Jason's random flea market wins
First up is a pretty solid buy. I posted an ad to a few local Facebook "swap and shop" pages. These things are basically flea markets on Facebook. I've actually been quite happy with the majority of the responses. No one was posting old video games for sale, but several people have replied.
Complete in box NES-101 top loader. It had all the paperwork inside, and the console in the plastic bag it came in. Pretty neat. NES-039 "dogbone" control was there too. The games were above average, if not amazing. Contra. Final Fantasy. Some other good finds.
I paid $60 for everything. She wanted $40. I wouldn't have been able to sleep if I didn't offer her more. (I actually offered $80 and she countered for $60.)
Top Loader went to my brother for $60. Sold Contra for $20. Still have everything else.
Not a once-in-a-lifetime find, but I was really happy about it.
Another pretty solid lot from 8/10/13.
Someone I barely know through Facebook tagged me in a post about a guy selling some old Nintendo stuff. I got his number and called him to see what he had. He told me that he had some SNES stuff. He wasn't interested in breaking the lot and that he was firm on his price of $40. He began telling me the games by listing Super Castlevania and Breath of Fire. I was ready to buy. He claims to have some more stuff at his mom's house about 40 miles away. I hope he's right.
Complete in box NES-101 top loader. It had all the paperwork inside, and the console in the plastic bag it came in. Pretty neat. NES-039 "dogbone" control was there too. The games were above average, if not amazing. Contra. Final Fantasy. Some other good finds.
I paid $60 for everything. She wanted $40. I wouldn't have been able to sleep if I didn't offer her more. (I actually offered $80 and she countered for $60.)
Top Loader went to my brother for $60. Sold Contra for $20. Still have everything else.
Not a once-in-a-lifetime find, but I was really happy about it.
Another pretty solid lot from 8/10/13.
Someone I barely know through Facebook tagged me in a post about a guy selling some old Nintendo stuff. I got his number and called him to see what he had. He told me that he had some SNES stuff. He wasn't interested in breaking the lot and that he was firm on his price of $40. He began telling me the games by listing Super Castlevania and Breath of Fire. I was ready to buy. He claims to have some more stuff at his mom's house about 40 miles away. I hope he's right.
Comments
I didn't find any huge lots at the flea market this weekend. All of the boxes of unsorted games were full of dirty copies of Silent Service and Ice Hockey that the people wanted $4-$5 each for. No thanks.
I picked up these three gems for my personal collection from a very clean retro games booth. The owner was super nice and very easy to negotiate with.
Originally posted by: Tanooki
That's the difference between him and you, a conscience.
Yeah, I actually read that and thought, "Wow, what a nice guy".
Originally posted by: Bing147
Annoyed me too to be honest. Thats the kind of thing that drives up values.
Exactly. I have a conscious. But to her those games were worth $40. If she was happy and you were happy, everybody wins. None of this crap we collect is really worth anything other than the plastic it's made from. We put our own perceived values on them. What ever happened to the good ol days of collecting for great deals and finds. Now it seems everyone wants to congratulate a seller for posting their craigslist add by giving them more money. Here's an idea how about you don't, keep prices low, and use that money to go buy your girlfriend or wife something nice. Because you know she's probably just as annoyed by it as I am.
Originally posted by: Johnny5alive
She wanted $40 and you gave her $60? I just vomited in my mouth a little...
the thing I don't get is $60 is still way less than half of what it could sell for. Why not offer $100 or $125 or $150? if we are so concerned about being "fair" now? It all seems pretty arbitrary to me. Its like saying "I found a diamond ring worth 20k, they only wanted $100 but I gave them $200" I don't get it, either get a deal or don't, who is to say what is a "fair" price anyway
All of these values are made up by us and what we are willing to pay. I knew that I was going to get my money back from Kyle with the NES-101 and that I could sell Contra and Final Fantasy pretty easily to other friends. The real key, for me anyway, is that she has friends who also are looking to unload some old games. I wanted her to leave the deal feeling like I wasn't in it to rip her off. I've since been able to buy other lots of games from other moms in her extensive network.
It was a win for everyone. She got more than she expected. I got a good deal and more leads. Kyle got a CIB top loader. Nintendoage forums got to disagree. ;-)
I'm sure that I'm like most of you. I want to pick up the games I care about without spending a ton of money, but I also want to be able to sell a game here or there for a few bucks. I don't own a storefront, so I'm not holding myself out to be a reseller or a used game store. I just want to have a semi-awesome collection, and maybe break even in the process.
I picked these games up in another deal that came from the Top Loader deal lady. She wanted $30 for everything. I gave her $40, for reasons explained both in an earlier post and in the next paragraph.
The deal also included a Nintendo 64 and Goldeneye 007. I sold those to one of my friends for $40. So at this point, I'm even on the deal and have a few good N64 games to show for it. I'm not sure where these will end up, as my entire N64 collection as of this morning was four games and a console. Lol.
Anybody want to make me an offer on any of these?