Just thought I'd share this with you guys, first in a series of articles for my own site, also to let you know I'll still be dropping in fairly often The art of Game Collecting pt1: Collecting on the cheap One question I get a lot when people see my collection is "How the hell did you get all this stuff?" The second question usually is "How much did all this cost?" While my collection isn't the largest or most complete in the world I do have enough stock that it would have set me back several thousand dollars if I was to buy everything new at time of release. So how does one go about obtaining a heavy game collection without blowing your life savings? Rule #1 to collecting on the cheap: Never pay retail for anything. At the time of release for a mainstream title or console hunt around for the sales, clip the coupons, shop around for the best price. Chances are however the price of the newest next-gen console is going to remain constant no matter where you go. You want the new RevoPS-360lution, but you don't have $600 to shell out. Then think to yourself, how bad do you want it? Can you wait six months to a year for the price to go down? Are you against buying a used console? Are you ready to hit Craigslist and make a deal? Most gamestores take trade-ins for new stuff, what do you have in your collection that you're willing to part with? Prices for game systems always go down for certain reasons. Company A will drop it's price to undercut sales of Company B's new console launch, Company B will offer incentives on games to get console sales up, all of them will drop their prices during the doldrum middle of the year in preparation for the Holiday season, etc. Just pay attention to the ads and you can usually score a new console within a year of it's release for a significant dent in what it's launch price was. 2) Play the stores off against each other: If a store such as Best Buy has a price matching policy then take advantage of it. If you see the console you want cheaper at Circut City, bring the ad over to Best Buy and get them to beat it. If you're slick enough you can then bring it back to Circut City and get them to lower it even more. Back and forth until the store refuses to go any further. Retail mock up on electronics is ridiculous, store managers have the ability to give as much as a discount as they want, so don't feel bad for the store because they are making money. Get a friend at one of these places as employees usually not only get first crack at any new consoles or titles, they also have the usual employee discount. Another 30% off in addition to a sale can save you a lot. Of course there's always the trade in route, where a game store knocks off a few hundred bucks when you trade in your old game system. While this doesn't do much to increase the size of your collection it may be a good way to unload some otherwise worthless stuff you can't sell anywhere else. Often times a collector will find themselves with several copies of a certain common game or console, here's the perfect way to put those extraneous duplicates to good use. 3) Rules to follow when buying used: Some people need to have everything factory sealed and smelling delivery truck fresh (for some reason) and are willing to pay top dollar for the joy of ripping open plastic wrap. More power too them. Hey, if I could afford it I'd be one of those people. In the meantime I've got no qualms about buying used. Is it worth it when you can get the same $600 system for $450? Sure it is. Before buying used always take the hardware for a test drive. Buying at shops is usually safe but you never know, even from chain stores like Gamestop I've gotten a few defective units. Have the guy hook it up and pop in a game from off the shelf, there is absolutely no reason for them to deny this. This is essential when purchasing from a third party. People have a tendency to treat game systems like "toys," i.e. throwing them around, kicking them, setting drinks on top of them, putting ugly Hello Kitty stickers all over them, crap like that. Play for few minutes and check out the system. Are things like FMV and cinemas playing without skipping? It may have a bad lazer. Is the picture fuzzy, is the sound comming through good? The cables may be bad otherwise. Check out the cables, do they have any visible bends, tears, frays, chewmarks, etc? Is there dust all over the console? Dirt inside the controller ports? Visible food or foriegn matter stains? Do all the buttons and thumbsticks work on the controllers? Anything loose? You're paying a lot of money for this stuff so you have the right to check everything out. If the guy gets up in your face about it then leave, take your money somewhere else. You don't buy a car without a test drive, so why should an expensive electronics purchase for several hundred dollars be any different? 4) Buying online: The majority of "rare" stuff you're probably going to find either on auction sites like Eaby or through other forums (hopefully like this one Number one Rule to remember here is you get what you pay for - If some guy is selling something that looks too good to be true, then it probably is. A brand new PS3 with a buy it now for $50? Yeah ok. When dealing on Ebay always be mindful of the seller's feedback. If the guy has 100% feedback but only ten transactions and each of those is to the same person chances are he's selling to himself to pad himself with fasle positives. Feel free to send messages to his prior buyers and ask them about the experience. Did thier stuff show up on time, in the condition promised? How does the guy respond to questions, how does he follow up? Dealing on forums is generally safer. Check the seller's post count, if he has a significant amount of posts then he's probably had a few dealings there before. The people who join a board and sell junk with a few posts are the ones to be leery of. For expensive items ask for a pic with the seller's handle written on a peice of paper to prove he actually has the item in hand. Never pay with bank transfer. There's no reason anyone shouldn't be able to accept a check, money order, or Paypal. Bank transfer is non-refundable and nearly impossible to call fraud on. Plus now the guy has your bank account number, which is never a good thing. The guy says he doesn't have a paypal account? But he's selling you some highly priced piece of obscure dev equipment? Yeah well, too bad. Come back when you get your shit in gear, I don't need it that bad. Also be leery of any sellers from countries you are normally not used to dealing with - Africa, the Middle East, South East Asian countries like Thailand, etc. Not a dig against anyone who lives in these places, but several countries in these areas are notorious for internet scams of all kinds. It's a case of a few bad apples ruining it for everyone else. Sorry, just how it is, any buyers or sellers from these areas are going to have to go through additional hoops to get what they want. 5) Closing the deal: When buying in person always pay in cash. For instance if you're buying from someone local through a classified ad or something. Individual people will always go lower than what they ask for. Show up with a big roll of bills, get at least twenty dollars in ones and cover it with larger bills on the outside, you know, make it look like more than it is. Examine the console with a fine-toothed comb. Find a small ding in the case or some other reason why the console isn't "mint" and knock $20 off his price. See how far you can push it. When he starts getting all wishy-washy and tries to back out of the sale bust out that wad of cold hard cash and start peeling those twenties off the outside, then watch the guy's resolve crumble. This works every time. Stores usually don't give a shit and won't let you haggle unless you go to a small Mom & Pop type place. Little hole in the wall places will usually have stuff packed away in the corners and have no idea what they are or what to charge for them and are usually a little more open to haggling. 5) Where to shop: 1. Flea markets & swamp meets (otherwise known as Boot sales): You can score good deals in places like this fairly easily, the trade off is any items you find will be opened, non-complete, missing manuals and stuff, in messed-up condition, etc. We've all heard the stories of some guy rolling into the local swamp meet or garage sale and finding a complete Panasonic M2 stuck in with the stereo equipment. However unlikely it is to find obscure and rare gaming stuff in the wild nowadays stuff like the aforementioned story has been known to happen. 2. Small, Mom & Pop game stores are a good source, problem is now that gaming is such a huge industry places like this are starting to disappear. You're more likely to find them in little towns that Gamestop and EB have not yet penetrated. Also check independently owned video stores for former rentals. Many small video stores rent games and it's not uncommon for such out of the way places to have complete sealed NES or Snes carts behind the counter. My local video store still rented and occasionally sold NES games up until 2002 until stupid Shlockbuster bought them out. As well it's possible to find out of print games even at mainstream stores like Toys R Us, especially in stores that have been around in a particular location for many years. Ask the guy if they have anything behind the counter, in the back store room, better yet social engineer your way into a friendship with someone who works there and get him to check for you (which also have the added benefit of you getting first pic at new releases as well, see above.) There is nothing like the thrill of the hunt. Spending years tracking down that last boxed game or obscure console definably pays off upon finally getting your hands on it. At times the seeking of treasure is a greater joy than actually procuring it. This is the thing that makes us collectors - searching for the game is just as much a part of the experience as playing it. But there's no reason to break the bank to have a heavy game collection. _________________ We gladly consume those who would subude us.
It's interesting you posted this. I went to a flea market today, hoping to find some cool stuff. The only gaming stuff i found were 3 famiclones, 2 broken Master System, and lots of joystiqs and some loose consoles (N64's, Saturn's, Atari's,... ). But not a single one of them were in at least "decent condition". So i haven't got anything. :crying: Was hoping to find a good Mega Drive with some games or a Saturn with at least a controller. I'll try again in two weeks. :nod:
I used to buy tons of games and not play them for months and by then they were cheaper anyway. Now I just wait until they are dirt cheap and buy the dirt cheap ones I wanted several years back, today. lol I hear you on the Toys R Us thing. Almost no one goes there to check for their games. I have found at least 5 or 6 "rare" games there that weren't for sale anywhere else.
nice guide, kind of big to use though. Something like the Ten commandments would be more useful than carrying around this Bible
