Flea market stories and opinions?
I was at the flea market yesterday and I noticed something odd in one booth: the guy had a device labeled as a "Game Boy Macro." I asked him about that and he pulled it out and what it amounted to was a DS Lite with the top half broken off. I wasn't too impressed. Still, it did play GBA games, and it took some skill and effort to resolder some things to make it work, I guess. But it gave a pretty junky impression to me, and I wasn't exactly sold on the idea.
Then there was the guy who casually threw a GB game onto a table. I asked him if he handled all his stuff that way. He responded that it didn't matter.
And there's the booth with the common NES games going for as much $8 and the better ones more or less double market value, with the guy smoking in the middle of it all. They tried to brag about the effort they went to polishing the contacts, but that smoker really put me off that place.
I suspect I will eventually earn the dislike of all the game sellers in there, as much as I question them on evrything and buy almost nothing. Even the one guy I really like charged me $15 for Sonic 2 in the box, and I've just seen that an NA memeber has the Mega Drive version up on ebay for about $6.
Occasionally I find one or two small things that are decent, like a copy of Brotherhood of Steel PS2 that was like new for only $2. But anyone who's an established seller almost always jacks their prices up way over anything I can pay online. It's made the entire experience not much fun, for the most part.
What's ironic is that I paid $10 each for Super Metroid and Castlevania IV at the same flea market 15 years ago.
Then there was the guy who casually threw a GB game onto a table. I asked him if he handled all his stuff that way. He responded that it didn't matter.
And there's the booth with the common NES games going for as much $8 and the better ones more or less double market value, with the guy smoking in the middle of it all. They tried to brag about the effort they went to polishing the contacts, but that smoker really put me off that place.
I suspect I will eventually earn the dislike of all the game sellers in there, as much as I question them on evrything and buy almost nothing. Even the one guy I really like charged me $15 for Sonic 2 in the box, and I've just seen that an NA memeber has the Mega Drive version up on ebay for about $6.
Occasionally I find one or two small things that are decent, like a copy of Brotherhood of Steel PS2 that was like new for only $2. But anyone who's an established seller almost always jacks their prices up way over anything I can pay online. It's made the entire experience not much fun, for the most part.
What's ironic is that I paid $10 each for Super Metroid and Castlevania IV at the same flea market 15 years ago.
Comments
As for the Gameboy Macro, it's a pretty common mod. They look really nice if done well
If you could find a way to have the cart sit flush with the bottom it would be perfect
Yeah 15 years ago. Times have changed. I don't even bother anymore. Just buy my shit online and don't waste my time.
As for the Gameboy Macro, it's a pretty common mod. They look really nice if done well
This is the route I have started taking more and more because searching out in the wild is starting to become a big waste of my time. I end up coming home frustrated and feel like I could have done something more constructive.
Yeah 15 years ago. Times have changed. I don't even bother anymore. Just buy my shit online and don't waste my time.
As for the Gameboy Macro, it's a pretty common mod. They look really nice if done well
This is the route I have started taking more and more because searching out in the wild is starting to become a big waste of my time. I end up coming home frustrated and feel like I could have done something more constructive.
Its very rare that I go, but even if I DO find something, it's like cool I saved 20 bucks rather than eBay. But I spent two hours searching the market. I value my time a bit more than that
Don't bother with resellers at the flea markets. Just focus on the vendors with all the random junk. Those are the places you were find gems for cheap.
Yeah, that's proven true. I got some sealed PS3 games for $4 each a few weeks back at a table way, way in the back. Another guy had PS2 games in pristine condition for $2 each.
What gets me is, I don't understand how the vendors even stay in business with their markups.
Don't bother with resellers at the flea markets. Just focus on the vendors with all the random junk. Those are the places you were find gems for cheap.
This. I wouldn't really dismiss flea markets all together, but the resellers do make it a drag sometimes.
For the most part, it's the "thrill of the hunt" that gets me going to flea markets. I usually go for the people who sell DVDs and/or music CDs since you may find a few games in them sometimes. Heck, I would even get a cheap music CD or DVD or two (The ones that NO ONE would buy) just so I would have some replacement cases.
Don't bother with resellers at the flea markets. Just focus on the vendors with all the random junk. Those are the places you were find gems for cheap.
This. I wouldn't really dismiss flea markets all together, but the resellers do make it a drag sometimes.
For the most part, it's the "thrill of the hunt" that gets me going to flea markets.
yaa! there is an indoor/outdoor flea market by me. inside is all the same venders ever week with the same stuff. there is one reseller of games inside. he charges more than ebay by %15-%20. its hilarious. i dont even go inside.
outside is where i might find something. different people setting up thier random shit for sale. diging through giant plastic totes (i always get a lil chub when i see one with sone wires or toys).
I suspect I will eventually earn the dislike of all the game sellers in there, as much as I question them on evrything and buy almost nothing.
rotfl! you and me both! i do the same thing
My best experiences at flea markets have always been the vendors who are NOT permanent. All of the flea markets in my area have two types of sellers. The first are permanent sellers who are there every week. They usually have either a storage locker or some type of shed to keep their stuff in. They are in for the long haul and due to their (sort of) overhead costs, their prices tend to run a little higher. The other type of seller is the one-time seller. They usually have fold-out tables and maybe a canopy tent for their stuff. You might see them once or twice and never again. These people are just paying a one-time fee to the flea market to get rid of their crap. They aren't running a business and just want their stuff gone. 90% of my greatest finds/deals have come from these types of sellers. Just as an example, I once bought two working PS2s for $0.50 each from this type of seller. I didn't know they were working, but broken units still go for $10 or so. I couldn't believe it when they both fired right up once I got home. These are the types of sellers I go to first when I'm at the flea market. Sometimes I don't even bother with the permanent sellers, especially if I'm short for time.
Yeah, ultimately these people are yard sale sellers at a flea market, which is your best case scenario.
My best experiences at flea markets have always been the vendors who are NOT permanent. All of the flea markets in my area have two types of sellers. The first are permanent sellers who are there every week. They usually have either a storage locker or some type of shed to keep their stuff in. They are in for the long haul and due to their (sort of) overhead costs, their prices tend to run a little higher. The other type of seller is the one-time seller. They usually have fold-out tables and maybe a canopy tent for their stuff. You might see them once or twice and never again. These people are just paying a one-time fee to the flea market to get rid of their crap. They aren't running a business and just want their stuff gone. 90% of my greatest finds/deals have come from these types of sellers. Just as an example, I once bought two working PS2s for $0.50 each from this type of seller. I didn't know they were working, but broken units still go for $10 or so. I couldn't believe it when they both fired right up once I got home. These are the types of sellers I go to first when I'm at the flea market. Sometimes I don't even bother with the permanent sellers, especially if I'm short for time.
Unfortuantely, most of the time the permanent sellers get to that stuff long before the flea market opens.
Unfortuantely, most of the time the permanent sellers get to that stuff long before the flea market opens.
Around here, a lot of those temporary sellers don't even set up shop until an hour or so after the flea market opens. I've walked in at 10:00 AM to see a guy unloading stuff out of his trunk. I bought some cheap $1.00 SNES games from him before he even had a chance to take them out of his car. It's one of those things that makes finding deals around here kind of lucky. Typically, most people think that you need to get to the flea markets EARLY to get the good deals, but sometimes you can come in when they open, and then come back 3 hours later to find a whole different set of sellers. It's kind of strange, but pretty common here.
My best experiences at flea markets have always been the vendors who are NOT permanent. All of the flea markets in my area have two types of sellers. The first are permanent sellers who are there every week. They usually have either a storage locker or some type of shed to keep their stuff in. They are in for the long haul and due to their (sort of) overhead costs, their prices tend to run a little higher. The other type of seller is the one-time seller. They usually have fold-out tables and maybe a canopy tent for their stuff. You might see them once or twice and never again. These people are just paying a one-time fee to the flea market to get rid of their crap. They aren't running a business and just want their stuff gone. 90% of my greatest finds/deals have come from these types of sellers. Just as an example, I once bought two working PS2s for $0.50 each from this type of seller. I didn't know they were working, but broken units still go for $10 or so. I couldn't believe it when they both fired right up once I got home. These are the types of sellers I go to first when I'm at the flea market. Sometimes I don't even bother with the permanent sellers, especially if I'm short for time.
Unfortuantely, most of the time the permanent sellers get to that stuff long before the flea market opens.
Yeah, I asked a DVD seller if he had any games and he confirmed that all of the game vendors line up each morning to buy up the few games he gets in. Though, he offered to let me get first pick if I ever showed up.
There are some with decent prices (despite the overhead), get most of their stuff via trade/wholesale rather than cherry-pick items you can't get to early, and treat both customers and the games with respect, but they're very few and between now-a-days.
Most sellers that are hassled by people about games constantly will find it refreshing to have a real conversation with someone. It may seem unlikely, but people will still give you deals if you have a genuine conversation, and they see that you enjoy the games, instead of simply trying to flip them.
There's no winning at a flea market...all the resellers beat you to any deals. The only stuff left is from sellers who know what they have and won't budge on their price so the resellers don't bother with them. And then no one wants to buy the game since they're priced at eBay pricing.
VERY rarely you might luck out by digging in the boxes/bins of a storage cleaner. Then again sometimes they want insane prices for their shitty condition items. Yeah I just dug out this filthy game and you want eBay prices for it...haha...oh fuck them.
The idea of a flea market appeals to me...lots of people and crap...it's like a large community sale but compacted into a smaller space so it's easier to go through stuff faster. Community sales are great since again lots of people...there's bound to be at least one person with games. But the distance between sales kills it. Not everyone in a community will do a sale so you might have to drive for a few minutes before you find something. That's what's great about flea markets...EVERYONE is selling stuff and it's just a matter of walking. So if I could beat the resellers...it would be perfect.
I go and enjoy looking at the random stuff that people bring, for me it's a fun morning thing to do, spend my couple bucks to get in and get some exercise walking around for a few hours.
The only place I can find game deals are from moms at garage sales selling their kid's old games trying to get rid of it, but it has to be a random garage sale. If it's on craigslist and mentions video games at all I don't even bother, either they want ebay+ prices or someone got there while they were setting up and bought it.
"You still got that huh? Its been sitting here for 6 months. Maybe your price is too high."
But I stopped going to flea markets/ garage sales 5 years ago because there are waaaaayyyy too many "Try hard" re-sellers in my area.
Please, spend 4 hours garage-sailing so you can get that n64 lot with mario kart 64 and 4 garbage sports games for 20$. Maybe you can spend another 3 hours taking pics, parting out, listing and selling on ebay for about 60$. 40$ whole profit and it only took you 8 hours worth of work! But that 1 in a 1000 80$ rare game you found for a few bucks is sure worth it
My favorite thing would be asking the same douche bag re-seller-
"You still got that huh? Its been sitting here for 6 months. Maybe your price is too high."
But I stopped going to flea markets/ garage sales 5 years ago because there are waaaaayyyy too many "Try hard" re-sellers in my area.
Please, spend 4 hours garage-sailing so you can get that n64 lot with mario kart 64 and 4 garbage sports games for 20$. Maybe you can spend another 3 hours taking pics, parting out, listing and selling on ebay for about 60$. 40$ whole profit and it only took you 8 hours worth of work! But that 1 in a 1000 80$ rare game you found for a few bucks is sure worth it
I have done this, and it works to get a lower price. People aren't used to that type of communication. Stuns them.