Conducted an experiment yesterday!!!

[TokenGamer]

this is sort of a continuation of another post but i think it needs it's own thread.
i went to the dixie mall flea today
with a shoebox full of nes games for the polish mafia video game lady. i tried to make it look as authentic as possible with the shoe box and good cross
section of cart only nes games. it was my intention to look like these were my carts from back in the day and i'm just looking to get as much money as i can
for them. i also wanted to see if they would cherry pick the best games and offer more for them or treat them as one lot. this is what i had in the
shoebox:

SMB/DH (of course)
mega man 6
contra
talespin
qix
rc pro am II
rad racer
rampage
battle chess
baseball
stars
air wolf
punch out

i was ready for anything and i even had a list and photo of everything just in case there was any skimming or switching
of anything.
i told the grandaughter that i wanted to sell and she immediatly grabbed them and took them behind that box they have in the middle (where
the do things that you're not allowed to see). it was like she was very well trained. i positioned myself so that i could see what was happening in there
because i knew if they tried something... i would have torn that place apart!!!
she called grandma over and she looked at them and said that she was
interested and they were good. she asked me if i wanted to trade for something. i said no, i wanted cash. she looked at the games again and told me that she
wouldn't give me cash because "i have lots of these games, credit only" so i said okay, how much in credit? she says $2.00 each and made it sound like that
was alot and she didn't really want to give me that much.
i politely asked for my games back. she handed them over and i spent a minute going through
them just to see if they made a switch or skimmed 1 or 2 carts. she must have thought i was pondering her offer because she was all over me and ignoring
other customers who wanted to ask a question. i was just making sure everything was cool and i already got what i came for. when i saw that everything was
alright, i put the box under my arm, thanked her, and walked away. she didn't even say anything.
in conclusion, they do low ball you in a major way and
then take games that they buy from you for $2 and sell them for between $20-$75. something tells me qix (one of my all time favorites) would have had a huge
price tag on it and she wanted to give me $2 for it. thanks alot!
i understand that it is a business and they do have to make money but at the same time,
i think the money distribution is a little lob-sided. if they were selling games for $5, buying games for $2 and giving store credit for $2.50 i wouldn't
have a problem with that at all. even if the margin was a little greater than that, i woldn't have a problem with it because their profit is what puts food
on the table and keeps the doors open so we have a place to buy, sell and trade and a chance of hopefully finding a really rare game at a decent price one
day. but when they offer $2 per game and sell them for $20-$75 each and top it all off with that stupid rental as long as you want deal THAT PISSES ME OFF...
THAT'S WRONG!!!

[birdie3]

What you should do is go in there with 10's, UR's, and
prototypes. First, wrap them all up in bags and put them in a really fancy looking case etc... Then, say that you just had these games appraised by some
bullshit antiques appraiser (and have a copy of like a DP rarity guide or something to that effect) and when they offer you $2, say that their competition
was offering $500 for them. If they say "no way" then ask them if they know of any accurate way of appraising the actual value of what you have. Oh yeah, and
cough alot when ever they say something to you about anything.

[CongoBongo]

Nice experiment. In all
fairness though, if you went to a grarage sale and saw all of those carts for $2 each would you give them the $2 or tell them hey, those are worth a lot
more than $2 I'll give you $x. I don't really blame them for trying to lowball sellers. Charging a fortune on resale I do blame them for though. I gotta go
back there for a laugh sometime soon myself. Maybe we should have a swap meet there, right in front of their booth .

[ghsqb]

Thats dirty, but I love it!

That would be really funny.

[Mr-E_MaN]

Very interesting.


I have a guy that owns a pawn shop around here. I see him from time to time buying up games at pawn shops, thrift stores, and garage sales. He is
more interested in records but he does buy every game he sees. I saw him pick up Space Invaders for the Atari for $2 this Saturday, I wonder what he will
sell it at... All his atari games sell for 5-7 dollars.

[TokenGamer]

Nice experiment. In all fairness though, if you went to a grarage sale and saw all of those carts for $2 each would you give
them the $2 or tell them hey, those are worth a lot more than $2 I'll give you $x. I don't really blame them for trying to lowball sellers. Charging a
fortune on resale I do blame them for though. I gotta go back there for a laugh sometime soon myself. Maybe we should have a swap meet there, right in front
of their booth .

i see your point. but a garage sale is one thing and a video game store or stand is another.

i'm not
sure if i can explain this properly, the way i want you to understand it, but i'll try my best.

someone who has set up a store and has been in
business for a long time knows what things are worth. they have a certain non-legal responsibility to tell you how much they are worth more or less. it is in
their own best intrest to do so.

by showing honesty to your customers only makes them feel good about the deal even if it's leaning in the
businesses favor a little. if you had a stadium events and had no clue what it was worth and sold it to a game store who knows full well what it's worth for
$2, you go back the next week and see it sitting there for $2000... you're gonna be pissed to know that you put good faith in someone who aparently knows
enough about this stuff to set up a business and that person screwed you. there isn't much you can do about it but if your dad happened to be a lawyer, he
could send them and angry letter and a threat or two but not much else. but what you would do is never go back to that store ever again and go around telling
your friends not to go there either.

which is exactly what is happening to the old polish lady on this site!!! and i'm certain we are not the only
ones.

they keep doing shady business like that and eventually run off customers and have fewer sellers and buyers. not good for business is it? ever
wonder why game shops come and go so fast sometimes?

there was always a game shop within walking distance of my area. they all did shady business
like that and eventually found themselves with no customers and shutting down. there was even a microplay right around the corner from my house that did
business that way and eventually found themselves with a whole lot of great, rare, expensive inventory and no customers. it is now a medical equipment store.
so it IS in their best interest to stay honest.

as far as yard sales go. i see that as a whole different "market" i know it sounds weird but if you
think about it, that's what you would expect to pay at a yard sale. $2 is actually kind of expensive as far as yard sales go.

if you were to put
things on a pricing scale, yard sales would be at the bottom, fleas in the middle and retail stores on top. you expect things to be dirt cheap at a yard sale
because people are just getting rid of stuff. you would expect to pay more at a flea because the vendor needs to make some money. you would expect to pay
more than that at a retail store because there is an entire business that needs to be supported.

this flea in question is way beyond any retail store.
that is what hurts them. i bet that old lady has no idea that at least 95% of registered users on this site would never buy, sell or trade anything with her.
so far thats about 70 people and growing. and like i said, i'm certain we are not the only ones. i could get into the mathematics about how much each person
could spend but this post is big enough already.