The Ebay/Gamestop/Craiglist/Amazon/Goodwill/etc rant thread

[Tanooki | 4,933]

2 hours ago, CodysGameRoom said:

How much more are you guys willing to pay for condition? A guy has a game I'm looking for for about $50 more than the current "rate" (subjective of course). Granted, the game is scarce, but it's not necessarily highly sought after. I sent an offer for the going rate and was countered because "you wont find one in this condition". 

It's still sitting there of course. Would you guys really pay $50 more for a "good" condition CIB game? The photos don't make i t look outstanding or anything. If you're gonna sell based on condition wouldn't you have more photos of the game?

Idk I just can't bring myself to do it.

Nope.  And don't, he needs to learn a lot of patience waiting and waiting and... (or get lucky finding a chump to buy into that line eventually.)

I take a very dim view of someone trying to convince me something is worth a price when it's not hard to pop onto ebay, click sold, and see what it goes for.  Even more so when I can click back to active listings and pay that rate right then and there.

If you try and push for a value I know is wrong, and I can find it for less with no effort and do it, I will.

Rarity is rarely rarity, it's mostly an excuse.  Maybe it's uncommon with a fewer amount up at any time, and?  Don't take the bait.  It's a game, not a life essential.

Edited September 20, 2021 by Tanooki

[drxandy | 3,225]

My closest Goodwill had this Atari 2600 Jr lot for 500$

gtfo

[Gloves | 11,776]

1 minute ago, drxandy said:

My closest Goodwill had this Atari 2600 Jr lot for 500$

gtfo

R@RE L@@K!!!

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

29 minutes ago, drxandy said:

My closest Goodwill had this Atari 2600 Jr lot for 500$

gtfo

I hope you offered at least $750 to be nice.

[Aguy | 772]

47 minutes ago, drxandy said:

My closest Goodwill had this Atari 2600 Jr lot for 500$

gtfo

But... it's for "charity".

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

50 minutes ago, drxandy said:

My closest Goodwill had this Atari 2600 Jr lot for 500$

gtfo

I'm gonna laugh if that's Atlantis II in there.

[drxandy | 3,225]

9 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

I'm gonna laugh if that's Atlantis II in there.

Atari collecting I know very little, but even if it was I don't see why they wouldn't take it out and put it on the auction site.

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

Just venting a little frustration. Ive had two items in a row from ebay get stuck in usps limbo. They’re tracking shows them chugging along and then bam they both stop and dont move for a week. I opened a “wheres my shit!?” case with usps on Friday and hope they actually respond this week. What a pain in the ass

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

12 hours ago, drxandy said:

Atari collecting I know very little, but even if it was I don't see why they wouldn't take it out and put it on the auction site.

Because you wouldn't know unless you play it that it's II since they used the same label.

[drxandy | 3,225]

47 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

Because you wouldn't know unless you play it that it's II since they used the same label.

For sure, when I was there I had no idea. I learned a little off Google cuz of your post (thanks!) apparently you can weigh them and #2 is lighter too. Would be kinda cool if it was, but still shocking to see at the local.. they almost always take the good stuff for shopgoodwill. I'm just mad because I thought I saw a 50$ pricetag haha.

[TDIRunner | 2,735]

57 minutes ago, drxandy said:

For sure, when I was there I had no idea. I learned a little off Google cuz of your post (thanks!) apparently you can weigh them and #2 is lighter too. Would be kinda cool if it was, but still shocking to see at the local.. they almost always take the good stuff for shopgoodwill. I'm just mad because I thought I saw a 50$ pricetag haha.

You can always offer them less.  I saw a lot of 2600 games years ago with a $50 price tag.  The entire lot was worth less than $20.  I offered them $15 and they accepted.  They tried to fight it saying that "video games are worth a lot of money right now."  I explained them while that was true in a sense, many games are still worth a buck a piece and they understood.  I didn't rip them off or anything.  There were no high dollar games.  Just several commons that I was interested in owning.  

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

2 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

You can always offer them less.  I saw a lot of 2600 games years ago with a $50 price tag.  The entire lot was worth less than $20.  I offered them $15 and they accepted.  They tried to fight it saying that "video games are worth a lot of money right now."  I explained them while that was true in a sense, many games are still worth a buck a piece and they understood.  I didn't rip them off or anything.  There were no high dollar games.  Just several commons that I was interested in owning.  

Or the easier argument- YOU GUYS GOT THIS SHIT FOR FREE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

[TDIRunner | 2,735]

38 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

Or the easier argument- YOU GUYS GOT THIS SHIT FOR FREE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

I find traditional bargaining works better.  But that's just my experience.  

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

2 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

I find traditional bargaining works better.  But that's just my experience.  

It probably does, but it's just the point.

[TDIRunner | 2,735]

15 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

It probably does, but it's just the point.

I've never understood the argument that Goodwill should price their games cheap just because they get them for free.  It doesn't really make any sense.  

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

2 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

I've never understood the argument that Goodwill should price their games cheap just because they get them for free.  It doesn't really make any sense.  

Neither does charging 5-10x market value for something you can't even return if it's broken.

I get maximizing profit to an extent, but they need to price more in line with a thrift store than ebay.

[TDIRunner | 2,735]

45 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

Neither does charging 5-10x market value for something you can't even return if it's broken.

I get maximizing profit to an extent, but they need to price more in line with a thrift store than ebay.

I'm surprised not all Goodwills have the same return policy.  I've never seen a Goodwill that doesn't take returns on non-working electronics.  They always mention it when I check out, which is funny to me because if a $2 game doesn't work, I'm not wasting my time to take it back.  But I guess it's nice that they offer.  

Honestly, the smartest thing they ever did was setting up an online store.  Let the buyers set the price.  It's the easiest way to determine value when you are dealing with merchandise that you aren't familiar with.  

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Around here they won't take a return to give a refund unless it's $10+ otherwise it's IMMEDIATE store credit, as in, find something or you get nothing.

And I'm in agreement they're thrifts, they need to price more in line with thrift.  Going full ebay or worse is just sick, and I mean on anything, not games alone and that's what they do now outside of used clothing, housewares, and furniture.  If they can find it within a minute on ebay and it has any value, they match.  I love the days when they miss though, it's not often anymore, but it's nice.  I wouldn't have any vintage TMNT figures if they hadn't missed months ago. (other than Slash)  I don't bother going into them anymore regularly, maybe once a week if I want to care enough as it's just annoying and a waste of time and money(gas, etc.)

[twiztor | 850]

12 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Around here they won't take a return to give a refund unless it's $10+ otherwise it's IMMEDIATE store credit, as in, find something or you get nothing.

And I'm in agreement they're thrifts, they need to price more in line with thrift.  Going full ebay or worse is just sick, and I mean on anything, not games alone and that's what they do now outside of used clothing, housewares, and furniture.  If they can find it within a minute on ebay and it has any value, they match.  I love the days when they miss though, it's not often anymore, but it's nice.  I wouldn't have any vintage TMNT figures if they hadn't missed months ago. (other than Slash)  I don't bother going into them anymore regularly, maybe once a week if I want to care enough as it's just annoying and a waste of time and money(gas, etc.)

same in my area. basically it's exchange (store credit but you have to use it right away) or nothing.

i haven't seen any video games in there in YEARS, outside of seeing the occasional OG Xbox sports game. i've never seen action figures, just dolls and non-vintage Happy Meal toys. i do find the random board game or Hawaiian shirt to pick up, though.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

I haven't seen any games worth the effort in many months (6+) and then they wanted ebay+ value on the stuff which was kind of infuriating as there was goodies in that box -- Pokemon Colosseum, TimeSplitters both gamecube games obviously, a few other lesser valued good ones(I had already), usually have the same crappy PS3/360-PS4/One era sports crap and overblown EA/Activision tripe people felt better dumping than getting a shiny dime off gamestop for their efforts.  Oldest I've seen in there but same low brow garbage has been Wii no earlier.  Anything older I've not seen since spring in goodwill, not really worth the effort anymore so when I pick the kiddo up I may check facebook in advance if something is on the way/back or at the half price books between here and there.  I've had good luck with that store, such as a month ago Double Dragon Advance for $8 (vs $80 on ebay) so I can't complain.

Ebay at this rate I mostly avoid unless I know I won't find it around here or they're same priced as amazon which asininely still won't process paypal balances.  I've also avoided the flea market for about a month now because the last 3 trips were empty wastes of time and it takes like 30min~ each way.

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

Does anyone know if ebay automatically gives you offers on things you watch? With a lot  of things Ive watched in the past year, i’ll get a better offer from the seller, on BIN items. It seems like it happens with almost every one of them.I’m curious if the sellers are actually doing it or if ebay is doing it on their own. 
 

By that I mean ebay generates the offer on “behalf” of the seller and ebay itself covers the discount (I know its nuts to think they would take the hit) so the seller just see’s they sold the item and got what they listed it for meanwhile ebay actually sold it to me for %10 or %15 off or whatever. Hopefully I made sense enough with that

It just seems weird that all these sellers are voluntarily sending me better prices on stuff I happened to watch

 

Edited October 11, 2021 by LeatherRebel5150

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

27 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

Does anyone know if ebay automatically gives you offers on things you watch? With a lot  of things Ive watched in the past year, i’ll get a better offer from the seller, on BIN items. It seems like it happens with almost every one of them.I’m curious if the sellers are actually doing it or if ebay is doing it on their own.

By that I mean ebay generates the offer on “behalf” of the seller and ebay itself covers the discount (I know its nuts to think they would take the hit) so the seller just see’s they sold the item and got what they listed it for meanwhile ebay actually sold it to me for %10 or %15 off or whatever. Hopefully I made sense enough with that

It just seems weird that all these sellers are voluntarily sending me better prices on stuff I happened to watch

I don't know for certain, but I have some data that might help you work out what's going on.  My kids have been nuts about their old school Little People for a good while now, so I've been keeping an eye on some odds and ends online that they either "need" or want but don't already have.  A couple of weeks ago, I finally spotted a set that they really wanted at a price that was a bit too high but had the "Make Offer" option, so I did so.  Seller ended up cancelling the listing and not responding to me, I found another one (with arguably better accessories included), made them the same offer and the seller accepted.  A few days later, I ended up with an non-solicited offer from a totally different seller of the same item that I had been watching but had forgotten to remove from my watch list after obtaining one of that item.

I'm not a seller, so I don't know, but I'm wondering if there's some sort of deeper information available to sellers that eBay's providing, like "here's a list of your watchers, here's the people in this list that have made offers on a similar listing."  I could definitely see that sort of info as being a great boon to sellers wanting to move their stuff quickly but not necessarily at bottom dollar.

I do believe that if a seller has opted into some program that eBay will occasionally offer a certain percentage discount on their stuff (or at least certain items) without specifically asking them about it, but I know that's not quite what you're asking here.

[TDIRunner | 2,735]

I've been getting a lot of those offers on watched items lately.  It's to the point now, where if I'm interested in something, but it doesn't have an "offer" option, I just put it in my watch list and wait for the offer late.

I find it odd that when I get an offer on a watched item, sometimes, I have the option to send a counter and sometimes I don't.  I've also noticed that the discount ranges sometimes from 5% to as high as 25%.  If eBay is generating this on their own, I have to believe that the sellers are at least somewhat involved because of the number of variables.  

[Bonanza125 | 55]

2 hours ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

Does anyone know if ebay automatically gives you offers on things you watch? With a lot  of things Ive watched in the past year, i’ll get a better offer from the seller, on BIN items. It seems like it happens with almost every one of them.I’m curious if the sellers are actually doing it or if ebay is doing it on their own. 
 

By that I mean ebay generates the offer on “behalf” of the seller and ebay itself covers the discount (I know its nuts to think they would take the hit) so the seller just see’s they sold the item and got what they listed it for meanwhile ebay actually sold it to me for %10 or %15 off or whatever. Hopefully I made sense enough with that

It just seems weird that all these sellers are voluntarily sending me better prices on stuff I happened to watch

 

There is a section where a seller can submit best offers to buyers who are watching. The seller is the one who gives the special discount. Either an amount or a percentage off. The sellers are sending you offers cause they want to sell the item that your watching. Which is kind of the purpose, lol. Yes a seller can click automatically send offer to other watchers as well. So if you click watch there is a small chance an offer can be sent to you automatically by the buyer. Ebay wants buyers who are watching the items to actually purchase the item so they can make money. I understand the reasons why buyers want to watch items but when you get several people watching an item but no one is buying honestly it defeats the purpose of watching an item. 

Edited October 11, 2021 by Bonanza125

[Bonanza125 | 55]

43 minutes ago, TDIRunner said:

I find it odd that when I get an offer on a watched item, sometimes, I have the option to send a counter and sometimes I don't.  I've also noticed that the discount ranges sometimes from 5% to as high as 25%.  If eBay is generating this on their own, I have to believe that the sellers are at least somewhat involved because of the number of variables.  

It's the seller who has the option to send you an offer if you are watching an item and can either click allow a counter offer or not. It's a special offer to you. Some sellers are willing to negotiate prices on certain items and other aren't they just want to give you a one time offer.