GoodWill is allowing me to relive my childhood
I was skeptical of shopgoodwill at first, but now I think it's a decent place to get certain gaming goods for the cheap depending on how you time it.
I just got in an N64 set with the orange jumper pak, 3 rumble packs, 13 games (none of which are sports titles, but 2 are racing games), and 2 controllers. All for a roughly $60. I think the boxed Castlevania is what drove up the price the most, and if anyone know which auction I'm talking about the Castlevania is missing its instruction booklet.
I also got a few SEGA lots whose only titles worth mentioning are Gunstar Heroes, General Chaos, and Zombies Ate My Neighbors. These 3 lots ran me about $30, which is cheaper then what those titles alone go for off the eBay. I grew up on those titles and the N64, so I'm pretty stoked.
I would take pictures, but my girlfriend has held my camera held hostage at the moment. I recommend shopgoodwill if you're looking for inexpensive gaming stuff and wish to support good causes with your money. Also if you like the risk of opening a game case/box and wondering if a manual is included.
I just got in an N64 set with the orange jumper pak, 3 rumble packs, 13 games (none of which are sports titles, but 2 are racing games), and 2 controllers. All for a roughly $60. I think the boxed Castlevania is what drove up the price the most, and if anyone know which auction I'm talking about the Castlevania is missing its instruction booklet.
I also got a few SEGA lots whose only titles worth mentioning are Gunstar Heroes, General Chaos, and Zombies Ate My Neighbors. These 3 lots ran me about $30, which is cheaper then what those titles alone go for off the eBay. I grew up on those titles and the N64, so I'm pretty stoked.
I would take pictures, but my girlfriend has held my camera held hostage at the moment. I recommend shopgoodwill if you're looking for inexpensive gaming stuff and wish to support good causes with your money. Also if you like the risk of opening a game case/box and wondering if a manual is included.
Comments
http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem.asp?ItemID=6356283
is there an equivalent for canada?
I think each goodwill store that participates has the discretion of wanting to ship internationally or not. But something tells me their international shipping rates would make any "deal" go really sour.
Let's take a look at this lovely item for instance:
ATARI 400/800 Dunjon quest- Temple of Apshai game
http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem.asp?ItemID=6422998
Starting bid is $4.99.
Bidding increment is $2.00
The shipping weight for this item is 3 POUNDS. 3 lbs. for one game? WTF?
Add to that the mandatory $2.00 "handling fee".
Based on my location (Oregon) the shipping and handling on this game will be $14.70. Here's a screenshot of the shipping calculator:
So the MINIMUM this game would cost me at ShopGoodwill.com is $19.69. If I lived in New York, I would also pay sales tax.
For reference, the C64 version of this game on eBay DID NOT SELL and it was only $4.49 shipped:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Epyx-Temple-Apshai-Trilogy-Commodore-64-/330441631723?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_Vintage_Video_Games&hash=item4cefdb27eb
The "best" part of this deal: Games on ShopGoodwill.com are sold untested and as-is. Sorry, no returns!
The other problem I have with ShopGoodwill.com is that the seller and the auctioneer are one and the same. While I am no eBay fanatic, at least they are incented to protect the buyer from shill bidding and other scammy practices because they don't have as much of a stake in the sale.
I'm not saying ShopGoodwill.com does this, but there would be nothing stopping them from automatically raising the price to just below the highest bidder's maximum proxy bid amount. Buyer's have absolutely no way to prove one way or the other.
I wonder what the logic is here? They can't possibly be selling many common carts for so much money, can they? If not, is it worth listing hundreds of commons just to prevent the handful of slightly-more-valuable games from getting anything less than top-dollar? I suppose this business model makes sense only when your cost of goods is zero and your labor force makes less than $10 an hour.
Just for fun, here's a current job posting for a Goodwill "E-Commerce Processor" (the name for the poor bastard who has to list items on ShopGoodwill.com):
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?IPath=JRM0C&ff=21&APath=2.21.0.0.0&job_did=J8E2JW6ZC4MTT9G1BDW
$8.99 per hour. Maybe the bennys are good.
Chuck
This thread prompted me to give ShopGoodwill.com another look which resulted in spitting a mouthful of coffee on my screen and laughing out loud.
Let's take a look at this lovely item for instance:
ATARI 400/800 Dunjon quest- Temple of Apshai game
http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem.asp?ItemID=6422998
Starting bid is $4.99.
Bidding increment is $2.00
The shipping weight for this item is 3 POUNDS. 3 lbs. for one game? WTF?
Add to that the mandatory $2.00 "handling fee".
Based on my location (Oregon) the shipping and handling on this game will be $14.70. Here's a screenshot of the shipping calculator:
So the MINIMUM this game would cost me at ShopGoodwill.com is $19.69. If I lived in New York, I would also pay sales tax.
For reference, the C64 version of this game on eBay DID NOT SELL and it was only $4.49 shipped:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Epyx-Temple-Apshai-Trilogy-Commodor...
The "best" part of this deal: Games on ShopGoodwill.com are sold untested and as-is. Sorry, no returns!
The other problem I have with ShopGoodwill.com is that the seller and the auctioneer are one and the same. While I am no eBay fanatic, at least they are incented to protect the buyer from shill bidding and other scammy practices because they don't have as much of a stake in the sale.
I'm not saying ShopGoodwill.com does this, but there would be nothing stopping them from automatically raising the price to just below the highest bidder's maximum proxy bid amount. Buyer's have absolutely no way to prove one way or the other.
I wonder what the logic is here? They can't possibly be selling many common carts for so much money, can they? If not, is it worth listing hundreds of commons just to prevent the handful of slightly-more-valuable games from getting anything less than top-dollar? I suppose this business model makes sense only when your cost of goods is zero and your labor force makes less than $10 an hour.
Just for fun, here's a current job posting for a Goodwill "E-Commerce Processor" (the name for the poor bastard who has to list items on ShopGoodwill.com):
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails....
$8.99 per hour. Maybe the bennys are good.
Chuck
Not that I know the true qualifications of what it takes to be a E-Commerce Processor, but for $8.99 an hour, to chill on a comp all day and just put listings up, that's not too bad.
But despite it not being too bad, it still wouldn't be livable. I sure hope the benefits are good.