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Matts Vintage Video Games

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  1. Matts Vintage Video Games
    Ok, so you are looking for an item on Ebay. Here is my personal opinion of what kind of things you should look at before making a selection. The first thing that is most important is the Feedback. If a seller has a good feedback rating of close to 100% then they are probably safe to buy from. But I would take a look at that seller by clicking on their user ID (their Ebay name) That will bring up their profile and show you how many sales they have had in 1 month, 6 months and the last 12 months. Take a good look at the numbers. A person that sells 1000 items per month is a lagitiamate business which likely has employees and moves enough product to make me comfortable with them as a seller. A person who has 1000 feedbacks or transactions in one month and has one or two bad marks (negitives or neutrals), is not so bad. One or two transactions with an issue out of 1000 is not too bad. Perfection is always what I strive for and excellence in customer service is what we all as sellers desire. But we are human and sometimes a mistake is made. When that happens Its more important to me to see what they reply to under their bad mark. A seller that doesn't respond to a negitive mark or responds by blamming the buyer is likely not going to be your first choice when choosing a seller for the item you want. Simply stated.... You order and item and want that item on time with no issues. You expect to get what you pay for. I can completely respect that and I feel that most sellers are good and would do the same.
    However; If you see a seller that has less than 50 transactions per month, I would be a bit concerned. My first concern is how fast are they going to ship my item. If they have that little of activity then it tells me that this is a person with a computer that has something they are just trying to get some money out of. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but I would definately look into them or try to contact them and just ask a polite question reguarding the item. See how professional they are and how fast they respond. Of coarce if a person like this has less than 50 transaction per month and you are seeing more than 1 negitive or neutral per month..... My advise would be to move on. There are normally many sellers who have the same item for possibly even less. Which brings me to my next point.... Navagation.
    When you look for an item on Ebay, simply type in what you are looking for in the space provided. For example if I am looking for the first Mario I would type in "Super Mario Nintendo NES". The click buy it now if you want to make the selection right away or place a bid if you want to gamble a bit and try to get it for a bargain. Now choose the option in the upper section of the left side of the screen above the search results. You will see a box that allows you to select options like "best match" "lowest shipping first" ect. ect. Choose "lowest with shipping first". After you have done that you should see the item that you want for the lowest price first. This is how you know you are getting the item for the lowest price.
    The next thing I would check for is the little star next to the listings. If there is not star and no "Top Rated Seller" logo I automatically check those profiles before making selections. Though EBays "top rated seller" rating is a status that may or may not have any berring on how good a seller really is.... In my opinion I try to choose sellers that are top rated. Just as a precaution that I am going to get my item on time and that it will be what they describe.
    Sometimes you will run across a bad seller, and this brings me to my final point. There are some bad apples on Ebay. This is why I offer these simple solutions to help you make an informed decision before you put your money out there. Even though Ebay does have a good buyer protection policy and a great "trust and safety team". There will always be those crooks out there that are always looking for something for nothing. And just being careful in your selection of a seller is a good start.
    To sum it all up.... Shopping on Ebay can be a very good experience no matter what you have heard. The Biggest thing is making sure that you read the seller's item description and not just the product details. READ THE FINE PRINT...... we all know what that means. Some sellers sell games that are pretty bad and only offer a stock photo. Which is another point... Stay away from stock photos. An actual picture of the exact item you are getting is always a plus. And if you do that and make sure that you know what you are shopping for, then your experience on Ebay should be a positive one. And when it is not..... try contacting the seller. Most of us are honest business people who take great pride in our customer service. Good and Honest sellers want to help you and will take time out of their busy day just to help you to make you happy.
     
    *note* I AM NOT AN EMPLOYEE OF EBAY NO AM I AFFILIATED WITH THEIR COMPANY IN ANY WAY OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT I AM A REGISTERED SELLER. NO ONE HAS PAID ME TO MAKE THIS STATEMENT AND I DO IT ON MY OWN BEALF.
  2. Matts Vintage Video Games
    I know what your thinking.... Atari? did't that go out with the 80's. Any possibly your right if your the younger generation. But, for me Atari is still cool. See I remember being a young kid playing in the creek chasing crawdads and snakes through the woods. I remember the days before cell phones tablets and electronic devices. I was born in 1977 which was not all that long ago, but to some of you.... I must seem like an old man. lol. When I was about 6 or 7 my entertainment was GI joe and Legos. And though they still exist... Most people are stuck on the Xbox or some other gamming device. I can vividly remember the first time I saw my cousin playing something on a TV. It was interesting to me. It was a smurf crossing a river with a snake in it. And you, actually control what is happening on the TV. That was too cool, and unheard of back in those days. I did not know what a video game was as they were relitively new at that time. A year later my Dad - who was struggling to support us as a family- found an Atari 2600 system at a yard sale. It had 32 games and 2 controllers and a set of paddles. He gave $30 bucks.... which seemed like alot at the time. And to me....... that was the coolest thing ever.
    So, I enjoyed my Atari for years. I had so many games for it its not funny. And I can remember going to Toys R Us and getting a new game every once in a while. Paying $20 plus for a game which seemed like highway robbery at the time. I'm sure my parents weren't happy every time I asked for a new game. The years went by and the games got better and the systems as well. I'll never forget the release of Nintendo NES, Super or Genesis. I played those systems for years. They actually still work after 35 years. Unlike your new systems that are overpriced and burn out within a year or so depending on how you treat the device and how often you play it.
    As I get older and the gamming world keeps expanding, graffix keep getting better and the Mario craze is evergrowing, I find myself reminded of the good old days. The days when you could just put a game in the slot, turn the console on and play. No waiting, no loading. Though the graffix were basically a bunch of squares that make up some charector that somewhat resembles what it is supposed to be. To me, that is classic and for me the Atari is always cool. Not everyone will agree and not everyone still has a VCS 2600 still hooked up like me. I play it every day as well as many other systems from that era. And as we sit here talking about it, I feel an urge to try to beat my score on Burgertime for the Intellivision II. Gotta Go.... Let me know your thoughts.
  3. Matts Vintage Video Games
    Ok, so.... We all know how bad the controllers are. I buy and sell vintage video games and accessories. When I started out I sold just about any joystick or any other accessory that a person would want or need. But then I quickly learned that the Atari 5200 controllers were consistantly bad. Someone would buy a working 5200 controller from me and then about a week or so later complain that the item did not work properly any more. After some research, I soon realized that this is likely going to be the problem with this item every time I sell one. So I stopped. I still have nearly 20 of these controllers and few actually work properly. Who knows how long they will actually work.
    I guess that the main problem is basically the way that they were made. It has been my experience that the plastic pad inside of the controller that carries the signal to the motherboard seems to corrode and end up becomming the main reason that the buttons or numbers end up not working after some time. You can get new guts for the controllers which will likely fix them... but they are not super easy to install. Not too bad of a small project if you are handy with this kind of thing. Moreless; the new parts for the controllers seem to be a better quality of material than what was availible at the time that the 5200 was released. But that is just my humble opinion.
  4. Matts Vintage Video Games
    #1 Taz
    #2 Stampede
    #3 Donkey Kong
    #4 Super Mario Bros.
    #5 Frogger
    #6 Plaque Attack
    #7 Galaxian
    #8 Pole Position
    #9 Snoopy & the Red Barron
    #10 Yars Revenge
     
    Hard to name the top 10 since there are so many other good titles that I still love to play. For instance I still love Defender, Berzerk, Midnight Magic, Ms. Pac Man, Jr. Pac Man, Kangaroo and Warlords. Oldies but goodies to me.
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