Flea Market Pricing

chubbitochubbito
in Collector's Corner
So..just a little semi-rant, but also curious as to what some of you flea market sellers think about this.

There is a flea market near me which has 2 vendors that mainly just sell games, movies etc..  The one is reasonable, but rarely has anything good.  The other is fairly new, I'd say they have been there the last 4 months.  I have yet to buy anything off of them because of their prices.

Obviously everyones looking for a deal, and all sellers are looking to make money, that is understood.

They have all of their NES and SNES games priced (IMO) wayyy high for flea market prices.. examples :
Dragon Warrior 1 (NES) - $15
Zelda 1 - $25
Zelda 2 - $25
Final Fantasy 2 (SNES) - $25
Final Fantasy 3 (SNES) - $45

These are just a small sample, but all of their games are priced consistently above EBAY prices...I mean, DW1 for 15 bucks? Final Fantasy 3 for 45? 

I'm sure they have sold some stuff, but for the most part, its always the same games when I go every week...

SO : What kind of prices do most of you look for when Flea Market shopping, am I being dumb to think charging twice ebay prices on some games is unreasonable?  I would think anybody going to a flea market and looking for games would know these games are not worth that much...hence the reason they are not selling anything. 

I really dont have many flea markets around here...2 decent ones, where I can sometimes pick up a few loose games here and there for 2 or 3 bucks...so, to those who live around more flea markets, is this common to see games priced this high?

Sellers : Is this a reasonable way to price games, hoping you sell a handful every week, with people walking by and smiling/chuckling to themselves when they see Mario/Duck Hunt priced at $7? 

I've said to my wife that I'd love to pick up FF 2 and 3..but for that price, I might as well get them off ebay and save myself 20 bucks (Just checked now and a few auctions with FF 2 and 3 together have gone for less than 30 bucks)...

Comments

  • PeroxidePeroxide
    If you're looking for the most popular titles at a flea market, expect to find those prices.



    Do you think everyone who wants to play a NES in 2009 is going to be looking for Zelda or Stadium Events? My bet is Zelda, thus they can charge these prices.



    Best thing to do is look for the rares at flea market or at least some reasonably priced games and try to buy the whole lot off the person.
  • Topload_DogboneTopload_Dogbone
    I encounter this all the time and find it highly annoying as well. Like Tyler said though...buy rares at the flea market. The people selling things there regardless of how many thousands of games they may have, tend to know very little about what they're selling (or at least thats been my experience with them) so if you go there looking for any popular or memorable games you're likely to get ripped off. Where as if you go there looking for something like say Panic Restaurant, Bonk's Adventure, etc. You may find it for $25-30 but still considerably less than its worth.
  • BellaBella
    There are a few out there (my husband was one until we got our shop open) that if they know you collect might cut you a deal. I know in our shop if we find out someone is truly a collector we cut major deals. For the most part when we get overstock and my husband sets up at the FM we keep our NES games at or below NA price guide.



    But yea I have to agree with you guys. Some of the prices are totally uncalled for.
  • chubbitochubbito
    I guess my logic is that - if you are at a flea market looking to buy games, then you know that 15 bucks for DW1 is ridiculous...but I'm sure they get the sucker every now and then who says "WHOA, gold Zelda, thats totally worth 25 bucks!" I guess I'm just wondering how they dont feel they are wasting their time if they set up for 5 hours, sell 2 games, and have 150 people walk by and scoff at the prices.
  • TheFrisbeeTheFrisbee
    I see this happening a lot at the local flea markets too. And like your saying, very rarely do I see them move out any of the older system titles. They do however move the newer gen. and last gen. games out like crazy. Taking in trade and giving nothing and selling titles you can pick up in lots for next to nothing for $15-20 each. When your moving that much literal crap, the NES, SNES, PSI games are just icing on the cake I would suspect.
  • wrldstrmanwrldstrman
    the guys at our flea market sell everything pretty much for 10 dollars for a disc game 5 for cartridge game. no matter the title
  • ShipsteamShipsteam
    When I was vacationing in North Carolina I went to a flea market, there were very reasonable sellers and the old fart! This old guy had a ton of NES, SNES, N64 games but wanted like $20-$25 each! They were all common games too, he even wanted $25 for Diddy Kong Racing!
  • LimbofunkLimbofunk
    It's an odd beast...I've just started selling at a flea market recently and I get a decent amount of business going on my games. I feel I value things quite well and take condition into account...the only items I tend to overprice a little bit are SMB 2 & 3 ($15 each) and a few of the RPG titles (Super Mario RPG-$40, Final Fantasy 3-$32). It just tends to be the nature of the beast. Like Bella said, I also tend to give deals to people who are friendly and I know are collectors. A lot of people who have bought from me appreciate my pricings and my honesty, and most of my customers realize that my prices for popular games are usually half the price of the local Play N Trade. Someone today was telling me they bought Kid Icarus for $25 there (and it had some label damage), so I told them to return it and I'd sell them a copy for $12. Not all sellers are jerks, but with some games it's silly to set them at their standard price point...that being said, Dragon Warrior for $15 is lame, but I think that's the price point at my local PnT.
  • pats1717pats1717
    I set up last weekend just to crush some overpricing. There is one lady that prcies tetris 2 at $80 I put a stack of them out at $5 each to prove a point! I got a lot of people that normally shop with her over at my tables and could not believe the price difference!







  • chubbitochubbito
    Tetris 2 @ $80? I cant even fathom the reasoning behind that. We dont have a local play n trade around here, really, theres nowhere to buy games besides getting lucky at thrift stores/yard sales/flea markets...there is 1 place that is about 20 minutes from me in Bloomsburg PA..Arcus Brothers, but he looks EVERY game up on Ebay before he sells them to you..starting price, last time I checked was $5 a game, then if Ebay has higher, he charges you that....thats horrible business. So I guess what I'm saying is that uninformed customers dont have any other options.
  • ShipsteamShipsteam
    Where I live we dont have any flea markets. I find stuff at Garage Sales, Thirft Shops even though the thrift shop in town is crappy. The nearest year round flea market is 2-3 hours away.
  • SixWayShotSixWayShot
    There's a less-than-local flea market I've been to that has a game store there with tons of games, but their prices are nuts. If I ever go back there I'll see if I can find any rares for cheap, but the shelves were clogged with tons of Dragon Warrior 1's ($25), Balloon Fight's ($15), and SMB/Duck Hunt ($15). They had a copy of Yoshi's Island for the SNES in HORRIBLE condition (Severe sun damage and label wear, damage to cart) that they were trying to sell for $40. I asked them why the hell they would try and get that much for damaged goods, they told me "It's rare, worth lots of money. That's a deal."



    There's another local place that apparently sells stuff for relatively cheap, and I swear I saw a copy of Snow Brothers there for $10, but I've been second-guessing myself on that.



    Honestly, for me, Play N Trade's been the best place to go in terms of NES as well as pretty much everything else. The one I usually go to sells most NES games at $3, which is great, but they mark up titles like Zelda to $20. Still, I went to another PnT a bit further away and got 18 or so Sega Genesis games for $3 each and that store had a buy-two-get-one-free deal going on.



    I have yet to come across any real deals at any of the flea markets within my reach.



    In a lot of cases, prices are nuts, and I hate that.
  • PenguinPenguin
    Originally posted by: SixWayShot

    There's a less-than-local flea market I've been to that has a game store there with tons of games, but their prices are nuts. If I ever go back there I'll see if I can find any rares for cheap.


    Don't bother Connor, I cleaned out all her rare games already, haha. ;P

    As far as flea amrket pricing goes down here, there are 3 different kinds of people I run into. 1)  People who have random games stuck in with other stuff, have no idea what they are and sell them for a $1 or 2.  2) People who are selling some of their personal video games, these people normally look on ebay a little bit and ask more for the popular titles (Mario Zelda and the like)  but sometimes they only charge $5 or so for them (or $10 for Mario RPG in the case of the lady I got them from yesderday).  3) We have the people who are resellers and have high markup on their items.  Most of the time these people are where you can get really rare stuff cheap, because they are normally stupid at pricing.  In all it's very hit or miss, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't.
  • E-ManE-Man

    Keep trying the flea markets. I've found some games that cost on eBay $15 and bought them from the flea market for $2-$5.

    Examples are:

    • Super C - $5
    • Dr. Mario - $2
    • G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor - $4.50
    • Chip n' Dale: Rescue Rangers - $6
    • Castlevania - $5
    • Castlevania 3 - $5
    • Super Mario Bros. 3 - $5
    • Minke Tyson's Punch-Out!! - $5

  • the tall guythe tall guy
    It varies dramatically at my local flea market. We've got at least 5 permanent vendors of games (none of which have much change in their stock week-end and week out).



    One guy is a collector, he sells toys and games both. His prices are pretty decent for "commons." ($5 each). And the more money titles are pretty reasonable as well ($10 for Zelda, maybe $12 for Mario 2). He's a pretty alright guy to deal with though, if he's got $15 on something and I show interest, 9 times out of 10 he'll offer it to me for $10, since I buy from him fairly regularly and he knows I'm a collector.



    Another of the permanent vendors is a decent bit cheaper, $3 each or 2 for $5 on commons, and they've got a little "rare" case, with some pricier stuff, but it's also never much higher ($20 for MMX2). He's cut me some KILLER deals, but at the same time, I've pointed him to things he's missed (my flea market has a big outside area where the vendors tend to change from week to week) that he could pick up cheap and re-sell.



    There are the really imbred looking bastards that have had a booth ever since I started going to this flea market, and their prices have only gotten higher and higher. They discovered ebay, not that they'll sell on there, but they're aware of it and are just certain they're sitting on a gold mine. Nothing warms your heart more than seeing a $25 cart only Mario 2, or a $25 Mario Kart 64. The worst part, at least for me, is they won't negotiate one cent off their high prices. I heard him tell a guy that wanted to buy at least 10 genesis games (for Christ sake, common ones at that) that he absolutely couldn't take less than $5 each for them... Every time I have a yard sale these people show up early, there is a woman and her son, she always says the same thing: "Do you have any cheap old video games, my son loves to play them and we don't have much money." The last time I told her I'd rather not see my NES collection at the flea market and she could go on down the road... she doesn't remember it though. Meth's a hell of a drug.



    There's a new guy that probably has 250 games, nothing super rare and nothing that isn't cart only, but he's charging $5 each or 3 for $12 regardless of title. He's got some stuff like Metal Gear and Bignose the Caveman, and even Double Dare (things I just don't see much, with the exception of Metal Gear). It's a bit too soon to see how he'll do though, if he's going to start bringing in "rares" with appropriate pricing, or what.



    There are a couple others, but that kinda hits the spectrum of what I deal with locally. With the exception of the people that pop up outside randomly, there you can definately score $1 and $2 games from people that just are bringing their junk to get rid of it. But only if you beat the rush... all 4 of the booths I mentioned, the people running them prowl the outside as soon as the place opens.



    It's competitive.
  • ShipsteamShipsteam
    I find great deals at garage sales mostly. I found a box with 20 some SNES games in for $10! The box had some decent ones in it too, Super Mario All-Stars, Donkey Kong Country, Multiple Super Mario Worlds, nothing super rare but not total crap either.
  • dr.robbiedr.robbie
    flee markets do this. You just kinda have to roll with the punches. Even though games like FF and Zelda will get premiums, it just means you have to find the diamonds that people don't naturally look for - Gun Nac, Power Blade 2, Flintstones 2, etc. I know I've passed up hundreds of Zeldas at $20 a pop, but I also find games like Wacky Races CIB for $15 and such.
  • StanStan
    It matters a lot on the seller. If it's just some family dumping some stuff, chances are you'll get a good deal. If it's someone who has a table or small little store-type thing set up there every week, expect prices like that. They know that in general most people know of certain games and most that want to buy them aren't collectors, just likely someone looking to play a game they remembered. Not really knowing what the prices are and looking at current prices on modern games, they often think those are pretty fair. Just depends who's selling. But anymore your only bet at a fleamarket is a vendor like that because most families who were going to dump these items at a flea did it years ago. Sometimes vendors will have reasonable prices, other times you just want to laugh. There was this guy back home who sold nearly every weekend and had a pretty diverse selection of games. I saw Black Bass, which he wanted $50, and turned the other way. He never sold it, either. I saw him about five months ago and it was still in the damn bin, totally faded from being out in the sun now and still $50. Then I dealt with this other vendor at another flea. Got several rarer titles for next to nothing from her. In her special glass case were several "rare" games including Felix the Cat and Barbie, both of which she wanted like $80 for.
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