GameStop officially going retro again

[MetalFRO]

I live in Central Florida, and there's a constant, steady stream of tourists and college students...and yet, places can't seem to stay open. A lot of it is bad business practices, but they're just not generating the amount of trade-ins they need to justify the rent at most of these places.

I used to order from Funcoland all the time, and I have no problem with them selling online like Funco did back in the day. My only problem is not being able to know the condition or have images before purchasing, and the fact that GameStop will LITERALLY be able to dictate prices for the market, since retro titles are no longer in mass circulation.

The bolded part is what scares me the most, and you're absolutely right.  GameStop sets the tone for the rest of the industry, because they are the one go-to company in the US for current gen stuff.  If they suddenly take on retro games, we could see super-common PS2 games start selling, disc-only, for $5 - $8 minimum, if only because GameStop's OWN stock of that title is low, but totally ignoring the # of copies floating around out there, or the game's market value otherwise.  Suddenly, the pawn shop where I'm buying CIB PS2 and Xbox games for $2 each, and GameCube games for $4 each suddenly spike their prices because GameStop did.  That's good news for mom & pops and small chains, assuming they can either make better money on the titles they have because more people go to them, OR if they raise their prices to be in line with GameStop, and consumers decide they just have no choice but to eat the increase.  It's bad news for collectors, especially ones like me who have limited disposable income, and rely on these kinds of retailers to score good deals on stuff.

That game store I mentioned 70 miles from my house - I was in there this last weekend, and saw Dig Dug for Game Boy.  I knew I wanted it, but didn't want to pay their listed $20 price for it.  I asked the guy who runs the store if there was any movement on the price, and he said there wasn't really, that they try to be competitive with general market price.  Then he brought up Amazon and was showing a loose cart at $17.49 + 3.99 shipping.  He offered to knock it down to $17.99 for me, since I was buying several carts, which was nice, but I have to wonder about the buy-back.  They probably acquired that cart from somebody who didn't know what they had, and that poor sap probably got no more than $2 in-store credit for trading that game in, so they made nearly all profit from that transaction with me.  Anyone else feel like they get ripped off like that from time to time?

[Shadow Kisuragi]

...are you kidding? I used to get kicked out of stores all the time for pointing out the pricing discrepancies, and just about everyone here that does resale has a policy of "How much do you think it's worth?" for trade-ins. I used to carry around a binder for my collection, and was kicked out of numerous stores because they thought I had a pricing guide, even when I showed them what I was carrying! Most people undervalue their games 10-fold, and the resaler gets a profit and the person trading it in is blissfully unaware of how poor of a trade it was. I've seen $90 RPGs traded in for $2 because it was an "old PS1 game".

I've learned to steer clear of calling people on their bullshit prices, and instead just try to talk the price down and ask for bundle deals. If they don't want to come down on the price, and I REALLY want it, I'll start quoting off known sales and prices, and mention that I know he needs profit off the sale - trying to make an appeal. If the person wants to get cocky with me, I loudly start discussing negative pricing and watch as people walk away, since I know I won't be back anyways.

I've met most of the major resalers in my area, and a few know to stay clear of me and others are more than willing to work with me, but I make it a point not to get ripped off, or to let unknowing people get ripped off in the process. I have no problems ripping off the resalers though, since turnabout's fair play and I know they paid less than what they're offering for something.

[MetalFRO]

Glad to see I'm not the only one challenging some of these mom & pop shops when the prices are a little too high.  My tactic is to tell them that an item they have is something I want, but it's more than I want to pay for it and see if they'll haggle a bit.  I was able to negotiate a vendor down from $25 to $20 for a copy of Mr. Do on the Game Boy (yeah, I know that's a good price), and have been able to get better pricing on other stuff here and there, but with some shops, the clerks aren't able to haggle or negotiate pricing, because the owner doesn't allow them to, so you either pay the price that's listed, or you go somewhere else.  If I think a price is too high, I let them know about it.  One shop that doesn't haggle has 3 different original Game Boy Pokemon carts, all priced at $30 loose, which I find utterly RIDICULOUS.  Yes, Pokemon is popular, and yes, now that the collector market is booming, some fools are willing to spend that on a loose GB cart, but I'm sorry, I just can't.  Especially when the labels aren't in great condition.  What's the point of charging $30 for a cart that is in the top 10 most sold games on that platform?  Pure profit, plain and simple.  Nothing wrong with that.  I consider myself a capitalist, and I'm willing to pay "fair market value" for something, but in some instances, it's just not justified.  So for me to ever review the Pokemon games (which I'm dreading, to be honest), I may have to either score some in a lot, or eventually just pony up the money.  Ugh.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Mark up for popular games is common, but that's what Pokemon games still sell for these days. Ask Zagnorch to pull aside some GB Pokemon carts for you - he collects them like they're candy.

[Antimind]

...are you kidding? I used to get kicked out of stores all the time for pointing out the pricing discrepancies, and just about everyone here that does resale has a policy of "How much do you think it's worth?" for trade-ins. I used to carry around a binder for my collection, and was kicked out of numerous stores because they thought I had a pricing guide, even when I showed them what I was carrying!

I had that problem a few times. Mostly though, people were just curious and then amazed when they saw my binder.

I can't speak for current prices but The Exchange in Pittsburgh, PA was a damned good place to pick up loads of goodies 10 years ago. The trade values weren't too terrible. They weren't great but were certainly better than most. You really couldn't complain though. Their prices were dirt cheap. Basically it was everything under the sun for $0.25 - $2.00 except for "popular" titles (more like well known, Super Mario Bros. for instance). I paid $5 for Chrono Trigger ffs!

I think the biggest concern with GameStop now will be that rare titles could be overlooked and tossed. I'm imagining a lot of "I've never heard of this, nobody will want it." *tosses rare cart in trash*

[Zagnorch]

@ MetalFRO: What Shadz said. I leap on just about any Pokeymans game I find for flippage at all the thrifts and discount-media shops I frequent... and there are a LOT of them in my neck of the woods. I'd be more than happy to offer a very reasonable asking price for any one you're looking for, should I stumble upon any in the future. Oh, and if you're looking for a TI-80s-series graphing calculator, please let me know.

Hey, that reminds me: I gotta do up my latest Small Scores post. Just wait 'til ya see what I picked up yesterday!

BRB

[Duke.Togo]

How is this surprising? GameStop is staring down the barrel of extinction with more and more talk of an all-digital future. They have to find a market in which they can stay relevant and profitable. They also have to adhere to market prices, as eBay won't just magically go away, and smaller sellers won't be willing to sit on product for eternity if their products are priced out of the market.

My real concern is the GameStop employees themselves. If they see an $800 game come in for trade, do you think they will really just happily send it off to corporate?

[Shadow Kisuragi]

How is this surprising? GameStop is staring down the barrel of extinction with more and more talk of an all-digital future. They have to find a market in which they can stay relevant and profitable. They also have to adhere to market prices, as eBay won't just magically go away, and smaller sellers won't be willing to sit on product for eternity if their products are priced out of the market.

My real concern is the GameStop employees themselves. If they see an $800 game come in for trade, do you think they will really just happily send it off to corporate?

So you're saying I should put in an application for GameStop, and just have them funnel the paycheck towards retro trade-ins?

[Duke.Togo]

Not exactly, but you can bet that if someone knows what Stadium Events is and it gets traded-in, that they are immediately taking a smoke break and not coming back.

[MetalFRO]

@ MetalFRO: What Shadz said. I leap on just about any Pokeymans game I find for flippage at all the thrifts and discount-media shops I frequent... and there are a LOT of them in my neck of the woods. I'd be more than happy to offer a very reasonable asking price for any one you're looking for, should I stumble upon any in the future. Oh, and if you're looking for a TI-80s-series graphing calculator, please let me know.

Hey, that reminds me: I gotta do up my latest Small Scores post. Just wait 'til ya see what I picked up yesterday!

BRB

Not in the market for any TI-80's - I still have my TI-82 from high school if I need a fix

But yes, I would very much appreciate the "hook up" on some original GB Pokemon cartridges at a more reasonable price.

[techwizard]

Metal it sounds like your complaint is more about the market than the game stores specifically...unless you come across sellers who have no idea what they're doing, those prices you mentioned don't sound bad they're just normal for the current market. what i was saying was basically that, that when game stores go retro the prices you deal with go from "we just want to get rid of this old junk" to "hey we now know everything you know about how much this is really worth so now we're not ripping ourselves off anymore!"

[MetalFRO]

Metal it sounds like your complaint is more about the market than the game stores specifically...unless you come across sellers who have no idea what they're doing, those prices you mentioned don't sound bad they're just normal for the current market. what i was saying was basically that, that when game stores go retro the prices you deal with go from "we just want to get rid of this old junk" to "hey we now know everything you know about how much this is really worth so now we're not ripping ourselves off anymore!"

To some extent I suppose you're right, though sometimes it's with specific stores more than the market in general.  Sometimes the market price for a game is based solely on demand, even if the supply is always there, and it bothers me.  As I've said on this forum before, I'll never give $35 or more for a LoZ: LttP loose cart, because it's in the top 10 selling SNES games of all time.  That means that, even if lots of SNES players still have their original carts, there are plenty to go around in the wild, and it's only that much because it's freaking Zelda.  I've seen some stores sell original NES Zelda carts for $45 or $50, even though they're in fair condition, which I think is too much.  I get having high prices on carts that were misprints, small print run, rare, etc. but for common games like those (or Pokemon), it seems excessive to price them that high.

And yeah, obviously there are fewer and fewer people who take the "old junk" approach, because the Internet has taken a lot of the guesswork away from the average person, between Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, etc.  Perhaps more at the heart of the matter is, who is the trendsetter in these situations - who is creating the price points that drive everyone else to similar pricing?  Is it eBay?  Amazon?  Price Charting?  I realize my question must be rhetorical at some level, because the likely answer is all of the above, and then some.  But it would be nice to get a better handle on why some prices are out of control, and some stuff is priced so low you'd think every game store had 80 copies.

[Crabmaster2000]

Metal it sounds like your complaint is more about the market than the game stores specifically...unless you come across sellers who have no idea what they're doing, those prices you mentioned don't sound bad they're just normal for the current market. what i was saying was basically that, that when game stores go retro the prices you deal with go from "we just want to get rid of this old junk" to "hey we now know everything you know about how much this is really worth so now we're not ripping ourselves off anymore!"

To some extent I suppose you're right, though sometimes it's with specific stores more than the market in general.  Sometimes the market price for a game is based solely on demand, even if the supply is always there, and it bothers me.  As I've said on this forum before, I'll never give $35 or more for a LoZ: LttP loose cart, because it's in the top 10 selling SNES games of all time.  That means that, even if lots of SNES players still have their original carts, there are plenty to go around in the wild, and it's only that much because it's freaking Zelda.  I've seen some stores sell original NES Zelda carts for $45 or $50, even though they're in fair condition, which I think is too much.  I get having high prices on carts that were misprints, small print run, rare, etc. but for common games like those (or Pokemon), it seems excessive to price them that high.

And yeah, obviously there are fewer and fewer people who take the "old junk" approach, because the Internet has taken a lot of the guesswork away from the average person, between Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, etc.  Perhaps more at the heart of the matter is, who is the trendsetter in these situations - who is creating the price points that drive everyone else to similar pricing?  Is it eBay?  Amazon?  Price Charting?  I realize my question must be rhetorical at some level, because the likely answer is all of the above, and then some.  But it would be nice to get a better handle on why some prices are out of control, and some stuff is priced so low you'd think every game store had 80 copies.

I think you might be vastly underestimating the demand of some of these titles. As someone who runs a game store I get asked daily for things like Zelda and Pokemon and they consistently sell out within hours when priced around $30. Only collectors are going to be looking for things with small print runs, misprints, rare circumstances around releases, etc. Nearly everyone who just wants a Super Nintendo or Game Boy, either to play or collect, is going to be looking for those top 10 best selling games. They may be extremely common, but there is massive demand for things like Zelda, Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Donkey Kong Country, Mario, etc. Rental Exclusive games, limited distribution games, misprints, oddities, and the like are extremely niche. I dont doubt I could sell 50 or more Zelda LttP games before I could sell something like Little Samson or Flintstones Surprise at Dinosaur Peak in the same amount of time.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

^ This is exactly what I see at Flea Markets. A copy of Super Mario Bros. 3, marked up to $60, will still sell and even move NES systems on its own because people want to relive nostalgia or introduce it to their kids. No one wants to purchase or play some game they've never heard of. Sure, Werewolf is fun, but it's not going to sell NES systems, and it'll sit in the corner for years until someone decides they like werewolves and picks it up, having no clue what the game is.

[Crabmaster2000]

^ This is exactly what I see at Flea Markets. A copy of Super Mario Bros. 3, marked up to $60, will still sell and even move NES systems on its own because people want to relive nostalgia or introduce it to their kids. No one wants to purchase or play some game they've never heard of. Sure, Werewolf is fun, but it's not going to sell NES systems, and it'll sit in the corner for years until someone decides they like werewolves and picks it up, having no clue what the game is.

Werewolf also appeals to USA enthusiasts. May just be the most patriotic game of all time!!

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