Pawn Shoppin’ with WnZ

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

My job requires that I do some driving around.

Whenever I find myself in towns or regions I don’t visit often, I make sure to hit thrift shops and pawn shops. 

Pawn shops have been a great source of jobber items for me, so let’s document those findings here. Prices and VGPC values will be $CAD.

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

Let’s get started! This week’s hunt was awesome. I don’t expect every hunt to be as good as this.

The following come from 3 different shops I got to visit while working in a suburb that’s about an hour drive away from my house.

First thing to do when walking into a pawn shop is to check the bargains section. Often it’s 5$ games or a 3/10$ type deal and one can typically find some games there that are worth 10$-15$. Sometimes even more. This is how I got the surprising Freddi Fish game, which according to VGPC is worth 18,36$. Same deal with Mortal Kombat and GTA Episodes [Platinum Hits] for XBOX 360 and Raw for XBOX: paid 5$ and expect to sell them for 15$.

Next thing to do is to seek out the Wii games. Indeed the Wii shelves are usually full of little treasures because shops sometimes don’t know what to do with games that don’t say Mario or Zelda on them. Helloooo Deer Drive Legends. Listed at 10$ and discounted at 4$, VGPC has this one at 35,59$ currently. Great score there.

Get only N64 games with good label because you can’t fix a damn N64 label. Any kind of rubbing to remove marker or stickers will also remove color from the label. 

Finally, always engage is friendly small talk with the employees and/or managers there as you are shopping around. It clears the floor for healthy negotiations later on. What I’ll do is gather a bundle of games that are priced at or below VGPC and work from there. 
 

The SNES games I got look like crap, but the labels are all good, save some glue or sticker residues and that’s easy to take care of. I was very suprised to find The Brainies there. 
 

From the games pictured here I will keep Metroid Federation Force. It’s sealed and I don’t have it. Another game I’m probably keeping is Canada Hunt for the Wii. It’s not worth much but I just think it’s cool to have a game specifically located in Canada. Of course I’m curious about Front Mission so I’ll probably try it out and decide later wether to keep or flip it.

And now the numbers:

total paid: 428,46$

expected value: 820,82$

gain: 392,36$

 

$olid!

Edited August 13, 2022 by WhyNotZoidberg
Added info

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

All right second post in the same day!

This isn’t from a pawn shop however. A local auction house had some video games lined up and I won some veryyyyy nice items.

First there’s this huge bundle of Wii games, all CIB and very clean overall. The main attraction is of course Fire Emblem, but I already have that. I’ll pull Trauma Team from this and maybe one of the Final Fantasy game if I don’t have both already. Also snagged a working Black Jack Game & Watch. The Wii lot cost me 211$ including taxes and buyer’s premium. Honestly I would have liked to get it for about 50$ less. Feels like I overpaid if all I wanted was profits.

 

 

There were a couple lots of big box PC games I slept on, but this one had some names I recognized and I won it for 37,34$. Ultima has the map.

 

The numbers!

total paid: 354,06$

expected value: 745,02$

gains: 390,96$

Nice $core.

Edited August 13, 2022 by WhyNotZoidberg
Missing words

[Link 1,915]

Where are you located? Your format is not USD so for those of us who are to relate. For instance you list Freddi Fish (Wii) at 18,36$. For me it shows at $14.37. 

 

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

8 hours ago, Link said:

Where are you located? Your format is not USD so for those of us who are to relate. For instance you list Freddi Fish (Wii) at 18,36$. For me it shows at $14.37. 

 

I’m in Canada. 

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

Back with the latest. Values are $CAD.

Here is a small Fb Marketplace score. I remember getting my personal copy of 3D Dot Game Heroes at a swap meet. The seller let me have this and Catherine for 15$ total. Good days. I can’t believe the jump in value here. Got it for 45$ shipped and that leaves a lot of room for profit when vgpc average is 71$

 

I was sent to work in the town of L’Assomption and wouldn’t you know it, there was a collector/memorabilia shop right next to where I was going. They were advertising cards, coins and sports stuff and so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to walk in and ask for games. The owner said he normally doesn’t deal in games, but that he had just acquired some Atari stuff. There were a bunch of super commons but also two double-enders and a Snoopy game with a pretty nice front label (top label is half torn). And somehow a loose Genesis game snuck into his bundle. Didn’t know much about it but I grabbed it. The price was hella right at 50$ for the 4.

 

total paid: 95$

expected value: 213,22$

gains: 118,22$

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

Okay ladies and gents. I managed to hit two stores out in a remote neighborhood this week. Slim pickings this time around.

First I snagged these DS and 3DS games. The clerk agreed to discount them from 10$ each to 5$ and I had to pay taxes because I had no cash on me and I paid with my debit card. 11,50$ spent.
 

 

I am now reminded that I’m still looking for Bit.Trip Saga Complete for my Wii collection. Hopefully one comes along soon.

 

The second store I went to had a better selection of cart based games, but most games seriously overpriced and the guy would not come down at all. I didn’t want to leave empty handed so I grabbed these 3 XBOX games. Not the craziest titles but they all have sold consistently for me in the past so I’m confident I can make buck. The deal I got is far from excellent, paid 30$ for the 3 (vgpc 45$) but since I had a better deal on the first grab it averages out favorably.

 

total paid: 41,50$ CAD

expected value: 74,84$ CAD

gains: 33,34$ CAD

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

Welp I hit the local auctions again this week. I’m not to too proud to admit that I got caught in some bidding wars and I ended up paying more than I’d like, especially since most of these items probably won’t move fast.

There were these nice Game & Watch knock-offs and a Nintendo vs. console. I don’t have the battery for the DK Hockey but the Play & Time and Game & Clock (those names lmaooo) handhelds all work. Mega Man 3 also.

There’s a functionning DS Lite with the charger, RE 3 GH and some NES Carts that went for much less than I anticipated, the RE3 disc is super clean so no complaints here.

 

Nintendo stuff is always strong and I went crazy bidding on this CIB Turok 3 without realizing just how rough the box was. Paid almost full retail dammit. SML 2 went for about half-price, go figure, and I couldn’t let anyone else catch that 3DS lot with Metal Gear 3D. The cases are grimey af but that wasn’t going to stop me.

 

There were plenty of PS2 and og XBOX lots, I grabbed these 2 because they were clean enough and had some more desirable titles like Sly and Sly 2, along with Dukes of Hazzard.

 

Lastly I got too involved in the bidding for this CIB Fire Emblem 30th anniversary bundle and I completely overlooked the box’s condition, blinded as I was by my competitive ego. The book inside is still sealed, but the see-thru cart was obviously displayed before. At least the game download code scratcher is intact.

 

I should have been more reasonable and only got items at 50% off vgpc since they aren’t exactly all hot sellers, but it’s all too easy to get enthralled during bidding when things heat up.

 

total paid: 1018,98$ CAD

expected value: 1491,38$ CAD

gains: 472,40$ CAD

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

Damn Daniel!! Back at it with the white Vans!

This week’s finds come from a thrift store and a pawn shop.

First I noticed a « neighborhood help » type of store right next to where I was working and they had some games, including this Twilight Princess and The Darkness. CIB and 4$CAD each can’t complain.

 

Then just today I made it a point to visit a pawn shop where I had a couple lucky scores in the past. It had been at least a year since my last visit and I felt lucky.

Behold! They had some very good items in stock! Nevermind the price tags, they’re crazy. It’s worth noting that they had put up signs _in_ the store to encourage negotiations. This is one of the smaller stores where they keep the games in tubs and you have to ask them to pull them out. 
 

So what I did is pull out the games I wanted and ask how much the deal would be. For example, Crash n the Boys has a label for 99,99$CAD and the clerk told me I could get it for 40$CAD (vgpc avg is 58$CAD) so I piled some items like that. Individually they were decent deals, and bundling them up landed me an even greater deal.

Total was 246$CAD and vgpc avg was  441$CAD. What’s best tho is that everything is in good shape and the overall quality of the titles is pretty strong. I mean, actual uncommon NES carts? Who tf brings those to a pawn shop anymore.

God I hate it when they stick the price tags ON the label. 

N64 carts in good shape I have to grab those. 

PSX discs were clean and the cases weren’t all beat up. Good stuff.

Total paid: 254,05$CAD

Expected value: 477,07$

gains: 223,02$

Edited September 28, 2022 by WhyNotZoidberg

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

Coming out of a bit of a dry spell here. One of the pawn shops I hit in the first post of this thread had stocked up and I was there to catch them slippin’ and haggle to score some gems.

 

They had some really good Wii titles, notably Target: Terror and Kirby’s Return to Dreamland, but they wouldn’t come down on price so I had to pass for now. They did however get caught slippin’ on Sin & Punishment and KoF Orochi Saga at $10CAD each, and as per their unofficial policy that means anyone asking will pay $4CAD. Score! Same for Wedding Dash and Bust-A-Move Universe, but they’re not worth as much as the previous games.

 

Grabbed 3 N64 musts for about 60% of VGPC. Not exactly mint, the backs in particular are pretty shitty, but the labels are good so I had to grab these.
 

 

Decent hunting.

Total paid: $121,88CAD

Expected value: $287,34CAD

Gains: $165,46CAD 

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

Scored some late 2022 loot hitting two pawn shops this week.

Got them 3 Wii titles at the first location where they basically do $4 on everything that says $10. The Simpsons is going straight into my collection. I’ve been looking for a cheap copy for a long time, so now I’m actually paying negative money for it  

 

The NES titles and 3DS Ocarina come from another location that somehow manages to stock NES stuff regularly. The pricetags were already below pricecharting and they still cut me a bundle deal. I’m a nostalgic sucker for NES multicarts so I’m excited to pop that one in and see which titles are on there, even if it’s probably the usual stuff.

Total paid: $71CAD

Expected value (excluding The Simpsons): $165CAD

gains: $94 + 1 game!

 

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

Another week, another neighborhood, another find.

I stumbled into a pawn shop between store visits for work last Monday and I couldn’t believe my eyes. They had a whole counter filled with dank CIB NES, SNES, PS1 and PS2 games! Apparently a heartbroken and very pissed off woman had taken in a huge collection after a bad breakup. I’m still searching my local facebook  collector s groups for posts about an ex taking a dude’s collection, just to see.
 

I was a bit short on cash so I didn’t get everything I wanted but I’m definitely going back asap.

Anyways it seems they’ve had this for some months and they were more eager to cut some deals and I paid 145$CAD for these two bad boy.

 

price paid: 145$ CAD

expected value: 233$ CAD

gains: 88$ CAD

 

Edited January 26 by WhyNotZoidberg

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

I went back

 

Bubble Bobble is in great shape. The cart especially. Rockin’ Kats has more wear, the top flaps are fuzzy and one corner of the label has peeled but the price was hella right.

 

price paid: 415$ CAD

expected value: 599$ CAD (based on VGPC)

gains: 184$ CAD

[WhyNotZoidberg 576]

More Pawn Swoopings!

Yesterday I was in a remote part of western Montreal and grabbed this pair of Wii games for $30CAD, which is half their original asking price:

 

Then today I went to two more pawn shops. In the first I snagged Mario Galaxy, 007 Golden Eye and most surprisingly Mega Man 3 and Link's Awakening for the GB, all for 109$.

The last store had some heavy hitters, including a loose Rockin' Kats but they were priced accordingly. Still the guy cut me a super good deal on Dusty Diamond and a handful of clean N64 carts. 152$ paid for these

 

total paid: $291 CAD

expected value: $450 CAD

gains: $159 CAD

not bad not bad