You guys have those stores in your area? Are they all such shitty

Chain videogame stores like this are always going to be "shitty sellers", anon. They're here to make a profit for themselves, not for you.

>>4152787
Well I had a "Microplay'' near my place before and they were pretty decent. They never tried to shove used copies in my face and they also had retro prices under ebay prices.

Also I don't understand why people would go back to stores who treat people like shit.

>>4152787
My area has gamestop and all of one retro game store who has decided that he is either an amazon outlet or an ebay outlet, which ever is more expensive.

There used to be one near me. It has since closed.

>live in a third world country
>everyone sells retro games as "rare"
>every crap game is sold as Earthbound or something

I have a play it again near my house that sells DC hardware for like half the price, got 2 controllers for like 20 bucks today.

>>4152782
I had 3 near me at their peak. Only one remains today which was also the best one to deal with. Go figure. Every single one I've been to seemed to be run by people not into gaming and it showed. I could never figure out how they did their pricing tho. Some games were below market while others were grossly above. Never made any sense but it made it worth going in every once in awhile to check stuff out.

I dont want to shitpost my own thread so this seems like a good spot since it's about resellers - I live in the Netherlands and retro game shitstores like this seems to be emerging left and right. Ive never owned any comfy consoles but I have an incredible appreciation for this stuff. Is it even worth starting a collection from scratch in 2017? I mean I don't even own a CRT and it seems e-celebs are so much a thing that everybody seems to know exactly what they have and how much they cam ask for it. Yard sales arent a thing here either, and goodwills either get raided daily, or NEVER have anything good. Am I pretty much forced to emulators and trying to get 1 good deal a year? Or overpaying to shitty resellers?

File: 1491956052560.jpg (62KB, 518x424px) Image search: [Google]

62KB, 518x424px

I still go into these type places in the hopes of finding one or two key things both of which are actually more likely at largish upstart franchise storeslike in the OP

>Items that are tagged at an ebay price from years ago
or
>Items (mostly second gen/PC/import) priced at $1 or $2 because someone didn't even bother to look it up

Pretty much every old school hole-in-the wall game store has either been bought completely out or has polished up their local cred and overprices the shit out of stuff. At least places like OP will often have employees who truly don't give a fuck and are even actively trying to fuck over their boss double payout if she's cute

Increasingly, shit & mortar stores will price games AT THE POS VIA EBAY. after this happened to me a time or two I started preemptively looking items up and finding the lowest listed prices (they never use the low and often add the listing's shipping fee too) which would generally work but as I'd be driving away I'd often ask myself what I gained versus just shopping directly on ebay while sitting comfortably on my fat ass. Instant gratification versus having a selection as wide as the world?

Now anytime I check out a seller and items are untagged I just walk straight out and never waste my time and gas coming back again.

The one by me (before it closed) was owned by sand people, they had everything in a case and i remember going in to try and get a gameboy and they insisted it was broken and i said nbd Ill take it for 10 bucks. they were hesitant but I am good at negotiating with sand people, i took a tenner out and kept trying to put it in their hand and eventually they took it and i left.

gameboy wasnt broke, they just wanted it for display purposes haha.

I have a few game shops in town. The ones that sell media in general are nice because they slip on prices a lot. I got a Saturn multitap for $2.50 recently for example.

I have a local chain with 3 stores. They're great. Prices are the same as the low end of eBay. But they've been cleaned out of good stuff lately, unfortunately.

The autism they must deal with on a daily basis is staggering, though.

>>4152782
There was one around where I lived a few years ago before I moved. It seemed fine to me. I got several carts from them for decent prices, though nothing super in demand. Usually anything that wasn't super shit got sold quickly since it was in a college town.

About the "dumbest" thing I had happen was I found a copy of Wizardry V for SNES and, since I wasn't familiar with the series, I asked if they knew how the game was. The clerk offered to pull up a gameplay video and I recognized it a first-person dungeon crawler. The clerk's response, though, was "Oh, looks like it's a first person shooter." So, nothing really a problem, I just wanted to tell this dumb story.

File: WTFLuigi.jpg (4KB, 125x125px) Image search: [Google]

4KB, 125x125px

I have one in my town, I go once in awhile to see if they have anything good.

Most of the price are just straight up ebay prices.

But some of their shit is so overpriced.

Only once i found something that was way under priced(ACCORDING TO EBAY PRICES) so i bought it. the next time i went they fix the price to match ebay's

Most of the Disk never work and i always have to go back and exchange it.

The place is only good if you're willing to pay online prices if not then just stay away

>>4152787
there is a mom n pop retro store in my town and they are even more expensive and shitty than gamestop or ebay.

>>4152782
There's only one retro vidjya place anywhere near me. They sell 3rd party accessories (controllers, memory cards, av and power cables) at eBay prices. The prices on consoles are actually better than eBay. But the games, wew, the games are waaay overpriced. Most of the stuff the store has is pretty mundane. The things you'd expect a retro vidjya place to have:
>a couple of N64 with the essential games like Smash, 007, OoT, Mario 64 etc.
>a few SNES with the typical LoZLttP, Yoshi's Island, Mario World, Street Fighter 2 etc.
>their PS1 selection is ass, which sucks because that is mostly what I collect for. They don't even have any Crash or Spyro, like what?
>their Genesis selection is ass too. At least I was able to pick up loose Outrun for $7.

The only noteworthy things they have are a Boxed NES with everything there, a boxed SNES with everything there, and two boxed PS1s, one of them is missing the accompanying paperwork.

It's hard to be a retro vidjya guy in a small town in flyover country.

>>4152979
The retro stores near me have been cleaned out too. All that's left are sports games.

Gamer's Heaven in Manhattan KS has low costs and friendly staff, but selection a bit lacking. To give credit, they added a lot of SFC lately. Also MTG and Yugioh out the ass so thats cool.

Gamer's HQ in Topeka charges ridiculous prices and all the staff either seem pushy or uninterested. They do, however, have fucking everything you could ever want.

So its not too bad.

Some /fit/ clerk at one of those was arguing with me that Kojima was developing Bloodstained

>>4152863
It's too late to get into genuine retro for cheap. Either you give it up or you prepare to spend a load of $$$

Sorry man. I chose the later though. At least someday I can sell them again and make money off of it if I ever change my mind.

I used to work at one. It was a decent place, but the clientele was unforgivably bad, so I couldn't stand it.

>screaming about games being too expensive/not competitive with ebay
>screaming that everything is fake, then when we open the cart and show them the board they scream that it's overpriced anyway and leave in a huff
>trying to get hundreds of dollars for trash
>trying to get discounts by crying about the condition
>saying "why shouldn't I order this online for the same price" when we had a really good and fair warranty and exchange policy

Nothin's good enough for retro """"collectors.""""

>>4153390
I collect stuff but I'm far from being insuferable with it.

When I think something is overpriced I just shut up about it and don't buy it. Also I've never seen anyone scream in any store. Is it because I'm a leaf?

>>4153402

Probably. I live in a shitty area in Texas where everybody's a dumb inbred hick, and the ones that aren't think they know everything about retro games because they've watched a few youtube videos. I once had a dude flip over a display table because I wouldn't sell him Chip and Dale 2 for 150 (he was claiming that the label was worn).

>>4153420
Damn I always hear about shitty people in Texas

>>4153429

Yeup. If you ever visit the states, don't come here, "southern hospitality" is a myth.

>>4152863
Just het a crt and go for hardware+flashdrives, buy your top ten or twenty games for each system here and there and youll have a great personal collection

Retro game stores always horrendously overprice even remotely popular games because they know normie faggots will buy them.

The one near me had LTTP for $90, Earthbound for $250, Megaman 2 and 3 for $80 each....these are all cartridge-only.

Fuck these highway robbers.

>>4153434
Southern hospitality is somewhat real but not in Texas. Texas is like the Wal-Mart of the us.

I have 2 Disc Replays around me and they're decently priced. They price cart games at ebay pricing which is annoying but their prices for other systems are pretty competitive.

>>4152782
The one in Grand Rapids, Michigan is awesome. I have a friend who works in that one.

>>4153609
Adding onto that, I also have a few locally run retro game stores around me and I try to be supportive of them but usually they price at premium rates. They'll go for higher end ebay value and Disc Replay tends to undercut them by $5-10 or more depending on the game.

All of the Play N Trade stores in the RVA area closed down a few years ago. One of them broke off and became an independent game store. I haven't been there in like 2 years but they seemed ok.

>>4153434
southern hospitality is a real thing you're just an idiot

i have one local multimedia store 20 something mins from me. games, movies, lots of comics, records etc. the games are typically well priced and in good condition. off and on good selection. i remember after christmas they got wiped. too bad their records are priced super high like an FYE, B&N, etc.

then i have a second one 15 mins south of me that is like opposite. most retro games are over priced compared to the other place. have gotten broken stuff and had to return it. selection is shit almost all the time.

>>4152979
thats E by any chance? its a 3 chain store near me.

>>4153558
link to the past? 90 bucks? lmaooo.

>>4152782
>$10 over
That's the definition of competitive, Anon. You're paying an extra $10 to have the game in your hand that day instead of having to wait for it to ship. A brick and mortar store can never offer eBay prices, they have to keep the lights on. If $10 over eBay is too much for you then just shop on eBay.

>>4153558
>LTTP for $90

Ha

>>4152979
See that is the issue. A store can either have good selection but be on the high side price wise or they can offer lower prices and be cleaned out.

I normally don't ask a retail store if they can come down on their prices, but if you want something obscure and they don't want to hold on to it and wait for it to sell at sticker you'd be surprised how much off they'll take.

However if you late to the party and want a premium in demand title like say Mario RPG or Earthbound, no. They will eventually sell it for full eBay + some.

>>4153267
Worst game store I encountered was a knowledgeable set of dudes who knew their shit. They also knew to hit up thrift stores, flea markets and sell for 20-30% above eBay.

Blasted them on their FB and any rating system I could find. Don't know if it worked or if their shady business practices did them in but they didn't last a year.

If you gonna sell high, sell high and offer solid trade value to fill out inventory. And leave my fucking flea markets and thrift shops alone!

>>4153680
I go by the 10-15% metric is acceptable. I don't mind buying a little high to have it in my hands that day. I often try to prepare some trade fodder to offset my costs.

>>4152782
i had a play n trade here and it was a better alternative to gamestop.

it ultimately closed when the guy with vision got let go on a bum sexual assault charge and the remaining employees convinced the owner to sell warhammer minis as an excuse to play it at work.

File: 1394538524641.gif (929KB, 200x200px) Image search: [Google]

929KB, 200x200px

There is a store similar to OP in my area. They have a Super Mario 2 NES cart (only) and they are wanting $40 for it. Ebay or amazon it is.

>>4153724
Would you say you killed their store? Would feel good if you'd answer yes

>>4153795
hmmm.... OP here, they DO sell warhammer minis and some WW2 spinoff at my store

I believe it was called play n trade or something similar anyways about 9-10 years ago I got a n64 for a about 40 bucks and some games for cheap. Staff was friendly and they had tournaments for certain games weekly. Then that mall went started to do badly and a gamestop opened up close by so that was the end of that. Recently I found basically a vintage thrift store and bought a n64 and a couple of games pretty much eBay prices. I found a guy with a snes mint with box, zelda, and some sports games for 150 on Craigslist which is cool but I wish that place or something similar was still around.

>>4153871
I'd like to think my work tipped the cosmic scales against them but if I am to be honest I think they fucked themselves over moreso than I did.

In fresno we have 3 differnt stores. Bre software which does exclusively games,they are just in competent as fuck i never buy from them because they do 30% more than ebay prices. Blue shell gaming is not to bad they sell games primarily but also sell comics and movies they also have a perty good DC slection not polluted with sports games so there kinda my go to. Finaly theres jays game shack he has a lot more specialty items and rarer games. Only down side is the store is ran out of his house with appointments only due to him primarily being a ebay operation. But he will match the lowest ebay pricese and will hagle with you he understands the damage hipsters and e-celebs have done and tries to act as if they dont exist.

Any anons from Minneapolis?

I'm heading there in a few weeks and wondering if there are stores worth checking out or if there are any to be avoided.

>>4153661
No, the chain store is gamestop, there are 3 within two miles of me, one retro store just under 3 miles away, and no other game dedicated stores for 30 miles.

File: cool.jpg (25KB, 537x537px) Image search: [Google]

25KB, 537x537px

>>4153383
Arguing about something easily googled in current year +13

I have three in my town. They all are pretty much the same, decent prices. I enjoy going to them since even if I pay a couple bucks over eBay average I like the atmosphere and just browsing around, plus the fact I can actually see the product. They each have odd strengths too. The one down the road from me has oddly good PS1 prices plus some peripherals I rarely see in others, but has shit tier Xbox and PS2 selections. The one near my work has good all around prices but below average selection usually. The one by our mall has great system prices and the guys are fun to talk to, but the store is laid out in kind of a mess.

Worst one was a store I went to on my way back from vacation. No prices marked on anything below PS2/Xbox/GC, shit was scattered everywhere, has to literally dig through cardboard boxes of Magic cards to get to the PS2 selections. Asked about a price on Desert Strike, he says hold on and googles it. At that point I was totally soured and just wanted to cash out. I grabbed it and Gungriffon Blaze, the guy tells me that looks like a sweet game because the cover was all shiny and holographic. Ugh.

>>4154939
I would like my retro game store too, if it weren't for the fact the I can get a cib lunar 2 for ps 2 for $80-$120 in nice condition but my local store sells a copy with the game disks and making of disk, the jewel case that looks like someone took steel wool too it, the box is bet to hell, and there is no omake box, and that is $180 worth according to the retro store. The guy looks at the top 5 prices a game is listed at on amazon and picks one of those. FYI that copy he has has been in his store for over a year.

>>4155036
box is beat to hell

File: 1488978981156.jpg (29KB, 480x480px) Image search: [Google]

29KB, 480x480px

>>4152782
>because it's the place with the best retro carts I can find too.

>acknowledges superior product
>acknowledges only player in market
>doesn't understand economics

wew

One of these days I'm gonna stop sucking dick. But today *puffs cigarette* ain't one of these days.

>>4152782
Dawg they have to pay rent and salaries and taxes and shit.
Expecting them to be competitive with eBay which has microscopic overhead is absurd.

>>4153873
either it was just bad timing then or it must be a new thing that i never noticed since that was the only PnT in my area (i live in new jersey)

but they didn't really start selling warhammer stuff until the 2 employees i was talking about started playing space marine.

literally was the nail in the coffin for the place since it forced out half of their inventory and nobody but the 2 employees ever bought any of it and when they got fired they took all the shit and left.

the sad part of the story is that if the guy with vision didn't get busted he probably would've told them to fuck off since he was the only guy there who knew how to run a business.

the owner eventually sold the place and it changed it's name once and the owners twice after that.

second guy tried to sell collectables in addition to being a gamestore but it inevitably flopped

the third owner tried to turn it into one of those game lounges but had bad luck/timing when the wendy's next to it closed for renovations during it's lifespan in this iteration which killed all it's foot traffic and finally shut down for good

i think it's an electrical hardware store now

>>4155046
>using pressure tactics to sell overpriced games

Gee sure is economics in here

>>4154646
Well I didn't actually argue I just said '' I'm pretty sure Kojima isn't makin' this game''. He insisted so I just thought fuck it.

Honestly I can never argue about anything in real life seriously because I don't care if I'm right or wrong. I just want to end the exchange and get the fuck back to my place.

>>4152782
I have never heard of playntrade before and this coming from a guy in in the north east which is full of gamestop, some independent stores and flee markets.

The only other chain of stores we have had was gamecrazy but once hollywood video started going it was gone and has been for over 7 years now since gamecrazy bit the dust.

>>4152802
>complains about used games on a retro gaming board

Is lukiegames any good for used retro games? Basically I want a way to buy carts that are guaranteed to not be chinese repros.

>>4156071
jjgames and lukie are both crazy. link to the past 120 crazy

>>4153680
>A brick and mortar store can never offer eBay prices, they have to keep the lights on.

You do realize that the ebay prices are the result of people running a business through another business that takes a 15% cut, right?

>>4154579
Not much up here. Hi-Score Games is the main chain in the area but prices are what you would expect and the selection is decent. A few mom and pop shops too. I do little buying in store unless I want it today which is rare.

>>4156543
Cool, thanks for the response.

Might just skip the trip to a store and save my GF the boredom.

Certain consoles are cheap to collect for right now. I know it sucks that older stuff is going up, but that is the price you pay for being late to the party.

My suggestion would be to get a part time job and use the money exclusively for games. Think about this:

You spend 4 hours driving around on a Saturday hitting tag sales and thrift stores only to find a single copy of Madden '02. If you spent that time working an easy part time job you'd have money to just buy it without much effort.

Or you can just wait for the trend to die and the market to cool down (probably not going to happen.) Honestly, I think we have a greater chance of publishers rereleasing new physical copies of old games.

Microcenter were used to have old PC games way back than. my dad bought me a Racing game called Dethkarz and I loved it :)

>>4153390
Or check prices on their phone and if they find a cheaper price they want that one. I had a guy argue over a dollar with me. It really brings out the worst in some people.

File: 1389540648756.jpg (345KB, 1272x1432px) Image search: [Google]

345KB, 1272x1432px

I don't believe it's a chain, but I went with a friend to a store called PTR games yesterday and picked up Dragon Warrior for NES and Castlevania 64 for $30.

Did I make a good purchase? The prices seemed fair enough ($9 for Dragon Warrior and $18 and then you throw in tax to get to $30).

I was also eyeing on display what appeared to be a near mint condition PS1 version of Marvel vs Capcom.

Should I pick that up on my next visit assuming it's still there, is $60 a good price for it?

>>4152782
Every retro seller is like that now. I have a store called jaystreet games in my local mall, and they fucking sell FFVII for $50, when any random place on the internet has it as cheap as $18. And their main catchphrase is "we beat gamestop's prices"
Yeah, by a dollar or two on new games only...

This is the world for us now. Greedy assholes selling over priced shit to morons who don't k ow how to internet.

>>4153434
Southern Hospitality doesn't exist in a state that's full of Mexicans you know? Got to be Southern Americans.

>>4153680
A Brick and Mortar shop can't offer Ebay prices but neither can your single seller accept less than ebay prices. You basically have Ebay sitting in the middle of both sides fucking up the ability to sell anything. You won't find good deals because people will just use Ebay, but as a store you have to buy at near Ebay prices and then sell for more than ebay. It's the elephant in the room.

>>4157846
>Southern Hospitality doesn't exist in a state that's full of Mexicans you know? Got to be Southern Americans.
>>>4153680
>You basically have Ebay sitting in the middle of both sides fucking up the ability to sell anything.
The world was simpler before the internet.

>>4153609
Also have Disc Replays. Great for getting Playstation, Genesis, and Xbox games.