Retro stores

[Anonymous No.5684524]

Any good or shit retro store stories? There's this store near me that apparently has a boomer that jacks up prices and tell you to fuck off if you challenge him in any way.

[Anonymous No.5684580]

>>5684524
>boomer that jacks up prices and tell you to fuck off if you challenge him in any way.
That's like 99% of retro stores these days. The only place I find worth going is this one stand shop in a flea market and that's like an hour away from me.

[Anonymous No.5684589]

>>5684524
No because these guys just buy off of Ebay and flip it. Nobody just dumps this amount of retro games on them. They are irrelevant when the source they draw from is one that everyone has access to. They are even more irrelevant because flashcarts are popular now.

[Anonymous No.5684595]

>>5684580
There's this retro store that I go to that's actually good. They're actually professional with alright prices probably cause they're a small chain

[Anonymous No.5684597]

>>5684580
Seconding this. They have access to eBay prices so they're not going to sell for any less than you could get a game online, usually for a good deal more. The only good deals at all are in situations where people have no idea what their shit is worth, like yard sales, some flea market booths, antique malls where an old person just throws "their kid's nintendos" up for a buck each, etc.

[Anonymous No.5684626]

>>5684524
Here's a review of the place to get an idea.
>Horrendously rude staff and overpriced.
I was visiting with a friend and we were curious as to the pricing of mint condition or factory sealed Majora's Mask Nintendo 64 cartridges. My friend was talking about how he had been looking for years and looking through Auction sites like eBay. He was asking questions of pricings of games and mentioned how other sellers through those sites were selling those games for much less then he was quoting. Then the guy said "Well since you don't like my prices you can just get the f**k out of my store." We tried to ease the situation on how we weren't trying to be disrespectful but he became completely disgruntled and continued to say "get the f**k out of my store you don't get to buy anything anyways." We will for sure never come back!
Fucking Kek I might check this place out to see how much of a shitshow it is

[Anonymous No.5684647]

>>5684626
I'd act the same way if some dumb zoomer came into my store using me as a price checker and not buying anything.

[Anonymous No.5684672]

>>5684647
But boon how will you afford bills and food if you keep telling people to fuck off cause people don't want to spend $100 on FF mystic quest

[Anonymous No.5684673]

>>5684672
There's a big difference between overpricing shit and being a retard going into a store with no intention of buying anything ever.

[Anonymous No.5684691]

I once was at a store where someone sold still-unpopular games with ripped labels and yellowed plastic for 30 bucks a piece (cartridge only). We are talking games you can get for 3 bucks in mint condition on the internet at any time.

It's not as stupid as it seems though because there are more than enough le retro gaymer zoomers who are actually willing to pay that much because they have no idea about the actual price and think that anything older than them = must be expensive.

[Anonymous No.5684729]

>>5684524
Boomers running game stores really are the fucking worst. I had an NES a while ago that was great cosmetically but something was wrong with the CPU and the audio was messed up, even tapping straight from the sound pins. I went to a store that has heaps of junk and I asked if he had any damaged NES systems that he wouldn't normally be able to sell. He pulled out an NES that, I think, had been hit with a baseball bat because the top case was still attached but the middle part was caved in. He wanted $25 for it. I told him I'd give him $5 and he told me to leave and put the NES back under the counter.

[Anonymous No.5684739]

>>5684729
>expecting to pay bulk discount price for a single item
The zoomers just keep zooming ITT.

[Anonymous No.5684742]

>>5684739
H U H?

[Anonymous No.5684745]

>>5684739
Outed yourself as a boomer faggot.

[Anonymous No.5684750]

>>5684742
Chink famiclone cpus are at least $3 a pop and a multi month wait. You're expecting to get a NES PCB with a populated PCB for $5? You're a fucking idiot.

[Anonymous No.5684762]

>>5684750
>wouldn't be able to sell otherwise
>smashed with a baseball bat
>$25
It's literally fucking garbage except to a small handful of people that would want it to salvage parts. There's not even any way to guarantee the board wasn't extensively damaged.

[Anonymous No.5684768]

>>5684762
>It's literally fucking garbage
Not these days. The cheapest you ever find a broken nes on ebay is $20-30.

[Anonymous No.5684772]

We don‘t have a game shop offering retro games anymore but there is that one stand on a flea market that‘s pretty cool. The owner is a pretty cool guy he used to have a store in another town until he had to close. I just bought 3 games for 20 bucks with my son for his birthday and he gave my son wave race 64 for free.

[Anonymous No.5684783]

>>5684772
>Wave race 64
My absolute nigga

[Anonymous No.5684798]

>>5684772
Why is this man so kind and based

[Anonymous No.5684827]

>>5684673
So nobody’s ever allowed to window shop or bargain-hunt? People like you are the reason brick and mortar stores are going out of business. Why would I go deal with some douchebag like you when I can browse online

[Anonymous No.5684830]

>>5684827
>So nobody’s ever allowed to window shop or bargain-hunt?
Asking a seller what something costs is one thing. Price checking is being asshole.

[Anonymous No.5684847]

>>5684830
Too bad
If you don't wanna get price checked maybe don't overcut everyone's prices. If your prices are shitty, they'll get checked and you do it to yourself.

Don't throw the blame on others because you're too dumb to understand why the fresh hell someone would want to, I don't know, save money.

[Anonymous No.5684849]

>>5684830
Why do you think so many stores honor competitor prices if you bring them an ad?

[Anonymous No.5684851]

>>5684798
I don‘t know maybe he is an incarnation of christ or kindness is just that rare in these times.

[Anonymous No.5684856]

>>5684847
>>5684849
You zoomers are so far gone you think I'm talking about competitive pricing.

[Anonymous No.5684858]

Lots of vendors at the flea market, which might as well be a retail shop these days. Saw a SNES game I wanted priced at $25 bucks this morning. Offered him $20 and he said no ffs.

[Anonymous No.5684862]

>>5684856
That's what checking for a price is. I check to see if it's available cheaper elsewhere. That's what checking the prices of an item... is.
>Inb4 you have some roundabout definition that literally nobody but you forwarded
>Inb4 your only response is some damage control backpedaling because you don't want to explain yourself and realize you picked a really dumb fight

[Anonymous No.5684868]

>>5684862
That's not price checking. Holy shit. This is why you get this reputation.

[Anonymous No.5684886]

people complain about retro stores being too rigid and using online prices as a guide for their pricing but you faggots do the exact same goddamn thing from the buyer perspective.

[Anonymous No.5684910]

>>5684886
Crazy to expect 70% ebay prices at flea market stalls and shops for untested, unwarrantied yellowed and scratched beat up junk, I know. How dare I not pay some fucking hooknose 150% of what a nice condition one goes for on the global market?

[Anonymous No.5684918]

>>5684524
>There's this store near me that apparently has a boomer that jacks up prices and tell you to fuck off if you challenge him in any way.

>what is rent
>what are taxes
>what are utilities
>what are employee wages

[Anonymous No.5684928]

>>5684910
getting prices wrong and carrying broken shit =/= what these people are complaining about

these people are doing the same thing collectorfags always do. imagining the other person who has the game as the reason why they dont find chrono trigger and earthbound at every yardsale in-box for 5 bucks

[Anonymous No.5684935]

>>5684918
>Excuses
>Falseflags
>Dog Whistles
>BasedFace
>MetalJebus

[Anonymous No.5684945]

>>5684868
>walks right into it
I even fucking inb4'd it and everything and you just did it anyway
How'd I know you wouldn't explain your version of price checking? Is it because boomers can't ever admit being wrong even once?

And the best part is you'll do it again and dodge the question again because you know we'll all just say "you're literally the only one adhering to that definition"

[Anonymous No.5684946]

>>5684935
>give me collectors items for 5 bucks reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

seethe more

[Anonymous No.5684947]

You too can play along with thread

[Anonymous No.5684987]

>>5684935
>Businesses should exist as charities for me

[Anonymous No.5684995]

>>5684945
You’re ignorant to basic etiquette when dealing with face to face deals.
If the seller has an item I’m interested I’ll ask him about it and what he wants for it. He’ll give me a price and I’ll either haggle or move on. Unless it’s just a stupid good deal then I hand the cash over as quickly as possible.

You don’t go and insult the guy regardless if his prices are unreasonable. You don’t ask for a free appraisal. You don’t lowball the guy.

[Anonymous No.5685059]

>local game shop
>ran by a guy who lived for Japanese games/culture but wasn't a typical neckbeard weeb
>knew his shit more than most of the collectors in my area
>consistently undercuts eBay and other local pawn shops
>would haggle with regulars very well
>used to spend most of my time some days there chatting, buying stuff, and recommending more to others generating more sales
>smack rat decided to rob the shop on Christmas Eve and wrecked the place with a sledgehammer
>insurance money covered the shop's debts and taxes but not enough to restock
>bank wouldn't extend him another loan
That new year fucking sucked

[Anonymous No.5685078]

I used to buy complete Super Nintendos in pristine condition for 5 quids at yard sales and pawn shops had classic NES games for like 2 pounds each.

Now I see people asking upwards of £60 for yellowed disgusting ass Gameboys under the pretense that it's retro and collector and the cheapest NES game I saw at my local pawn shop is Top Gun for £14,99.

I blame "epic retro gamer" youtubers for this.

[Anonymous No.5685145]

>>5685078
i blame you for creating demand in the marketplace.

[Anonymous No.5685165]

Mine is picked clean of absolutely any games worth playing. It’s nothing but sports games, licensed titles, and DVDs.

[Anonymous No.5685176]

>>5684995
Look at that, you finally fucking got around to explaining your dumb ass. It's wild that you talk about face to face interactions like you don't evidently avoid them at all conceivable cost.

But once again, for the third time, that's not what I was talking about. If his prices suck ass, they suck ass. I'll mention where I can get them cheaper and if he doesn't want the sale he just says "sorry, that's our price/shop there then/go elsewhere." I'll just shelve the discussion of whether that's good or bad business sense since that's going to go into a lot of factors I don't have/don't want to look up.

Nobody's saying he's not allowed to deny service but if his prices suck, they suck, and I'm deadass going to compare them when I learn what his prices are.

You could have started here instead of being a total fucking headcase and bitching for three or so posts before getting to the point; your version of price checking is done as some sort of awful insult to his family and bloodline, while ALL I'm saying is that comparing prices is completely natural and people who overreact to it are probably not worth dealing with anyway.

Did that have to be such a fucking chore to get out? Fuck me sideways. Boomers, though.

[Anonymous No.5685187]

>>5685176
>all this projection, angst, and entitlement
Jesus.

[Anonymous No.5685192]

Where not to go:
>Stores owned by boomer gaming enthusiasts that will ask insane prices to make buck
>Regular stores that will just sell you crap at even worse prices, scratched up CDs, and nothing good

Where to go:
>Retrocons
>Sites where regular people sell games that have no idea what they're selling
>Yard sales

[Anonymous No.5685220]

>>5685187
>Boomer can't do but compare to other people on fucking 4chan
Pottery

[Anonymous No.5685225]

>>5685220
Keep thinking it's not a personal problem that you can't function with people.

[Anonymous No.5685232]

>>5684647
>>5684673
>>5684830
>>5684856
>>5684868
>>5684995
>>5685187
You're fucking retarded

[Anonymous No.5685237]

>>5684987
>buyers should exist as charities for local small businesses

[Anonymous No.5685241]

Where my niggas at?

[Anonymous No.5685243]

>>5685232
>>5685176
>what do you mean people get upset if I say they're wrong?
>what do you mean I'm not the end all appraiser on retro games?
>what do you mean I don't deserve a deal?
Nice entitlement, pals.

[Anonymous No.5685284]

>>5685243
no you're just an idiot lol. i bet you shop at "mom and pop" stores that charge you 11.95 for a packet of bread because "we need the support :(" and what not. boomers like you should have just stayed in 'Nam, poor bastard. Go pay $400 for Earthbound at your ma and pop store that could be a repro that says only 1 in stock with dozens more in the back while I pay $95 on amazon from someone thats uploaded pictures of the original PCB and hardware. fucking retard.

[Anonymous No.5685298]

>>5685284
>private business bad
>amazon good

[Anonymous No.5685304]

>>5685298
go back to /a/ and stop posting this shit in /vr/

[Anonymous No.5685308]

>>5685243
Why are you so butthurt that all I'm saying is a customer has the full right to compare and contrast prices?

Instead of waxing ad hominem about me this whole fucking time you could have just fucking said buying online results in having to pay shipping fees and so the costs end up equalizing anyway.
But no, you had to go right off the rails.

Forget -oomer terms, man, you're just dumb. In the name of not admitting you're wrong, you'll throw anything under the bus-- even the idea that a customer is well within their rights to compare prices.
You guys need therapy, not 4chan.

[Anonymous No.5685312]

>>5685308
>Why are you so butthurt that all I'm saying is a customer has the full right to compare and contrast prices?
The customer has no right to get that information for free dumbass. That's the entitlement part that you have an issue with.

[Anonymous No.5685314]

>>5685312
>The customer has no right to get that information for free
The customer is always right dumbass.

[Anonymous No.5685317]

>>5685314
>give me free shit

[Anonymous No.5685327]

>>5685298
I think his argument is why buy from a mom and pop store for an inflated price if said inflated price comes with no additional value? Most online purchases of older game things are done through places like ebay or collector forums, where a good portion of the sale is still going to either an individual or what would likely be classified as a small business. Why would I as a buyer purchase an old game from a local shop for $50 when I can buy it online for $30? Sure, you do have the benefit of time, but in the day of PayPal, your domestic game purchase is probably going to arrive within two weeks, and quite likely in less than one week. I forget the exact price I was quoted, but I stopped in a local game shop in the past month or two and saw they had aftermarket DS Lite chargers, something I needed at the time. Didn't see a price on display, so I asked, and the guy told me it was $14 or so. I was able to buy one online for $4.95, free shipping. Why would I pay $9 extra for something as common and mundane as a knockoff charger for a DS Lite? Are that many people in such a desperate "have to have it a day" mode that they think they're going to sell a ton for such a markup?

The biggest value I can see is seeing condition in person without having to rely on seller photos, so in that case, yes, I could understand paying a premium for something like a minty, complete game.

[Anonymous No.5685330]

>>5685312
I don't even know what to contradict. The fact that seldom is that information free, the fact that you appear to want ignorant customers or the fact that in the light of keeping from admitting you made a mistake you're willing to stoop this low to keep your argument going.

You need therapy. Not 4chan.

[Anonymous No.5685339]

>>5685317
0/10 effortless troll. go back to /v/.

[Anonymous No.5685345]

>>5685330
>>5685339
It's pathetic really that you're honestly arguing for a free appraisal to the point that you're insulted if you don't get one. Rather you're entitled to it.
>>5685327
You shouldn't and I specifically said you should just walk away. Not throw a tantrum and get told to leave. Like the other anon did.

[Anonymous No.5685352]

Triple M on the 1000-block of Granville in downtown Vancouver has a pretty wide selection of everything. Prices are average. Owner knows his stuff. There's an SNES in the front that always has Super Mario World on.
god I miss Ogre Battle

[Anonymous No.5685360]

>>5685345
>appraisal
If you pay for mobile data, you can google a price. Not only is that not free, it's fully enacted on the customer's part, so you don't have to do anything.
What I love is that you think anyone is 'entitled' as if people aren't already paying for the resources to do these things. Are you genuinely asserting that people don't have the right to know the price of a video game they're buying?

Please just answer that question yes or no: are you genuinely asserting that people don't have the right to know the price of a video game they're buying? Because if the answer is 'no,' then you're just being an argumentative dip and this discussion is just you being the 4chan version of a Redditor who needs upvotes just for posting, and you're farming (You)s.
Regardless of what you think, I or anyone can google prices so you can just plum go fuck yourself in reality, because it works our way and not yours.

[Anonymous No.5685365]

>>5685360
>Are you genuinely asserting that people don't have the right to know the price of a video game they're buying?
The answer is absolutely no. This is fucking crazy to me that you think you're entitled to know the market value of a game. I'm not even sure what kind of commie bullshit that falls under. This is especially true today where there's so much information available for near free. Or is this some kind of advance autism on a spectrum level I'll never comprehend? Because it almost seems like you're arguing for an absolute?

[Anonymous No.5685367]

>>5684595

Chumleighs in Canada?

[Anonymous No.5685372]

>>5685365
ah, to be a retard! hhahaha!! such glory!

[Anonymous No.5685375]

>>5685372
Ok that confirms for me that I'm arguing with someone on the spectrum. Pretty much figured you were arguing an absolute when you brought up googleing it.

[Anonymous No.5685390]

>>5685375
ive never seen a more transparent troll on this board then you. either that or you own the retro gamestore we're talking about and you're a massively butthurt faggot. lolol.

[Anonymous No.5685406]

>>5685390
Keep wondering why store owners tell you to fuck off.

[Anonymous No.5685407]

>>5685375
im assuming by the fact that you didn't reply to my post above that you are actually the owner of the EXACT video game store we're all talking about and you're probably loading that .45 right now. it was nice knowing you senpai =/

[Anonymous No.5685409]

>>5685407
>you didn't reply to me, I know you're that asshole!
Add paranoia to the list of mental illness.

[Anonymous No.5685417]

>>5685375
That wasn't me but he's right, you clearly have something to lose by informed customers existing. It's kind of painfully obvious by now.

I'm not arguing for anything, Boomy. I'm telling you a fact: anyone can be informed if they're willing to put in the time and modest fee needed to run mobile data.
What I love most is that you're genuinely against this. It's fantastic; it's happening and you hate it. I love that about it, that it's happening and you hate it so much.

We're informed. Sorry, but that's how it works now and of all the flavours possible you've gone and chosen salty.
>I'm mad because they won't buy my games for expensive!
What's best about all this exchange is I even funded you an argument, but you chose to cling onto 'I'm mad that people can do research to determine whether they're getting hosed or not.'
What's even better about that is that it applies to everything, not just gaming. Plumbing. Yoga. Bicycles. Candy. The fucking sale price of hamburger that week. Customers have never had it better and you're mad. The kicker: we're customers of that service in and of itself! I can use my mobile data to find the best rates for my purposes.

I want you to stay mad that we're allowed to be this informed. Entitled? You sound like an Orwellian nightmare. No, citizen, you don't need information... information leads to DISSENT!
Gonna also go on record that you're the one who drew the autism gun first. He who smelt it, dealt it, man, and only one of us is insisting that customers have no right to know about the price of the product they're buying, which sounds like you're mad that you or your style of business are being butted out of the market at large, because-- and this may strike you as wild-- customers don't believe they should pay more than is due or receive product they didn't set out to receive.

I don't know why you're so against customers. Businesses don't exist without customers.

[Anonymous No.5685419]

>>5685409
you ok lol?

[Anonymous No.5685423]

>>5685417
>continuing to argue an absolute
I can't imagine being so autistic an entitled that you believe you deserve free appraisals because you can google it.

[Anonymous No.5685425]

Is this seriously so difficult?

By putting up a brick and mortar store, you have overhead costs that online sellers do not. You need to pay for (i) commercial property, (ii) employee wages, (iii) rent, (iv) certain taxes, (v) accounting services, etc.

By nature of having a retail store, your prices will *NEED* to be higher on average than online. If a retail seller offered their merchandise at eBay prices, they would instantly go out of business. It's not possible for them to do that. They need to make overhead, pay rent, pay wages, pay for tax, and hopefully make a profit at the end of the day.

By going into a retail store, you are expecting to pay a moderate surplus. In return, you get the opportunity to inspect and look at the goods. You also have the "convenience" of seeing all the items in the same place at the same time. You also have instant acquisition and don't need to wait 1-2 weeks for delivery. If you're a clueless idiot, you can also talk with the shopkeeper and ask for advice about the best games and genres... maybe he knows about a shmup you don't?

If you want the best price, buy online.

Yes, it's considered rude to walk in, look at a price, check the current auction rate on eBay, then loudly complain that it's cheaper online. Yes, the retailer knows this. It's not like they *WANT* to rip you off. They just have more expenses than online sellers do, thus the surplus. It's not a surprise to anyone, and retailers get annoyed having to deal with retards who don't understand this and think that they will be paying the eBay price on everything. It's especially considered bad manners to occupy 20 minutes of the shopkeeper's time with bullshit and questions, check the price on eBay, then announce you're going to buy the same item online instead.

Isn't this common sense? Do we really need to explain this? Holy shit, it's not a meme that you're all autistic.

[Anonymous No.5685427]

>>5685423
>free
They're not
>entitled
I paid for the service, I get the appraisals.

You owe us elucidation, Anonymous. An explanation in full of why this bothers your booty so thoroughly. What's going on? Did Google kidnap your parents or something, dawg?
This literally benefits you any time you're looking to get value for your money and you're just as allowed to use it even if you also happen to be an entrepreneur. It serves only to shove out of the market the people who want to overcharge and scalp hard, who are less 'part of' any functioning economy and more the unfortunate byproducts of success: people who want the benefit without putting in the work.

I would sustain that as your argument if we hadn't already covered that people are paying for the service. Your opinion notwithstanding, they're paying for that service and getting it.

So why does that make you so mad?

[Anonymous No.5685430]

>>5685425
Nobody said there weren't any of these costs and you pay up shipping as I noted earlier so you can make a case for these things equalizing.

But then you didn't make an argument FOR the stores, you just made it woefully apparent how utterly outdated their business model is and how egregiously underequipped it is to compete with the online marketplace.

This is not a good argument for anything but 'why stores shouldn't be here anymore.' They represent models that are no longer efficient.

[Anonymous No.5685443]

>>5685430
>FYI, I'm the guy who posted the one you replied to. It was my first post in the thread.

>But then you didn't make an argument FOR the stores, you just made it woefully apparent how utterly outdated their business model is and how egregiously underequipped it is to compete with the online marketplace.
>This is not a good argument for anything but 'why stores shouldn't be here anymore.' They represent models that are no longer efficient.

Yes. You're right. Their business model is dated, and they aren't competitive if the only thing you care about is price. If you want the best price on everything, then you SHOULD be buying online.

I'm not trying to defend the stores. I'm just saying that it's a simple reality that they can't have the best prices compared to online auction sites and retailers. Yes, the store owners know this too. Yes, every customer who has a 100+ IQ knows this as well.

You aren't making some kind of grand realization by saying that retail prices are set about auction prices. It's basic common sense.

The people who run retro game stores aren't millionaires. They're probably scraping by, barely earning a livable wage. If the economics were so great, you'd see a lot more of these stores. There's a reason there are so few of them.

So yes, it's considered bad manners to complain to the owner that his prices suck and eBay's prices are lower. If that's what you care about, you can and should buy online. However, if you enjoy the shopping experience, enjoy seeing all those games in one place, like talking with the owner, want to inspect the cartridges before you buy... then you should go to the stores. It's not for everyone. I'm not trying to defend them, but saying their prices are worse than online is kicking someone when they're down. We all know.

[Anonymous No.5685445]

>>5684729
That's not even just video game stores. One time I went to a military surplus store that also had a lot of random junk laying around. I didn't want to leave without buying anything, so I figured I'd buy up all of the old VHS tapes they had laying around. They weren't actual VHS movies, just blank tapes that seemed to have random shit recorded onto them. I figured I could see if there were any undocumented commercials on them and the owner of the place could finally unload some junk that nobody else in their right mind would want. It turns out the guy wanted 3 bucks a pop for them, WITH a sign outside saying everything was half-off (he insisted they were normally 6 dollars each). I immediately walked out in disgust and the owner tries to lower the price to 2 bucks as I'm leaving.

Place thankfully got foreclosed half a year later.

[Anonymous No.5685446]

>>5685427
I don't think I can put it more simpler than this. If you expect someone to give you a free appraisal and effectively waste their time, you're entitled and probably retarded. It doesn't matter how easy or difficult the information is to get on your own.

[Anonymous No.5685454]

>>5684647
I'd label it so it's easy to know the price without asking me.

[Anonymous No.5685475]

>order SNES and a game on ebay
>it doesn't work
>take the game to a local used game store to see if they'd test the game, so I could see whether I bought a faulty SNES or faulty game
>guy working goes as far as to try taking the game apart and cleaning it for me when it doesn't work, even though I really just wanted to test it
>buy a copy of an old game on my way out for a few bucks more than it would have cost on eBay because the service was good
>also give them the broken game for free two weeks later on the off chance they could get it working and resell it, since I got a refund without having to send it back
It's no surprise that place has managed to stay in business so long.

[Anonymous No.5685486]

>>5685327
>I think his argument is why buy from a mom and pop store for an inflated price
More like why would you buy from a mom and pop with no mom and just some old faggot who is pissed you asked what the inflated price is.

[Anonymous No.5685490]

>>5685430
It really is hard to grasp why you'd risk opening a game store this day in age. Places used to be able to stay competitive because they'd get cheap inventory from people bringing in boxes full of games and being happy to get $20 for them, something which I doubt is a common occurrence these days. Many store owners are probably drawing from the very same craigslist and ebay lots well that their customers are buying from, which probably just furthers resentment (I think there was some controversy a while ago when some game store was showing off on Facebook how they were actively hogging games during some thrift-type store sale, making it harder for collectors attending the sale to get what they wanted). I think the way forward for the businesses would be focusing on service - community events, arcades, meaningful game and console repairs, mod services, things like that. Just hoping to make it by by trying to buy every reasonably priced ebay lot you can find and then trying to sell each individual piece for more than ebay plus shipping (not to mention that you have to charge sales tax) seems like a not particularly sustainable venture.

[Anonymous No.5685504]

>>5685446
>free
Your Orwellian nightmare of an economy does not exist and we are all better for it. Ironically, yourself included.
But I'm gonna stop here because you literally just want to go in circles. Only pretending to be retarded, right?
>>5685443
The ideal is good service and quality product. People get pissed when they don't get these as they're arguably the only redeeming features of a storefront anymore, so it probably exaggerates any scuffles or disagreements because there's already this while-they're-down element. Not every case is a wholesome seller either, lots of scalpers out there looking to turn a quick profit off of opportunism, and it's no fucking surprise to literally anyone that nobody really likes scalpers.

As for the loudly complaining thing, it's a faux pas, but I don't have the full story, so eh. Don't commit faux pas, do I need to say that? Anyone who needs to be told that won't listen anyway.
>>5685490
Love of the craft, wanting to interact with people in your field of interest, having empirical experience working with storefronts (which aren't wholly obsolete), and the ideal of course, wanting to keep the trade of physical copies alive. You might also be a purist who works with their own carts to ensure integrity both of its components and of its validity as a real cart and not a repro.
It's not a fantastic idea, but I can see why people might want to.

[Anonymous No.5685512]

>>5685490
It still barely works because prices keep creeping upwards. If that trend ever reverses then they're fucked. And they're also fucked if it continues indefinitely because only a very select number of people will pay obscene amounts of money for this shit. Either way it's a retarded business model.

[Anonymous No.5685517]

>>5685504
>Love of the craft, wanting to interact with people in your field of interest, having empirical experience working with storefronts (which aren't wholly obsolete), and the ideal of course, wanting to keep the trade of physical copies alive. You might also be a purist who works with their own carts to ensure integrity both of its components and of its validity as a real cart and not a repro.

Yeah. They're not making a great living.

So imagine running a retail store. You know your prices aren't as good as eBay. If your prices matched eBay, then you'd go out of business because you can't pay your commercial rent. If you try to undercut eBay, then scalpers will come in, buy up your inventory, then post it themselves on eBay.

So you spend time acquiring a nice inventory. You set your prices at a surplus to online, but not totally crazy. You have a great collection of unique items in a good location.

Then some autistic asshole from 4chan walks in, asks 30 minutes of questions about the price on every item, and wants to run his hands and finger-fuck every cartridge you own. Then he takes out his phone, checks the prices on eBay, says your prices suck, then gets offended when you get upset he came to your store and wasted your time with no intention of buying anything.

[Anonymous No.5685530]

>>5685517
I already addressed the faux pas, man. I can't fix stupid so don't ask me to. I'm not asking you to either. You can't. That's how stupid works. That's what stupid is. Anyone who's ever worked retail has dealt with this. Granny who goes off about 3 cents, the Karens of the world, kids whose parents refuse to fucking do anything about them.

And everyone ever in anything doing anything has to deal with assholes. That's just life. I had to console a guy out of going off because he got scammed out of his item on eBay. Told him to learn the lesson and move on instead of trying to 'get back' because he was a seller, and sellers get the short end of the stick because if they didn't, nobody would use eBay to buy things like they do now.

[Anonymous No.5685534]

>>5685241
reporting in

[Anonymous No.5685581]

The other issue with charging ebay pricing at local shops is the fact that many times ebay prices are still expensive for a lot of people. Sure, maybe there are many people in the USA, or world, who are willing to pay $83 today for a loose copy of SNES Captain Commando... But, how many of those people are willing to pay that much actually live within driving distance of your store, and are actually going to visit your store? How many in that group are also not only willing to pay that ebay price, but are actually willing to pay, say, $100 for it?

[Anonymous No.5685582]

>>5684729
Serves you right for trying to jew him.
>>5685078
Europoor detected.
>>5685304
Based.
>>5685327
Because it takes 4 weeks to get to you from chinkland.
>>5685407
Found the weeaboo

[Anonymous No.5685592]

Retro gaming is already one of the most pathetic hobbies. If you're reading this and have entered into the "business" side of the hobby, that's just beyond sad.

[Anonymous No.5685703]

>>5685430
USPS shipping is cheap as fuck. That is no way comparable to paying rent, utilities, taxes, insurance, and wages.

[Anonymous No.5685720]

>I have to pay rent and spend out the ass for inventory, so you better be grateful that I let you come into my store to pay $50, no questions allowed, for some beat up copy of Super Mario World that I bought on ebay last week. Subsidize my misguided business venture, or else!

[Anonymous No.5685810]

>>5685582
>I came here to shitpost because no one paid attention to me on /v/

[Anonymous No.5686330]

>>5685534
Based. Are a large in store lot of snes cartridges football and jeopardy games too?

[Anonymous No.5686336]

>>5685407
>TWO

[Anonymous No.5686341]

>>5685059
What's he doing now? I hope he's ok.

[Anonymous No.5686354]

all of this hamstering just so you can justify lowballing store owners. stores dont owe you discounts and the price is the one on the label not the one you decide. But you dont get it youre too much entitled to other peoples property.

[Anonymous No.5686389]

>>5684768
>$20 on ebay
>$25 in a local store
>doesn't get why $25 is a bad deal.

[Anonymous No.5686403]

>>5686354
>it's this argument again
Nah, storefronts just suck ass now. Why would I pay 100$ to pay your rent when I can pay 80$, still be paying some fucker's rent, and still get my game with more or less the same integrity? Shipping could be a problem but never has been for me. It's nice to hold it there in store but it's hardly necessary and it's not worth a 25% price hike just so, again, I can pay some guy's rent.

I'd love an ideal world where all storefronts rocked but that just isn't the case, and most times you just get charged through the nose-- God willing, not for a fucking repro cart whether online or off.

It's just not practical for either side. Running a game store is basically being stubborn about efficient practices. It's clear the online marketplace offers more potential, it's just that excuses are easier to make than changes.

[Anonymous No.5686420]

>>5686403
I'd pay an extra couple bucks once in a while if I get to hang around there and talk about games and stuff with cool people

[Anonymous No.5687087]

>>5686341
He's alright anon. Since he's got a mortgage to pay now so he had to jump into another job as soon as he could. He's still gutted for some of the rare stuff the store had but he doesn't miss all the chavs giving him shit when he says their copies of FIFA and CoD are worth pennies.
The vast majority of worthless games people traded in were binned. He kept the cases, cleaned them up and used them for rarer stuff, especially PS1

[Anonymous No.5687117]

>>5685192
the problem, is the fucking whores

[Anonymous No.5687139]

Our local retro store was exactly the same as OP described, but then they went out of buisness a few months back.
>we can't compete because customers buy direct from Ebay now

More importantly, the local classifieds, thrift stores, and varagesale all had people smarten up about the value of old games. That killed their supply.

[Anonymous No.5687627]

How would /vr/ run a retro game store?

[Anonymous No.5687724]

>>5687627
Open it 20 years ago.
Accept trade ins of old titles for modern titles.
Offer try before you buy.
Not have to worry too much about Ebay because it was still a new, relatively niche thing.
Basically be Funcoland.

[Anonymous No.5687732]

>>5686420
I wish the people were cool more often than not but alas

[Anonymous No.5688032]

>>5685582
found the boomer

[Anonymous No.5688056]

What the fuck is going on in this thread? There are some really autistic people collected here, from both sides.

...you can choose the represented sides, it work either way.

[Anonymous No.5688182]

>>5686420
>cool people
Would also visit if they had unicorn rides or let me pet the flying pigs

[Anonymous No.5688240]

Just took the time to read the thread. Am I reading this correctly? A "free appraisal" is asking the store owner for the price of a game might want to buy.. Because, there is the possibility the customer might go on pricecharting (or ebay) to double check the price? Wat. Everyone does that in every fucking store the walk into now. Video games or not.

[Anonymous No.5688556]

>>5684729
boomers will suck the life out of everything until there's nothing left

[Anonymous No.5688564]

>>5685192
>Retrocons
this isn't about having sex

[Anonymous No.5688672]

>>5688240
B&M stores have been used for free appraisals for ever. That's one of the reasons there's no incentive to give you anything except a ridiculously low appraisal. They're also treated as a way to try a product out hands on for free before buying online. Which is why it's best to lock shit up behind glass. Shops should charge a $10 admission fee that's credited towards any purchase made. Within one hour, in the case of game shops where people want to hang out for hours to feel up toys they can't afford.

[Anonymous No.5688684]

Went to Too Many Games over the weekend. Could still get deals on games if you looked but you still had dudes selling common SNES games for 50+ to dummies. Some dude was selling Castlevania 1 NES for like 100 bucks loose cart,he got a buyer for it too. I scored a few PS1 games and a ton of non VR Limited Run games since they are still selling "sold out" games at conventions.

Have a house to decorate now so I got a cool shadow box of Chrono Trigger and a Majora's Mask Lantern thing that will look cool with a LED flame candle in it.

[Anonymous No.5688740]

where my AZ niggas at
too bad it sucks for moderately popular games (mario party 2 for 75 bones??? fuck off)

[Anonymous No.5688751]

>>5684524
Theres one near me that has been open for about 25 years. They have stuff that nobody even comes close to like sealed Saturn and 3D0 stuff. They have more boxed games than I have ever seen anywhere else.
They also have stuff like Starfox Weekend and DKC Competition, it's pretty crazy. They sell skateboards too.

[Anonymous No.5688759]

>>5687627
>buy games from community for above ebay prices
>sell games for below ebay prices
>go out of business immediately

[Anonymous No.5688773]

>>5684524
There's a shop at a flea market out in the country that has reasonable prices. I bought an N64 controller with a fixed analog stick for like $20, and a handful of Atari 2600 games for $15. If you buy more than one game they give you a free one that matches the price of the cheapest game you bought. I picked up Mario Bros., Berzerk and some 2-in-1 Xonox game. They're only open on weekends and it takes an hour to drive there, so I rarely go.

Another store mainly sells MTG cards and tabletop/pen and paper games has a small section dedicated to retro games. I go there a lot mostly to browse. The store is run by staff from an older retro game store that didn't like the management, so they started their own. It seems to be doing well.

The biggest one is very French, and the staff don't understand English at all. I should go there more often since they have the largest sales floor. Their prices are pretty good actually. I bought a Saturn 3D controller for maybe $30.

[Anonymous No.5688980]

>>5688773
>There's a shop at a flea market out in the country that has reasonable prices
>lists unreasonable prices
zoomers. lol

[Anonymous No.5688997]

>>5684524
These stores tend not to have PC games and, when they do, are horribly overpriced. Have no concept that you can get the same game on Steam / GOG / Wherever for pennies on the dollar or (LOL) just pirate it if it's 15+ years or older.

[Anonymous No.5689134]

>>5685425
well said
>woefully apparent how utterly outdated their business model is
i tend to agree with this up to this point
>In return, you get the opportunity to inspect and look at the goods. You also have the "convenience" of seeing all the items in the same place at the same time. You also have instant acquisition and don't need to wait 1-2 weeks for delivery. If you're a clueless idiot, you can also talk with the shopkeeper and ask for advice about the best games and genres... maybe he knows about a shmup you don't?
This is perhaps the only thing brick and mortars have going for them. If anything, store owners need to up their customer service game. Be polite, be helpful, offer incentives and have fair return policies. These are some of the things you're just not going to find often online and it sure won't be face to face.

[Anonymous No.5689141]

>>5685475
See, THIS is good customer service.
Good story, anon.

[Anonymous No.5689146]

>>5685504
>Love of the craft
I think this is the biggest reason these places are open. They're definitely not getting rich and may even fall into the red here and there. I think most owners of these places already have money and they invested into the business just for the love of it.

[Anonymous No.5689185]

I used to like going into retro stores and would have finding some unique items in random bins, but then each experience started to look like this:

>see glass case with all of the interesting retro games under it
>no price tags everywhere
>wait for zoomer guy running it to peel away from answering stupid questions to some milf about the latest Madden shit to come over
>how much for X under the glass?
>be right back, he goes checks ebay prices
>that'll be <insert ebay price here> anon
>no thanks

If I wanted to pay ebay prices, I would just buy on ebay. When retro stores just became glorified ebay storefronts is when I lost interest.

[Anonymous No.5689403]

>>5688740
they were great for used pc games back in the day.

[Anonymous No.5690870]

>>5684524
Just stick to BookOff everything else is trash, CIB Mother for ¥500? How can you go wrong

[Anonymous No.5690874]

>>5684524
Ebay is way more expensive than any retro store because you have to pay 20+ dollar shipping, sometimes they even charge $50 shipping. Not only that eBay takes months to send stuff, I've been waiting 2 months for a single box protector its fucking horse shit

[Anonymous No.5690876]

>>5684626
>factory sealed cartridge
Huh?

[Anonymous No.5691953]

>>5684647
I'm good friends with my local retro store owner, most of his business is fixing and refurbishing computers, but he has a huge room full of retro games and systems and there is a big sign on the wall that says, "If you find a better price on eBay, why don't you go buy it there?" I think its probably really draining when everybody wants to haggle, I never haggle him, but I do check the condition/quality of pretty much everything I buy from him which is something I can't do on eBay all the time. He even opened up a SNES for me to verify it was a 1chip when he didn't know what that mean't. 3rd and 4th gen games are a rip off everywhere.

[Anonymous No.5691965]

>>5684729
>I had an NES a while ago that was great cosmetically but something was wrong with the CPU and the audio was messed up, even tapping straight from the sound pins
Can you upload a video clip of it running a game? I'm genuinely curious.

[Anonymous No.5691970]

>>5691965
What part of "it was a while ago" do you not get?

[Anonymous No.5694028]

>>5691953
>"If you find a better price on eBay, why don't you go buy it there?"
based

[Anonymous No.5694570]

>>5684729
>Boomers running game stores really are the fucking worst. I had an NES a while ago that was great cosmetically but something was wrong with the CPU and the audio was messed up, even tapping straight from the sound pins.
Stupid question but did you try cleaning the pins or reseating the CPU?

[Anonymous No.5695389]

>>5684729
>Boomers really are the fucking worst
fixed

[Anonymous No.5695417]

>>5684729
Wow, you're a faggot. You want a NES for $5 go hunting.

[Anonymous No.5695419]

>>5684524
Which Boomers are you referring to? The ones born in the 50's?

[Anonymous No.5695436]

>>5684597
If you want the hunted prices you'll have to go hunting. Not go around expecting a hand out at a fucking store that has bills to pay.

Sure there are tons of stores that are pieces of shit. The trouble is. There are ten times as many SHITTY customers out there as there are stores.

I haggle. I'll give shit away. I don't give a fuck as long as I'm selling.... And that's still not good enough for the lot of you fucking cheapskate pieces of shit.

[Anonymous No.5695481]

>all these salty shysters

[Anonymous No.5695740]

>>5688740
Went here when I was visiting, pretty cool selection. The prices on obscure shit that I like were solid.