In Iowa, I made a killing around 2011-2012 timeframe, but around 2013 the deals took a stiff halt (Garage Sales & Craigslist). Pretty much give up anymore on in the wild finds, but I also don't put myself out there to try - simply don't have the time.
You will have 0 video game pick ups at garage sales you don't go garage sailing.
who let this guy in?....security!
Well, you can't really wonder about what may be found at garage sales unless you go. I haven't gone in a few weeks, but I am sure there is stuff out there. Last time I went, I passed Xbox games because I don't collect them. They would of been $2 a piece for about 50 of them. I did not want to drop that amount for something I don't collect.
Get a bulk deal and re-sell them to fund the games you want
You will have 0 video game pick ups at garage sales you don't go garage sailing.
who let this guy in?....security!
Well, you can't really wonder about what may be found at garage sales unless you go. I haven't gone in a few weeks, but I am sure there is stuff out there. Last time I went, I passed Xbox games because I don't collect them. They would of been $2 a piece for about 50 of them. I did not want to drop that amount for something I don't collect.
Get a bulk deal and re-sell them to fund the games you want
great minds think alike ole sanda! thats how i justify that pb2 and zombie nation. fliped yard sale finds/bulk deals.
You will have 0 video game pick ups at garage sales you don't go garage sailing.
who let this guy in?....security!
Well, you can't really wonder about what may be found at garage sales unless you go. I haven't gone in a few weeks, but I am sure there is stuff out there. Last time I went, I passed Xbox games because I don't collect them. They would of been $2 a piece for about 50 of them. I did not want to drop that amount for something I don't collect.
Get a bulk deal and re-sell them to fund the games you want
great minds think alike ole sanda! thats how i justify that pb2 and zombie nation. fliped yard sale finds/bulk deals.
That was the bulk deal at $2 a piece. Again, I did not want to drop that amount. I do not pick up with the intention to resell, so I just walked. I probably should have bought it, but I didn't want to deal with the hassle.
Around here, everything dried up because a thousand stores opened up that specialize in video games. Between that and the pawn shops sending people out to scour the area, it's impossible to find anything anymore. I used to do pretty well at Goodwill but even an okay game find is pretty rare now.
Seems like most families have already garage sold their NES or SNES stuff and are now garage selling their PS2 and Wii stuff.
And I'd kill for these people to be in my area. I really want original XBOX, PS2, and Wii games but my only reasonable way to get them cheap is Half Price Book's clearance rack ($1-3 each). Most people in my area are either old or middle aged and thus have nothing ever to sell in the video game category. I haven't seen video games in a garage sale since I sold some PS2 sports games myself in 2010. <-- Wish I never did that
Seems like most families have already garage sold their NES or SNES stuff and are now garage selling their PS2 and Wii stuff.
I'd agree. I do think it's slowing a bit. SeeJayAre said on a live stream yesterday he got skunked for the first time in 4 years a couple weeks ago. I killed it last year almost weekly. This year I've done better with Facebook group posts (not market place, unless your the first view or willing to bid above their asking price). I'm at a point in collecting where I'm a lot less likely to find a game I actually want and have lost a little of the drive. I think the best thing to do is just keep asking and grinding, and if they don't have games, buy other stuff to flip and use the money for games you want.
I go every Saturday morning (sometimes Friday too) and I pretty much always come home with some finds. But its true you see the older cartridge based stuff less and less now, and if you do see it people are asking more for it. Its a combination of things, like sellers becoming more aware of the value, and more buyers out there looking for it. Pretty basic explanation there, not rocket science. Some buyers have gotten pretty aggressive with their tactics too. Almost every week I go out and ask at yard sales, the seller will ask me if I was the one who emailed them a few days before asking if they had any games. Boy that's always a good feeling knowing someone is one step ahead of you.
However I do still manage to find stuff, but I am also trying other things now. Years ago weekly trips to the yard sales and flea markets was enough, but now I also have to sprinkle in constantly checking OfferUp and the Facebook marketplace, as well as making my own ads asking to buy stuff. Posting my own ads has been the most fruitful for me lately. I manage to get all the people who are too shy to post their own ads to sell, and they usually are the ones willing to let their stuff go cheap. Most of the times its older women selling off their kid's old stuff that was left in the house when they moved out.
For me in my area...yes. I'm having a harder time finding anyone with ANY games not just older stuff. A lot of people are saying they sold all their games. I haven't been going to yard sales as much as last year...but just looking at my finds thread...I can see my finds are dropping. And the times I do go to sales...I ask EVERYONE at EVERY sale...and I've been hitting neighborhood sales...so that's like 20-30 houses in one go...and no one has anything?
I blame smart phones. People can look stuff up so easily so they can probably look up prices on games and see "Oh this is worth more then $5...let's sell it on eBay!". And I've noticed more people talking about how they get asked about games quite often...so there's more hunters out asking. People are starting to realize that we want these old games.
I guess the area you're in matters too. I would think the more populated the town or city, the better chances stuff is still floating around. I live right near a major U.S. city and I still regularly find stuff. Although this could be offset if there's an abundance of collectors hunting along with you. In that case try traveling around to different towns and see if there's a difference.
I guess I should be happy then. Actually just found some old games (NES) in my local Salvation Army. Check my finds thread.
If yard sales seem dry, I think it has more to do with increased competition than shrinking supply. Also some people seem to be under the impression that 8/16 bit stuff is going extinct in the wild. Awhile back my friend picked up an NES lot at a yard sale with a replacement pin connector. I think we'll see NES/SNES stuff cycle through yard sales multiple times for years to come as people lose interest in the hobby.
If yard sales seem dry, I think it has more to do with increased competition than shrinking supply.
Yes, that and a lot more yard sale sellers know the value of things. I can remember tons of times I'd get to a yard sale and ask if they have games to sell and get some reply along the lines of, "oh, yeah we sold those on Ebay a while back since they were worth some money." As a game hunter its a really gut wrenching thing to hear.
If yard sales seem dry, I think it has more to do with increased competition than shrinking supply. Also some people seem to be under the impression that 8/16 bit stuff is going extinct in the wild. Awhile back my friend picked up an NES lot at a yard sale with a replacement pin connector. I think we'll see NES/SNES stuff cycle through yard sales multiple times for years to come as people lose interest in the hobby.
I bought an NES off of a guy this year that bought it on eBay back in 09. There will be waves in a sense as people who bought in to the retro fad get tired of the clutter and move it out. Ebay is expensive and a hassle and filled with scammers so they still sell at garage sales and people like cash in hand.
I think the issue stands that people at garage sales expect everything to be a "dollar". It's 2017, we know what stuff is worth, so as seller's we'll give deals, but not so much that ppl can flip it fast. I think that's fair to say.
I good to yard sales once a week or so. I haven't seen many NES games (with the exception of one time) in a long while. I see Atari games, Xbox and playstation all the time. They usually are fair priced but I do happen along the Ebay / Price Charter seller occasionally.
For the biggest problem with tag sales is the competition and the amount of effort involved for little reward. In order for it to be worth the effort, you need to spend time during the week finding them, mapping an efficient route to hit them, wake up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday, then fight all the other vultures looking to pick at the bones of a dead carcass. On a good day you might find some low to mid-range PS1 or PS2 titles, on a bad day you won't find anything, most days at best you'll come across a lot of Wii Shovelware and PS2 sports titles.
I work 40 hours a week and commute 40 minutes each way to get there. I have a wife and a daughter at home. I consider my free time to be more valuable than money for the most part, so at this point in my life it's very hard for me to justify spending it chasing down fools gold.
Another factor is that local Facebook sales pages have kind of destroyed the Tag Sale business where I am. Most people now would rather sell their stuff piecemeal on FB than go through the hassle of spending a Saturday running a tag sale where you won't even make enough to cover your expenses in most cases. 10 years ago I could drive around anywhere and run into dozens of Tag Sales. Today you need to research it beforehand and still only come up with maybe 5.
These days, it seems the best chance of decent stuff is from GoodWill type stores. I managed to pick up a complete copy of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy for the PS2 earlier this week. In general, though, your best chance is asking friends or looking for good deals through CraigsList. It's only going to get harder and harder from here on out...
Garage and yard sales are more of an american thing.
In the UK its unlikely you will find a quick deal on any retro stuff, I once trawled a load of charity shops asking about any "old video game stuff" they might have in the back, only one of them had any and they knew to put it an in house action.
If you're finding even one deal a month you are doing well compared to the UK bargain hunters.
These days, it seems the best chance of decent stuff is from GoodWill type stores. I managed to pick up a complete copy of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy for the PS2 earlier this week. In general, though, your best chance is asking friends or looking for good deals through CraigsList. It's only going to get harder and harder from here on out...
But that's a PS2 game. All thrift stores teem with Dead Zone games. It's the pre-Dead Zone that's the problem.
Comments
You will have 0 video game pick ups at garage sales you don't go garage sailing.
who let this guy in?....security!
Well, you can't really wonder about what may be found at garage sales unless you go. I haven't gone in a few weeks, but I am sure there is stuff out there. Last time I went, I passed Xbox games because I don't collect them. They would of been $2 a piece for about 50 of them. I did not want to drop that amount for something I don't collect.
Get a bulk deal and re-sell them to fund the games you want
You will have 0 video game pick ups at garage sales you don't go garage sailing.
who let this guy in?....security!
Well, you can't really wonder about what may be found at garage sales unless you go. I haven't gone in a few weeks, but I am sure there is stuff out there. Last time I went, I passed Xbox games because I don't collect them. They would of been $2 a piece for about 50 of them. I did not want to drop that amount for something I don't collect.
Get a bulk deal and re-sell them to fund the games you want
great minds think alike ole sanda! thats how i justify that pb2 and zombie nation. fliped yard sale finds/bulk deals.
You will have 0 video game pick ups at garage sales you don't go garage sailing.
who let this guy in?....security!
Well, you can't really wonder about what may be found at garage sales unless you go. I haven't gone in a few weeks, but I am sure there is stuff out there. Last time I went, I passed Xbox games because I don't collect them. They would of been $2 a piece for about 50 of them. I did not want to drop that amount for something I don't collect.
Get a bulk deal and re-sell them to fund the games you want
great minds think alike ole sanda! thats how i justify that pb2 and zombie nation. fliped yard sale finds/bulk deals.
That was the bulk deal at $2 a piece. Again, I did not want to drop that amount. I do not pick up with the intention to resell, so I just walked. I probably should have bought it, but I didn't want to deal with the hassle.
Original Xbox games tanked again so it's a lot more work to get a decent amount for them then a year ago.
They tanked? Did they lose a third of their value and go from $3 to $2 on average?
Seems like most families have already garage sold their NES or SNES stuff and are now garage selling their PS2 and Wii stuff.
And I'd kill for these people to be in my area. I really want original XBOX, PS2, and Wii games but my only reasonable way to get them cheap is Half Price Book's clearance rack ($1-3 each). Most people in my area are either old or middle aged and thus have nothing ever to sell in the video game category. I haven't seen video games in a garage sale since I sold some PS2 sports games myself in 2010. <-- Wish I never did that
Original Xbox games tanked again so it's a lot more work to get a decent amount for them then a year ago.
They tanked? Did they lose a third of their value and go from $3 to $2 on average?
Yes. Those, but also more expensive games like the Star Wars Battlefront series and Jurassic Park have also seen steep declines.
Original Xbox games tanked again so it's a lot more work to get a decent amount for them then a year ago.
They tanked? Did they lose a third of their value and go from $3 to $2 on average?
I lol'd.
Seems like most families have already garage sold their NES or SNES stuff and are now garage selling their PS2 and Wii stuff.
I'd agree. I do think it's slowing a bit. SeeJayAre said on a live stream yesterday he got skunked for the first time in 4 years a couple weeks ago. I killed it last year almost weekly. This year I've done better with Facebook group posts (not market place, unless your the first view or willing to bid above their asking price). I'm at a point in collecting where I'm a lot less likely to find a game I actually want and have lost a little of the drive. I think the best thing to do is just keep asking and grinding, and if they don't have games, buy other stuff to flip and use the money for games you want.
However I do still manage to find stuff, but I am also trying other things now. Years ago weekly trips to the yard sales and flea markets was enough, but now I also have to sprinkle in constantly checking OfferUp and the Facebook marketplace, as well as making my own ads asking to buy stuff. Posting my own ads has been the most fruitful for me lately. I manage to get all the people who are too shy to post their own ads to sell, and they usually are the ones willing to let their stuff go cheap. Most of the times its older women selling off their kid's old stuff that was left in the house when they moved out.
I blame smart phones. People can look stuff up so easily so they can probably look up prices on games and see "Oh this is worth more then $5...let's sell it on eBay!". And I've noticed more people talking about how they get asked about games quite often...so there's more hunters out asking. People are starting to realize that we want these old games.
I guess I should be happy then. Actually just found some old games (NES) in my local Salvation Army. Check my finds thread.
If yard sales seem dry, I think it has more to do with increased competition than shrinking supply.
Yes, that and a lot more yard sale sellers know the value of things. I can remember tons of times I'd get to a yard sale and ask if they have games to sell and get some reply along the lines of, "oh, yeah we sold those on Ebay a while back since they were worth some money." As a game hunter its a really gut wrenching thing to hear.
If yard sales seem dry, I think it has more to do with increased competition than shrinking supply. Also some people seem to be under the impression that 8/16 bit stuff is going extinct in the wild. Awhile back my friend picked up an NES lot at a yard sale with a replacement pin connector. I think we'll see NES/SNES stuff cycle through yard sales multiple times for years to come as people lose interest in the hobby.
I bought an NES off of a guy this year that bought it on eBay back in 09. There will be waves in a sense as people who bought in to the retro fad get tired of the clutter and move it out. Ebay is expensive and a hassle and filled with scammers so they still sell at garage sales and people like cash in hand.
I work 40 hours a week and commute 40 minutes each way to get there. I have a wife and a daughter at home. I consider my free time to be more valuable than money for the most part, so at this point in my life it's very hard for me to justify spending it chasing down fools gold.
Another factor is that local Facebook sales pages have kind of destroyed the Tag Sale business where I am. Most people now would rather sell their stuff piecemeal on FB than go through the hassle of spending a Saturday running a tag sale where you won't even make enough to cover your expenses in most cases. 10 years ago I could drive around anywhere and run into dozens of Tag Sales. Today you need to research it beforehand and still only come up with maybe 5.
In the UK its unlikely you will find a quick deal on any retro stuff, I once trawled a load of charity shops asking about any "old video game stuff" they might have in the back, only one of them had any and they knew to put it an in house action.
If you're finding even one deal a month you are doing well compared to the UK bargain hunters.
These days, it seems the best chance of decent stuff is from GoodWill type stores. I managed to pick up a complete copy of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy for the PS2 earlier this week. In general, though, your best chance is asking friends or looking for good deals through CraigsList. It's only going to get harder and harder from here on out...
But that's a PS2 game. All thrift stores teem with Dead Zone games. It's the pre-Dead Zone that's the problem.