Colecovision for $500 (!)

[jbanes]

Maybe I'm missing something, but I just ran across an amusing eBay offer. For a mere $500 (!), you too can own a "mint" condition Colecovision. And what would you expect to get for this low, low price? Why, not only will you get a Colecovision, but he'll throw in a 2600 adapter and 7 games! (One of them is for the 2600 adapter.) Are you ready to jump on this deal yet?

 

Well, if that doesn't change your mind, just keep reading. Because when the seller was informed that he's "charging $450 too much", he replied that "[the] system is a rare and priceless find to a TRUE COLLECTOR" and that he's "confident of its value". Apparently, this is a "one of a kind" system "in MINT condition". According to him, "You will not find a more perfect Vintage Video game system anywhere." Trust him, he's looked!

 

Why should we trust him? Because, he's "a collector [him]self" and he "wouldn't be selling such a Mint Condition Video Game System if I didn't have too [sic]." (Yes, that "too" is typical of the english used throughout the posting. Apparently he decided not to proofread it.)

 

Seriously, one has to wonder what this guy is smoking. A new in box Colecovision went for only $227 last week. Why does he think that he can get $500 for it? Especially since he seems to sell a lot of Colecovision gear. It's got to be a lark or something. Perhaps he's trying to see if a fool and their money are really so easily parted. Either that, or there's something really special about this system that he isn't telling mere mortals. Anyone have any ideas, or are you just as skeptical?

 

Edit: I must have been tired last night. I seem to have confused the sellers of the NIB Colecovision and the $500 Colecovision. They're not the same. (Thank God. That would have been *really* strange. )

Edited June 1, 2006 by jbanes

[+batari]

Seriously, one has to wonder what this guy is smoking.

Look at the guy's screen name. That says it all!

[futuramaooy]

eBay is not a good place usually. :S 40 AUD for Street Gangs (PAL version of River City Ransom) without box, just a tatty Manual. worse is: Mega Man 2, complete for 80 bucks. Im seriously considering taking out the lockout chip out of my NES to get it cheap in America. Both the same person -_-

 

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/MEGA-MAN-2-NES-PAL-...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

If someone buys it at that price, I will laugh at the person.

Edited June 1, 2006 by futuramaooy

[Flojomojo]

He's wasting his listing fees by being greedy. If he would let the auction run, he could get maybe $75 for it. As it is, he's not going to get anything.

 

Still, it's OK to have idiot sellers (and buyers) on Ebay. It's a very pure form of market economics. If you want something rare, you have to pay more than the other people who also want it. If you're selling common crap and asking 90% too much, it's not going to sell.

[jbanes]

eBay is not a good place usually.

 

I wouldn't say that. It's really just an electronic flea market. Some stuff is a really good deal, and some stuff is overpriced junk. (I'll let you decide which category this item falls into. )

 

For example, I just picked up a lightly used Atari 5200 for $19.99. It was in its original box, and came with Pacman and Frogger. No one bid on it because the seller said that the "controllers don't work well, and should be replaced." Knowing that ALL 5200 controllers are finicky, I picked up the unit. The controllers were indeed in a barely functional state, but they were otherwise like new. The boot still recentered the sticks, the plastic was clean and without marks, etc. So I opened them up, cleaned the switches, recentered the POTS, and now they work perfectly.

 

If only I could find a Colecovision in known working condition that didn't cost $50+, I'd be set.

[+Allan]

Yup.

 

I recently picked up a mint 4-port 5200, trackball, 4 sticks, and 8 commons. The shipping was high but the seller was local so I asked if I could pick it up and skip the shipping. He agreed so I got all of the above for $30.

 

Allan

[Pixelboy]

I remember a buyer paying over 500$ for a new-in-box CV on eBay recently, but a CV box that's never been opened is really a rare find indeed, so as long as the CV stays in the sealed box, it will continue to be one of those "true" collector's item.

 

About the seller we're talking about in this thread, he's definately asking for WAY too much, but his items do look like they're in near-mint condition, although it's hard to be sure from the pictures. Heck, the console and game boxes aren't even included.

[chuckwalla]

Typical of ebay sellers nowadays - BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!

I won/bought a Colecovision MIB (and the box WAS mint too) on ebay 7 years ago DURING Christmas for $100.

 

I've bought many NIB Colecovision accessories and games from Jack Berg on the internet too including NIB/SEALED 2600 adaptors and Turbo/driving wheels for $35 each (I think they were his ebays auctions too).

[Bruce Tomlin]

Why should we trust him? Because, he's "a collector [him]self" and he "wouldn't be selling such a Mint Condition Video Game System if I didn't have too [sic]." (Yes, that "too" is typical of the english used throughout the posting. Apparently he decided not to proofread it.)

You should know by now that the word "mint" on ebay refers to flavor, not condition.

[Cheese007]

eBay is not a good place usually. :S 40 AUD for Street Gangs (PAL version of River City Ransom) without box, just a tatty Manual. worse is: Mega Man 2, complete for 80 bucks. Im seriously considering taking out the lockout chip out of my NES to get it cheap in America. Both the same person -_-

 

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/MEGA-MAN-2-NES-PAL-...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

If someone buys it at that price, I will laugh at the person.

A pirate Mega Man 2 for $80. I mean pirate stuff is cool but...

damn.

Whoever thinks they can sell a really shiny Colecovision for $500 is inasane, retarded, or smoking something really good lol j/k.

[Bruce Tomlin]

eBay is not a good place usually. :S 40 AUD for Street Gangs (PAL version of River City Ransom) without box, just a tatty Manual. worse is: Mega Man 2, complete for 80 bucks. Im seriously considering taking out the lockout chip out of my NES to get it cheap in America. Both the same person -_-

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/MEGA-MAN-2-NES-PAL-...1QQcmdZViewItem

If someone buys it at that price, I will laugh at the person.

A pirate Mega Man 2 for $80. I mean pirate stuff is cool but...

Who said it was pirate? It's just a stupid price. And he's talking about trying to play NTSC games in a PAL console. The NES used different lockout chip codes for region protection. The grounding pin 4 trick should work, however.

[shadow460]

Talk about sticker shock.

[Inky]

It appears to me that 3 of the games are 2600 games...

 

Ms. Pac,

Casino,

Riddle of the Sphinx...

[JagFan422]

wow good eye. <sarcasm>

[Cheese007]

eBay is not a good place usually. :S 40 AUD for Street Gangs (PAL version of River City Ransom) without box, just a tatty Manual. worse is: Mega Man 2, complete for 80 bucks. Im seriously considering taking out the lockout chip out of my NES to get it cheap in America. Both the same person -_-

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/MEGA-MAN-2-NES-PAL-...1QQcmdZViewItem

If someone buys it at that price, I will laugh at the person.

A pirate Mega Man 2 for $80. I mean pirate stuff is cool but...

Who said it was pirate? It's just a stupid price. And he's talking about trying to play NTSC games in a PAL console. The NES used different lockout chip codes for region protection. The grounding pin 4 trick should work, however.

Check out the "original" Nintnedo sela of quality. Of course it could be a differnet seal than the U.S. one which is the Official Nintendo seal of quality but I don't know. EDIT: Yeah it's PAL.

Edited June 5, 2006 by Cheese007

[JagFan422]

This was about as ridiculous as someone paid like $500 for a sealed Zelda, one of the most common games on the NES, I couldn't believe it.

[Lemmi]

this is almost as bad as paying original full price for 3DO games