Goodwill prices.

[disgaeniac]

Thrift stores are just resellers with a bigger market. They are now researching almost everything that comes into the building. I remember last year I was looking at one and noticed in the toy section was two board games. Mario Bros and the fairly rare Zelda game. I noticed $50 on the Zelda game and was like WTF? I knew it sold for more on Ebay but played innocent and went to the counter and asked if it was supposed to be $5 and not $50. The manager is summoned to the counter and he says "Why dont we Google this item?" So of course he pulls out his stupid cell phone and looks at Ebay and shows me that people are asking $150-200 on there. I snap back at him saying its a thrift store and that the item was given to them and that they really shouldnt be gouging their customers for items and that most people that shop at thrift stores do so cause they dont have any other options. Of course he didnt give a damn. Bad thing is I bought it anyhow. I knew the chances of me ever finding the game again in the wild was pretty much a fat 0 and it was totally complete and in pretty good condition. Got the Mario Bros game for another $15.

Absolute truth   

Exactly the same shit that all of those "Fast Cash" (Pawn shops) are pulling now 

[burningdoom]

I don't have these issues with my Goodwill. I'm talking the official Goodwill:



Cartridge games are $2-$5, depending on what it is (Atari goes on the $2 end, Nintendo on the $5 end, Sega in-between).

PS1, Dreamcast, & PC Games are $3.99 (they lump them in with CD pricing).

DVD-sized case disc-games are $4.99 (lumped in with DVD pricing).

Granted, there's often times I can't find much. But at the same time, I've really found some gems there like Chrono Cross, Rampage on SMS, Paper Mario Thousand-Year Door, Super Mario Kart & MK: Double-Dash, Arc the Lad, a freaking Commodore 64; just to name a few.

However, I haven't seen any cartridge games in a few months, now. I don't know if it's just because no one's donated them in that long, or if they just stopped carrying them. I have seen Sega Genesis and Atari 2600 systems, though.

I was just in the other day and picked up Star Wars: Dark Forces, a Dual-Shock Controller, and A Bug's Life all for PS1. Granted they're not the highest sought-after items, but you can't complain for a few bucks. And I got True Lies and First Blood on that trip.

[atarileaf]

I think the thing we all need to understand about places like goodwill and other thrift stores like Salvation Army is that they are charities first. Their mandate is to get as much money from the donated items as possible to help the underprivileged of society. Their mandate is NOT to give video game collectors cheap games.

The fact that some of us cry and moan about the prices yet STILL pay them in some instances seems to bear out the idea that they are justified in their approach. The post about the board games is a prime example. You can take your chance and wait and hope that either the price gets eventually lowered or no one else buys it or you suck it up and pay the price then and there if you want it badly enough.

Now this is different for places like pawns and Savers/Value Village who's mandate is company profits (Savers/VV does give some money to charity but they are primarily a for profit company) and like any company, we speak with our money. If the price is too high, walk out. I do that often anymore. I would rather support the mom and pop thrifts and pay their prices than a corporations or simply go online and pay the going rate.

No one has a RIGHT to cheap video games, we've just become so accustomed to it that we think that's the way it should always be. That's not the world we live in.

[foxhack]

Man.

God bless clueless Mexican sellers in my hometown for pricing their crap cheap.

And God smite down the idiots that ask for $20 for a common NES game that's beat up to hell. 

[bikingjahuty]

Man.

God bless clueless Mexican sellers in my hometown for pricing their crap cheap.

And God smite down the idiots that ask for $20 for a common NES game that's beat up to hell. 

Thrift stores used to be my go to place for cheap games, but for about a year and a half it has been the flea market. Most people have no clue what stuff is worth, for better or for worse. There is one infamous reseller who knows what absolutely nothing is worth on her table, so assumes everything (including Madden 03 for the XBOX) is worth like $15. Caught her slippin on a copy of Elemental Gearbolt last summer for $12. And she thought she was getting the better end of the deal!! BWAHAHAHAHA BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

[argyle]

I swung by my local Goodwill today, inspired by this thread.  As usual they didn't really have anything - a couple of 360 games in a case where I couldn't see the titles (but I don't have a 360 anyway) and several PS2 sports games and music games.  I did find, mixed in with the cds, a copy of Blitz 2000 for the Dreamcast.  I usually pass on sports games by default, but since Blitz is more arcade-y and it WAS a DC game, I grabbed it.  Only $1, so can't really complain about that. 

[retrogamer418]

I frequented a few Goodwills in my area, but have in general stopped. I have found a few games that were cheap that I wanted to add to my collection, but for the most part it usually isn't worth the time, unless I am going to browse for other stuff.

[burningdoom]

So glad this isn't a problem for me. I love my Goodwill and I'm in there a couple times a week. Most of the "recent finds" posts I make, are Goodwill purchases.

[kamikazekeeg]

I have two Goodwill's I visit, but only one ever has anything.  It's weird how the closer one almost never has anything game related in any way, but the other almost always does.  Pricing is very iffy, 3 to 5 bucks a game, other stuff like controllers and things can be alot pricier, but I've found a few things there.  I got a Game Boy Color carrying case there, which was awesome as it was the only thing left in their put out bins lol But not long ago I went there and they were selling a Gamecube, which had me interested since I don't own one, but it was like around 40 bucks, obviously close to around Ebay pricing.  The biggest problem I had, was they sealed it with tons of tape in some plastic bag thing, so I couldn't see the condition it was in and among the three controllers I saw, the third was clearly not a GC controller, but some random PC USB controller.  That bugged me.

Thankfully the Salvation Army shops I go to get games in once in awhile, usually GC/Xbox and newer and they are only around 2 to 3 bucks a piece.  Just got a Wii Lego Indiana Jones for 2 bucks the other day and I could've gotten a huge stack of Xbox Original games awhile back, though I have no interest in Xbox stuff outside of a few titles lol

[blipcs76]

The town where I live has an electronics-only Goodwill and I think it gets all of the media other stores would normally carry.  It was a pretty great spot to hit every 3-4 weeks to check the inventory -- I picked up a complete Tomba! 2 there once for $4 and a few other great games on the cheap like Link to the Past and Bubble Bobble. 

But I went in there this weekend and they added a display case.  They're now grabbing the good stuff and marking it up for the display case.  They had a Fire Emblem for $30 and Super Mario World for $12, so this outlet for games is pretty much dead to me now

Other Goodwills have gotten excessively greedy as well in the past few years.  Salvation Army is still far better on their pricing, but do not seem to get nearly as many games as Goodwill.

[anruiukimi]

I think the thing we all need to understand about places like goodwill and other thrift stores like Salvation Army is that they are charities first. Their mandate is to get as much money from the donated items as possible to help the underprivileged of society. Their mandate is NOT to give video game collectors cheap games.

The fact that some of us cry and moan about the prices yet STILL pay them in some instances seems to bear out the idea that they are justified in their approach. The post about the board games is a prime example. You can take your chance and wait and hope that either the price gets eventually lowered or no one else buys it or you suck it up and pay the price then and there if you want it badly enough.

Now this is different for places like pawns and Savers/Value Village who's mandate is company profits (Savers/VV does give some money to charity but they are primarily a for profit company) and like any company, we speak with our money. If the price is too high, walk out. I do that often anymore. I would rather support the mom and pop thrifts and pay their prices than a corporations or simply go online and pay the going rate.

No one has a RIGHT to cheap video games, we've just become so accustomed to it that we think that's the way it should always be. That's not the world we live in.

I do agree, as much as I wish I didn't. Honestly, I just wish I had some of these...::googles Value Village:: oh hey, there's one a 20 minute drive away!

Anyway, it's nice, but there's no rule saying that thrift stores (charity or not) can't charge closer to market value, we've just grown accustomed to the cheaper prices.

Honestly, I'd just be happy if I found ANY video games here in the wild these days, it's rather difficult.

[justin8301]

For some reason I decided to go back to my Goodwill today and to my surprise I found a nice little Genesis lot. For $30 I picked up the following:

Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Starts
RBI Baseball 3
Combat Cars
F-15 Strike Eagle II
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
NBA Jam
Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park Rampage Edition
The Adventures of Batman & Robin
Vectorman
The Revenge of Shinobi

Im not sure if my faith has been completely restored. But its a start.

[kamikazekeeg]

I popped into the one that I said never has anything and got a Gameboy Advance SP carry case lol  I've found two Gameboy cases now at a Goodwill, so apparently that is what I can expect from them.

[burningdoom]

My joy for my local Goodwill continues. See this post here to find out why:

http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,1824.345.html

[justin8301]

My joy for my local Goodwill continues. See this post here to find out why:

http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,1824.345.html

Man if you collect VHS you should come to Delaware.... my goodwill has TONs of VHS, let me know if there is something in particular you are on the look out for and I'll keep an eye out the next time I go. I picked up a copy of Starwars Episode 1 widescreen Special Edition there a few weeks back. Its complete with the film and art book. Now its just collecting dust. I dont even have a VHS player lol.