Why I hate E-Bay

[Chris++]

So I'm playing this particularly intense game of Seaquest a couple days ago. The divers are scarce and hard to catch; the subs and sharks are blindingly fast. I'm really far along. But I'm doing well. Lose a life, but gain it back during the bonus count at the end of the wave. Awww yeah. Gonna top my old high score. But then, white noise. Static. DAMN!

 

I figured something went wrong in the RF area of my 4-switcher. It's definitely reception-related. The thing was shot. I tossed it, salvaging the RF cable itself in case future need called for it. (Yeah, like I need 847 RF cables instead of my prior 846. But still, y'never know.) I can't solder to save my life, and don't have an iron anyway, so I simply bid my trusty ol' VCS goodbye and sent it to the dumpster. Always a sad moment.

 

So now I'm down to my lone (non-heavy) six-switcher. It works really well, and the picture's sterling (thanks to a little POTS adjustment I made a couple months ago) -- but it's the only one I have now. I don't know if anyone else gets a bit paranoid about having only one 2600. But I wanted another one. I always feel better with a backup.

 

There's a Goodwill here, and right behind it is an affiliated room called Clearance Corner. It's been a mainstay of my classic gaming needs for half a decade. So I walk in yesterday, asking the clerk if he's seen any Atari systems in the huge, disorganized chamber of other people's junk.

 

"Not for a while, no," he says. "Ever since that E-Bay thing got popular, people buy old video games here, just so they can sell them."

 

I searched anyway, but all I found was a huge bin of NES consoles.

 

A lot of you find fault with my comments that people charge too much for items when they auction them off on E-Bay. But I have an essentially moral problem with the way that stupid, over-trendy online entity has taken collecting/playing OUT OF THE HANDS OF THE COLLECTORS/PLAYERS. Sure, I can bitch all I want about prices, and everyone here is free to disagree; but at least these prices used to be contained within our comfy gaming community. Even Kurt Vendel is better than nothing. Now, people who couldn't care less about Atari or its games, people who might not even like to play them, buy up our precious thrift-store booty in order to auction it off at jacked-up prices.

 

I'm sorry about the profanity, Al & Albert, so please forgive me here, but there's really nothing to say besides fuck E-Bay. Fuck it in both ears, and every other orifice twenty thousand times. I refuse to take part.

 

The above is only opinion, and flaming is not an option. PLEASE. This is sincere commentary here, whether you agree with it or not. I don't mean to hurt the feelings of anyone who likes E-Bay, so please don't take it as an attack on any one individual or his manner of collecting. But there must be some way we can take control of our hobby again. Any ideas? E-Bay's pretty ominous, and I can't see how we could possibly affect it. But maybe we could use our voices to an indirect extent by refusing to take part. I know this is fantasy on my part, but I had to make my (typed?) voice known about my opinion on this matter. That's what forums are for, after all.

 

Anyone looking to sell any type of VCS, I'd rather buy it from you than someone who doesn't have any idea how much that machine is treasured by many players, so please let me know. (Yes, Marco, I know that last bit should be in the Marketplace forum, but I put it there too. )

 

 

CF

[bangles66]

I'd love to help but all my spare stuff is in temporary storage in preperation for some remodeling about to take place. If you still need one in about 2 months (hoping all goes well with remodeling) I can check my extra stuff to find a working vcs. Send me an email if you are still interested at that time.

bangles66@yahoo.com.

 

I know you hate ebay but try this link

 

http://www.stores.ebay.com/id=3614179

 

This guy is here on AA here's the link to his profile page

 

You may be able to buy something from him directly without going through e-bay.

[Chris++]

Thank you! I'll check it out.

[munkyxtc]

Chris,

 

I'd love to disagree with you just for the sake of disagreement, but I'm afraid on this topic I cannot...You are absolutely correct...(Personally I love eBay, I'll get to that in a minute)...People with no kind of videogame knowledge at all (whether it be atari or not), buy all up the booty from goodwill etc, and sell it on eBay in order to make a quick buck off of us collectors...Why do you think we've seen sooooo many "rare" combat & ET carts as of late? They think simply because the game was made ~25 yrs ago, it holds significant value, when in fact atari made enough of these carts to give 4 to evreyone in existance and still have a warehouse stockpile...

 

Now for the reason I love eBay...I wouldn't have many of the games I have today (especially in mint condition) if it weren't for eBay...true, I'm paying much more than I would if I walked into a thrift store, and found a rare title...but what are the chances of me finding a MIB quadrun at MY local Goodwill stores? something like 1:24,623,564,321 (odds of finding cart are only estimated), so for this I must thank eBay for being around...

 

Anyways, that's my 2 cents,

 

Dave

[Atari2600Lives]

Listen I feel your pain but I do not particularly agree.

 

Ebay has opened up the hobby like never before...I would never had aquired my SQ waterworld and my Crazy Climber if it was not for Ebay. In Miami FL there is hardly EVER anything to find. Ebay keeps the hobby alive down here. Nationally Ebay is responsible for bringing more poeple into this hobby then any other single source. more people =healthier hobby.

 

You might not be able to find a stella for $3 at your local thrift anymore but the $18 you pay on Ebay just made it easier to add 50,000 more people who enjoy the hobby you enjoy. 50,000 more people posting on forums,buying , going to CG Expo, making homebrews, buying homebrews...it's an explosion! 50,000 more people promoting the hobby, trading online...it goes on and on.....a small price to pay ...an extra $13 :wink:

 

Atari200Lives

[King Atari]

I've said it before, I'll say it again, some games you just can't find in the wild, no matter how hard you try or how long you look. Although I hate how these people buy the games just to sell on ebay, it does make finding them that much quicker and easier. You might pay a little (or a lot) more, but at least you get it, unless it's a deadbeat seller.

[Rob Mitchell]

I don't think that making $20 off an Atari with 10 common carts on eBay is really that great of a way to get some cash .. and really is a waste of time ..

 

Instead I do pick up every $2-3 Atari Console I do find in the thrifts .. and I have given away about 6 consoles to friends and family.

 

Just wait .. be patient .. and you will come across one sooner than you think ..

 

As long as there are people who think that the coolest graphics is a priority .. Atari consoles will continue to show up in the thrifts and fleas. EBay just happens to be the biggest flea.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Chris++]

I understand (and greatly appreciate) all of your opinions. They've served to allay my annoyance somewhat, I admit. I hadn't thought of the "new 2600 community members" angle; it does make a lot of sense.

 

 

CF

[Garbs]

Let me get back to you Chris after my 67 Atari 2600 auctions have finished.

 

**JUST KIDDING !!**

 

Seriously, I understand your point, but must agree with some other folks here. If not for eBay, I probably wouldn't be able to get a large pecentage of the items I've already acquired.

 

Hang in there. If you don't find something soon, I can sell you a console I picked up for 3 bucks at a thrift for let's say, about 68.00 dollars?

 

**KIDDING AGAIN !!** :wink:

[Chris++]

LOL ... Only $68? WOW! That's as cheap as that RARE COMBAT I bought from Scott (Room34)! Oops, I think I just revealed myself....

 

 

CF

[bloatedmonkey]

and flaming is not an option.

That made me chuckle:D

 

A plug for the kids out there....stay in school, study hard, and make good grades so you can get a good job. Then you can make lots of money, buy anything you want, and laugh at the slackers who can only complain about high prices because they're too busy paying off their credit cards.

 

When Ebay started, I had 20 games: 10 from my youth and 10 I'd found in thrift stores. Now I have around 800 and I love playing each one. Ebay freakin' rules!

[Chris++]

There are, if you'll re-read my post, other reasons for complaining about high prices than "needing to pay off a credit card." (I've never had one.)

 

 

 

CF

[bloatedmonkey]

Ok, let's assume you're not poor. Fair enough, but I don't get the logic. My understanding is that you're upset that non-collectors are selling items on ebay at high prices, and you don't want to buy from "someone who doesn't have any idea how much that machine is treasured by many players".

 

Yet you're perfectly willing to buy one as a result of someone giving it to charity after they figured it was worthless. It sounds to me that some poor schmuck gives away a valuable item, only to have you pick it up at a deep discount to market value. So you're basically taking advantage of someone indirectly - not what I'd call the moral high-ground.

 

At least with Ebay, the grandma who finds a Quadrun in her closet will get what it's actually worth, instead of selling it to you for a dollar.

 

Truth be told, I'm glad you're not an Ebay champion. That's less comptetition for me. Yeah, you're right.....Ebay sucks!

[jahfish]

i know what you mean ..... and i can only tell you that the key is patience ...

 

most items will reappear on ebay ... when you see many bids on an ended auction, you can guess that it won't be much cheaper next time ... when it's only one guy pushing the price because he absolutely want it, you might get the next one popping up on ebay for half the price ....

 

also when we brag about real cheap bargains from ebay, it's often stuff listed in any section but the atari related ones .... you'll find more unusual items and cheap stuff when searching for atari, instead of just going through the usual categories ...

 

but you'll find out that there's way too much auctions to go through .... just like you have to go to many fleas and thrift stores to find good stuff or cheap stuff .... there's two sides for everything ...

 

we all have to deal with the fact that atari (with it's anniversary) is pretty hype at the moment .... regularly, people contact me to get a console every week at the moment .... while writing this, i just had andreas on the phone from the computer museum berlin .... i just sold my colecovision loose with accessoires and 6 games for 40$. yes, i made a few bucks since i got it cheaper. but ebay-addicts know that only 1 out of 10 "bargain-bids" will win ... and it might take ages to get something you want cheap and you'll have to bid again and again

 

so frederico, just find your way around .... have patience and just regularly hunt the things you want .... time is money, and if you don't have the time, then it's more money you need ....

 

isn't it like that with everything?

 

if you have a free day, hunt the web for private pages, check out sites like gametz.com ... different approaches often make me find interesting items ....

i met people like joel, rick, sandy, ian, ... through finding their sites and trading .... and we traded stuff that would have been way more expensive over ebay, since getting every single item costs a lot more shipping when shipped internationaly ....

 

i also have many packages waiting to be filled to the limit and be sent to usa ... i collect for us-collectors, and some us-collectors do the same for me ... same in australia .... we usually ship every 2-3 months and save 20-100$ on shipping depending how much items are shipped separately .... shipping prices often change. i bought about 15 arcade marquees: some asked for 7$ international shipping, others 10$ within usa, some up to 30$ for international shipping ... so usually i shipped for 4-7$ within usa and collect most marquee there. it'll be about 30$ to ship them back to germany. that's only 2-3$ more for each one to be shipped to me, instead of high international shipping costs for each aucton i won ...

 

ok, a few thoughts that hopefully get your head up

[Marco(2)]

Currently up for auction on eBay:

 

28 copies of Combat, price: from 1 cent to $5 for a boxed game

26 copies of Space Invaders, price: from 1 cent to $7 for a boxed game

30 copies of Pitfall I or II, price: from 1 cent to $5 for a boxed game

44 copies of Asteroids, price: from 1 cent to $5 for a boxed game

11 copies of Enduro, price: from 50 cents to $4 for a boxed game

13 copies of Demon Attack, price: from 1 cent to $4 for a boxed game

Hundreds of Atari 2600 systems up for auction, price: 95 cents and up

 

In my simple, 2-category rarity system of rares & not-so-rares it's a buyers market (players and collectors) on about 95% of the Atari 2600 games and a sellers market (mostly collectors) on the remaining 5%. Sellers listing Combats and ETs as Unbelievably Rare are ours to laugh at. They will do it once, maybe twice, and then realize this hobby really isn't in their hands. The supply on 95% of the games and consoles is simply way too overwhelming for the demand to make up for a market controlled by sellers.

 

Cheers,

 

Marco

[Snider-man]

Moving away from the whole "Is eBay screwing up things for collectors" thread for just a moment, I gotta tell ya I love eBay. Oh, I hate the prices that somethings go for, but I've gotten some great deals that I'd never find in the wild.

 

Best thing is that you can sell anything - *ANYTHING* - on eBay and there will be someone out there willing to give you $$$ for it. For example, I've been selling collectible and rare board games I've picked up at thrifts for a buck or less, or given to me by family and friends, etc. Well, in 8 months time, I made $1,000 doing this on eBay. Funded this year's trip to CGE for the wife and me. Other than the eBay fees and whatever I paid for these games over the 8 months (less than $100 by my calculations), nothing came out of pocket. How else can you earn that kind of cash sitting at home in front of the computer?

 

Supplemental income, ahoy.

[jahfish]

Supplemental income, ahoy.

 

specially without the friendly help of the IRS

 

 

 

(advise to sellers: always make sure to metion that you're selling of parts of a private collection when they're new or even sealed, otherwise they can quickly claim that you're doing a business)

[Atari-Jess]

i hate ebay only cause i cant find what i want for a price i want to pay.

[Chris++]

Monkey -- You're right; when I want an Atari item, I'd like to go down the street to my thrift shop and buy it for the same price I've always bought it for. I don't want to pay a higher price and then wait for it to come in the mail. I detest people for buying things from a store just to sell them on E-Bay. This makes perfect sense to me -- surely you can at least SEE it from my perspective, even if we think differently about it. If you love E-Bay, great, terrific, you're welcome to it. But it's being misused in this one way. Evidently, there are advantages as well -- but those were not what I was addressing.

 

I like buying carts from other collectors. The prices stay reasonable, I know I can trust them if I've been discussing things with them on AA, etc. etc. I wish I could share your optimism, Marco, and I hope the trend you point out turns out to be accurate.

 

 

 

CF again

[+wavemotion]

Now, people who couldn't care less about Atari or its games, people who might not even like to play them, buy up our precious thrift-store booty in order to auction it off at jacked-up prices.

 

I definitely understand where you're coming from! However, I can't fault people from snatching up Atari's and selling them for profit. Capitalism at it's finest Anyway, the prices are still pretty reasonable on ebay - I had a heck of a time trying to find even common carts locally. So I decided to pick up a slew of them from an ebay seller (to combine shipping costs). I paid approximately US$3.50 for each cart which included the shipping. Is this too much for commons like Adventure, Chopper Command, Frostbite, Bowling, Yar's Revenge, Space Invaders, Warlords, Kaboom? Probably yes. But it saved me a slew of time trying to dig for them (which, I agree, can be huge fun but I'd rather start digging after getting the carts I really wanted to start me off). I bought from a seller that tests the carts, listed the actual pictures of the items I would recieve and didn't hype them up as being "RARE!" - so I got all clean carts with intact and good looking labels (well, a few of the Activision carts have the Actiplacque everyone is aware of but it's not too bad). So I'm definitely a fan of ebay since I managed to recapture almost my entire childhood Atari collection of favoriate games in about a week's time and really didn't break the bank. I most definitely will continue to scour yardsales and thrift stores, but I'm glad that I can find a cart I'm interested in on ebay for somewhat reasonable prices (in the case of Atari carts - at least the commons - there is a greater supply than demand since a fair share of the carts listed for $2 don't sell).

[Candyrose]

Well I can't say I am against Ebay because I only recently started selling etc on there hoping to get a little money toward some of the debt we're in. And I do like the fact I can usually find what I happen to be looking for on there BUT I do hate the way that some of the sellers jack their shipping charges to where you're paying out the nose for something. To buy something for $1 that might take $2 for postage and have to pay $7 is a bit ridiculous...

[Atari freak 1]

Instead I do pick up every $2-3 Atari Console I do find in the thrifts .. and I have given away about 6 consoles to friends and family.  

 

Just wait .. be patient .. and you will come across one sooner than you think ..

 

Can you get me one too?!

[General Atarian]

I see both side of the coin on this one.

 

1. eBay is good because it does give some people a way to get the stuff they would normally never get by fleas, thrifts, etc.

 

2. eBay (IMHO) does sometimes give the hobby over to "profiteers".

 

I have never used eBay. I guess deep down, I want to get stuff for as little as I can (heck, who doesn't) and getting into a bidding war takes the fun out of it for me. not that I am cheap or anything. but watch my pennies. We all cant let this hobby interfere with our bills, ya know? I have thought about it on many occasions, but I hate giving my credit card number online. That is the reason I have never done it. If I could get over that fear, maybe I could get a few things I want...like a KIDS CONTROLLER...just kidding, shameless plug there.

 

I guess eBay is all about how you look at it.

 

My $.02 what ever it is worth.

[Atari2600Lives]

There is no reason to detest people that buy form a thirft and sell on Ebay. You still had the same opportunity to buy it that they did and then they made it available to a mass of people who do not have access to thrifts.

 

I live in Miami FL there is nothing to find here. In 3 years of serious looking , I have found one item worth mentioning in a thrift store -a Sears Telegames Arcade II in mint condition...otherwise it's barren, if not for that guy buying from the thrift and selling to me , my collection would be tiny right now.

 

Atari2600Lives