My Marketplace Philosophy

[Atari_Bill]

Quick concise feelings here, but I disagree about games being a bad long term investment and the bit about boxes not being worth it.

 

Collecting vintage or classic gaming goodies is much like playing the stock market. Values fluctuate and there's obviously superior times to buy and sell. Overall, I believe our hobby has maintained a relatively static metric since people started taking the collecting of this stuff seriously back in the mid 90's. Cases upon cases of certain titles dug up from South America aside that is.

 

Vintage gaming to me, seems to represent a decent investment for those of us that accumulated the bulk of our collection a decade or two ago. Wouldn't necessarily want to start out trying to get some of the more rare titles today, but then again - you could say the same about gold right now.

 

Boxes and CIB games will only continue to rise in value, make no mistake about that.

 

My own personal opinion, but I don't know that I agree with that. I love my collection because it takes me back to my childhood and gets me excited about having everything I couldn't have back then. I know people collect for different reasons, but I'm not sure I can see young blood continuing to have an interest in anything pre-Nintendo. Even at some point in the future, the same could be said pre-Playstation maybe. I'm not saying that I would give up my collection, but for the reasons I state above, I won't spend any great amount of money to add to it either. I certainly will not pay extra for boxed or unopened items. Just one man's opionion.

[horseboy]

I still can't figure out why some people have such hatred for best offer posts. It makes no sense to me. If you are interested just send the guy an offer for what you are willing to pay. It is perfectly acceptable to post something up for best offer.

 

i got no problem with best offer posts, if they really mean it. but if you post "best offer" you have no right to complain about lowballs.

 

 

I agree 100%.

[HatefulGravey]

I still can't figure out why some people have such hatred for best offer posts. It makes no sense to me. If you are interested just send the guy an offer for what you are willing to pay. It is perfectly acceptable to post something up for best offer.

 

i got no problem with best offer posts, if they really mean it. but if you post "best offer" you have no right to complain about lowballs.

 

 

I agree 100%.

 

The other side of this is people shouldn't be upset when they are told their offer isn't enough to buy the item. I have seen that more times then I care to count as well.

[akator]

The other side of this is people shouldn't be upset when they are told their offer isn't enough to buy the item. I have seen that more times then I care to count as well.

 

Agreed. Part of it may be overinflated entitlement, but whatever the cause there are some people with serious issues. I've had taco farts that are more reasonable than some buyers, their offers, and their responses when the offer is declined.

[+save2600]

I know people collect for different reasons, but I'm not sure I can see young blood continuing to have an interest in anything pre-Nintendo. Even at some point in the future, the same could be said pre-Playstation maybe.

I wrestle with that notion myself from time to time, but then remember something very important to the conversation and quite common: antique, thrift and collectible stores.

 

I wasn't alive during the time of Flappers, Prohibition or Big Band music, but damn do I LOVE my wind up RCA Victrola and the hundreds of 78's I've amassed throughout the years!

 

Was too young to assemble Heathkit and Hallicrafters tube amps or to have bought new, the various vintage audio gear in my collection. Oh and my valve tester sure comes in handy when testing various RCA, Mullard, G.E., Sylvania, etc. tubes today!

 

My relatively young age doesn't prevent me from enjoying my recordable quadraphonic 8-Track machine or my vintage Sci-Fi book collection from the 50's and 60's of Astounding Science Fiction either

 

Wasn't even born by the time some of my favorite automobiles were released, but that didn't stop me from purchasing, maintaining and investing in 'em

 

Oh and then there's the couple dozen vintage arcade machines in my collection ranging from the 40's to 90's. Can't forget about them!

 

Point is, I wouldn't be too quick to assume "nobody" is going to care about vintage gaming in the future. Especially when talking about Atari systems. The Atari brand itself is deeply rooted already and that part of the history books will never be re-written. Besides, after all these modern gaming companies shoot themselves in the foot by removing physical media from the hands of consumers, will come a time more and more become re-fascinated with Atari and vintage gaming. Again. Emulation at first maybe of piqued interest, which will inevitably lead to some getting bit by the collecting bug and there you have it. Potential scenario of how a generation of kids could keep the hobby alive

 

Seems hard to imagine certain vintage gaming doo-dads will always retain their value though, which is why I made the comment relating to the stock market. Last two decades have already proven that there's both smart and stupid times to sell. Still wish I would have kept my complete U.S. collection of TG-16 crap, only to sell it now.

Edited July 7, 2011 by save2600

[Atari_Bill]

I know people collect for different reasons, but I'm not sure I can see young blood continuing to have an interest in anything pre-Nintendo. Even at some point in the future, the same could be said pre-Playstation maybe.

I wrestle with that notion myself from time to time, but then remember something very important to the conversation and quite common: antique, thrift and collectible stores.

 

I wasn't alive during the time of Flappers, Prohibition or Big Band music, but damn do I LOVE my wind up RCA Victrola and the hundreds of 78's I've amassed throughout the years!

 

Was too young to assemble Heathkit and Hallicrafters tube amps or to have bought new, the various vintage audio gear in my collection. Oh and my valve tester sure comes in handy when testing various RCA, Mullard, G.E., Sylvania, etc. tubes today!

 

My relatively young age doesn't prevent me from enjoying my recordable quadraphonic 8-Track machine or my vintage Sci-Fi book collection from the 50's and 60's of Astounding Science Fiction either

 

Wasn't even born by the time some of my favorite automobiles were released, but that didn't stop me from purchasing, maintaining and investing in 'em

 

Oh and then there's the couple dozen vintage arcade machines in my collection ranging from the 40's to 90's. Can't forget about them!

 

Point is, I wouldn't be too quick to assume "nobody" is going to care about vintage gaming in the future. Especially when talking about Atari systems. The Atari brand itself is deeply rooted already and that part of the history books will never be re-written. Besides, after all these modern gaming companies shoot themselves in the foot by removing physical media from the hands of consumers, will come a time more and more become re-fascinated with Atari and vintage gaming. Again. Emulation at first maybe of piqued interest, which will inevitably lead to some getting bit by the collecting bug and there you have it. Potential scenario of how a generation of kids could keep the hobby alive

 

Seems hard to imagine certain vintage gaming doo-dads will always retain their value though, which is why I made the comment relating to the stock market. Last two decades have already proven that there's both smart and stupid times to sell. Still wish I would have kept my complete U.S. collection of TG-16 crap, only to sell it now.

 

Good points all. In this case I hope you are the correct one

[HatefulGravey]

All that stuff you said!

 

That!

 

I don't try to tell myself this is an investment at all anymore. Maybe when I first started I thought I might be able to make money one day off this stuff, but as time goes that idea goes as well. Not because I think I surely wont, but because I just don't care. This is my hobby. This isn't a business oppritunity for me. I have those, I work hard at those, and I'm always looking for that. This is my hobby. This is the thing I reward myself with when those business things I have been working so hard on come through for me.

 

Some people buy beer, some buy drugs, some buy "the company of women". Hell I know people that collect news papers. I collect games. I could spend my money on any number of things that I would never get my money back out of, I picked this one.

 

It would make me very happy if someone in my family took interest in my collection to the point that I would want to leave it to them. There is a good chance that one of the kids in the family will. Those kids get to grow up thinking they have a cool uncle with a lot of video games. If they still happen to think its cool by high school then I have probably found the next person to care about these games, and that person will get one hell of a start on whatever they think a collection should be.

 

Point is, when we share our collection we share the things that make us collect. From time to time we are going to share the collecting bug too. I think it is far more common for people to gain interest from seeing a collection and playing those games then just reading online that people have that stuff.

[VectorGamer]

 

I don’t like gift payments. I’d rather send extra to cover the fees.

 

If I'm the seller, I never ask the buyer to gift payment as they're already paying for shipping. And as a buyer, don't ask me to gift payment because I may forget anyway.

 

 

 

We’ll just do this auction style

(You’ll be outbid or you’ll pay too much- either way you lose)

 

 

Yeah, i ****ing h8 that...

 

 

 

Shrink-wrapped

(Expensive. Dented/caved-in box, cart is very nice condition but may not work. No refund)

 

 

If I sell any sealed games I do not take returns.

 

 

I need money for an operation/bills/bicycle/meth/etc

(I don’t care why you’re selling. I’ll buy if you have what I want.)

 

 

I'm not familiar with anyone that ever posted stuff like that

 

 

If you don’t buy them I’ll be forced to use Ebay

(Honestly, this “threat” does nothing to encourage me to buy something I don’t want)

 

 

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anything but that!!!!!

[HatefulGravey]

As far as the gift thing goes, if you have good rep here or we have done business before I'm going to gift pay you. I don't like to read "paypal gift only" on a for sale thread for a guy with no rep on this forum and 3 posts. Most of the time I'm not spending enough money on someone I don't know to really worry about the loss anyway, but it bugs me when the new guys say this.

 

If I know you, people like Ax or Benny that I have done a good deal of buying from for example, its perfect to gift pay. I spend no more money then I was going to anyway, and they get more money.

[Schizophretard]

I know people collect for different reasons, but I'm not sure I can see young blood continuing to have an interest in anything pre-Nintendo. Even at some point in the future, the same could be said pre-Playstation maybe.

I wrestle with that notion myself from time to time, but then remember something very important to the conversation and quite common: antique, thrift and collectible stores.

 

I wasn't alive during the time of Flappers, Prohibition or Big Band music, but damn do I LOVE my wind up RCA Victrola and the hundreds of 78's I've amassed throughout the years!

 

Was too young to assemble Heathkit and Hallicrafters tube amps or to have bought new, the various vintage audio gear in my collection. Oh and my valve tester sure comes in handy when testing various RCA, Mullard, G.E., Sylvania, etc. tubes today!

 

My relatively young age doesn't prevent me from enjoying my recordable quadraphonic 8-Track machine or my vintage Sci-Fi book collection from the 50's and 60's of Astounding Science Fiction either

 

Wasn't even born by the time some of my favorite automobiles were released, but that didn't stop me from purchasing, maintaining and investing in 'em

 

Oh and then there's the couple dozen vintage arcade machines in my collection ranging from the 40's to 90's. Can't forget about them!

 

Point is, I wouldn't be too quick to assume "nobody" is going to care about vintage gaming in the future. Especially when talking about Atari systems. The Atari brand itself is deeply rooted already and that part of the history books will never be re-written. Besides, after all these modern gaming companies shoot themselves in the foot by removing physical media from the hands of consumers, will come a time more and more become re-fascinated with Atari and vintage gaming. Again. Emulation at first maybe of piqued interest, which will inevitably lead to some getting bit by the collecting bug and there you have it. Potential scenario of how a generation of kids could keep the hobby alive

 

Seems hard to imagine certain vintage gaming doo-dads will always retain their value though, which is why I made the comment relating to the stock market. Last two decades have already proven that there's both smart and stupid times to sell. Still wish I would have kept my complete U.S. collection of TG-16 crap, only to sell it now.

 

I can relate to this. I collect pre-Nintendo, pre-everything you stated, and pre-historic. I collect fossils. If there is someone interested in incomplete nonfunctioning creatures from 500,000,000 years ago then surely there will be people interested in functioning classic video games 50 years from now. Also, the population is increasing. Even if the percentage of people interested decreases the number of people interested could increase. As the population increases the demand could increase and even if it doesn't the supply is decreasing. Eventually there won't be a garage, basement, attic, or storage unit with a classic video game in it. They will all be owned by collectors or be fossils in a landfill.

[Zwackery]

Often when I am selling items and say "make an offer", it's because I got said items cheaply and am not really interested in maximizing my profit, so if I get something satisfactory and can sell it to a fellow collector for less than it goes on eBay, I'm okay with that. It may sound strange not to seek the most profit possible, but with a lot of stuff I find I get good deals because I am patient, so why not pass it along after a fashion. I know in my early days of collecting a lot of people were very nice and sold things to me at a reasonable cost, and again I feel like I should participate in the spirit of camaraderie in this video game community.

[Cebus Capucinis]

I know in my early days of collecting a lot of people were very nice and sold things to me at a reasonable cost, and again I feel like I should participate in the spirit of camaraderie in this video game community.

 

COMRADE-ry

 

 

[accousticguitar]

Often when I am selling items and say "make an offer", it's because I got said items cheaply and am not really interested in maximizing my profit, so if I get something satisfactory and can sell it to a fellow collector for less than it goes on eBay, I'm okay with that. It may sound strange not to seek the most profit possible, but with a lot of stuff I find I get good deals because I am patient, so why not pass it along after a fashion. I know in my early days of collecting a lot of people were very nice and sold things to me at a reasonable cost, and again I feel like I should participate in the spirit of camaraderie in this video game community.

Putting a price on items and maximizing profit are not necessarily related. You are free to put the price as low as you wish.

[+poobah]

re: make offer

 

Often times I'll post something as make an offer when I am unfamiliar with the value of the item (ie: I posted some Apple 2 stuff not too long ago). Someone with knowledge of those items would know their value better than I.

[HatefulGravey]

Often when I am selling items and say "make an offer", it's because I got said items cheaply and am not really interested in maximizing my profit, so if I get something satisfactory and can sell it to a fellow collector for less than it goes on eBay, I'm okay with that. It may sound strange not to seek the most profit possible, but with a lot of stuff I find I get good deals because I am patient, so why not pass it along after a fashion. I know in my early days of collecting a lot of people were very nice and sold things to me at a reasonable cost, and again I feel like I should participate in the spirit of camaraderie in this video game community.

 

Oh, don't worry, if I make an offer on anything I'm going to make an offer lower then eBay prices . Otherwise I could just buy it from eBay whenever I want to buy it from eBay and be done with it.

 

I do agree with your point about people helping out when you start. There are a lot of people out there that sold me items a lower then retial prices when I was starting and I do pass that on. Hell, I often give items away to local people interested in collecting. Maybe I'll create a new collector some time soon, you never know.

[toptenmaterial]

Does anyone else here find themselves buying/selling/trading for the social interaction?

[VectorGamer]

Does anyone else here find themselves buying/selling/trading for the social interaction?

 

No - it is strictly for sexual gratification...

[bennybingo]

re: make offer

 

Often times I'll post something as make an offer when I am unfamiliar with the value of the item (ie: I posted some Apple 2 stuff not too long ago). Someone with knowledge of those items would know their value better than I.

 

In that case, I would post an interest check thread...in there, I would ask for any help pricing it out.

[toptenmaterial]

Does anyone else here find themselves buying/selling/trading for the social interaction?

 

No - it is strictly for sexual gratification...

Is that why those manuals you sent me were all stuck together?!?

[VectorGamer]

Does anyone else here find themselves buying/selling/trading for the social interaction?

 

No - it is strictly for sexual gratification...

Is that why those manuals you sent me were all stuck together?!?

 

That and the white stains on the black label carts

[HatefulGravey]

Another interesting thing I see a lot comes to mind. A person has something for sale at like $20 and says "if you don't like the price PM me and we can work something out". I'm not sure that ever works out at all. I sent an offer of $15 on a item listed at $20 with this same remark in the thread only to be told I was lowballing them. I guess they wanted a $19 offer?

 

Then there are the items that are hard to make an offer on. The Neptune in the market now for example. Every post in that thread says "I have no idea what to offer for this".

 

There are a pile of things in my house I would like to sell just to move them out of my house. I have 7 NES systems right now, I don't need 7 NES systems. Its just the messages I know I'll get when I list them that have stopped me. I guess I'll get to work on that soon.

 

Oh, btw, whats the going rate on an NES system right now anyway? I can never keep up with this crap!

[fmdof]

Another interesting thing I see a lot comes to mind. A person has something for sale at like $20 and says "if you don't like the price PM me and we can work something out". I'm not sure that ever works out at all. I sent an offer of $15 on a item listed at $20 with this same remark in the thread only to be told I was lowballing them. I guess they wanted a $19 offer?

 

Then there are the items that are hard to make an offer on. The Neptune in the market now for example. Every post in that thread says "I have no idea what to offer for this".

 

There are a pile of things in my house I would like to sell just to move them out of my house. I have 7 NES systems right now, I don't need 7 NES systems. Its just the messages I know I'll get when I list them that have stopped me. I guess I'll get to work on that soon.

 

Oh, btw, whats the going rate on an NES system right now anyway? I can never keep up with this crap!

 

depending on condition, and if they have controllers/rf/power, between 25-35. a new 72 pin never hurt the sale either. Used VG stores tend to have them around the 45-55 dollar amount, which is fair for a retail setting.

 

as for that Neptune, you're right. seller should just drop a price and see what happens. A lot of hard work went into it, so the labor has got to be worth something. I'm guessing, somewhere around 125-150 would be right. Just Like an NES top loader could sell for 50, but if it has been modded with JUST av out, it's an easy 125, but since this neptune isn't an everyday thing, more could be expected too. I know I want it.

[Itchy Koala]

Here's something I'm currently dealing with:

 

The "I just posted a FS thread, now I'm gonna go offline for a few days."

 

For all I know he has serious matters going on, so I take it lightly. But still, it bugs the crap out of me.

[scutt]

I do not collect sports games. No baseball, no football, no soccer, no wrestling. Tennis is a maybe. Hockey is okay. I like Activision Boxing and Atari Basketball because they look ridiculous, but that’s about it.

 

I have to disagree with you here. Atari has some great sports games, loads of fun.