does anyone have tips on where i can find games in thrift stores because every time i go to one trying to buy video games all they have is ps2 games so does anyone have tips they can give to me?
From my experience there is no foolproof "trick", except maybe that the more frequently you go to stores the better your odds of finding something worthwhile eventually. However, if you go to the same place regularly for a month or two and nothing relatively good ever shows up, that's a good sign that there is probably a local staffer getting to everything before you. There was a local media store near me that was great for years until a reseller's wife got hired there and basically takes everything good before it hits the floor. I never shop there anymore since it's always a waste of time.
I live in an area where there are a lot of Savers and Goodwill stores. The only tip I have is to make a mental plan on how to walk the store in five minutes or less. Learn where each store stashes it's electronics and media. Then figure out how you can walk through the areas with the least amount of steps. If you're eyes are trained, it's easy to spot video game merch even at a quick glance. I've found that by keeping each store visit short, I can hit more stores in the time I can devote to hunting, and thus increasing my odds. I've bought most of my hardware collection this way, and much more that I've sold/traded on to obtain the more unobtainable. The only consoles that I've never been able to purchase via this method is the NES top loader and the Master System 2. I had to head to eBay for those.
This...there aren't any useful tips anymore, the market has changed dramatically since about 2006-7. Its entirely luck now (like lotto ticket luck, not handicapping), resellers and the unemployed are at every venue these days, picking the good things up, LONG before you get there. The best you can do, opportunity cost wise, is to just randomly stop in places, IF and only if, its VERY convenient. Doing any more is a huge time sink and you will have zero return on that lost time (in 2010 I actually had nearly a full year of NO re-sellable finds in thrift stores, garage sales and flea markets, it was only a couple of craigslist bikes that changed my luck near the end of the year). If you live in a remote or rural area your chances of finding stuff may be a little bit better, but I still would only do stops based on convenience. Also people aren't donating that kind of stuff much anymore because they know these kinds of items have some value. So you are basically relying on the one-off chance that a ludite has a pile of decent stuff left in the garage, that was abandoned by thier equally ignorant offspring.
I heard that people are going for dumpster located behind gamestop (or any other gaming store)....seems to be a trend now. Heard people find kiosk games and even kiosk there too.
Also depends on where you are at, this kind of action can get you arrested or detained depending on how zealous and self righteous local law enforcement is. Its the classic guilty until proven innocent scenario, where despite being within the limits of the law, "cops discretion" gets you an unjust fine, night in jail, evening lost for their "convenience" or simply having to put your "finds" back into the dumpster (all it takes is for the store to request the LEO's handle it in such a manner, laws be damned). I had something like this happen in an industral parking lot years ago, where I was changing a tire, but the cops thought I was stealing from parked cars, based on the testimony of the security guard that was on duty at the time. After reviewing video footage the guard was found to be mistaken in regards to what he saw. In a just world, that guard would have gotten a night in jail as a result of his error, but instead my evening was interrupted.
This guy found 4 sealed copies of Halo 4 on a Gamestop dumpster, among a shitload of other stuff: Honesly, i see why people hate Gamestop. I mean, to dump sealed games / decent condition game stuff is simply ridiculous. Why not make a sale and promote something like "choose one free item of a case" or just give people free shit at the cashier? EDIT: Here's the actual video of him finding the Halo 4 copies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akqNMw-D7bA
I wanted a store advertising standee, the store told me I cannot have it, but if it's in the dumpster, I can... Makes sense right?
Persistence and luck, if you stop everywhere you'll waste a lot of time but might find something great. Also I seem to have great luck when I travel, I went to a Goodwill in Cleveland Saturday and got 3 Dreamcast games (Star Wars Demolition, Red Dog, and SF Rush 2049) for $5 each, but I walked into my local Unique today and only found a copy of F22 Interceptor (itself not a terrible haul). Find a few stores that are in your area and usually have something and go there weekly if you can, or more often if possible.
It's so sad, but true... I miss the days of being able to go to a garage sale or flea market and find goodies. I don't even go to many places anymore just because I know that the time invested for the odds of finding something is incredibly low. The thrill of the hunt is only fun if you eventually catch something.
