Greedy merchants

[Rik]

I was thinking the other day about back in the very early days when the Atari VCS was at it's peak popularity, there was a shortage of 2600 consoles in stores around where i live, and for some reason weren't able to meet the huge demand.This one store, i don't know if they foresaw this shortage and planned for it, or just had a huge stock, were taking advantage of the situation.They were selling brand new 2600's for, get this....$500.00 CDN!!! each!!!.I remember going to this store which was a small Mom and Pop thing with a friend and telling the guy to basically shove it and i'll wait a little while and get one for half that, which i did.Oh yeah and a store was selling the just released 2600 PAC-MAN for $80.00 CDN taxes in, each!Anyone else here witness shameless greedy merchants charging INSANE prices back in the day?

Edited April 26, 2011 by Rik

[toptenmaterial]

I don't know how the Canadian buck stacked against the USD in the late 70s-early 80s (I think our USD was worth a little more than yours at that time) but it sure sounds like a hell of a lot of money, perhaps $1200 or so today? I was born in 1980 and don't remember shortages or scalping with Nintendo stuff when I was a kid, though I do remember launch prices- $99 for the Game Boy and I believe $200 or $220 for the SNES. Nintendo Power published a cautionary tale warning kids not to buy scalped Super Famicoms because all of your games would be in Japanese haha! I only remember two incidences of price jacking, both on internet sights and not through legit businesses- the early days of PS2 and Wii, where parents who couldn't wait shelled out extraordinary amounts of cash.

 

By the way, $80 for Pac-Man???????

[oldjd]

Whem the Atari 2600 first came out,the stores were selling them for $299.95.Bargaining was not an option,if you didnt want it,someone right behind you did.

What was funny,the Intellivision was priced identical

I remember standing at the counter,trying to make a budget crunching decision as to which one I should buy

On an even more greedy note,I remember when Apple came out with the 2e,just before christmas,and they were selling for $700 bucks,and you almost had to fight to get one

In retrospect,I guess you could classify all of them (sellers and manufacture) as greedy,but it was supply and demand,kinda like gas prices and supplies now

[flammingcowz]

I know that at the 2 flea markets by me, and at all of the thrift stores by me, everything classic related is hugely expensive. SNES for $100, Atari 7800 for $500, common atari carts for $5 each, etc.

[Skylark68]

What's ironic (and sad) though, was that in just a few years stores would be basically begging people to buy anything video game related just to get it out of their warehouses. I remember Pac-Man during this period going for about a $1.00...

[Tempest]

I've seen some price tags on some of my game boxes that were well above the MSRP. I have an early 2600 game somewhere that has a price of $60 on it!

 

Tempest

[SoulBlazer]

I've seen some price tags on some of my game boxes that were well above the MSRP. I have an early 2600 game somewhere that has a price of $60 on it!

 

Tempest

 

Yup, when I got my SNES in late 1991 (for $180) I paid $70 more to get Final Fantasy 2 for it. To this day, it remains my most expensive game. My dad actually bought it (though it was my money) but I'm not sure where he got the system and game at, or if they really had marked up the cost of the game or that's what it was going for then. I think it was either Child's World or Toy World.

[Rik]

I don't know how the Canadian buck stacked against the USD in the late 70s-early 80s (I think our USD was worth a little more than yours at that time) but it sure sounds like a hell of a lot of money, perhaps $1200 or so today? I was born in 1980 and don't remember shortages or scalping with Nintendo stuff when I was a kid, though I do remember launch prices- $99 for the Game Boy and I believe $200 or $220 for the SNES. Nintendo Power published a cautionary tale warning kids not to buy scalped Super Famicoms because all of your games would be in Japanese haha! I only remember two incidences of price jacking, both on internet sights and not through legit businesses- the early days of PS2 and Wii, where parents who couldn't wait shelled out extraordinary amounts of cash.

 

By the way, $80 for Pac-Man???????

Yep, and the lines including the $80.00 one were all very long, always 10 or more people waiting to buy Pac-Man.They had no problems selling them, everywhere they were sold out pretty quick the day Pac-man was released.I remember the hype campaigns stores were doing a month or two before it came out, posters every where. They were handing out Pac-Man stickers to everyone coming off the escalators at this one department store, it was unreal!!!!!

Edited April 26, 2011 by Rik

[Syntaxerror999]

I don't know how the Canadian buck stacked against the USD in the late 70s-early 80s (I think our USD was worth a little more than yours at that time) but it sure sounds like a hell of a lot of money, perhaps $1200 or so today? I was born in 1980 and don't remember shortages or scalping with Nintendo stuff when I was a kid, though I do remember launch prices- $99 for the Game Boy and I believe $200 or $220 for the SNES. Nintendo Power published a cautionary tale warning kids not to buy scalped Super Famicoms because all of your games would be in Japanese haha! I only remember two incidences of price jacking, both on internet sights and not through legit businesses- the early days of PS2 and Wii, where parents who couldn't wait shelled out extraordinary amounts of cash.

 

By the way, $80 for Pac-Man???????

Yep, and the lines including the $80.00 one were all very long, always 10 or more people waiting to buy Pac-Man.They had no problems selling them, everywhere they were sold out pretty quick the day Pac-man was released.I remember the hype campaigns stores were doing a month or two before it came out, posters every where. They were handing out Pac-Man stickers to everyone coming off the escalators at this one department store, it was unreal!!!!!

 

Gah there must of been some pretty pissed off kids later on that day when they got home.

[rexreed]

I don't know how the Canadian buck stacked against the USD in the late 70s-early 80s (I think our USD was worth a little more than yours at that time) but it sure sounds like a hell of a lot of money, perhaps $1200 or so today? I was born in 1980 and don't remember shortages or scalping with Nintendo stuff when I was a kid, though I do remember launch prices- $99 for the Game Boy and I believe $200 or $220 for the SNES. Nintendo Power published a cautionary tale warning kids not to buy scalped Super Famicoms because all of your games would be in Japanese haha! I only remember two incidences of price jacking, both on internet sights and not through legit businesses- the early days of PS2 and Wii, where parents who couldn't wait shelled out extraordinary amounts of cash.

 

By the way, $80 for Pac-Man???????

Yep, and the lines including the $80.00 one were all very long, always 10 or more people waiting to buy Pac-Man.They had no problems selling them, everywhere they were sold out pretty quick the day Pac-man was released.I remember the hype campaigns stores were doing a month or two before it came out, posters every where. They were handing out Pac-Man stickers to everyone coming off the escalators at this one department store, it was unreal!!!!!

 

Gah there must of been some pretty pissed off kids later on that day when they got home.

 

Maybe not as many as you think. It's been stated before and I'll repeat it but Pac Man was a popular game when it first came out.

[ThePieManOfDeath]

I've seen some price tags on some of my game boxes that were well above the MSRP. I have an early 2600 game somewhere that has a price of $60 on it!

 

Tempest

 

Yup, when I got my SNES in late 1991 (for $180) I paid $70 more to get Final Fantasy 2 for it. To this day, it remains my most expensive game. My dad actually bought it (though it was my money) but I'm not sure where he got the system and game at, or if they really had marked up the cost of the game or that's what it was going for then. I think it was either Child's World or Toy World.

 

Actually, that isn't overpriced at all for a SNES game, especially a Final Fantasy. SNES games like that often retailed for as much as $70-80, sometimes even $90.

 

By the way, I'm a huge fan of the Soul Blazer trilogy!

[Rik]

I don't know how the Canadian buck stacked against the USD in the late 70s-early 80s (I think our USD was worth a little more than yours at that time) but it sure sounds like a hell of a lot of money, perhaps $1200 or so today? I was born in 1980 and don't remember shortages or scalping with Nintendo stuff when I was a kid, though I do remember launch prices- $99 for the Game Boy and I believe $200 or $220 for the SNES. Nintendo Power published a cautionary tale warning kids not to buy scalped Super Famicoms because all of your games would be in Japanese haha! I only remember two incidences of price jacking, both on internet sights and not through legit businesses- the early days of PS2 and Wii, where parents who couldn't wait shelled out extraordinary amounts of cash.

 

By the way, $80 for Pac-Man???????

Yep, and the lines including the $80.00 one were all very long, always 10 or more people waiting to buy Pac-Man.They had no problems selling them, everywhere they were sold out pretty quick the day Pac-man was released.I remember the hype campaigns stores were doing a month or two before it came out, posters every where. They were handing out Pac-Man stickers to everyone coming off the escalators at this one department store, it was unreal!!!!!

 

Gah there must of been some pretty pissed off kids later on that day when they got home.

 

Maybe not as many as you think. It's been stated before and I'll repeat it but Pac Man was a popular game when it first came out.

Yeah, i actually quite liked 2600 Pac-Man, and still do today.

[ThePieManOfDeath]

2600 Pac-Man has to be the most overly hated game ever. It's a fun game that's different from the arcade game (duh, it's a 2600 port) but captures the spirit of the game well, has decent AI, and the gameplay works well. In contrast, Asteroids, which is somehow considered one of the 2600's classics, is incredibly boring and easy and moving your ship feels very awkward (not that you actually NEED to move it, as any decent player can just stay in the middle of the screen and play the game for hours without losing!)

[Animan]

My mom still has the receipt for Donkey Kong Country 2 that she bought for my older sister that listed the game as $80. And yet I complain about 3DS games being $40!

[+20ohm20]

2600 Pac-Man has to be the most overly hated game ever.

 

I remember being massively disappointed by Pac-Man for the 2600 when it came out back in the day, as a 12 year old, but I've learned to appreciate it as an adult.

[atarigal]

I remember being massively disappointed by Pac-Man for the 2600 when it came out back in the day, as a 12 year old, but I've learned to appreciate it as an adult.

 

I think maybe some of it had to do with how much exposure one had at the time to the arcade version. I didn't start getting to arcades much until my teen years began in the mid-80's, so I mostly played the Atari version until then. I can see someone being really disappointed if they were used to the arcade game.

[AtariDude]

I can understand that people can charge more for an item when it is brand new and everyone wants one but it seems that these guys were being really greedy. I wonder if they eventually had to sell them off at a loss given how much that they were trying to sell them for originally.

[accousticguitar]

2600 Pac-Man has to be the most overly hated game ever.

 

I remember being massively disappointed by Pac-Man for the 2600 when it came out back in the day, as a 12 year old

I paid $30 for Pac-Man when it came out (which was a really good price) and I was extremely disappointed with it. In fact, I didn't buy another Atari game of any kind until about 20 years later. I even gave my 2600 away. Yeah, that was an overreaction, but it really happened.

[Miss 2600]

Thank goodness for the crash as that is when my parents finally relented and bought me the Sears console at some special Wishbook price which included a free Asteroids and Pac-Man. Plus I got games like Missile Command, Berzerk and Raiders of the Lost Ark for cheap.

Edited May 1, 2011 by Miss 2600

[Stan]

One thing I find hilarious is how games today cost essentially the same they did back then. What a rip.

[accousticguitar]

One thing I find hilarious is how games today cost essentially the same they did back then. What a rip.

But now we know if we wait a few years we can pick them up cheap!

[SlowCoder]

One thing I find hilarious is how games today cost essentially the same they did back then. What a rip.

I'm on the fence. When you consider inflation between 1980 and 2011, a $60 game back then would be closer to $100 today, maybe more.

 

But there are still only few titles I will buy at premium, and that's usually because of their online play, and I'm pretty sure I'll get my money back out of it in time played. If I know a friend is getting it I'll probably pick it up. But for games that I know I'll only play offline, I wait until they hit a much lower price.

[KEWROCK]

You know we really take for granted how relatively cheap consumer goods are today. I remember around 1980 I got my Atari 2600 newer 4 switch version, it was around $200. Premium arcade titles were between $30-40. I remember in NY we had a corporate chain called Consumer Distributors, They were getting the going rate without gouging. About a month or so later my father bought me my own GE no frills 19" color TV, $350!!! not even a remote control. Back in 2001 I bought an RCA 27" tube TV for $175. 6 months ago I bought a Panasonic 50" for $500. I just replaced my monitor with an Acer 24" 1080p for $180.

 

I don't know what new consols are out there today, but I'm thinking they run around $200, games I see advertised in BestBuy are still average $30-40.

 

The downside to all this is that we've sold our souls to China, Mexico and a host of other third world nations(no offense to any Chinese ore Mexicans on the board). While intangibles like taxes, insurance, housing and the myriad of other fees the government can come up with are spiraling out of control.

Edited May 2, 2011 by KEWROCK

[R.O.T.S]

Over here in the UK some stores back in the day like Woolworths were always expensive with not just Atari 2600 but computers and consoles in general,i remember Woolworths selling the 2600 Jnr with various twin packs of games (silver label versions) and they werre quite expensive even in the very late stages before the system was finally taken off the shelves.

[KEWROCK]

Over here in the UK some stores back in the day like Woolworths were always expensive with not just Atari 2600 but computers and consoles in general,i remember Woolworths selling the 2600 Jnr with various twin packs of games (silver label versions) and they werre quite expensive even in the very late stages before the system was finally taken off the shelves.

 

I don't think it's a matter of how expensive stuff was back then. I think it's how cheap it's become today.

 

Think about it. If every other expense in our lives, like taxes, insurance, food and housing evolved like the prices of consumer goods. We'd be living like kings at todays wages. I won't include fuel, because in America it's still cheap compared to the rest of the world. But even that's relative.