Good Places to Buy Old Games

[Baron_BJ]

I'm looking to buy old Gamecube games (I like collecting what are known as the best games of console generations past), but I have currently hit a snag in that the prices on eBay are hardly what I would call reasonable for a lot of titles (especially since I'm Australian and the Australian eBay prices tend to be a lot worse, partially because there's less people on it and postal, especially international, on most eBay auctions is absurdly overpriced because people are either con artists or don't know much about what they're doing), so I'm looking for something like a specialist site that sells older games at reasonable prices, region doesn't matter (I mod my old consoles because fuck region-locking).

 

[tomtom94]

My advice to you would be not to look on the internet, because the internet is full of people who know just how desperate people like you are to hunt down those old games and willing to jack the price up massively.

I can't offer any advice as to where to look because I've never lived in Australia, but here in the UK second-hand stores, especially ones which focus on games, frequently have games for all sorts of consoles, including old ones - and just as frequently they will price them very low. I've seen them selling SNES games for a couple of pounds apiece. If you know of any then I'd suggest they're a good place to look.

If you are limited to the internet, no shame - perhaps you can try Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=gamecube&sprefix=gamecu%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Agamecube

Personally I'd say most of the games on there are overpriced and I'd imagine they will screw you over on shipping, but I thought I'd offer it anyway.

 

[zidine100]

id recommend charity shops, car boot sales, or if you nearby a local market that would be a good choice.

 

[Baron_BJ]

Thanks for the suggestions so far, but unfortunately the suggestions don't really work for me. I live in a town of 280,000 people, so it's not too big, there are no Game stores around except for the franchises of Game Traders (god no) and EB Games/Gamestop (GAWD). The local gametraders having both outrageous prices and nothing to offer (They're trying to sell a pre-owned copy of FFVII for $300 for example). The few local 2nd hand/pawn shops all have no real game selections except for mountainous piles of those old PS2 eyetoy games. There's not too many markets around, but I'm going to go to one this weekend based on the reccomendation, surprised I hadn't contemplated it before. Also, thanks for the link to Amazon, the prices are awe inspiring compared to eBay.

Any more suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Cloudydays]

I haven't had a bad experience with it yet (alright, maybe being ripped off once) but I usually go to ebay first. I keep an eye on Craigslist though because god, sometimes a total stranger wants to give away their entire vats of imports or collectibles and you just can't find them anywhere else for that price. Retail stores like Gamestop usually don't help but I've seen a few still trying to sell N64 games so it really depends on the store. If you chanced upon it, collector shops tend to be really helpful. Depending on the rarity of your games, the price is also going to vary of course.

 

[porous_shield]

Check out some flee markets. I live in an even smaller place and there are at least a half dozen of them that meet Saturday or Sunday, or what not, and from my experience there's always someone with old games to sell; most of which is probably junk though. The other things you can check are sites with general listings- Kijiji seems to be popular here- I've seen quite a lot of listings for video games and never anything more than $20.

Unfortunately you'll be sorting through a lot of crap unless you want to pay an arm an a leg.

 

[VonKlaw]

id recommend charity shops, car boot sales, or if you nearby a local market that would be a good choice.

What this guy said so much. Charity shops are brilliant because they're generally run by (dare I say it) "elderly people" who don't have a clue what the value of stuff they're selling is (which is why some of the where I live are still trying to sell VHS videos for a pound each). Second hand electronic-y stores can be good, thought it honestly depends how knowledgeable the staff are.

Car boots are the same sort of deal, thought you do get some people there who know what they're selling and try to ask for silly prices.

If your desperate, eBay is okay but you get a lot of people asking for stupid money for stuff.

 

[crazy_coug99]

what you may want to look into is pawn shops. They usually have a variety of games across a lot of different platforms and are usually cheap.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Best places to find old games on the cheap are thrift shops (what the rest of the world seems to call charity shops) pawn shops, garage sales, flea markets, and record stores. Keep in mind when you're looking through these places, you are not going to find whatever it is you go in looking for. Go in with low expectations and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Go in convinced you'll find the specific game you had in mind, you're gonna be disappointed, unless it's something ridiculously common like Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt for the NES, at a place you know always has NES games.

If you're willing to spend a bit more money, see if you can find a local game shop, or even a chain store like Gamestop. There's a local chain (they only have two or three stores total) in my area called RU Game that carries flippin' everything, and it's not something you'd know about if you were from out of town or not a gamer. I'm sure there's stuff like that wherever you may be, even if it's a bit of a drive to get there. Heck, the nearest RU Game is an hour from my house, although there's at least one other local game store closer to home. That one is overpriced on everything, though.