ATARIPITBULL Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 I don't know what is going on lately, but I had put the brakes on my Atari collecting for a while so I can finish up my Atari collection room in my basement, but in the last week, I decided to see what was going on in ebay and I came across a boxed copy of Miner 2049 part 1 going to sell for just $20.00, so I decided to drop $22.00 it to see what would happen and I won it!, I paid $75.00 for the one I already have 2 years ago, then the next night, this time a loose copy of Miner was going to sell for just $4.00, so I bid $5.00 and won it also. I checked the sellers bid history and they are both good sellers, so it makes me wonder if the prices are starting to drop just a little on 2600 games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad2600 Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 It does appear that prices on some games are dropping. It can't be too expensive for a newbie to rely on EBay-only for a starter collection nowadays. I've stopped buying 2600 items on EBay simply because I cannot find what I'm looking for and because I now have 300+ games, there's not much left for me to get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Prices are always down in the summer months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Yep same here, i'm up to about 220 different games, so i basically do my shopping here on the forums to get the games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Prices are always down in the summer months. It's more than that, I think. I think 95% of prices have gone down since 1990. Too many games, not enough collectors. Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOK-dfa Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 It's not only Atari prices that are going down. I've noticed that Intellivision and Videopac (or Odyssey 2) are going down. 'Ultra Rares' for the Videopac that used to sell for over EUR 300,- are now consistently selling for less then EUR 100,- (which is a good thing IMHO) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Prices are always down in the summer months. It's more than that, I think. I think 95% of prices have gone down since 1990. Too many games, not enough collectors. So the more 80's kids that die off, the cheaper this stuff will get? Great! Remember people, exercise is bad. Fat is sexy. Sit around all day eating cheeseburgers and French fries. If you have chest pains then see a bright light, just walk towards it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Prices are always down in the summer months. It's more than that, I think. I think 95% of prices have gone down since 1990. Too many games, not enough collectors. So the more 80's kids that die off, the cheaper this stuff will get? Great! Remember people, exercise is bad. Fat is sexy. Sit around all day eating cheeseburgers and French fries. If you have chest pains then see a bright light, just walk towards it. Only geeks like us, fat or non-fat, think this stuff is cool to have Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 5 Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 I notice the summer price drops too. I think it's because of tag sales and flea markets (the major source of games) are summer only this side of the 'ol Mason Dixon line. Winter months have less games flooding the ebay market and the rest is simple supply and demand. Using the Miner 2049er analogy, you found 2 on ebay in one week. You may see one copy on ebay from November to March. Right now they are popping up all the time. I try to buy all I can in the summer and hold off and mostly just sell my duplicates in the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeus Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 I noticed a drop in ebay prices across the videogame spectrum. I do most of my ebaying in the summer months because then I can find the best deals. I recently picked up Gateway to Apshai for $2 (Colecovision). The TNT BMX Airmaster I bought for about $25 sealed. I think the market for classic games is pretty saturated right now. Even though there are a healthy number of collectors out there, there are litterally millions of games out there. The bottom has already fallen out on the commons, as I see they rarely even get bids anymore. Even the 4-6 rarities sometimes pass without a bid. I think we have already seen the peak in classic gaming prices, at least for the immediate to medium term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolt Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 There's a lot of reasons for the drop that I can think of. Certainly, the economy is still wary, despite the government's assertions otherwise. Then there's also the fact that if the typical Atari collector is probably 28-40 (I know there's a lot of folks outside of that age range, but the vast majority of collectors fall in there), a lot of those people are at an age now where there's less discretionary income to spend on games. Folks here on AA are having kids, buying homes, and don't have the money--or the time to play, much less search for and bid on--games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian M Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Prices for just about all platforms (Neo Geo, Sega Saturn, NES, etc) seem to be lower at the moment...and it's been like this since late 2003. These things go in cycles and you can be sure that prices will increase yet again in a year's time. Whether this is due to lack of interest or the economy in general is anyone's guess. It's currently a buyer's market. Take advantage of it and get all the stuff you need and can afford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whisper Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 The summer season is great for buying anything on eBay, so is January (people have spent all their money on x-mas etc). I got a nice deal on some carts on eBay: 2 pak special (PAL) EUR 1,99 Action force van Parker Bros. (PAL) EUR 0,99 California Games van Epxy (PAL) EUR 2,99 Cross force van Spectravideo (PAL) EUR 1,99 Mission 3.000 (PAL) EUR 1,99 Sky skipper van Parker bros. (PAL) EUR 1,99 Sorcerer's aprentice van Atari (PAL) EUR 1,99 Subtotal: EUR 13,93 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homerwannabee Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 this can be looked as a positive. the cheaper the games are the easier it is to collect them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian M Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 this can be looked as a positive. the cheaper the games are the easier it is to collect them The other negative of the equation is that all these cheap prices can and do encourage some hardcore collectors to buy and hoard much of the rarer stuff which will make it even tougher for others to collect them down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillenterprises Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Tell me about it- 3 weeks ago, I eBayed an extra 2600 I had in mint condition, along with 21 games, with instructions, and normally would've gotten at least around $75 or $80 for the package, as I have in the past. The whole package went for $28! (I should've put a reserve price on it) I was really disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian M Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Tell me about it- 3 weeks ago, I eBayed an extra 2600 I had in mint condition, along with 21 games, with instructions, and normally would've gotten at least around $75 or $80 for the package, as I have in the past. The whole package went for $28! (I should've put a reserve price on it) I was really disappointed. $28 for all that? I'd be disappointed too. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64squares Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Could it be a case of supply and demand? Perhaps because of the recent press classic video game collecting has gotten, more people have decided to take out their old systems from the closet and sell them on eBay for a quick buck. Has anyone noticed more classic things for sell than usual? I've noticed that some current generation things are in fact selling quite well, like for instance the limited edition Halo Xbox. It retailed for $170 and now regulary goes for $220-$240. Then there's "Tales of Symphonia" for the Gamecube that is also going for more than retail because of a shortage. Here the demand is greater than the supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 It seems to be a buyer's market right now, 'cos I've snagged some massively sweet deals on eBay lately: Earth Dies Screaming: $11 Stargunner: $20 Ram It: $25 Demolition Herby: $23 Kool Aid Man: One for $5, one for $4 Double Dragon: $11 Mogul Maniac: $1.29 Rampage: $8.50 with 4 other games Miner 2049er: $8 Deathtrap: $15 Marine Wars: $14 Spy Hunter: $13 Rubic's Cube: $12 Mr. Do!'s Castle: $18 Brazilian 32-in-1 cart: $10 To name a few. Part of it's probably because it's the summer and many people have better things to do than live on eBay. (Not me, obviously :-)) Also, these things seem to go in cycles; a glut of good stuff gets posted over a period of time after a long drought and people buy it up at high prices. Then once all the big spenders are spent and agonizing over their Visa bills, more good stuff pops up and the people that lost out to them suddenly start getting 'em cheap. I figure right now I'm riding the crest of one of those buyer's market waves, so I'm trying to stay afloat for all I'm worth. Of course, my forthcoming payday is practically all spoken for now with all this recent spending, but come the fall the tables will probably turn and it'll be a seller's market, so nothing will be cheap. Then again, some things are still selling well. I've got a Colecovision AC adapter that's sitting at $12.50 -- bid up from $5. Not too shabby. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Oops. Deathtrap was $22. My bad. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keir Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Damn. Way to go, Mindfield! Personally, I subscribe to Marco's Theory on Rarity . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARIPITBULL Posted August 4, 2004 Author Share Posted August 4, 2004 Hell, it was just reported in the ebay auction forum that a tooth protectore sold for just $113.00, I have never seen one sell for so low a price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi301 Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 I singlehandedly ruined the market for Apple IIs a year or so ago. Picked up 200+ a school board was dumping at an auction. Flooded the market with them over the course of about 6 months. Now they're pretty much worthless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian M Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 Hell, it was just reported in the ebay auction forum that a tooth protectore sold for just $113.00, I have never seen one sell for so low a price. Yep. The downcycle is definitely upon us! Kind of makes me glad I sold my Tooth Protectors cart when I did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 Rubic's Cube: $12 Whats funny is that frogger is still going for $10... good find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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