DKOldies: Are they bad for the retro gaming community?

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,018]

On 6/24/2022 at 12:58 PM, docile tapeworm said:

Worse is people who post “I buy video games” ads on Facebook. Fucking dirtbags.

I got a 68 year old man around me who goes to all the advertised community yard sales within a 50 mile radius and puts up signs beside their yard sale signs saying JOHN BUYS VIDYA GAYMEZ. SUPER NINTENDO, NINTENDK, ATARI, SEGA. (712)IEATASS

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

33 minutes ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

I got a 68 year old man around me who goes to all the advertised community yard sales within a 50 mile radius and puts up signs beside their yard sale signs saying JOHN BUYS VIDYA GAYMEZ. SUPER NINTENDO, NINTENDK, ATARI, SEGA. (712)IEATASS

Lol. I don’t mean to say they are horrible. I think my sarcasm gets unrecognized sometimes (maybe not lol). But I do think the “I buy video games” is lame sauce.

[Tanooki | 4,952]

I'd tear a sign like that down so quick if I caught it...filthy exploitation.

 

The issue isn't anything but their pricing model with DKoldies.  I get their more of a family style business friendly and all, and they have good social media chops too. The problem is I don't know if they pay more than other entities so it's a result of that, but they just ask the high end of what those who don't think before clicking buy, for their prices.  And people may try and poo poo that off as well, that's not a big deal, but it's just one in a domino rally of behaviors that normalizes increasing prices faster.  One person sees X get that much, well I can too, then they do, then the higher priced guy raises his stuff even more, then vicious circle until you hit a critical tipping point where most finally realize it's bs and you get a plateau or a drop off.

[Sumez | 2,994]

Never heard of them, but it sounds super shitty

I've bought from Lukiegames on ebay a bunch of times, though. Not familiar with them outside of that, but I bought from them because they are the straight up cheapest, not the other way around. 

Edited June 26, 2022 by Sumez

[Tanooki | 4,952]

I've noticed they're not as high as they once were when someone brings up Lukie.  I also remember years ago sosagames used to beat out both of them having some home seller style rates on stuff being quite competitive, but if they're around now I would have to wonder if they kept it up.

[MASTER260 | 0]

A lot of times Lukiegames has the lowest buy it now price for an item on eBay.  I don't see what the problem is.

[Tulpa | 3,537]

Several years ago, Lukie was kind of infamous for buying up tons of lots on eBay. Several NA users reported Lukie being their best customer. They were suspected of using bots to scoop up low priced BINs, but I don't know if that was conclusively proven. I don't think I ever bought anything from Lukie, but their prices back in the day didn't seem too outrageous.

What was the company out of the Denver area? I think they closed up a few years ago. They were always decently competitive.

 

[Super Nintendo Chalmers | 53]

All things considered they're not too dissimilar to any other sort of other online and/or bricks and mortar reseller, they just happen to have some sort of legacy brand having been around for many years. Attempt to draw in less savvy, casual buyers by marketing themselves as a premier retailer and the go to place to buy things. High prices with an on point, targeted social media and marketing game to further their reach towards potential casual consumers. Lots of stock to satisfy said demand. For online, very broad, intentiontally vague condition scale cos they either can't or won't advertise condtion properly, so can be a mixed bag and said target audience don't know any better. Occasionally has uncommon things for a reasonable price but I doubt they get consistent business from people who do their homework and know their stuff.

The resident nitwits on the r/gamecollecting sub that are clued up about DKOldies and how they operate speaks volumes 

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2022 by Super Nintendo Chalmers

[OptOut | 8,892]

On 6/26/2022 at 12:41 AM, AirVillain said:

Local or nothing.

I've been sitting at 17 carts in my collection for 6 years and it will stay that way as long as my local thrift store doesn't get any games in.

I refuse to buy from outside the area and especially "the internet".

Lol, why?

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

No issues with any online stores. If I don't like their prices, I buy elsewhere. 

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

2 hours ago, Super Nintendo Chalmers said:

Attempt to draw in less savvy, casual buyers by marketing themselves as a premier retailer and the go to place to buy things. High prices with an on point, targeted social media and marketing game to further their reach towards potential casual consumers.

See this is the best explanation of what everyone seems to criticize, and I feel like I could apply this description to hundreds of retailers, in person and online. 

2 hours ago, Super Nintendo Chalmers said:

The resident nitwits on the r/gamecollecting sub

I get a lot of entertainment from reading some of the hot takes over there, lol.

[Silent Hill | 276]

All I know is LukieGames goofed on this back in 2014. They shipped it to me too. 

 

[Tanooki | 4,952]

5 hours ago, OptOut said:

Lol, why?

Because while I don't agree with him, I do agree currently with that strategy (largely.)  Some stuff just can't be had locally, not talking weeks or month, like years or if ever.  Since I dropped doing ebay etc online for sales and do little of it anymore online I've reserved almost all I get to local for a few systems, it's amazingly refreshing fun because it's a crap shoot what appears, and if the price blows you can still ignore it, but if you do get it you get a fun experience and they're staggered so time can be there to do it before onto the next.  For that reason it makes sense, but if you're just cutting yourself off because ewww internets...you're a dope.

4 hours ago, Silent Hill said:

All I know is LukieGames goofed on this back in 2014. They shipped it to me too. 

 

Curse you decimal point! HAHAHA nice one.

[OptOut | 8,892]

11 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Because while I don't agree with him, I do agree currently with that strategy (largely.)  Some stuff just can't be had locally, not talking weeks or month, like years or if ever.  Since I dropped doing ebay etc online for sales and do little of it anymore online I've reserved almost all I get to local for a few systems, it's amazingly refreshing fun because it's a crap shoot what appears, and if the price blows you can still ignore it, but if you do get it you get a fun experience and they're staggered so time can be there to do it before onto the next.  For that reason it makes sense, but if you're just cutting yourself off because ewww internets...you're a dope.

I mean sure, finding stuff local is always a thrill and all, but you are really gonna be scratching around to turn up scraps most of the time these days. Not to mention, depending on where you live and what you collect, there may literally be NO chance of finding anything you want locally.

My own collection would be a pale shadow of what it is now if I didn't regularly buy online, from sites and sellers all over the world. @AirVillain says he bought 17 carts in 6 years? I mean, if he's happy with that, who am I to judge, but I certainly wouldn't be satisfied with that rate of accumulation.

I think the idea of being able to fill a gameroom or a garage, or a basement from buying stuff within a car ride of your house on a given Saturday or Sunday is a romantic notion, but like so many things these days, it is no longer a reality for the vast majority of people, those days are long gone.

[Tanooki | 4,952]

I'm not arguing with you @OptOut just that saying it will work for many, but definitely not all, and I think I said I mix it, but largely go local too. Certain stuff just can't happen, but if he's happy like a 10 year old kid with a handful of games to learn, destroy, and conquer repeatedly to enjoy that's excellent.  I wish it were that easy but dumping that much more stuff with be painful.

 

Around here I have 2 half price books, 2 game xchange, 2 mom&pop (down from 5) that are a ripoff, barely ever anything thrifts, a couple collectible stores, and that one pawn/consignment in walking distance I can dig through so it's better than many here I'd guess.  I'd include garage sale/flea but they're largely dead post virus, not much there, bullshit ebay+ pricing.

[a3quit4s | 4,126]

I don’t even go to garage sales anymore, probably in 2+ years. COVID and resellers killed that for me. I’ve got 3 local game stores that I frequent and are good for hitting and getting filler for full sets and occasionally have rare or uncommon stuff. Finding the really rare stuff comes from the internet for me. Even when I was hitting garage sales, maybe 40-50 a weekend I think I found N64 and SNES once or twice, never any NES. Mostly just PS2/X360/PS3

[Sumez | 2,994]

I'm pretty sure around 65-80% of the games I own would have never shown up in any local store or second hand market even if I waited another 100 years, lol.  That sounds like an insane way to limit yourself.

[Tanooki | 4,952]

7 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

I don’t even go to garage sales anymore, probably in 2+ years. COVID and resellers killed that for me. I’ve got 3 local game stores that I frequent and are good for hitting and getting filler for full sets and occasionally have rare or uncommon stuff. Finding the really rare stuff comes from the internet for me. Even when I was hitting garage sales, maybe 40-50 a weekend I think I found N64 and SNES once or twice, never any NES. Mostly just PS2/X360/PS3

Same here mostly.  The few local chain, and even the national ones turn up some rarer gold now and again like when I got Trouble Shooter months ago for under 1/2 the ebay price.  But garage sales go back 5 years, anytime I'd roll through the twice a year roll of neighborhood garage sales every week or few in the spring/fall I'd find 1-3 houses with something, ranging from some nice boxed up n64 games one time, or just a nice system, or a solid quality game or two, along with the usual cheaper but good (to kiddie garbage) filler.  Now though I can hit up 6 neighborhood garage sales, find nothing but maybe a random ps2 or og xbox game, the crap that rots at goodwill for $2 someone would buy for the case...if that.  I've given up on games for them, but I do like to drive them still for the randomness of it, so it's not for a lack of looking.  The scum have just ruined it all entirely to the point even random people know better and don't put it out anymore.

[Lynda Monica | 350]

I think that nothing has hurt the video game market for buyers more than the seller's ability to track what a game is supposedly "worth".

Before the completed listings function and sites like pricecharting, it was a lot easier for buyers to set a spending ceiling and just wait for that price to appear. Once it became clear what things were worth, it was really hard for buyers to set a limit on how much they'd be willing to spend.

Price charting sites were great for sellers, as it put buyers and sellers on more even ground. Things had an established value now, but buyers still payed the money. Sellers of obscure items were no longer getting ripped off by knowledgeable buyers, but listings would still fall in price if nobody was interested.

It becomes a problem when sellers knowingly overcharge on popular items, despite knowing very well what the current asking price is. If enough buyers fall for it, the value of that item goes up for everyone, even those who were content to sell it for less two weeks ago. This is different from the power buyers have, as one buyer getting a good deal doesn't impact every other listing.

Sellers often deflect this with "whatever people are willing to pay is what it's worth!", but with the never ending fear of price increases, people are becoming accustomed to spending more than they'd prefer to get ahead of the next price hike.

This creates a value that continuously inflates out of reluctance more than willingness, and it's a vicious cycle where sellers are in total control over popular items.

I've known for years that you can circumvent the whole rat race by simply being a few steps ahead of what's popular. Buyers will still have a lot of control in a sale so long as there isn't a lot of competition, so I always advise people to not stick to one thing for too long.

I think people who overprice are harmful, but at the same time I don't really care as there are ways to circumvent it if you're smart.

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

^aka collect atari and vhs.

[Lynda Monica | 350]

22 minutes ago, docile tapeworm said:

^aka collect atari and vhs.

I dunno man, have you tried shopping for VHS tapes lately? They're actually pretty expensive too.

[Tulpa | 3,537]

On 6/30/2022 at 10:42 AM, Sumez said:

I'm pretty sure around 65-80% of the games I own would have never shown up in any local store or second hand market even if I waited another 100 years, lol.  That sounds like an insane way to limit yourself.

Seriously. Can you imagine a game like Little Samson or Hagane showing up in a local store today?

Even if someone nowadays found it in their basement closet and sold it to their mom 'n pop store, there's no way they'll put it out in their case for a local to buy. That shit's going up on eBay the day it comes in.

[Tanooki | 4,952]

27 minutes ago, Lynda Monica said:

I dunno man, have you tried shopping for VHS tapes lately? They're actually pretty expensive too.

Well that coincidentally also is tied back to that scumbag Halperin and the WATA shenanigans.  They not too long ago started taking in and grading those and marketing them along side of their video game racket.  Due to this you'll commonly see VHS tapes now going into the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, and of course more so on popular stuff (look up Back to the Future.)

Watch the part around 8:40~ in the video.  Those buttholes are finally being sued on numerous counts over what they've done in gaming and it looks bad on their end given what Jobst and others dug up, then these lawyers moved in on from there to dig even further to qualify all this research did have value and a likely win in the system.  But for your post, both applies, the VHS bs starts at that point i said: 

 

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

Set this flex up perfectly
No more than $0.50 per

[AirVillain | 491]

On 6/30/2022 at 2:11 AM, OptOut said:

I mean sure, finding stuff local is always a thrill and all, but you are really gonna be scratching around to turn up scraps most of the time these days. Not to mention, depending on where you live and what you collect, there may literally be NO chance of finding anything you want locally.

My own collection would be a pale shadow of what it is now if I didn't regularly buy online, from sites and sellers all over the world. @AirVillain says he bought 17 carts in 6 years? I mean, if he's happy with that, who am I to judge, but I certainly wouldn't be satisfied with that rate of accumulation.

I think the idea of being able to fill a gameroom or a garage, or a basement from buying stuff within a car ride of your house on a given Saturday or Sunday is a romantic notion, but like so many things these days, it is no longer a reality for the vast majority of people, those days are long gone.

Was just being sarcastic... because as you pointed out, it would be pretty difficult and probably annoying. 

That being said, some games I've cherry picked from the interwebs, but the vast majority are from local finds. Quite a few "gems" came from the OG's of this website and other deceased forums, though. 

I've gotten lucky and have a few more than 17.

But yeah... to cut off the internet would have been silly. I mean.... it used to be a gold mine. Hahaha... just like thrift stores and garage sales in the days of yesteryear.