Some of these were not very rare a few years ago, Dracula X for example I could have had by the case load a few years back, and really most of the SNES titles. These games are rare now, but hell they were overstocked when the systems went defunct. There's a lot of dirt commons in these lots too.
I've been waiting all night to get home from work to view this auctions on an actual screen and not a phone. I don't have any more insight than has already been offered, but I think that aside from lack of publicity, the story at least sounds plausible.
It may be a scam, but I definitely think it's too much work to be a simple joke. I also think that if the auctions are entirely legit, that the notion that the seller would end them early is ridiculous. If all the money is intended for charity, ending the auctions without giving everyone a fair shot at them goes contrary to the whole idea of raising money for charity.
WOW is all I can say. I was invited to this forum (via ebay) to provide more information to you all. I have only read through the first 2 pages of posts but I will finish going through them all and try to answer any of your questions in full.
First off, the response these items have received is so far beyond our expectations, its incredible really.
To address to two most common points I've come across thus far here goes:
1. The ebay ID is completely new. Nintendo as a company obviously does not sell through ebay and we only set-up our ID to get rid of these titles. I fully expect to be contacted by ebay now that I see all the attention these are getting and we will work with all winning bidders to ensure they are completely comfortable throughout the entire transaction. As the auction states, we are completely fine with any local buyers coming to our head office to pick up the product directly once it has been paid for. Certified bank draft would be accepted but no personal cheques as we have to protect ourselves from fraud as well.
2. Each lot will have a list of all titles included (along with any specific details like broken seal, damaged corners etc.) Due to the volume of the games available this was just impossible for me to complete in a single day at work. I will enlist some help tomorrow to get this information updated ASAP.
I have tried to respond to all questions put forth through ebay, and will continue to do so there, as I believe the feature that allows me to post the Q&A for all to see is beneficial and could save me a lot of time over the next week.
Some of the more specific questions regarding Cdn. vs. US versions I will have to consult with some of our more tenured employees. I have only been with NOCL for two years and some of this stuff was slightly before my video game years. I will do my best to answer these questions, I just ask for your patience as I cannot provide this information myself. In all honesty a couple of colleagues at work and I did only about an hour of research on estimating a value for any type of 'sealed' NES & SNES games. We did our best to split up any rare or popular titles amongst the various lots. I apologize to everyone looking for various individual titles, but the amount of work it would cause us would just be unmanageable.
I'd like to thank burdger for inviting me to the forum to provide you with more information and all of you for all your interest. If an editor or someone from Nintendoage would like to contact me and thus provide a reference of legitimacy to the site on my behalf, I am willing to do this. My contact information was obviously required for registration, however the volume of email I have received through ebay alone already is simply daunting so I am hesitant to providing my work email here for everyone.
I've had a chance to read through pages 3 through 5 on this post and thought I should expand slightly on some of the themes I noticed to help provide more information.
1. 'Found in the warehouse theme' - NOCL is actually moving to a new location in Burnaby in June. We are in the process of cleaning and purging everything (including the warehouse). These items were not 'found' as per se, but rather 'gone through'. They've been locked up in our Marketing cage in the warehouse obviously for quite some time.
2. 'More games, odd lot combinations etc.' - the 24 lots were created for simplicity, both for posting on ebay and shipping afterwards to the winning bidder. We did a total of 1 hour research and did our best to divide the 'rare' titles amongst the boxes equally. Due to a lack of information for Gameboy, we did no research and just tried to avoid multiple titles ending up in the same box.
3. 'Lack of promotion and publicity' - my only thoughts were to send joystiq an email about our auctions because its a blog I personally follow at work and figured "hey, they put themed birthday cakes on there... why not an auction for charity?". Other than that I've only emailed NOCL employees across Canada. Feel free to send this on to anyone or any site you think may be interested!
4. 'Bronty & Maximus prank' - all I can say is these two seem to have enviable collections and I only hope they can come forward individually to vouch for their innocence in this case.
Thats all for tonight, I hope I've helped to provide you with some more insight into the legitimacy of these auctions. I do have to admit an inferior knowledge for both the products themselves and their value to everyone on this forum. I was hoping we might get $200 on average for each of the boxes and have to say I did not think we'd come close to some of the 'outside offers' we've received.
Thanks again to all of you, my offers stands if any editors wish to contact me using my registration information!
The idea of Bronty & Maximus pulling a hoax seemed to bounce around a lot.
Thanks! I can't say for sure, but I doubt it. We're much smaller than other offices here in Canada and our distribution facilities were relocated to NOA in Washington state a few years back. Due to this we still have the warehouse facility, its just not used in the same capacity... a primary reason for our move.
There will be a few more lots to come maybe next week... nothing for sealed product however.
It's great that you joined to help shed a little light on these auctions. I can definitely say that lots like these are basically unheard of and are just the sort of thing to get a community like this buzzing. The amount of money you're going to raise is probably going to blow your mind.
Whether 8-bit is your bag or not, you should definitely stick around the board.
"Q: In fact, going through and crunching the numbers again, I can offer a $20,000 US "buy it now" for all 24 lots. Serious offer. May-30-08
A: We're flattered by the offer, but think it is only fair to all parties who have shown interest to act in good faith and allow the auctions to run their full course. Thank you for your interest!"
"Q: In fact, going through and crunching the numbers again, I can offer a $20,000 US "buy it now" for all 24 lots. Serious offer. May-30-08 A: We're flattered by the offer, but think it is only fair to all parties who have shown interest to act in good faith and allow the auctions to run their full course. Thank you for your interest!"
I would guess that all these lots will go for more than 20.000 US dollars in total to be honest, but on the other hand i dont have much idea about the value on the SNES and Gameboy games. But about $833 pr. lot (the $20.000 BIN offer) seems like a good offer, atleast in my opinion Any guesses on how much money these 24 lots will bring in?
The irony of my reply to that question was definitely not lost on me.... obviously not many people have +$20K lying around to spend on NES and SNES games.
I imagine many people are already upset with bidding getting beyond their reach. Hopfully by breaking down our entire find into these 24 lots we are able to give multiple fans a chance to win one of these great finds. They have performed so far beyond our initial expectations I'm sure this will be the talk of the office all day today and over the week to come.
$20k is on the low side for these games! hell of a find! this will be the talk of the office for the entire year. donate half of it to charity, and get the other half of it in nickels and dimes so you can swim around in it like scrooge mcduck!
I told you guys it was real, LOL...Sometimes I wonder how something like this gets bundled in people's minds as "scam" like the ones that are obvious scams....
the 4 lots with just NES games are going to go for nearly $20k.. some very very rare stuff in there.
and i was pretty sure it was real from the get go.
man this is one of the great fids ever, only problem is whoever gets it will have to pay full price.. rather than finding it in the wild and scoring real cheap....
I told you guys it was real, LOL...Sometimes I wonder how something like this gets bundled in people's minds as "scam" like the ones that are obvious scams....
Ok now Jason go easy on those guys who raised the alarm. Don't forget you were the winning bidding on a fake NWC auction we clearly proved was fake long before the bidding was over.
I always thought this one was real as well but when it comes to this much money anything is possible. I'd rather get a false warning than nothing at all on a scam.
not me. I already contacted them via ebay with an offer like Sara did to feel them out. I did not get a response, but after reading this thread i realize they won't get around to saying no to me. lol.
oh yeah, and for all of you dreaming about these games, imagine how hard it is for me at work right now. I am 5 MINUTES from the warehouse!!!
In thinking about it $20k is a pretty strong offer. Sure, there are games there that are $1k+, but not many. Lots of commons not worth much either. I'd love to know how people are coming out at more than that figure. Regardless, it's safe to say whoever wins these will not end up "stealing" anything. These will get fair market value and then some.
I told you guys it was real, LOL...Sometimes I wonder how something like this gets bundled in people's minds as "scam" like the ones that are obvious scams....
Ok now Jason go easy on those guys who raised the alarm. Don't forget you were the winning bidding on a fake NWC auction we clearly proved was fake long before the bidding was over.
I always thought this one was real as well but when it comes to this much money anything is possible. I'd rather get a false warning than nothing at all on a scam.
in my defense, I called the guy first and and demanded local pickup and inspection, so I do my homework first on it
But yeah, I've been telling people stories about the Canadian warehouse for years...finally comes to fruition slightly.
I've made this suggestion via email already, but let me add one thing to the discussion here: at this point, these auctions are beyond regular video game auctions, they are an opportunity to promote nintendo, united way, NOCL's generous donation, and our little hobby. I think this would make a great story for the local/national papers especially given the size of the donation involved. NOCL, I would encourage you to contact a reporter or two - I think a lot of people would find this interesting in the paper and it could end up being one of those stories that generates a lot of buzz.
United Way is going to have a nice generous donation, everyone is going to win from this! I am just happy I don't collect sealed games. I don't have enough money in my bank account for stuff like this, hahahha
Comments
It may be a scam, but I definitely think it's too much work to be a simple joke. I also think that if the auctions are entirely legit, that the notion that the seller would end them early is ridiculous. If all the money is intended for charity, ending the auctions without giving everyone a fair shot at them goes contrary to the whole idea of raising money for charity.
First off, the response these items have received is so far beyond our expectations, its incredible really.
To address to two most common points I've come across thus far here goes:
1. The ebay ID is completely new. Nintendo as a company obviously does not sell through ebay and we only set-up our ID to get rid of these titles. I fully expect to be contacted by ebay now that I see all the attention these are getting and we will work with all winning bidders to ensure they are completely comfortable throughout the entire transaction. As the auction states, we are completely fine with any local buyers coming to our head office to pick up the product directly once it has been paid for. Certified bank draft would be accepted but no personal cheques as we have to protect ourselves from fraud as well.
2. Each lot will have a list of all titles included (along with any specific details like broken seal, damaged corners etc.) Due to the volume of the games available this was just impossible for me to complete in a single day at work. I will enlist some help tomorrow to get this information updated ASAP.
I have tried to respond to all questions put forth through ebay, and will continue to do so there, as I believe the feature that allows me to post the Q&A for all to see is beneficial and could save me a lot of time over the next week.
Some of the more specific questions regarding Cdn. vs. US versions I will have to consult with some of our more tenured employees. I have only been with NOCL for two years and some of this stuff was slightly before my video game years. I will do my best to answer these questions, I just ask for your patience as I cannot provide this information myself. In all honesty a couple of colleagues at work and I did only about an hour of research on estimating a value for any type of 'sealed' NES & SNES games. We did our best to split up any rare or popular titles amongst the various lots. I apologize to everyone looking for various individual titles, but the amount of work it would cause us would just be unmanageable.
I'd like to thank burdger for inviting me to the forum to provide you with more information and all of you for all your interest. If an editor or someone from Nintendoage would like to contact me and thus provide a reference of legitimacy to the site on my behalf, I am willing to do this. My contact information was obviously required for registration, however the volume of email I have received through ebay alone already is simply daunting so I am hesitant to providing my work email here for everyone.
Thanks for your time everyone!
My question is, does every Nintendo have similiar stock piles of vintage games? Also, is there more where they came from?
1. 'Found in the warehouse theme' - NOCL is actually moving to a new location in Burnaby in June. We are in the process of cleaning and purging everything (including the warehouse). These items were not 'found' as per se, but rather 'gone through'. They've been locked up in our Marketing cage in the warehouse obviously for quite some time.
2. 'More games, odd lot combinations etc.' - the 24 lots were created for simplicity, both for posting on ebay and shipping afterwards to the winning bidder. We did a total of 1 hour research and did our best to divide the 'rare' titles amongst the boxes equally. Due to a lack of information for Gameboy, we did no research and just tried to avoid multiple titles ending up in the same box.
3. 'Lack of promotion and publicity' - my only thoughts were to send joystiq an email about our auctions because its a blog I personally follow at work and figured "hey, they put themed birthday cakes on there... why not an auction for charity?". Other than that I've only emailed NOCL employees across Canada. Feel free to send this on to anyone or any site you think may be interested!
4. 'Bronty & Maximus prank' - all I can say is these two seem to have enviable collections and I only hope they can come forward individually to vouch for their innocence in this case.
Thats all for tonight, I hope I've helped to provide you with some more insight into the legitimacy of these auctions. I do have to admit an inferior knowledge for both the products themselves and their value to everyone on this forum. I was hoping we might get $200 on average for each of the boxes and have to say I did not think we'd come close to some of the 'outside offers' we've received.
Thanks again to all of you, my offers stands if any editors wish to contact me using my registration information!
The idea of Bronty & Maximus pulling a hoax seemed to bounce around a lot.
There will be a few more lots to come maybe next week... nothing for sealed product however.
Holy shit, imagine the feeling (especially if you're a game collector) to find all these games at once!
Also, welcome to the forum, nocl604!
Whether 8-bit is your bag or not, you should definitely stick around the board.
nocl604: Thanks for joining, welcome to NA!
A: We're flattered by the offer, but think it is only fair to all parties who have shown interest to act in good faith and allow the auctions to run their full course. Thank you for your interest!"
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-24-26-brand-new-SEALED-Nintendo-original-Gameboy_W0QQitemZ120267487527QQihZ002QQcategoryZ139973QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
"Q: In fact, going through and crunching the numbers again, I can offer a $20,000 US "buy it now" for all 24 lots. Serious offer. May-30-08
A: We're flattered by the offer, but think it is only fair to all parties who have shown interest to act in good faith and allow the auctions to run their full course. Thank you for your interest!"
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-24-26-brand-new-SEALED-Nintendo...
I would guess that all these lots will go for more than 20.000 US dollars in total to be honest, but on the other hand i dont have much idea about the value on the SNES and Gameboy games. But about $833 pr. lot (the $20.000 BIN offer) seems like a good offer, atleast in my opinion
I imagine many people are already upset with bidding getting beyond their reach. Hopfully by breaking down our entire find into these 24 lots we are able to give multiple fans a chance to win one of these great finds. They have performed so far beyond our initial expectations I'm sure this will be the talk of the office all day today and over the week to come.
Thanks to everyone for the warm welcomes!
the 4 lots with just NES games are going to go for nearly $20k.. some very very rare stuff in there.
and i was pretty sure it was real from the get go.
man this is one of the great fids ever, only problem is whoever gets it will have to pay full price.. rather than finding it in the wild and scoring real cheap....
I told you guys it was real, LOL...Sometimes I wonder how something like this gets bundled in people's minds as "scam" like the ones that are obvious scams....
Ok now Jason go easy on those guys who raised the alarm. Don't forget you were the winning bidding on a fake NWC auction we clearly proved was fake long before the bidding was over.
I always thought this one was real as well but when it comes to this much money anything is possible. I'd rather get a false warning than nothing at all on a scam.
not me. I already contacted them via ebay with an offer like Sara did to feel them out. I did not get a response, but after reading this thread i realize they won't get around to saying no to me. lol.
oh yeah, and for all of you dreaming about these games, imagine how hard it is for me at work right now. I am 5 MINUTES from the warehouse!!!
You've been living 5 minutes from all these games this whole time! Talk about being buried under your nose
this is untrue. ;-)
I told you guys it was real, LOL...Sometimes I wonder how something like this gets bundled in people's minds as "scam" like the ones that are obvious scams....
Ok now Jason go easy on those guys who raised the alarm. Don't forget you were the winning bidding on a fake NWC auction we clearly proved was fake long before the bidding was over.
I always thought this one was real as well but when it comes to this much money anything is possible. I'd rather get a false warning than nothing at all on a scam.
in my defense, I called the guy first and and demanded local pickup and inspection, so I do my homework first on it
But yeah, I've been telling people stories about the Canadian warehouse for years...finally comes to fruition slightly.