SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - GameOn Game Shop in Kearney NE = Total rip off

Joined: Sep 10 2010 Location: Kearney, NE Posts: 65

So I went to this new game store that just opened up in Kearney, NE called Game On. The first time I went there they had like just opened up and didn't have much on the shelves. I saw that they had like 7 or 8 cart only genesis games. Ecco the Dolphin for $1 and Spiderman for $2 were the only interesting games I saw there. I had no money at the time so I left without buying anything.

I went back about two weeks later to see what they had. I saw they had just the cart of Sonic 3, which I for some reason don't have. I picked it up and the label on the back said $7, which was a little more than I wanted to pay. I then looked at the nes games they had. Cart only Hogan's Alley for $10? Cart only Dragon Warrior 1 for $18?? Cart only Mario/Duck Hunt/Track and Field for $15?!?!? Mario/Duck/Track should have been a buck. $5 at most. I'm sure I could look through my couch and find a copy of that cart.

Also, the first time I went in there they were going through games they didn't put out yet. I saw a box on the counter with about 20 nes games in their original boxes, Including Dragon Warrior 2, 3, 4 and Crystalis. I was like, "Damn, DW4?" I asked how much they were selling it for. Dude went on to Amazon and saw the highest price for the game with the original box was $150. He was like, "But I'll sell it to YOU for $125". Yeah, I'd love to have that game and knew it was going to be expensive, but I'm not shelling out that much being the poor college student I am. When I went back two weeks later, guess what was still sitting on the counter, in a position to be easily taken out the door when no one was looking? The box with the Dragon Warriors and the other games. That's no way to treat a "$150" game and it's friends.

Sure, Kearney is kind of a small town in the middle of nebraska, but fuck that store. Do other game stores in bigger cities jack up the prices on NES games that much?

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Nov 13 2010 10:10 pm

I'm sorry, but when "How much I think it's worth" is less than "How much they're charging", that doesn't mean that they're ripping you off.

Prices on used games are based upon what they bought it for, how rare or in demand the game is, and how much they think they can get away with. They think they can sell it for $125, they are certainly welcome to try.

Doesn't mean you have to pay it, of course.

Posted: Nov 13 2010 11:45 pm

I don't even think I know of a store that still sells such games. If I wanted those titles I'd have to hit up ebay. Yeah, the prices seems crappy, but as Usa said, if someone thinks they can sell something at a certain price, they sure as hell are going to try.

Posted: Nov 14 2010 12:12 am

The local game shop here, Video Game Wizards has everything from Atari and up. Their pricing is based on the E-Bay average. They figure out the mean of value of games based on what they sell for on E-bay, and charge that. Which is fair, since their really isn't a Beckett Guide to Video Games, or anything to set a standard market price for them.

Just remember rule #1 of business:
"An item is worth exactly what the customer is willing to pay for it."

And, if someone is willing to buy DW4 for $150 and did, then everyone else will charge $150 for it, too.

Posted: Nov 14 2010 12:32 am

Make em a bet that no one will buy it for that much and that if it's still there in x amount of time you'll offer to take it for y amount of money.

Posted: Nov 14 2010 01:44 am

Dragon Warrior IV is definitely worth at least 100. It was released at the end of the NES life cycle and didn't have a big print run. I'm surprised it got released at all. Dragon Warrior I was pretty successful, largely because Nintendo gave it away with Nintendo Power, but each successive game was less successful. Dragon Warrior III is one of my all-time favorite games, but it didn't do well in America. You know why? BECAUSE THIS COUNTRY IS FILLED WITH MORONS WHO DON'T "GET" RPGS.

YES THEY DESERVE TO DIE AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN HELL.

But yeah, it makes me mad when I see someone selling something like Mario/Duck Hunt or Operation Wolf for more than $4.

Posted: Nov 14 2010 11:02 am

I just saw a sealed in box NES on craigslist for like 50$, kinda want to get it after I found out about the top loader's shitty video signal. I thought it was my dirty carts causing it.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

Syd Lexia wrote:

YES THEY DESERVE TO DIE AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN HELL.

LOL.

I definitely wouldn't mind paying 7 bucks for Sonic 3. Think about it this way. You pay 8 bucks or so for a Sega Genesis Virtual Console game, right? So you don't want to pay one dollar LESS for the actual cart? I don't see any logic in that.

Posted: Nov 14 2010 12:35 pm

joshwoodzy wrote:

Syd Lexia wrote:

YES THEY DESERVE TO DIE AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN HELL.

LOL.

I definitely wouldn't mind paying 7 bucks for Sonic 3. Think about it this way. You pay 8 bucks or so for a Sega Genesis Virtual Console game, right? So you don't want to pay one dollar LESS for the actual cart? I don't see any logic in that.

Yeah Ive seen sonic 3 go for like 14 dollars cart only and people buy it, 7 is not that bad

Posted: Nov 14 2010 02:12 pm

Blackout wrote:

I just saw a sealed in box NES on craigslist for like 50$, kinda want to get it after I found out about the top loader's shitty video signal. I thought it was my dirty carts causing it.

Like a NES System sealed in box? This would be quite valuable. Well over $50 that's for sure.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Thank goodness I liked Dragon Warrior III. I was not so much a fan of IV though.

No matter how you want to look at it, all original NES game cartridges are collectables now. They are priced much like any other rare item.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

Exactly. As a huge fan of 8-Bit games as well as a huge fan of Dragon Warrior and owner of 1, 2 and 3 I probably would pay almost 100 dollars for 4 if I had the money to do so.

Posted: Nov 14 2010 05:33 pm

joshwoodzy wrote:

Exactly. As a huge fan of 8-Bit games as well as a huge fan of Dragon Warrior and owner of 1, 2 and 3 I probably would pay almost 100 dollars for 4 if I had the money to do so.

Even though IV is on DS now?

Posted: Nov 14 2010 05:59 pm

Completely different feel on DS. I prefer the NES version.

I can see the price for a CIB version of DW4 but the prices for Mario/DuckHunt/T&F type games that are in high supply are ridiculous. Make sure you hit them up during their going out of business sale because if they continue to have prices like that it's not going to take long before they go under.

Sure they are "Collector's Items" now but so are Atari games, and you don't see young kids and our generation flocking to relive the old days as much anymore. Especially with roms and virtual console downloads.

The fact that Gamestop left those market made every Tom Dick and Sally feel they could monopolize the oldschool market. When in reality they are really struggling to stay in the green. Sure the game stores were running out of room to stock them however they could have and contemplated maintaining an online presence but in the end decided it just wasn't profitable enough to keep a warehouse and staff it.

tl:dr version: If Gamestop left the market that should signal to entreprenuers that the market is declining.

Posted: Nov 14 2010 06:22 pm

I wish i had an actual store that sold old video games near my house, It blows to have to buy super nintendo games online

Posted: Nov 15 2010 02:25 pm

Douche is right, I've watched three different ones go under in my area, all within a few years after gamestop gave it up.

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Nov 15 2010 03:44 pm

Our local comic store sells used games. They apparently make a decent business of it.

Posted: Nov 15 2010 05:43 pm

When it's not your only business it can succeed, like places that sell Comics/TableTop games/Cards/etc. The main reason they fail is because they have an incredibly hard time procuring new games and/or making money from them.

When you buy them from Walmart and sell them that $50-$60 in "Sales" puts you back in the Black. Also if you don't have them people are less likely to come in or look for them which doesn't help those add on sales. Add to the fact of having a less than obvious name and a shitty location and you are pretty much destined to fail.

I swear people don't do any research and just hear a couple people bitching about not being able to go somewhere and buy old games. Add to the fact that most of these people are not businessmen and have no idea how to run them or analyze the market.

We have one place that has been around since I can remember. They don't MAKE money but they survive, the place looks like a shit hole but it went from selling Games and VHS to Everything NES and Newer, Movies, Car & Home Stereos, Laptops, and TV's. It's basically an Electronics PawnShop.

tl;dr v 2.0 - Know how to go into business before going into business.

Joined: Sep 10 2010 Location: Kearney, NE Posts: 65

I can understand how some one would be selling DW4 in it's original box for $150, due to all the stuff syd said and the fact that the game is fucking awesome. I was more so bitching about the fact that they left this box full of awesome collectors games on the front counter of a not so heavily gaurded store.

Still, you'd think they'd sell shit like Mario/Duck Hunt/Track and Field for wall less since's it starts at like .25 cents plus shipping at amazon.