bojay1997

Sadly, B&C has become really bad about pricing lately despite getting this stock. They are selling new Jaguar controllers for $30 a pop and certain games like Double Dragon V they have listed on Ebay for $100. They are also charging a 33% premium above their website pricing for Ebay sales with $40 games selling for $60. I get that Ebay charges fees, but Paypal and Ebay combined are 13%, not 33% or anything close to that. I guess our hopes that this stock would hit the market for more reasonable prices were in vain.

I have no issue with someone buying a lot and reselling part or even all of it. I just had a concern about listing items that the seller didn't have yet. The seller seems willing to work with potential buyers if there is a problem, so no harm no foul I suppose.

Even putting aside the issue of listing what you don't have, the other games aren't worth $20 each. Hat Trick is a $5 game sealed (there are tons of copies in mint sealed shape on Ebay at $10 that never sell) and so is Desert Falcon. For the record, so is Winter Games. The only "valuable" games you have listed are Ace of Aces which might hit $10-$15 mint sealed if you find the right buyer and Ninja Golf which is a $30-$40 game mint sealed. So, you have maybe $65 in games listed and probably less since a group buyer isn't going to pay full retail. Once you figure in the 13% Paypal and Ebay fees, you might clear $40-$50 meaning that you still spent $125 for Mean 18 Golf which is not a good price in any respect.

Well, as all of us have pointed out, you overpaid significantly for what you got and to me at least, it makes no sense that your goal all along was just to play the games and now you're apparently holding onto Mean 18 as an investment sealed. While that part of it is interesting and frankly your business and not ours, (other than the fact that it's interesting to know that it wasn't an experienced collector who bid too much, but somebody who just didn't know the value and therefore an anomaly), the real issue for me is that you are listing things for sale which you don't even have yet. What if the items show up to you damaged or not at all? I just don't think it's ethical for a seller to list items that they don't even have in hand yet and if you don't have $200 to spend on games, maybe you should consider that before you bid and not after.

I guess his son must be really into sealed games... http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/195859-wtb-cart-only-52007800-games/page__p__2491143?do=findComment&comment=2491143 I hope nobody gave this guy a deal as it appears his story about just wanting to relive his childhood and share with his son was BS,

I don't know, I haven't seen this kind of foolish bidding on 7800 stuff ever. It also rarely happens on the 2600 or 5200. Now NES and SNES is a whole different story. In any event, not only did this guy overpay, but he has listed the three games he didn't need before he even has them in hand. Unbelievable. eBay Auction -- Item Number: 220991821443 Welcome to classic gaming today. Not surpriesed in the least.

Not seeing how what's there is worth anywhere near the current price. Atari2600.com had a really mint sealed copy of Mean 18 for months at $80 and while Ninja Golf goes for maybe $30+ sealed, the other games are dirt common. Guess I don't get the price premium here at all.

Pretty sure Ebay has no rule against sniping or sniping software. As long as you bid what you are willing to pay for something, it should make zero difference if people are sniping or not.

Have you consulted an attorney about this? I can't speak to the laws in your state, but I believe a solicitation of investment of this type may trigger state and Federal securities laws which don't allow mass solicitation of investors in this way.

They sell pretty regularly on Ebay, but I haven't purchased from them there. I had a similar experience to others with sending unanswered e-mails maybe six months ago and haven't contacted them since. Sometimes vendors just go bad for whatever reason. GoAtari is a perfect example (although the owner was always kind of a tool) and B&C might be on the way there given their recent price increases and general decline in merchandise quality.

The circuit board was a later revision. In fact, if you follow his auction links to a manual scan, it references very clearly that the circuit board was a forthcoming upgrade, but that the stock unit just used a 2600 and a standard game cartridge which was bolted into place by forcing two metal screws into the cartridge port or by attaching up to three cartridges onto a metal chain and bracket system and letting the public insert the carts to try them out. The manual also makes it clear that the store was to provide the 2600 and it wasn't included in the kiosk. Still, he hasn't updated any of the photos in the auction, so it's hard to tell what is being sold here and what is or isn't included.

Still too much IMHO. The reasonable range for this item in this condition seems to be $1500-$2500. You may get an offer slightly above the $2500 mark, but when you figure it will be a few hundred or so to ship, I can't see someone paying essentially $6K for the item. that's about what my max bid was for the one I won MANY years ago. Rick

Am I looking at the document wrong or are 90% of these games PAL?

Pretty sure that's a liquidation notch or cut-out. It's very similar to what liquidators do with records, cassettes and PC games. It basically prevents a retailer from buying liquidation stock and then attempting to return them to the original distributor or publisher for full MSRP credit or a refund.

I do, but be aware that it's a European boxed item although it doesn't say that in the description. The disc is region free, however, and as long as you have an HDTV, it seems to play fine.

I believe these were the budget pack re-releases. The boxed versions were the originals and these were released later. They are basically just the manual and the disc in a baggie.

Sure, but $20K in sales in a year and 200 sales? I don't know any hobbyist or casual seller who can even get close to that. Let's face it, if you're at that level, you've gone pro and you need to have the proper documentation and infrastructure in place to pay taxes on what you're selling, 1099 or not.

Messing with the IRS is a sure fire way to end up in jail and bankrupt. Also, people selling $20K and 200+ things on Ebay a year are not mom and pop hobbyists, they are running small businesses and they should have been reporting this income all along. As someone who has worked my entire life and been honest about my taxes, I have no sympathy for people complaining that selling on Ebay should mean they shouldn't have to pay taxes. All of us have struggled in this economy, but it's not an excuse to break the law.

That's just absurd. Deals can fall through and just because someone sends a PM doesn't mean they are buying the game. If anything, the seller should be dilligent about posting that an item is on hold or sold as soon as a deal is reached. We don't need a bunch of posts showing lots of activitiy simply because people are posting that they send PMs.

Nobody is going to offer $10K on an item that has never sold for over $2K. You should also advise him to take some good quality photos of all three boxes as the photos currently posted on the auction are pretty bad.

Are you kidding me? Did you even read the posts in the thread? I'm one of the two "guys" who posted these "controversial" opinions and both of us made it clear that it's just our personal opinion. At no point did I call out specific companies and I certainly don't think Avalon Hill, Tigervision or Apollo were selling homebrews. They had actual store distribution, marketing, professional packaging, etc.... All I said is that at the point after which the industry had been well established, people like the purported "company" behind Extra Terrestrials were basically selling homebrews. They had no marketing, a lack of professional packaging and they were essentially getting their merchandise on store shelves by doing so on consignment if at all. As I further explained, it's like the guys at the local computer store I frequented in 1985-1987 who were programming their own games, sticking them in plastic bags with dot matrix printed labels and instructions. If they had done that in 1978, it would have been consistent with the way commercial games were being sold. Doing that in 1985 long after actual large publishers existed makes them not commercial products, but something less than that.

My experience with Atari2600.com has generally been good, but if you're picky, I wouldn't buy anything that didn't get at least a 9 out of 10 on his rating scale. Anything else, including stuff that is sealed new but not graded is generally dented, dinged, smooshed, creased, etc...

Have to agree with you here. B&C is open to offers as well, so just because something is listed at a higher price doesn't mean that's what you will pay for it. They are also super nice and will work with you on shipping and make sure they only send out nice stuff if you tell them you care about box condition. I have had mixed experiences with Video 61. Despite the high prices, the owner seems to have little problem with sending out damaged items which he argues are "brand new", which I suppose is technically true if the wrap hasn't been removed. Last year I placed an order to get the holiday deal and the "free" games were in pretty rough shape. Not necessarily complaining, but he obviously was ridding himself of stuff that he couldn't otherwise sell without getting complaints. I also don't agree that a retailer, even a small hobbyist one, should be charging what they paid for stock. Brutal Sports Football is available brand new for $15 shipped on Ebay from the vendor that bought out Telegames. Their copies are from the same place as Video 61s and they have something like 70 copies listed right now. If you can't sell things for market price, you probably shouldn't remain in business...just ask GoAtari.

Food Fight was not an O'Sheas title, at least not as of World of Atari 1999. When did O'Sheas sell it? It has never been anywhere as close to as common on Ebay or other sources as the other common 7800 titles. On top of that, it's a great game.

You're kidding, right? I have actually seen controllers in that condition, but it was from a seller that stored them outdoors for months during the winter at an outdoor swap meet. You can't really believe that items in the shape pictured are "not too bad", can you? As-is does not give the seller leave to literally ship dangerous garbage in a box and charge for it. Mold is a very serious problem and that white/gray stuff on the cords is clearly mold. It can make people very sick. I had a middle-aged neighbor growing up who developed chronic lung disease as a result of mold exposure at home and after years of suffering with deteriorating lungs, he ended up dying of respiratory arrest in his late 40s.