Some classic game stores are getting just plain greedy

[Crazy Climber]

Crazy Climber wrote:

So I go check out this new classic game store in my area (I beleive it was called Games n Go or something like that) and I see they have a decent selection. Most of the stuff was overpriced ($7 NES commons, $5 Atari commons, $20 SMS commons, ETC...) but thats to be expected lately since classic gaming is popular and sometimes I don't mind paying a little extra to get the game right away. So I see a game in the display case, Chip & Dales Rescue rangers 2 for $29 loose. I used to own this actually but never played it, it's a shame really... just sat on my shelf, but I like Capcoms games and decided I would like to try it. I thought $29 seemed a little high so I ask the guy "Is the price on this game written in stone or can we barter a little?" He responds back with "nope....$129 firm is the price, I can't go any lower"

 

$129 for Rescue Rangers 2....LOOSE!!!! You have to be kidding me, this game is NOT that rare!!

 

Anyways, thats just my rant about how greedy I feel this store was Anything like this happen to you guys?

 

Hey is this the one in Rosedale? I went there last week & thought the same thing, theyhad a sealed GH CastleVania: SOTN under the counter for $80...

 

The only thing I had interest in was a longbox PS Warhawk ($9) but I didnt get it.

No, it was in Southdale mall which is Edina I think. What's the name of the store in Rosedale, I'd like to check it out

[madhatter667]

This sort of stuff adds fuel to my fire for opening an honest game store. Won't make much on older stuff, but that isn't teh point, it's keeping the stuff in circulation, and love for the platforms alive. Selling new stuff is for cashing in.

[Technosis]

Selling new stuff is for cashing in.

I'm not so sure that there is a big margin on the markup of new games....and you'd be competing with the likes of Walmart, etc.

 

Fortunately the two indy gaming stores in my area that I frequent are owned by guys who are first and foremost "classic" gamers. The prices and selection are quite good and the service is outstanding.

 

However, the major flea markets around here have a "chain" of vendors run by one family that price games out of the sky. They make their money by giving mere pocket change to urban kids trading in stuff, and then turn around and sell it for outrageous prices i.e. $75 for SNES Super Mario Kart

[Video]

Well, he could mean new stuff as in N 64, PSX, and Dreamcast (though X-box will soon be among those as it's going out)

 

But heck, even that stuff is starting to dissappear from store shelves at places like Game.stop funkoland and whatever else.

[RJ]

What's the name of the store in Rosedale, I'd like to check it out

 

Uhh- Games N Go, thats why I thought it might be where you went! I think there's 3 locations.

[coreycorey2000]

$29 for Chip and Dale 2 is pretty fair. I get $25 for them no problem and I don't run a store.

 

Technosis- Where are you from in Ontario? There are no stores run by gamers in my neck of the woods. Or within an hour of me. So you must live closer to Toronto.

[vinnysdad]

There used to be a game store near me that had EVERYTHING. It was called Treasure Island and when I say the guy had everything I mean everything. The only problem was his prices were outrageous. He charged $5 for Combat for 2600 and I swear no NES game was less than $10. I loved this store because of all the cool stuff he had but I hardly ever bought anything. Plus this guy had a bad attitude. Everytime someone walked in the store he acted like you were bugging him. I once asked him if he was running a fucking store or not. I am glad he went out of buisnees.

[Crazy Climber]

$29 for Chip and Dale 2 is pretty fair. I get $25 for them no problem and I don't run a store.

 

Technosis- Where are you from in Ontario? There are no stores run by gamers in my neck of the woods. Or within an hour of me. So you must live closer to Toronto.

Yeah I probably would have ended up paying $29 but $129 is just ridiculous

[supercat]

The thing is,obviously,there is no RED BOOK VALUE for classic gameing....

 

I wonder how well it would work for a used game store or flea market to have "automatic markdown" price tags similar in concept to Filene's Basement. Each price tag has a series of dates and prices. If anyone wants the item before the first date, it sells for the first price. If they want it on or after the first date, but before the second, it sells for the second price.

 

The net effect is something like an auction, but in reverse. Although that style of reverse auction has some disadvantages for both buyers and sellers as compared with a conventional auction, it has some advantages as well. Most notably, it allows buyers the advantage of instant gratification when they make an affirmative decision to buy, without requiring that all prospective buyers be present.

 

If a game store were set up with that sort of pricing, what would most likely happen would be that the regulars would come in, look at the price tags, decide which prices they were willing to pay for which games, and then schedule a return trip. If someone else was willing to pay more than they were for a particular game, it would get sold before their return trip. Consequently, people who really wanted a game would have to consider paying more to ensure that they would actually get it.

 

Not a perfect method of pricing, to be sure, but it would be better than assigning uniform prices to a products in widely-varying conditions.

[Zonie]

I agree that $129 is pretty high for a loose cart, and you were right for not buying it. There's a local game shop here in town called Game Factor that sells vintage stuff in addition to new stuff. This store used to treat me well. There was a previous manager that would go out of his way to try and find the game I wanted, and he would usually give me used games at cost (what he paid the guy to trade them in) if they were really that desireable. To return my gratitude I bought all of my new release game purchases there as well as any accessories, etc. Basically if I wanted something I would go there first.

 

Now the store is managed by one of the key employees who is a major ass. He rips you off on trades and sells vintage stuff for the same outragous prices complained about here. For example, games like Tetris and Dr. Mario are $15 each because he calls them "rare". The first and second Zelda games are $25 for the same reason. SNES and Genesis games usually aren't too expensive, unless they are things like Donley Kong Country or Sonic the Hedgehog games. Most of the time the games are loose carts.

 

Since this is the only store in town that sells vintage stuff, I have to resort to buying things on Ebay.

 

Sounds like a store in my area. The old owner was great, but one of his employees bought it from him, and now he thinks everything is gold. I have to wait up to 15 min to get a price on an atari 2600 cart, and he usually quotes it at 2X atari2600.com's price is or a high ebay price. he sits there and searches the web for prices while you stand there. Drives me nuts.

 

He has no clue that I'd spend about $30-40 a month in his store if he had more realistic prices and had the games marked. As it is, I may spend $100 per year there instead... maybe, and on new stuff only.

[edman87k5]

Next time he does that, ask him for the website he got the price from and tell him you would rather buy from that site. I would not stand for someone looking up the going price on the net before quoting me a price. If you cannot take the time to label your stuff so that I can see the price while I am browsing, I will not waste my time in your store!

[Crazy Climber]

Heres one for 25 bucks

https://www.atari2600.com/item--Disney-s-Ch...S-DV-USA-C.html

That's more like it

[shadow460]

There is a pawn shop close by that does the "reverse auction" pricing. Each item has a large tag with the current price, and they have a smaller tag somewhere on them with the prices and dates.

 

I like seeing games with set prices, but I'd prefer that they have a sign hanging on the shelf with the price. The nearby stores could (and sometimes do) have the prices of Atai and Saturn games just hanging on the shelf. then again, you always know that any Atari game from VCS to 7800 is going to be $0.95, Lynx games are $5, and Saturn games are all $7.95 (commons are half price).

Generally these same stores will also use an easy to remove price tag on each game. Those don't leave residue, but the rarity stickers they put on the games do. Sometimes they'll be missing the shelf tag, sometimes they'll be missing on of the stickers, and sometimes they'll have nothing but the rarity sticker. However, the entire chain's pricing is very consistent so you know within $1 what you're going to pay just by looking at the platform sign above your head and the rarity sticker (e.g. N64 games with a rarity 1 are gonna cost $6.95 in most of the stores, and $7.95 in a couple).

 

I need to hit the area flea markets and see if I can come across a lot of some kind. I dunno if I'd keep all the non-dupes, but if I did come across a decent lot, I'm sure there would be some dupes to sell off.

[mnbren05]

Local game store around here is run by a complete idiot. Splitstone Entertainmnet. The guy is a jerk and the people that work there are uninterested in any type of service. I wanted to purchase a loose Donkey Kong 64 (sticker said $, Mario Kart ($5), Super Smash Bros. ($10), and a boxed Conker's Bad Fur Day ($10). When I took this all up to the counter I was expecting about $35 for everything tax etc. He told me it was going to be $60. When I pointed out that the prices were on the carts he said

 

"I reckon I can charge whatever price I want."

 

So I haggled for about 10 mins and he told me that boxed copies of games were worth less due to the space they take up in a store. So I left the store with a boxed copy of Body Harvest, Donkey Kong 64, Mario Kart, and WCW/NWO Revenge for $21?! I have no idea what logic this guy works by I turned around and sold the Mario Kart for $15 on ebay.

 

Basically, the majority of these guys (their are exceptions) think that they can charge whatever they want for their games. They have no idea of prices and use ebay as a measure of how much that can sell stuff for. I also hate how 5 different copies of the same game can be in anywhere from mint to poor condition and cost the same. (although it does work to an advantage sometimes)

[RJ]

If those are HIS price tags, that's what he should charge for them, & what you rightly & correctly should expect to pay.

 

If that happened to me, I'd dump the games on the counter/floor, walk out, never come back, & make sure I tell EVERYONE to do the same.

 

I'd also say to him on my way out "I reckon you can take a flying f-ck."

[AussieAtari]

Boxed Conker's for $10 is a pretty good price all the same, even if he was a complete tosser.

[Atari-Jess]

One of the game stores near me won't sell Atari games for anything less than $10.

 

Yet don't even consider trying to get even a quarter that selling games to them.

 

him: "Twenty five cents is what we normally give"

me: "and then you turn around and charge at least 40 times that?"

 

He talked about having a CRATE full of sealed lynx games, I forget which, but a common title, $40 each. ugh.

[MCHufnagel]

If those are HIS price tags, that's what he should charge for them, & what you rightly & correctly should expect to pay.

 

If that happened to me, I'd dump the games on the counter/floor, walk out, never come back, & make sure I tell EVERYONE to do the same.

 

I'd also say to him on my way out "I reckon you can take a flying f-ck."

Most, if not all states have laws regulating the use of price tags. Basically if a tag says $5, it has to be sold for $5. Although, I don't know if this applies to used goods. But it isn't worth the time to make a complaint to some state agency, and that is what some sellers count on.

 

And I'm with you on walking out. My kids and I spend plenty of money on video games. None of that would go to that merchant.

[Cheese007]

Recently theh prices at CGX for DC, 2600, and NES consoles have become ridiculous. $50 for a DC, $80 for an NES or 2600. When I bought my NES in 05, it was $40. Same for 2600s. I bought my DC from that same place for $30. Luckily, most of their prices are still reasonable.

[shadow460]

Yeah, now consoles are a different matter entirely. I've been wanting a VCS for a while, but among their awesome prices, Game X Change charges $80 on average for a VCS, all hookups, two joysticks, pair of paddles, and six to ten common games. They also charge $40 to $50 for a similar lot with an NES.

 

I got my NES for $20 at a thrift shop, and I have a 7800 to cover my VCS needs for now.

[MCHufnagel]

Recently theh prices at CGX for DC, 2600, and NES consoles have become ridiculous. $50 for a DC, $80 for an NES or 2600. When I bought my NES in 05, it was $40. Same for 2600s. I bought my DC from that same place for $30. Luckily, most of their prices are still reasonable.

I do a lot of price checking on craigslist and I can confirm that prices are going up. IMO, it is because of the high prices of next-gen consoles. Some sellers think that $150 for a NES/SNES/Genesis with 20 games is a deal compared to paying $400 plus on a brand new console with a few games.

[Cheese007]

Yeah, now consoles are a different matter entirely. I've been wanting a VCS for a while, but among their awesome prices, Game X Change charges $80 on average for a VCS, all hookups, two joysticks, pair of paddles, and six to ten common games. They also charge $40 to $50 for a similar lot with an NES.

 

I got my NES for $20 at a thrift shop, and I have a 7800 to cover my VCS needs for now.

At least they give you lots, the VCS and NESs at CGX usually come with only a controller and hook-ups. The good news is, they allow you to pick out the games you want with the particular system you buy, and there game prices are still sweet ($1 for all 2600 games iirc).

[shadow460]

Yeah, Game X Change sets you up with everything you need for a console, and they go to great lengths to do it. They also don't just throw in random games from the bargain bin, either. They actually get together and pick out their favorites when a classic system comes in, and they're good about throwing in the pack-in titles with their picks.

 

The VCS they currently have is packed with a Millipede cart that came from my collection, its also packed with Pitfall and eight other games. And it's got all the stuff you need, i.e., paddles, RF, etc.

[JimmydelaKopin]

I'll take exception to what one of the earler posters said about a locally-owned chain.

 

I own an SNES, but I also use my brother's PS2. And when it comes to games, I usually buy from GameTrader.

I find their prices reasonable (more expensive for more recent and/or popular games, but usually cheaper overall than ebay and GameStop--and you can usually get the games you want there!), and their services are remarkable:

1. they'll let you place a game order--and call you when the game comes in (that's how I got my Godzilla-Save the Earth)

2. they'll repair any system--or replace it for you if they can't repair it (my SNES's controller ports wouldn't work; they couldn't repair it and replaced the SNES for me for the cost of the repair)

3. they'll repair CDs/DVDs--for free if the CD/DVD was bought there and can be shown to not work

4. they'll let you try before you buy for any game and/or controller

5. they sell rf adapters and AC adapters for the early 90's systems at reasonable prices

6. and they have a friendly staff ready to answer any questions and assist you.

 

Sure, some of their prices are a little high (with few exceptions, their SF-series games for the PS1 & PS2 are usually $40 apiece, for one example), but most aren't--and I'm willing to pay the higher price for the wide selection and the friendly service and variety of services the chain offers.

 

GameStop? Accurate name: you'll stop buying games if you only shop there. Smaller selection, higher prices, no guarantees, and no tryouts before purchase on their used games.

I'm glad we have GameTrader here in the GNO Area. As long as they're around, they'll always get my business.

[JimmydelaKopin]

By the way...

 

$129 for an NES game?!

 

Someone contact James Rolfe!

I think we have a good subject for his next rant!