Where do you get your retro games?

[hexen]

My friend and I hit Thrift Town/Goodwill/Movie Trading Company/Half Price Books and every garage sale in-between them on Friday mornings. This has been going on for many years, and I've hit jackpots at almost every one at least once. We also go to two Flea markets every other Saturday... they are ok. We used to have one that was tear-shedding beautiful only a few miles from where we live, but it was closed down when the owners sold the lot after the flea market had been around for about 30-40 years

We typically avoid pawn shops... I wouldn't mind going in just to check, but they are getting more and more expensive. There are also a few mall-based retro stores, but they are so laughably overpriced it is almost sad. ex: We where at one with a TurboGrafx 16 in a case with a bunch of SNES games. Games like FFVI(III) where about $100 and where sitting next to an un-priced Earthbound. My friend asked the lady at the counter how much the TurboGrafx was and she didn't know, so she went to get the owner. When he came he said "You wanted to know how much the Earthbound is?" and my friend said "No, I don't even want to know." Then I asked about the boxed Intellivision games price, and he said it depended on which one... There are really very few that would need anything more then a flat price... and he still wanted $15 for the one I was interested in.

[scott]

@hexen ...so how much did he want for the TG-16?

[climhazard]

My friend actually owns a video game store which I work at part time. I can usually swing a %25 discount on most stuff with him still making profit so I usually get my stuff through him. I've never got any used games online, just never saw the need for it, I don't even have an ebay or paypal account. I might consider it if it was something I really wanted but I've never been desperate enough for something that I couldn't stand waiting until it came through the store.

[hexen]

@scott It was $70, which is actuly pretty tame compared to the rest of the outrageous prices in the place. It was still too much for my friend, however.

[nightowljrm]

@hexen I, well my mom who gifted it to me, was able to get one for $50 with all the hookups and Keith Courage (which sucks, but still). I don't think it'd be worth buying one for much more than that.

Back on topic, I usually get mine from random places... pawn shops, stores, eBay, the works. Just wherever I can find it cheapest while still maintaining quality.

[madmax]

gameofjapan.com have been really good to me. They offer good quality and below eBay prices. Its still a little pricy but if you're looking for specific japanses games, you have to import them anyways.

[jobocan]

Oh, that's an interesting site, I'll have to check it out someday. Maybe some of the imports I want will end up being cheap there.
Since we're on the subject, another site I used once for retro imports is japangamestock.com, they seemed pretty good from what I remember.

[scott]

Hmm they're selling Dracula X for 84? Not bad. I may also have to check this out soon.

[madmax]

Japangamingstock is WAAAY overpriced 0.o  
$80+ for FFVI? I paid $20 xD

[jobocan]

Japangamingstock is WAAAY overpriced 0.o  
$80+ for FFVI? I paid $20 xD

Yeah, some of their things are expensive, but others I think are pretty well-priced... It's also a good idea to check for japanese versions of games that were released in America, because sometimes they're cheaper than the american versions (I got Rockman X2, Rockman X3, Super Castlevania 4 and Super Metroid for less than what Megaman X2 costs here alone).
Sucks that a lot of the japanese games I want are really high-priced no matter what though, like Umihara Kawase.

[byron]

Japangamestock.com is terrible. I made the mistake of purchasing Cocoron there, and I am sincerely embarrassed to say how much I paid. Did you know there are fees involved beyond the purchase price? I didn't..
Now that I know better, I will never go there ever again.

Also, I would like to add that the TurboGrafx I refused to buy seven posts ago was missing the back cover and had no controllers. Ridiculous.

[jobocan]

Japangamestock.com is terrible. I made the mistake of purchasing Cocoron there, and I am sincerely embarrassed to say how much I paid. Did you know there are fees involved beyond the purchase price? I didn't..

Huh? I didn't pay anything beyond the games' prices and the shipping fees the one time I ordered there... What extra costs did you have to pay?

[byron]

It wasn't actually JGS, it was the service they had me pay them through. They charged me a percentage to use them, and I wasn't given any other options. I don't remember what it was called.