Buying games just to resell them...

[Masamune]

There's definitely a phenomena going on with ever rising prices for complete retro games, particularly with NES and SNES games. I actually find many Genesis games to be cheaply brought mint and complete as opposed the previous two I mentioned.

That being said, I do believe there are forces out there (resellers, business people who have no interest in gaming) who are driving up prices of games, perhaps faster than their natural time. I hate that is happening to people who are genuine gamers.

A even more disturbing thing that I had not thought about before may also be contributing to the outrageous prices for older games. If what he describes is true, the market is in serious trouble: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/916396-snes/62807799

[Aarzak]

I used to do this back in my teenage years (when it was the only source of income I'd earn on my own).

For example, I bought a used copy of Final Fantasy II (SNES) at my local game store for $25 back in 2001, cleaned it up, went downtown and sold it to Software. ETC for a little more than that the same day. I used the proceeds to get me an original brick Game Boy with two games.

It horribly backfired on me one time though. Bought a brand-new Derby Stallion Sega Saturn +4 games+cool third-party pad for $120. Was desperate enough to sell it for just $30 four years later. Biggest gaming regret EVAR.

I also did this with some of the games I've sold here in the Bazaar, and I like to think that the buyers got a good deal out of me compared to other sellers.

[Guntz]

I think you guys are turning "Supply And Demand" into a little too much of a conspiracy theory...if these games weren't in demand then they wouldn't be going for the price that they're going for. This isn't ten years ago where the internet was primitive and people didn't know very much about classic games unless they researched. Virtual Console and XBLA are opening up new markets for gamers to play the originals. Kids are growing up and have expendable income and want to buy the things they played as a kid for their kids. Hell, you guys want the games, there's bound to be others out there who also want them.

Unless there is an extremely limited quantity of a game, it is nigh impossible for any reseller to actually hoard enough copies of a single video game title in order to drive up prices. To blame resellers for rising video game prices is an extreme ignorance of Economics.

I remember somebody tried (and might still be trying) to hoard Magical Chase for the TG16...

[Curryman123]

I buy and resell games sometimes....I don't give a shit.

[QuickSciFi]

Just for the record, not to trump my previous statement, but I have no problem whatsoever with other people buying to resell. It's a business and I know for a fact I wouldn't own more than half my games if it wasn't for a number regular Joes who found their item somewhere for extremely cheap and resold it to me for an affordable price. Thanks to all of you who have helped my collection grow this way (I know there's even a few of them right here in sega-16).

[AD2101]

This may slightly contradict my view on the subject, but I will say it pisses me off when I walk through thrift stores or Goodwill stores and see people glued to the eBay app on their smartphones. For all I know they are just trying to see if what they are buying is actually at a good price, but I'd bet money that they are just seeing what they can resell it for. I guess I'm ok with this, but I like to think of myself as someone who knows what's valuable when I see it in regards to what I collect and resell. A lot of Nintendo games I still need help with determining its value as I'm still a stubborn Sega guy, but anything Sega or video game console related I know what to pick up and what to walk away from.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you are going to resell things you pick at a thrift store, you should at least know what you're looking for/know what is valuable and what's junk. Having to search eBay for the going rates for everything that catches your eye while you're in the store just makes you reek of asshole.

[xelement5x]

This may slightly contradict my view on the subject, but I will say it pisses me off when I walk through thrift stores or Goodwill stores and see people glued to the eBay app on their smartphones. For all I know they are just trying to see if what they are buying is actually at a good price, but I'd bet money that they are just seeing what they can resell it for. I guess I'm ok with this, but I like to think of myself as someone who knows what's valuable when I see it in regards to what I collect and resell. A lot of Nintendo games I still need help with determining its value as I'm still a stubborn Sega guy, but anything Sega or video game console related I know what to pick up and what to walk away from.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you are going to resell things you pick at a thrift store, you should at least know what you're looking for/know what is valuable and what's junk. Having to search eBay for the going rates for everything that catches your eye while you're in the store just makes you reek of asshole.

I agree, I did that same thing a couple times and felt like an absolute schmuck trying to use my smartphone to price stuff. I started doing a lot more research in general and feel good about being able to gauge the worth of something (not just games) on the fly now. Most of the things I've gotten are all from the same thrift, so they know me as well and I'm able to get a peek at stuff that hasn't been set out yet occasionally

[tz101]

This may slightly contradict my view on the subject, but I will say it pisses me off when I walk through thrift stores or Goodwill stores and see people glued to the eBay app on their smartphones. For all I know they are just trying to see if what they are buying is actually at a good price, but I'd bet money that they are just seeing what they can resell it for. I guess I'm ok with this, but I like to think of myself as someone who knows what's valuable when I see it in regards to what I collect and resell. A lot of Nintendo games I still need help with determining its value as I'm still a stubborn Sega guy, but anything Sega or video game console related I know what to pick up and what to walk away from.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you are going to resell things you pick at a thrift store, you should at least know what you're looking for/know what is valuable and what's junk. Having to search eBay for the going rates for everything that catches your eye while you're in the store just makes you reek of asshole.

Worse than this, I used to visit a Salvation Army store where they had a laptop by the cash register. Every game item you brought to pay for was price-checked online first. I stopped buying there for a while, and they quit doing that.

[Iron Lizard]

I don't understand why people are so stuck on flipping only games when there is so much else out there.

[David J.]

I don't understand why people are so stuck on flipping only games when there is so much else out there.

I know right. I'm still a little mad (ok not really) that my mom wouldn't spot me $8 for a CED player and like 8 movies that were kinda rare at a Sal Vay but oh well. I could have made my money back and then some.

[KnightWarrior]

I know right. I'm still a little mad (ok not really) that my mom wouldn't spot me $8 for a CED player and like 8 movies that were kinda rare at a Sal Vay but oh well. I could have made my money back and then some.

I think she knew you not buying it for you..

[goldenband]

I remember somebody tried (and might still be trying) to hoard Magical Chase for the TG16...

Yeah, there are people who are aggressively trying to corner the market on certain titles and consoles. There's a guy notorious for buying every single Magnavox Odyssey console on Ebay, and then marking it up by outrageous proportions. His mission is to make it so that if you want to play that console, you have to go through him.

It might be silly to talk about conspiracy theories (per Baloo), but there's definitely a strong collusive tendency among sellers. It goes back to the Antiques Roadshow* thing: everyone wants to push the valuations higher, because it creates hype, generates money, and makes people feel special. Sellers want to saturate Ebay with outrageously expensive BINs so that those prices become the "new normal", and as we know plenty of people are naive or stupid enough to take those at face value. And Ebay, of course, has every incentive to enable them in that.

But no one is creating any wealth -- it's all a fraud that adds nothing to the world. And so it's inherently toxic.

*(Many people don't know -- at least I certainly didn't, until recently -- that the valuations on Antiques Roadshow are almost always inflated by at least 33-50%, and sometimes much more. They're the PBS equivalent of Ebay's BINs.)

[Tanegashima]

My brother and I used to go to radio shack when we were kids and buy the blowout games outta the bin for under say $20. I remember Kay Bee or Toys R Us had a game buy back and trade in deal and we used to be able to buy those blowout games and go right to toys r us or kay bee and get at least a little bit more than we paid in trade for the games. It was great! I remember we ended up getting a few Genesis games for only $20 or $30 brand new thanks to Radio Shacks insane markdowns!

Those days are over...

[tz101]

Unless there is an extremely limited quantity of a game, it is nigh impossible for any reseller to actually hoard enough copies of a single video game title in order to drive up prices. To blame resellers for rising video game prices is an extreme ignorance of Economics.

I am a business major and cornering the market can be accomplished, or at least influencing prices to go higher just by pricing a segment of the population at inflated rates. Once you get buyers seeing inflated "going prices", they become accustomed to those prices, no matter how ridiculous they are.

There's a thread over at Digital Press right now discussing a guy doing exactly this with NES Chubby Cherub on ebay. I tried to link it with no success.