I got SCREWED!!!!

[StanJr]

Ok. I'm sorry to waste everybody's time, but I have to vent this somewhere.

 

A while back this really cool dude sold me some really good Atari carts (they were mint, some in box). After the transaction, he told me about a 7800 and a bunch of boxed 7800 games he was looking to unload. He asked if I was interested, and I said "Hell yes! Here's my # call me when you know what you want for them and I WILL TAKE THEM." He says "Ok, I'll do that."

Weeks pass, I e-mail the dude yesterday asking if he was still looking to unload the 7800 and games. He goes "Yeah, but I've decided to put them on e-bay, here's the link, feel free to BID on them!"

 

WHAT THE MAJOR is wrong with this hole???!! I'd like to find this guy and beat his in' head in!

 

AAAAAAARRRRRGHHHHHHH!!!!

 

If you see a bundle of 7800 games and/or a system on e-bay now or in the near future, steer clear, the seller is a douche-bag.

 

Anybody else want to jump on my rant? Am I being overly upset about this?

[atari70s]

oh come on man i think you need to take this guy put him under your hat so noone else gets him . this time make sure you close the door and lock it

[Ze_ro]

Ah, that's not so bad... I doubt he had anything amazing anyways. It does suck that you don't get first dibs on it, and will probably end up paying more for it over eBay, but I still think you're making a bit too much of a deal out of it...

 

--Zero

[Lemmi]

Stan Sorry about your situation man that sucks , but i havent anything close to this to rant about as you were the 2nd person/company i've delt with outside of my own area concerning Video games

 

But i can hook you up with a 7800 and 1 controller( I have 4 systems but only 3 controllers, it seems everyone i find dont look to good or the stick is broke off) ,the only problem is it wont have a power supply, cause all my 7800's run off the only power supply i got which was from the store bought i got when it came out )

 

Let me know cause it will be pretty cheap cause of the no power supply thing

[StanJr]

Its not even missing out on the 7800 that chaps my . Its the principle. What happened to the day when a person's word was their bond? I don't say one thing to you and then do the opposite. I never will. My word IS my bond. What happened to trust?

I blame this partially on e-bay (merely for existing), but mostly on this "guy" for saying one thing and doing another.

 

I just thought it would be cool to get a 7800 since I've never had one, but now, I'm spoiled on the whole thing.

 

UNhappy Stan

[Atari-Jess]

i feel for you stan, i really do. I hate it when people do that to me (which happens more often than not.) so i understand what your goin through. IT TOTALLY SUCKS!!!!!

[Ze_ro]

Well, he's not really doing the opposite of what he said. He never said explicitly that he would definitely sell it to you (If he did, then ignore my whole reply). I'd be more pissed off if he jumped the price by $20 after finding out that it was worth something.

 

--Zero (6 more...)

[StanJr]

He said he would call ME (not e-bay) when he was ready to sell them. To me this means that he plans to sell them to ME (not e-bay). He didn't say "I'm puttin them on e-bay in a month or so, keep an eye out."

 

That'd be like me saying, "Hey Ze_ro, if you need a Quadrun and I see one, I'll buy it and call you." Then, after I find it, I put it on e-bay.

[Snider-man]

Hey Stan,

 

Well, let me play Devil's Advocate for just a sec. I agree that what the guy did was dirty pool and that he's a cheez-whiz suckin' jerk, but let's reverse the situation. Let's suppose that he had several reasonably rare 7800 carts in the pile and was unaware of what their value was. So you low-ball him and offer $2 a crack for each. Then YOU turn around and eBay 'em for a tidy profit. All the while chirping about how you snagged some great carts for just pennies.

 

Now then, should we then think of you in a similar fashion, or should we praise you - as we do for anyone who scores - because you didn't inform the guy of their real value?

 

It kinda chafes me when folks on these boards crow about getting super-rare carts for next to nothing because the seller didn't have an idea of their value. But these same collectors will ***** up a storm when a seller has an inkling, places them on eBay, and gets what they're actually worth.

 

Not slamming you personally, Stan. I think it sucks. But, had he sold you some protos for pennies, would you have posted how shrewd you were for taking advantage of a situation - much like this guy seems to be doing?

[Saqqqq]

Even the best of us get screwed every once in a while!

[StanJr]

I appreciate your point, Snider-man, but there are two things about your story that don't apply to me. First, if the person was clueless about the value of the games, I may not volunteer the information about their rareness, but I wouldn't low-ball them out of the game either, I'd probably pay whatever they were asking if it was reasonable AND I wanted the games.

Second. I would NEVER, EVER, EVER, sell them (Or anything else for that matter) on e-bay. YOU WILL NEVER SEE AN ITEM OF MINE BEING SOLD ON E-BAY. That is a promise to you.

 

Now, I may be excited about a great find, but I would not be proud of jipping someone out of something, that's not cool.

 

I agree with you Snider, people who do that are weasely. If I ever did something like what you said (which I can't imagine doing), I would expect ridicule and distrust, not praise and cheers.

 

Sore spot Stan

[bcprs1]

I think the problem a lot of people have is that they don't want to get screwed. I have had people ask me what I would pay for a game and I give them an honest fair value. Some people agree to that, but I have had a few put their item on ebay hoping to get more for it. The real atari collectors know what things go for. I think outsiders get a little nervous when u tell them the most you will pay for some common games is 50 cents.

[Snider-man]

Replying to Ze_ro: But, if your friend *had* spied three or four games worth $25 each, would he have 'fessed up and paid her $100 for the total package? Or would he still have paid only $25 without pointing out her error? This is the point I'm making. We all want to make the "score" and get sore when we feel that opportunity slip by.

 

Replying to Stan: Having met ya Stan, I agree that you wouldn't have taken the route I suggested. I was just making a point.

 

What probably happened is that the guy discovered that, rather than being so much Goodwill fodder, that classic video games and video games systems have some value after all. He may have told you he was going to sell them to you, but changed his mind after seeing Antique Roadshow (See earlier thread).

[Ze_ro]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Snider-man:

if your friend *had* spied three or four games worth $25 each, would he have 'fessed up and paid her $100 for the total package? Or would he still have paid only $25 without pointing out her error?

---

 

Knowing my friend, he probably wouldn't have told her... and I doubt I would have either.

 

The way I see it, most people just want to get this crap out of their basement, and are happy to get any money at all for it. They're happy, I'm happy, everyone wins. Chances are, they'll never find out what they missed out on, so I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

 

--Zero (3 more...)

[ATARIPITBULL]

I agree that what this guy did to you was not right, but look at it this way, he's not one of those people who you send your money to, and expect your games to be sent to you, but they never do. I had sent this little piece of s $50.00 for his crazy climber game, and he never sent it to me and he even change his email address.

So in the end you did not lose any money, and I am out $50.00.

[Ze_ro]

A friend of mine found a woman wanting to sell her 5200 in town... he went over to her house to check it out, and they ended up in a discussion about video games and their worth. He told me he was worried he'd accidentally let it slip that some games were actually worth quite a bit, but he managed to kinda skirt around the issue ("Well, yeah... some of them are worth a lot... but most of them are only worth $1 or so..."). In the end, I think he ended up getting the 5200 (A four port by the way) with 12 games and connections for about $25... not too bad, but none of the games were anything rare.

 

--Zero (5 more...)