Cheeky E-bayer!

[The_Laird]

Just recieved a question on an item i am selling on e-bay that i just can't believe . This person who i won't name (unless he sends me a response!) had the cheek to e-mail me and tell me that i couldn't list Kung Food as being rare because Atariage says its only a 1 rarity and he is a serious Lynx collector who i was trying to con. I explained in a nice e-mail back that it is not his business to e-mail me about my auctions as i have over 170 positve feedback and only 1 negative (thanks to some idiot who didn't read the description ) plus i am a collector too who has nearly every game including protos and has owned a Lynx since 1989. I also tried to explain that all Lynx games are rare to a certain degree, you can't just pop in your local shop and buy one! I was only asking £4.99 for a SEALED copy in mint condition and if he wasn't intrested then all he had to do was ignore it! Anyway i could rant all day, gald to get that off my chest!

[YOK-dfa]

Well he is right you know. Kung food isn't rare at all. It might not be available in your local mortar-and-brick game shop, but there are 17 Kung Foods on Ebay right now, and many on-line shops are still selling it... Personally i think 'rare' is one of the most over-used words on ebay. As a collector you should know...

 

Cheers,

Raymond

[pmpddytim]

Well techincally it really isnt rare.

 

http://www.atariage.com/store/product_info...&products_id=67

 

$3.95 for a sealed copy right on this site.

 

On the other hand if he wasnt interested he shouldnt of sent you a bitchy email. Probably just likes to argue.

[davidcalgary29]

On a more positive note, it's possible that he was simply attempting to advise you both the value of the item and correct any misinformation that you may be citing for potential buyers. It's easy to imagine a potential buyer of a "rare" Lynx cart becoming quite angry when he or she finds out that that game is actually as common as dirt. It's sometimes very difficult to discern the tone of e-mails as written.

[deathtrappomegranate]

On a more positive note, it's possible that he was simply attempting to advise you both the value of the item and correct any misinformation that you may be citing for potential buyers. It's easy to imagine a potential buyer of a "rare" Lynx cart becoming quite angry when he or she finds out that that game is actually as common as dirt.  It's sometimes very difficult to discern the tone of e-mails as written.  

 

I agree. It's very easy to misconstrue the meaning of text-only communications (I've been guilty of that more than once).

 

Rarity is very much a relative concept.

 

Any Lynx game is much harder to get hold of that any current PS2 game, but, to paraphrase George Orwell, "some are more rare than others".

 

OK, some guy slags off your auction text. So what? If he emails your bidders, and interferes with your auction, that's more serious. However, if he just sends a message to you, then you can ignore it and be no worse off. If the guy enjoys sending messages to people, telling them that they are evil scumbags for using the word "rare" in their auctions, then he's clearly a very busy man, more deserving of sympathy than criticism.

 

If I were you, I'd ignore that message.

[Nubian]

Hey All,

Most of us are out to make a dollar at ebay so this guy is entitled to place 'RARE' on his Kung Food listing in my opinion. Not all Lynx enthusiasts are in the know when it comes to the rarity od some games so if someone purchases a game which is listed as 'Rare' and it is common that's really his naivity for not reaserching the games rarity in the first place.

 

Some of us put in hours and hours searching the 'net for the value of certain games, so all that hardwork pays off for us when we know the rarity of a certain game. Those hours we spend searching the 'net for information on games serves to enlighten us to the value of games and offers a reward when we pay just the right amount for the game on ebay according to it's rarity.

 

After all we videogame-heads need to make a buck out of ebay sometimes. That guy does have a cheek emailing you in my opinion.Who is he the game rarity police or something?!

 

Regards,

 

Nubian.

[Great Hierophant]

The word "rare" is the most abused in the seller's lexicon. If it isn't rare, relatively speaking, the seller will look banal at best and sleazy at worst. If it is rare, then almost everybody who would bid on it knows that. For those who do not, the escalating price will inform them very quickly (if the initial price isn't high.) I suggest good sellers do not use that word. If they have something hot, then they should use "extremely rare", "almost impossible to find", "only one on ebay" or something unusual.

[MacbthPSW]

I don't have a Lynx, but I own Kung Food because Albert/Atari Age was nice enough to give away a bunch of his rare copies to those of us that attended the AA after-hours party after the 2004 Midwest Gaming Classic. Thanks again, Albert!

[MegaManFan]

It's a sticky wicket. On the one hand the eBayer was a bit rude to e-mail the seller telling him the description stinks and the game isn't rare. Hey if you're not interested, don't buy it. On the other hand rude or not his point is valid - the word "rare" doesn't apply to Kung Food and never should've to begin with.

[Brian R.]

As was said, the word "rare" is overused so much on eBay that it carries absolutely no meaning among those who know better. Those who don't know better should.

 

It seems like just about anything and everything on eBay is listed as being "RARE!" and "HTF!" It's all just so much BS, and sellers trying too hard to hype their auction(s) in hopes of getting a higher price.

[paul2900]

Hey just to let you all know i am that CHEEKY EBAYER!!!

 

The reason as most of you pointed out i sent him that email is because of the game he was selling and the price he was asking abd of course that over use of the word RARE...

 

And i am a seriouse collector of lynx as im sure you all are and hate people trying to con other fold and me included, and i didnt contact any of his buyers just him, but he never told you how shirty he got and the other emails he sent.............oh well

 

On a lighter note i just bought alpine games and it looks pretty good :-)

 

paul

[kuifje76]

If you walk past a shop and says: cheap dvdplayer,

You don't go in there and tell them it's not cheap, because the same dvdplayer is in another shop 10 bucks cheaper....

You only do it when you intend to buy it.....

 

You didn't want to buy it?

Well then, let everybody list it the way they want.

 

I hate those betterknowing people!

[Artlover]

I hate those betterknowing people!

Ditto.

[Nubian]

I agree too.

[awsomo3000]

heres a prime example of how overused "rare" is on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW

[kuifje76]

So what? Does everybody have one? NOPE.

Is it rare to get one for not even a pound? Tested? Well?

It's so rare he even wants to insure it for you, says enought.....

 

Cut the "this is not rare" crap, and maybe start with something else.

BTW search for pac-man in pal here on atariage...

Well? Well??

Hehehe, thought so.

[Flipper]

Any item that shows up twice in a search list is not RARE.

 

It amuses me when I go on eBay and search for Atari and it comes back with a screenfull of "Atari 2600! RARE! L@@K!" Dude, if the SIMPLEST of searches returns more than 1 or 2 hits, the item is not, by any stretch, rare.

[Emehr]

Not to bring down the morale of any sellers that try to reel in buyers with unfounded adjectives but...

 

Is the word "rare" even a big selling point for people? How many of us actually type "rare" in the search box when looking for something?

 

If you're looking for a game and you see it on eBay, wouldn't you bid on it anyway? Do people actually bid on an item just because it says "rare"? If you want the game, you'll bid on it regardless. If you're a collector and you just want to put it under glass then you probably already know how common it is.

 

- Jason

[+Sauron]

Threads like this vindicate my decision to quit collecting.

 

Actually, I still collect Lynx games, as the Lynx community is particularly small and mostly devoid of the sheer amounts of greed and backbiting that plagues other communities. I think most Lynx collectors know which games are "rare" and which ones are not.

 

Having said that, the eBay sellers who insist on wasting their own money on posting auctions of extremely common titles for outrageous prices and labeling them as "OMG RARE!!!!!!!!!!!!111" are free to do so. I'll just happily pass up the overpriced auction from the greedy seller and bid on one of the other 500 cheaper auctions from a more well-known and respected seller.

[Inky]

Did a search for "RARE" and nothing else on ebay...

 

 

I have to admit that first thing that came up would be cool to have.. $1500.00 bucks though.

[kuifje76]

Well, then, I have rigt now 3 lemmings, 2 are gonna go on ebay(rarity 6), 3 rampage(rarity 5) also on ebay, and sold a lot of them on ebay lately.

I find them wherever I look.

Are they rare? Yep, and I find them all over the place.

Rare is what you want to call it, even it isn't rare.

I said enough, but I just don't like people who send mail like: it's not rare what you offer.....

[Godzilla]

Any item that shows up twice in a search list is not RARE.

 

It amuses me when I go on eBay and search for Atari and it comes back with a screenfull of "Atari 2600!  RARE! look!"  Dude, if the SIMPLEST of searches returns more than 1 or 2 hits, the item is not, by any stretch, rare.

 

I know at one point there were two ultima : escape from mount dash's for the vic-20 on ebay at once. Widely regarded as the most desireable rare computer game in existance. So that logic is shot.

 

I think in terms of the modern retail world, any Lynx game is rare. But amongst those, obviously there are commons and less commons :-)

 

I think games based on martial arts empowered food are pretty rare indeed inherently.