Buying local vs internet

[a3quit4s | 4,096]

Went to a local store this weekend. Game On in Smithtown, NY. I generally go there when I visit the in laws so I popped in. Grabbed some stuff for SNES on the rack and saw in the case they had Super Valis IV for $100. Granted it was in good shape but that was pretty on the high end of sales. I asked if the could check the price and they did and said it was $100. I had them put it back. I support local but I thought that was a little above asking a brick and mortar when I can get it online for $60-$75. I may have done $80 there but $100 was being greedy. It’s a case by case basis for me with no real formula lol

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

8 hours ago, fcgamer said:

Was there a significant reason why they were playing the music at that time?

I remember once telling the staff at the NY Nintendo store that their sign was wrong, as Famicom had also been officially released in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and it went over like a lead balloon.

It was WORLD 8-2 in Little Tokyo, so I am guessing they were playing it because it was video game music. 

Plus stuff like that has me miss my video game hunting days in both Osaka and Tokyo. 

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

This reminds me that I have to decide how I am going to sell my remaining PS1 imports. I am hoping to phase out both Sony and Square Enix from my collection before 2023.

Edited March 13, 2022 by FenrirZero
Translation-based-edit: I shot the double post, but I did not shoot the deputy.

[PII | 1,884]

I love going to actual game shops, even though buying lots personally from an individual is the best deal for buyer and seller alike.  There's not really much difference (for me at least) between real world stores and online except that the super rare stuff is unlikely to show up in the real world store.

A while back I was driving with a friend who stopped to pop into a gas station for something or other and remarked his surprise and disgust at the plain-no-frills coffee mugs for sale at the counter for $20 a pop.  I also thought it was silly to pay that much for a mug, but played devil's advocate just the same.  The Gas station was the only one around, just off the main drag south of downtown of a major city.  Tons of people commuting into town every morning, for whom twenty bucks is chump change and a large percentage of them being die-hard coffee junkies = willingness to pay that when they forget their own mug one morning.  I remember seeing Seeing Dragon warrior IV pop up twice in a matter of a few months at a local game shop priced both times at $100 back when it was going for $75 online and both times it was gone within a week. 

For a lot of people the local game store = I want Contra and I want it now, and running a business means putting on the highest price you know you can get, a lot of the time.  Thankfully, that's not always the case.  Although lately I haven't really been getting much from either source as prices are just YIKES! all around... Still it's fun to look for that exception...

[Nesmaster | 402]

I will pay online price to online shipped if the condition is there, but it usually isn't, and is price at online + 10%-25%. There are fewer shops here compared to the past, and the selection is way down overall too.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

I'll agree on that, selection is way down overall too in the last few years, pandemic made it worse at a dramatic pace.  But you know I actually consider that a good thing.

Why?  Reasons are easy on this.  When you find it, whatever it is(or multiple things) you'll dramatically appreciate it more.  And even then sticking to the other rule of not paying the online price and definitely not the greedy locals tax(10-20+% higher for greed sake) really helps with that too.  When you find something good, the price is finally right, you'll appreciate that moment far more, but also what comes from the moment, something new to explore and the added time to really explore ti as well.  Not having a constant flood allows for a lack of distraction.

Just that find I put in the finds thread the other day was a perfect example.  A fat stack of largely mystery manuals for hopefully all Gameboy(it was) for $10... could have been all service manuals and barbie.   But then also the few games, one I even paid fairly even to ebay for ($55 on pokemon platinum) but I've had the case etc for many years put up so I'll make compromises too as being too rigid is dumb.

That was a fun moment candidly speaking here yesterday laying out all the manuals, peeling through them one at a time discovering what was there, many happy moments.  Then seeing what i could use, what I could upgrade, matching 5 of them to the games I grabbed too.  And then reading them...what a throw back, reminds me why I *hate* the cheapness of it all now cutting out such helpful things.

[A_Feisty_Pickle | 244]

13 hours ago, FenrirZero said:

This reminds me that I have to decide how I am going to sell my remaining PS1 imports. I am hoping to phase out both Sony and Square Enix from my collection before 2023.

Off topic but if you post them here be sure to tag me. I'm mainly focusing imports right now.

To contribute to the actual conversation, I have pretty much stopped visiting my local game stores by this point. Inventory hardly ever changes, and when I do end up finding something interesting it's not uncommon for them to say the price has changed since it was stickered and then tell me the "real" cost. Usually I end up passing even if it's still a decent deal just because I hate the bait and switch. I only have chains near me now (Vintage Stock and Game Exchange) which you can still find decent deals but.... Like I said inventory is stagnant and it's just not fun to visit anymore.

Thrillhouse Games is a 2 hour drive for me so I rarely make the drive, but it is fun to visit. I follow them on Facebook and they are always getting cool stuff in. Not sure where they're getting their inventory. 

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

12 hours ago, A_Feisty_Pickle said:

Off topic but if you post them here be sure to tag me. I'm mainly focusing imports right now.

Now I wish I kept all my games. Because here is a recap of the blow I was dealt when I sold most of it locally. 

In all cases I'll PM you when I can first, and go from there. 

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Our local shop did that shit for years, to the point that it's reputation among the local collecting community was pretty much garbage.  In came a new owner, who started offering fair value on trades (like 50-75% instead of 5-15%), rebalanced the prices to the point where he could compete with eBay, and started rebuilding the brand.  And what was the result? He's constantly got traffic, few people leave empty-handed, and not only does he have higher end items in stock, but his inventory is extremely fluid.  Local resellers drop their overstock off regularly (what sells on the flea market circuit is different from a store), local collectors go to both buy and trade in goods, and nobody has a bad thing to say about it.  I definitely recommend voting with your dollar, as if the guy doesn't make money, he'll hopefully sell the business to someone who will.

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

10 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Our local shop did that shit for years, to the point that it's reputation among the local collecting community was pretty much garbage.  In came a new owner, who started offering fair value on trades (like 50-75% instead of 5-15%), rebalanced the prices to the point where he could compete with eBay, and started rebuilding the brand.  And what was the result? He's constantly got traffic, few people leave empty-handed, and not only does he have higher end items in stock, but his inventory is extremely fluid.  Local resellers drop their overstock off regularly (what sells on the flea market circuit is different from a store), local collectors go to both buy and trade in goods, and nobody has a bad thing to say about it.  I definitely recommend voting with your dollar, as if the guy doesn't make money, he'll hopefully sell the business to someone who will.

I believe he offers less than 50%. I went in with 2 complete Power Blades, a Bubble Bobble 2 cartridge and a bunch of other great NES games, his offer was $400. Great store but I don't think he's offering half value.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

2 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

I believe he offers less than 50%. I went in with 2 complete Power Blades, a Bubble Bobble 2 cartridge and a bunch of other great NES games, his offer was $400. Great store but I don't think he's offering half value.

Under the old owners you'd be lucky to get $20.  Still beats that.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

39 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Under the old owners you'd be lucky to get $20.  Still beats that.

I would say that I'd love to meet the dummies who'd sell to them for that, but the sad truth is, I have.  And versus sell to me at a reasonable rate, they traded their stuff in for literal pennies on the dollar, which then put me in the position of having to buy it from the store for 3-4x what I had offered (which was several hundred times what they got from the store when they traded in a stack of stuff instead of one thing at a time) or wait for the next one to come along that was within reason.  (I went with the latter, FYI.)

[Tanooki | 4,932]

Been there done that, I'd rather not have it and stand on principle than give someone like that the money.  I mean it's as much a fools fault for taking say $20 on a BB2 cart as much as the owner being that much of a colossal ass clearly in the business of fleecing suckers.  Nothing wrong with profit, but you do hit a point where it's basically bordering between taking advantage and legalized theft.

I'm glad the local shop here still pays at 60% but in turn hard to get an item for under the ebay average either so it's a real give and take but at least it's not slimy, just go in expecting that outside of some rare sale (I have known of 2 in the year for like 20% off where stuff then did end up a decent deal.)  They did revise their terms though, it's more like 40-50% range though if they have multiple in stock as they don't want to be unwanted game hoarders which I totally respect that.

[MegaMan52 | 2,442]

Depends on what I'm buying.

If it's imports, retro games and merch that are nearly impossible to find locally, I buy online because more often than not I don't have a choice.

Buying locally is certainly convenient, though, and I buy locally if I can. Last year in 2021, I was fortunate to be able to buy imports locally because a retro game store opened nearby and had plenty of them. Sadly they closed after only about eight months not only because of the pandemic, but also because of their location. They were in a tiny strip mall. Even if people drove by the area, it wasn't immediately obvious that they were there because the store was downstairs. I bought over twenty Japanese imports from that store.

I've also looked at ads and bought from local sellers, visited thrift stores several times, visited many Antique Stores, and have made trades and (on occasion) have been given items for free (including rare items) from friends.

Bottom line, both have their advantages and disadvantages. Buying locally is convenient and can be a lot of fun, and sometimes things can be found for really good deals. But it really depends on what I'm looking for.

Edited December 28, 2022 by MegaMan52

[Tanooki | 4,932]

@MegaMan52 Same same... if it's imports it's rare around here, though I do know one dude, but he just I think sells his overly common doubles at peddler stores for a bit too much just to get rid of them so I don't bother.  So this year it has been some dvds(anime) a little n64, and some gba (fc mini largely) games I got from ebay/ebay-japan and it is what it is.  But outside that, not much at all, local treats me well off and on, and at times absurdly well like todays $3 pick up of a beat to crap MMX3 manual and Lufia II manual about 10mi from here.

[PekoponTAS | 171]

The stores in my area have gotten worse as time goes on. Each store used to have wildly different prices, but now they're all as high as they can get away with, just being slightly over eBay value for most common things, and laughably over eBay value for anything expensive.

Frankly I wouldn't be too upset if all three stores went under, as their legality has always been a tad questionable; and they're very predatory places that profit from people's poor decisions. I don't think of game stores as a positive thing honestly, and my best advice is to never trade games in to any of these stores. I'll still buy from them as there are advantages to do so, but lately I've been going less and less.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

4 hours ago, PekoponTAS said:

Frankly I wouldn't be too upset if all three stores went under, as their legality has always been a tad questionable; and they're very predatory places that profit from people's poor decisions. I don't think of game stores as a positive thing honestly, and my best advice is to never trade games in to any of these stores. I'll still buy from them as there are advantages to do so, but lately I've been going less and less.

This is how I feel in the last few years, even a few before the lame virus and WATA scamming send people into a greed sucking fury.  I hate to think it, hate to admit it, it never was a thing to me as historically they've been utterly fun places ot visit, browse, hang out, chat a bit, and soak in the history and take a piece of it home too to explore and try something fresh as it was fairly and fairly cheaply priced.  Now though, it's annoying to aggravating, stressful, depressing, a bit disgusting, and overall just demoralizing at so many levels.  It's like the Family Guy meme of Buzz Killington, anything you like, he shows up, and you just want it dead, gone, buried and over as it's just painful to be around. I'm not going to cry bubble, or whatever, that ship sailed with far too many abuses, but I will crack a smile and throw a mental fiesta the moment whole mess implodes, and the more of these stores on and offline that fold the happier I'll be.

Once the profitability is gone, the risk too great, all that will remain are people who just want to play, not play other people.

[Link | 2,709]

22 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Once the profitability is gone, the risk too great, all that will remain are people who just want to play, not play other people.

I don't think that's going to happen. I don't see the profitability going away. Welcome to capitalism bro, suck it up and deal. Trends may come and go, but there's no going back.

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

The people that “just want to play” just emulate, spending nothing/minimal or buy a 30$ repro of Little Samson. But keep waiting for that crash down to .25 a tender tape lol

[Tanooki | 4,932]

Yeah trends do come and go, but you're right there's no full on going back.  There most definitely will be a correction and retraction some year down the line.  A good example of it would be the pre-NES stuff, once enough people stop caring or get it elsewhere it'll correct, not down to the 25cents or 2 a cart stuff the Atari/Int bottomed out at, not a chance, much better quality stuff that held up better.

The way I figure at this rate, buy local almost exclusively and only when you don't have to hold your nose to pull out the money.  Otherwise, you don't really need it, and for the toxic level stuff, buy a bootleg, no reason to get clowned.