other than the internet where do you buy your retro games

where do you find your retro treasures other than big online sites such as ebay and amazon

 

Retro/DVD and music shops and thrift stores

 

http://www.thetoyvault.com/

 

Just on the internet, there are not a lot of retrogaming stores in my town, and their prices are usually above those on eBay.

 

There's a small amount of thrift shops and such that I'll hit along with my local game store, Next Level Games in Blackwood, New Jersey. Occasionally I'll also get lucky via OfferUp.

 

I rarely look for retro games because there isn't a lot around me, or I cannot find any local group. Most would come from online stores or even the dreaded craigslist.

There is a used games/movies/vinyls/comics/ store near me. There is a vendor at a flea market I can usually visit. Thrift stores are present but I rarely find anything interesting there.

 

Gamechangerz SLC and Greywhale SLC Ut.

 

I used to get a lot of stuff at Funcoland/Gamestop back when they still had racks of dollar NES games and things like that. Plus flea markets would often have old games. These days it seems like that stuff's mostly filtered out of everyday trade though.
The Digital Press store in Clifton NJ is good if you're passing through the area.

 

I mainly use Facebook buy/sell sites, better prices and there's some really nice items on there. I still visit charity shops but they seem to have regular backdoor buyers so retro stuff doesn't make it to the shelves any more, the same is true of Money Traders/Cash Converters type shops although they don't have much of a clue with PS2 stuff and GB/GBA/NDS carts which aren't priced individually.

Even stores like CEX can throw up good deals on occasion.

 

Like @MentalWarp I am a South Jersey gamer and enjoy going to Next Level Games in Blackwood. Also Jay Street Games in the Cherry Hill mall is a good spot and the manager is a nice guy. We got Gamer's Vault in Medford, All Things Video Games in Woodbury, All Gen in Runnemede (small but not bad). Classic Game Junkie in Glenside, PA is a cool store if I wanna make the trip as well. Come to think of it, the South Jersey/Greater Philadelphia area is a good spot for retro gaming.

Hey @MentalWarp , did you go to the NJ Gamer Con in Runnemede about a month back? If not, it was a fun time and it seems like they are gonna do it twice a year.

 

I did indeed, my friends over at Game-Boat had a panel there. Jay Street is an overpriced chain, imo, and I've had experiences with the employees having 0 knowledge. I don't think I've ever been to Gamer's Vault, I'll have to check that out.

 

The last time I bought any retro related stuff outside of the internet was in Akihabara's Trader, several years ago. I haven't bought any retro games locally since the PS2 was current gen, and even the stuff in Japan was way more expensive then Yahoo Auctions and near to the stuff in eBay. It's just not worth it anymore.

 

flea market?

 

You can checkout Play & Trade as they sell tons of retro games or videogamesnewyork another store at New York City

 

Video Games New York is vastly overpriced, even for NYC.

 

Thrift stores and flea markets.

 

Thrift stores, rommelmarkt, garagesale, kings day, flea market etc

 

CEX ALWAYS has good deals.

 

I live in a major city in the US which you would think would give cause for a large supply of retro games. Unfortunately the retro game stores in my area consistently seem to have games that are in very poor shape and typically incomplete for expensive ebay prices. On top of that, many of the stores don't even clean their inventory, so you will buy very grubby/dirty/dusty cartridges that were stored in someone's garage or damp basement for years at a premium. What surprises me is that some of these stores have facebook pages and all they have to do is post a picture of a somewhat rare or in demand game like super metroid or a contra game and they will shortly receive 10+ replies from people asking for them to reserve it for them to pick up and buy later that day. Tons of sunbaked, faded crinkly and peeling labels, manuals and broken cases at a premium price too, give me a break.

For my purposes and the clean moderately used condition I'll accept for my collection, it typically works out a lot better to just be patient on ebay. The thrift stores in my area almost never have anything except for the odd original xbox or ps2 sports game - pretty sure they get cleaned out daily by the people who operate the retro stores, flea markets and internet speculators.

 

Not when I've been. Picked up Nanostray 2 for £3 and Project Zero 2 for £3.50 in the last year or so and that's been it, everything else there has been a fair bit above eBay prices. A few years ago I did buy two copies of Resi 1 for £3 each before they got clued up on PS1 but whenever I go in now their retro stuff is priced way above market value.

Facebook groups seem to be the place people trade at good prices now so that's what I mainly use, local ones can throw up some bargains too. Some local charity shops have also started selling untested hardware as faulty which is always worth a punt. I get a bit jealous when I see Youtube videos of thrift stores in the USA, some amazing old PC and Micro hardware if you're into that, especially vintage laptops.