collection can be worth tens of thousands of dollars, yet, at the same time it kills the hobby pretty damned good. What's one to do?

 

If stuff doesn't move at these higher prices, is it likely that sellers will just give up and trash the stuff? OR would they lower prices to make a sale? If they go low enough, it won't be worth the trouble to sell stuff in the first place.

 

But the way I see it (and this applies to Atari items and non-Atari items alike) is that the stuff is going to become rare enough that the higher asking prices will be met. It will just be by folks of different demographics than the current gaming aficionado.

Edited December 23, 2011 by Keatah

[atari_envy]

The high asking prices are not necessarily moving stuff..

 

I think the trend has to do with eBay sellers setting a lot of Atari items with high BIN prices instead of letting people bid on them. Craiglisters are just looking at eBay and pricing accordingly even if items are not moving at these prices. I agree with Polybius, this has been going on the past year and half. It will be interesting to see if the prices stay higher like gas prices.

[maiki]

Don't like the price? Dont' buy it. As easy as that. And it works.

[+Random Terrain]

Atari Dude #1: "I agree that we need to increase interest in the Atari 2600, but we don't need to make a new Atari 2600 clone that will sell for less than 100 dollars when there are millions of cheap Atari 2600s out there."

 

Atari Dude #2: "But prices for original Atari 2600s are 75 dollars or more and climbing."

 

Atari Dude #3: "Don't like the price, go kill yourself with a rusty spoon while I watch with my pants down!"

 

Atari Dude #1: "We're trying to increase the number of Atari 2600 users, not limit the number to a few rich guys. OK, I'm convinced. I'm going to make an Atari 2600 clone that will use cartridges and I'll sell it for around 50 dollars. And unlike a certain toy that people like to hack, this new console will be able to handle illegal opcodes and will be able play any game a classic Atari 2600 will, from Pitfall II: Lost Caverns to any DPC+ homebrew or batari Basic game."

 

Atari Dude #2: "I think that's great, but won't you end up losing money?"

 

Atari Dude #1: "I'm sure I'll lose money during the first year, but I may end up making money as time rolls along. I'm not what you would consider rich, but I'm far from poor, so I could bleed money for a decade and not have to worry about feeding my family or losing the way of life I am accustomed to."

 

Atari Dude #2: "Put me on the list. I'll buy at least 5 of them."

 

Atari Dude #3: "It will never work! Give up, foolish mortals!"

 

Atari Dude #2: "You're Satan, aren't you?"

 

Atari Dude #1: "If the Devil is against it, I must be doing holy work. Begone foul creature!"

 

Atari Dude #3: "You've won this round, but I'll be back! I always come back!"

[kid0017]

You can get a Vader for less than the cost of two packs of smokes.

[AtariLeaf]

The local gamestore prices their Atari systems in the $69 range for juniors to the $89 range for Vaders and 4 switchers. I haven't seen any sold in the last couple of years. They're always there collecting dust. There may be some sold on Kijiji but the last one I saw sold for $125 but came with 90 common (except for Frogger II) games which is a good price for someone starting out IMO. Other than that, when 2600's do pop up locally online they're usually overpriced but there's no way of knowing if they actually sell, what the final sale price might have been or if the seller just took the ad down

[mtshark7]

I was at the game store/video store just last weekend and the women was selling commons for $8 a piece! What a rip off! I told her good luck selling ET or Pac Man for $8 and left.

[Mirage]

She was asking that for them, not selling them for that. None of this is anything new. People, stores, have been asking high prices for crap for years. I do think the stupid auction etc shows are contributing to the issue though. That, and there being more hardship out there, people have $ signs in their eyes a bit more than in the past.

[Ransom]

Well, there is gold in them thar cartridges, right?

[JPjuice23]

That's why I leaned (The hard way) that the best deals are here on Atari age.

 

And yeah, things are getting more expensive, but you missed out. That's why I tell people to buy PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube games. There are as cheap as they are going to be right now, they will eventually rise and rise and rise in price. (Although it may take a decade or more)

[Ranthulfr]

I think the trend has to do with eBay sellers setting a lot of Atari items with high BIN prices instead of letting people bid on them.

 

You might be on to something there. When I returned to eBay after a

long time away I was shocked at how "Buy It Now" had taken over. Some people park stuff on eBay with a high BIN hoping someone will have a lapse of reason, I guess. Maybe the shift occured in response to fee changes on the site?

 

I was at the game store/video store just last weekend and the women was selling commons for $8 a piece! What a rip off! I told her good luck selling ET or Pac Man for $8 and left.

 

Yes that is depressing but it has been happening for a long time. I remember walking into a store about ten years ago that had loose Atari 2600 carts inside a glass counter marked at a flat ten bucks each. I looked through the bunch, purchased Pengo, thanked the clerk and left. Of course, the other option would be to offer up your own loose commons as trades.

[high voltage]

My sealed Beat 'em and eat 'em was $40, so I'm not complaining.

Edited December 24, 2011 by high voltage

[Torr]

The value of the dollar itself has changed/is changing too tho, you could make the same argument for a lot of things

[Rik]

In the not too distant past, '95, i was able to walk into any Flea market and get games and consoles for next to nothing.I once scored a Vader with all accessories, 50 games, for $5.00, that was a REALLY lucky day!Or getting a box of 20 or more 2600 games for like $10.00.Even as early as 2 years ago i was still able to get almost the same great deals, except vendors were asking on average $5.00 a game, and, 2600, CV, INTV consoles could be had for like $10..00 or even less.NOW, vendors have a PC in their stalls with internet access to eBay and showing every item folks want to buy, what the item is going for on eBay!!! Pretty common Games that are really worth like $5.00, are demanding 3-4x that much just because that's what eBay says.I told a vendor that that's not a true items value, when several folks are bidding on it and have jacked up the price.Point is, it's a flea Market, not eBay, i said, "if you want top dollar, go sell on eBay" What they're doing is defeating a Flea markets real purpose, to make bargains, and decently LOW cheap prices, not pay close to friggin retail!!!!!!!!! Every one's jumping on the eBay bandwagon.Of course it's a sellers right to get top dollar for their games, at a fair price, NOT an eBay inflated ignorant price value.Basically i think eBay has had a pretty good role in the ever increasing price of classic games and consoles.

Edited December 24, 2011 by Rik

[Ransom]

Yeah, the flea market days were great. I was going to flea markets in the early 90s and there was always lots of great stuff, and it was all cheap. Those were the days...

[Keatah]

ePay is indeed setting the price standards for everything else (in this type of market). Sellers are all to happy to blindly reference ePay and they often overlook tiny details that push the value of an item one way or another.

 

Or, maybe it's that people are looking really hard and finding that those seemingly seriously outdated dumb old stupid videogames from the 1970's are worth a little something afterall.

 

Or, perhaps like everything else, prices are destined to go up sooner or later. Especially as they become more rare, get thrown in the trash, fail to move at an estate sale (Big Apple 2 mega-win here!), or get lost and discarded.

 

Maybe the days of cheap cartridges, despite carrying on for many years, is over and they are getting the price they should have commanded all along.

Edited December 24, 2011 by Keatah

[potatohead]

Atari was mentioned in the "Auction Hunters" and "Storage Wars" shows recently.

 

CIB, with a somewhat crappy box, "made in Sunnyvale, CA", 4 switcher (did that happen?) was cited as worth $250. Other value statements were that tech generally loses value quickly, but not Atari. 40 somethings are looking for childhood memories right now, increasing price.

 

There you go. I seen it on that there TV.

Edited December 24, 2011 by potatohead

[Ransom]

Uh...yeah...$250. Sure.

 

I'm sure the supply of Vectrexes and original Odyssey's is less than demand here and there, now and then. But 4-switch 2600s? No way.

[potatohead]

Exactly.

[bomberpunk]

back in my day gas was 79 cents a gallon. now it costs assrape.

[Polybius]

huh, I was in a stor in pacific, mo, and the lady wanted $20 for the same common games! she also wanted $100 for the atari vader. I know they are worth about $20 out of box, but $100 CIB still seems a little high.

[the.golden.ax]

Then I can't seem to sell much of anything these days, even darn near giving it away sometimes half of what I paid just to cover bills. Buyers aren't buying, and sellers are being greedy. I don't get it either.