game store gone downhill rant

[THE AtariGuy]

Not sure where to put this, so move it if you must. My local game store, good time games in waterloo, ontario, has gone downhill since the new owner came in. The prices for everything are increased. Haunted House for atari 2600 was 4.99 cdn, now it it 9.99 cdn. They got in a fairchild channel f, with no games, only coming with one controller and a power supply, and the new owner wanted $550 for it. I saw a man purchace a dreamcast for 124.99, when I got mine at the same place with the old owner for 99.99. They never get any new 2600 stuff, and the zellers carts they have are priced like US ebay even though, tbh, zellers carts aren't that hard to find up here. Their are some positive changes, like an increase of vintage computers and software they get. I want a vintage computer, I just don't want to spend the money they are worth right now, and I can't fix a cheap, broken one. After all that, I still go because most of the competitors are further away and/or also try to rip me off. I miss the old good time games.

[profholt82]

I've been hearing similar sentiments for a few years now, so your situation isn't unique. Still stinks though. I'm fortunate in that there are a few shops within driving distance for me. Not as many as there used to be, but still enough competition to where they tend to keep the prices reasonable. Most of them hover around average ebay BINs on most items, often a little cheaper even, but then often have additional sales and such. One of them does a deal where you receive a 20% off coupon for every 10 times you visit the store which is nice. But I realize that I'm fortunate compared to a lot of guys nowadays. 

[+atari2600land]

Yes, my Game Crazy has exorbitant prices as well. Not sure if they're using eBay as a pricing guide (which is a no-no), or what, but that Jaguar has been sitting there for a while priced at around $400.

[+jgkspsx]

Companies have to stay in business.

[RJ]

Things change. Roll.with it.

[pacman000]

If they don’t offer prices comparable to eBay, someone will come in, buy them out, & put the merchandise on eBay anyways.

[Jorbus]

As someone who works at a gaming store (not GTG or Gamestop) I can say what yr seeing on the brick-and-mortar front is an inevitable result of countless factors in this hobby (eBay speculators, the WATA scandals etc...). It's happened to comics, coins, TCGs, vinyl records, and now the time is ripe for millionaires wanting to "invest" in their beloved childhood to inflate the gaming market. It sucks. But brick-and-mortar stores are now a slave to the online auction markets, and if they don't keep up with it they will cease to exist. I hate pricing games and consoles at orders of magnitude more than they were even 2 years ago, but as others here have said if we don't the ebay flippers will eat our lunch and I'd be out of a job. Again, it sucks. I'm sorry ? 

[Tavi]

I have noticed this as well. I think with everyone pretty much staying at home considerably more the last two years has driven all video game and console prices up considerably.

People have a lot more time to kill while in the house, and looking at pricing in stores and places like eBay I would say many of these are looking to indulge themselves in some video gaming nostalgia. Reliving happier times and all that I suppose?

Which kind of sucks for those of us on the demand side of the supply/demand chain; but not much one can do about it unfortunately.

[THE AtariGuy]

I still shop there because the service is still good and I like to see games before I buy them.

 

[+x=usr(1536)]

Nothing wrong with checking the forums both here and elsewhere for whatever it is you may be looking for.  A post in the Wanted forum can go a long way.

[Cobra Kai]

I've always had a problem with game stores that are willing to sit on inventory just to get the hottest most recent ebay sale price. To me it doesn't make sense. You can see the same games for months, and years. 

 

Bluntly put, you guys are not ebay, where the consumer has many more and better options to get the best condition game. Price your goods to sell, not to sit on the shelf. Any local game store has a limited market place with the local economy. If you just want to be a store that sells hot trending upper limit ebay pricing, then sell your game stock on ebay. OTherwise, give people a reason to frequent your store, because I can save a whole lot of time and gas money just sitting at home and pressing BUY IT NOW.

[+swlovinist]

There are challenges for sure with physical stores moving forward.   Having the public move toward a digital future means that less games are going to be traded in, with current stock being picked over more.   Along with that and mentioned above, you typically are going to see higher prices which is going to price out some from the market.   I believe that excellent customer service, competitive pricing, frequent stock updates, and clean/easy to navigate store layouts will help game stores be successful.   There will  be some iconic game stores around(that do the mentioned above), but for some the future is going to be difficult.  

[+x=usr(1536)]

13 minutes ago, Cobra Kai said:

I've always had a problem with game stores that are willing to sit on inventory just to get the hottest most recent ebay sale price. To me it doesn't make sense. You can see the same games for months, and years. 

 

Bluntly put, you guys are not ebay, where the consumer has many more and better options to get the best condition game. Price your goods to sell, not to sit on the shelf. Any local game store has a limited market place with the local economy. If you just want to be a store that sells hot trending upper limit ebay pricing, then sell your game stock on ebay. OTherwise, give people a reason to frequent your store, because I can save a whole lot of time and gas money just sitting at home and pressing BUY IT NOW.

This is something that I've wondered about as well.

 

My thought has been that a large chunk of the independent brick-and-mortar retailers also sell on eBay.  If they can undercut the usual eBay speculators by a decent margin (say 10%), that should be enough to drive business to them rather than the L@@K HOLY GRAIL RARE!!!!!!eleven!! sellers who are just there to make a quick buck.  Let inventory sit on their shelves, not the stores'.

 

I'm not ignoring the fact that in retail there are lights to be kept on and doors that need to stay open.  Slashing prices to what we'd like to pay would be suicide, and I don't believe that anyone is advocating that.  But trying to keep pace with the people inflating prices rather than making it economically unfeasible for them to do so seems like a losing proposition in the long run.

 

Granted, none of the above takes into account how damned expensive it is to sell on eBay these days, or that in many ways that's a driver behind prices perpetually going up.  I'm at the point where unless I have an item of at least $100 in value, it's just not worth it to me to bother with them.

[Cobra Kai]

Of course we want the store to make a profit. But we all know how these stores operate, which is not different from a pawn shop. They give people extremely low ball offers for even the rarest of games, and set their retail price to max. 

 

So, one of the posters above who works in a game store, basically stated this mist be done almost as armor against resellers. Presumably make the games too expensive for resellers to buy from them just to turn around and sell it for more on ebay. 

 

My question is, why do you care about that? Even if the retail store sells the game for 'less than it's worth', the store in question, having certainly acquired the game for pennies on the dollar, will bring in a much higher profit margin than this 'reseller' who may make a higher final sale price, but he also paid more for the game up front. 

 

When you try to compete with ebay by charging ebay prices, you're not giving me much incentive to visit your store. 

[+davidcalgary29]

None of you people deserve any game stores! I have a four or five hour round trip drive to reach a GameStop (ugh, and ten hours for anything acceptable), and that's sixty bucks in gas right there.

[youxia]

28 minutes ago, Cobra Kai said:

Of course we want the store to make a profit. But we all know how these stores operate, which is not different from a pawn shop. They give people extremely low ball offers for even the rarest of games, and set their retail price to max.

I don't know how it is now, but when I was still shopping at CEX, they would give you at least 50-60% of game's worth on trade-in (bit less in cash) and then sell it for quite reasonable prices. This wasn't a bad model at all, but I guess it all depends on a shop. And the main incentive of going there for me was the fact that I simply like buying stuff at real shops. Shopping online is somewhat convenient but also rather dull.

 

There is also the question of what really is the "ebay price". For me, it's definitely not having a glance at a few BIN prices, and deciding this is a represantive sample. So, a shop would do well to find a balance between one that discourages scalpers but is still reasonable & balanced.

 

 

[+jgkspsx]

I virtually never pay the mean BIN asking price on eBay. If I can’t get it for at least 10% less than the PriceCharting average I usually wait. But I often pay over the PriceCharting average at small local retail stores if it’s less than $30, just to help them out.

[Jorbus]

4 hours ago, Cobra Kai said:

 

My question is, why do you care about that? Even if the retail store sells the game for 'less than it's worth', the store in question, having certainly acquired the game for pennies on the dollar, will bring in a much higher profit margin than this 'reseller' who may make a higher final sale price, but he also paid more for the game up front. 

 

When you try to compete with ebay by charging ebay prices, you're not giving me much incentive to visit your store. 

I certainly can't speak for every store, but for my shop I know when people bring in true rarities (like the OP mentioned a Channel F) we have to pay up. Even if the seller doesn't know what they have we don't want a reputation as highway robbers to get around town or people will stop bringing us cool shit. For every 1 person who has no idea their game are "worth" a lot, we have dozens of people who will walk on our fair (imho) offers saying "I can sell it for more on ebay". 

And I'm not saying we are competing w online auctions. Rather, the online auctions are now dictating the market prices. 

[Draxxon]

Man, I miss the days I worked at Game Xchange and someone would come in with something rare like a Virtual Boy, Panasonic 3DO, GameBoy Printer, you name it, and I would look at the price book, and say "Oh if its not in the price book we don't buy it, I can only off your a flat $5.00 in cash, but meet me outside by my car after work and Ill give you $20 bucks for it." That's how I got most of my off the wall consoles back then.

Back then it was all kind of new, and Game Xchange had no clue at all. People really didn't give a shit about the Jaguars and the Nomads. You know, after awhile you realize that game stores never have anything really cool because the workers are collectors and get the stuff first. It never makes it to the shelf.

Edited November 2, 2021 by Draxxon

[Keatah]

I wanna relive the same cartridge-buying experience from the 70's and 80's with emulators today. That's one aspect in which they seem 2B lacking. And not sure how to recreate that.

[pacman000]

Go to the drug store & buy thumb drives; pretend they're Atari carts, & pretend the drugstore's Woolworths, Ben Franklin's, or another old chain.

 

(Actually, there is a surviving Ben Franklin's around me which is a drugstore, but that's off topic.)

[Jorbus]

1 hour ago, Keatah said:

I wanna relive the same cartridge-buying experience from the 70's and 80's with emulators today. That's one aspect in which they seem 2B lacking. And not sure how to recreate that.

Somebody get on designing a Babagge's shopping simulator game, stat!

[Draxxon]

IDK the cart buying experience I remember was calling every electronics store/department in town and asking them if they had (insert newest unreleased game here) yet and if yes, would they hold one.

[Keatah]

My 1st cart buying experiences involved wandering around Sears. Or other over-sanitized-smelling department stores. Looking at the displays. Having a debate on-site. Looking in the black unlocked storage cabinets. Picking out 2 or 3. Purchasing with cash. Getting a handwritten receipt. Going to McDonald's with the grandparents. Sometimes even shooting off Estes model rockets or playing with COX .049 control-line model planes if the weather was right. Then wrapping it up with an evening of actual game playing. And having a traditional home-baked pot pie or frozen dinner for dinner. If we were lucky, an episode of BSG or Buck Rogers was airing too! Clearly remember searching through the small handbook-sized TV Guides. Hadn't thought about those in ages! Maybe even reading astronomy books or playing on my tiny JVC3050 TV set, under the blanket fort.

 

But before all that happened we did serious scientific-grade research by reading EGM and watching Saturday Morning Cartoons. And especially reading the Atari 2600 catalogs from cover to cover, over and over.

Edited November 2, 2021 by Keatah

[CapitanClassic]

What is a good price to avoid eBay flippers?

2/3rds the average?

If a complete copy of Metal Storm (NES) sales for $400 on average, is $266 enough to prevent the flipper? Or is more of a sliding scale, where the potential profits need to be less than some percentage investment? For example, if Metal Storm was sold for $350, the flipper would have to invest 7 times the amount to make $50.

https://www.pricecharting.com/game/nes/metal-storm#completed-auctions-cib