Where do you mostly buy games from?

[junglehunter]

Whether it be eBay, thrift stores, pawn shops, garage sales/flea markets, I'd like to know. I can't do all at once so what do you think I should stick too? I'd probably never buy off of eBay. I usually search through thrift stores but a lot are emptied out recently. The odd time I'll find something good at a pawn shop for a decent price. What are your thoughts?

[chrisbid]

Local Mom n Pop stores are my best source for games. There are nearly a dozen stores in columbus, all with different specialties. I only go on Ebay if there is something i just cant find anywhere at all.

[zanic]

I've found "goodwill hunting" to be the best. The key I've found is to go during the weekdays, everyone cleans the stores out here on the weekends, and I've made all my best finds when I went on weekdays. Pawn shops are the best for finding rare games for a great price because they don't know what they have, but everything else is usually overpriced (I saw a PS1 selling for $85 without even all the hookups!).

[Gregory DG]

There's practically nothing around here in terms of thrifts (or I don't know about them.) Nor are there any game trade-in stores (they're too expensive anyway.) Most of my classic gaming purchases come from Ebay while most of the PC games and stuff come from Wal-Mart or EB.

[BIG EARL]

I am a "Thrift Hunter" myself, I hit the trift stores here just about every day. I have only bought a couple of games off ebay, I think the prices on ebay are higher than the same games would be in thrift stores. I recently bought TOE JAM & EARL for the Genesis for $46 shipped off of eBay, just because I will never find it in a thrift store.

 

But I think it all depends on the area you are in. You should try all of the sources you mentioned to find out which one has the most of what you want. Around here the only games that seem to show up at the thrifts are NES games, Atari & Sega games are a rare find around here.

[moycon]

Current Games- Blockbusters

Classic Games- Ebay

[MegaManFan]

I hit pawns here in O-Town, as well as a game store that specializes in used vintage and modern console shit, and the rest of the time I use eBay or hit the GameStop/Funco/et cetera in whatever town I'm in.

[Ze_ro]

Garage sales are generally a waste of time as far as I'm concerned... I don't think people even bother trying to sell Atari's at them, since they think no one will buy...

 

Thrift stores are good... check out any Value Villages you know of (since it says you're from Canada). They're significantly better than the Goodwill or Salvation Army stores around here (although Goodwill shows up some stuff from time to time).

 

Pawn shops are decent, although you're not likely to find anything older than NES stuff, since they don't think anything else will sell. Same thing goes for video game stores like Microplay... many of them sell 2nd hand games, but nothing that old. I still get a decent amount of stuff from them time to time though.

 

Practically anything can be found on eBay, but you'll have to be pretty rich to get your whole collection that way.

 

--Zero

[heavy-sixer]

Garage sales are generally a waste of time as far as I'm concerned... I don't think people even bother trying to sell Atari's at them, since they think no one will buy...

 

I usually ask the people having the garage sale if they have any old video game stuff. Many times they remember that they have stuff and go back in and get it. I've gotten a lot of stuff that way.

[Nintendo Penguin]

I am not telling!

[Cassidy Nolen]

It has been pretty "dry" lately, but for years, I would hit the thrift stuff, clearance stuff at EB, and ebay. I would say the majority of my annual game expense is Philly and Vegas shows, though. I may spend 3-400 a year at thrifts, but that gets shot through in a few hours at one of the shows.

 

Last year in Vegas, I spent every penny I had for the entire show in the 30 minutes before it started!!!! Still fun to walk around the show

 

Cassidy

[sku_u]

I'm about 50/50 between Ebay and hunting for games in "the wild"

[MegaManFan]

I usually ask the people having the garage sale if they have any old video game stuff.  Many times they remember that they have stuff and go back in and get it.  I've gotten a lot of stuff that way.

 

Exactly. I still haven't gotten anything good yet from a garage sale (except a few old records) but I always ask because you never know. A few times I've been "sumguyed" at garage sales, and someone got there JUST before I did and took all of somebody's Atari stuff. D'oh!!

[Atarinuts]

Most all of mine has come from Ebay although I've gotten a few good things from a book store / video game place here in Phoenix. You can find good stuff on ebay but you have to dig DEEP! And it takes a long time to hunt through all the "RARE ATARI 2600 COMBAT!! MUST SEE!!" crap.

[Atarinuts]

Most all of mine has come from Ebay although I've gotten a few good things from a book store / video game place here in Phoenix. You can find good stuff on ebay but you have to dig DEEP! And it takes a long time to hunt through all the "RARE ATARI 2600 COMBAT!! MUST SEE!!" crap.

[Atari Rescue Group]

When I started collecting last year I bought a number of things on ebay, but I don't look there much any more. Personally, I determined that I get a bigger charge out of finding something in the wild than having a winning bid on ebay, even if the ebay item is more rare.

 

Ebay is the best way to find boxed stuff if that's your thing. I'm ok with loose games though so garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets and sometimes a pawn shop are places where I find things. And of course trading with AA members is a source too.

 

But when a collection is very large then finding needed items almost limits one to ebay and trading.

[BoOchan!]

Classic Games- Swapmeets, Flea Markets and Pawn Shops

Modern Games - Normal Department Stores.

[Gabriel]

Most of my games lately come from two sources: the local Gamestop and a little used game store called FX.

 

I like my local Gamestop. It's a nice shop, and they've treated me well.

 

I'd like to do more business with FX for older games though. But they have their NES games (and their SNES games now, I'm told) locked up in a big glass case to where its hard to browse through them. They also tend to be more overpriced than GameStop.

 

Every once in a while, I shop at Circuit City and Toys R Us.

 

I've pretty much given up on buying game stuff at Best Buy. When I was trying to get Tekken 4, they pissed me off by selling my reserved copy, and also generally yanking me around. Combined with the general unfriendliness I experience in that store, I decided to try not to give them any business.

 

Of course, I've had much better luck with Best Buy's online store, so I still do business with them, but only for DVD movies.

[bergbros]

I am a portable collector so I got the Lynx from Ebay, where really is the only recourse you got other than trading and online distrbutors. Same with the NEO GEO Pocket. I got a Nomad so the best place to get the Genesis games are Gamespot an EB, Gamespot more so because they have buy two get one free. I got Herzog Zwei, Battletech and Shining Force II for $16.00. Even more so, they have a real helpful website where you can find the nearest stores to you and can check inventory. I even got a Gamespot in NE Philly ship games I wanted to A Gamespot next to my office. Ebay is absolutely the last resort for the Genesis.

[fire_Will]

Well it depends on a few things I think the local stores usually charge anywhere from 2.00 to 5.00 here in my area so I dont buy many there. Yard sales are my best. I got 3 systems and 42 games this weekend all for 35 bucks. Plus 11 atari joysticks, 3 other brands, and 3 sets of paddles. So if youre looking for cheap I suggest yard sales. Most of the ones I buy I dont even pay as much as I did this weekend Ive got em as cheap as 1.00 for everything 10 carts system and atari plastic cabinet last summer. You have to go early tho. Im on the street by 7:00. So if someone just walked away with system was probly me. :wink: good luck and happy Hunting!

[choplifter]

i go to THE CD/GAME EXTCHANGE. i got half of my genesis collection there. and my local thrift store had a ton of atari 2800 games. they said on them: BASEBALL PROGRAM. but they are not there anymore.

and by the way, fire will, where do you live?

[Vic George 2K3]

As far as old games go, pretty much anywhere I can find them within a reasonable price and within a good travelling distance from where I live. Same sometimes for new games.

[Room 34]

Sad to say, I've long since given up on thrifting around Atlanta. Never found ANYTHING. Supposedly some of the flea markets are good, but I'm never in a vicinity where they're taking place.

 

So for me these days it's strictly eBay, as much as I lament that fact.

[Big Player]

I have a new policy. From now on, I'll only buy from classic gaming shows. I've been to two this year, the Cinciclassic and the Phillyclassic, and these are going to be regular stopping places for me now. It works out perfectly that these shows are six months apart.

 

This will let me save my money and built up a nice want list. I came back from Philly this year with almost everything I wanted--just couldn't find a decent 5200 system.

 

I'll still hit the flea markets occasionally. I like going and never know what I'll find there. And of course I'll use the Atari Age store for all the homebrews. But the majority of my purchases are going to be from shows. Can't wait for Cinci!