OFFICIAL 2006 Yard Sale Thread

Ya being young or gulliable looking probally does make bartering harder. Its all the more reason though to start off with an incredibly low offer like $5 on something marked at $50. Try telling people too that you are not buying these games to play but just for display or collectors value(making it clear that collecting doesnt mean its valuable just that you collect them like someone might stamps). If people think you want something because you will use it they are probally less likly to give it to you cheap then if they think you will just put it on a shelf and forget you own it. Or maybe try lying and saying you jsut want it for a birthday present for your brother or something.

/shrug im not as experienced at this as people like snot or even allyourblood, but this stuff has worked for me.

O and go in already knowing what you are willing to pay for something! Thats real important and something I learned the hard way. If someone see's you stoping and thinking about what you want to offer or debating if its worth taking a counter offer seriously, they will think you really want something. This also prevents you from 10 minutes later thinking to yourself wow I just spent $10 more then I would have liked on that SNES because I was bartering in the moment. Know what you want to spend, start under it, and walk away if it doesnt meet your price.
 
I live in a small town, waaay less than 12,000, I would say about 2,000 and I just started going to garage sells, and I guess I had beginners luck. I probably wont be so lucky next time, but I sure wish I lived in a big city. I mean 12 garage sells? Thats crazy!
 
[quote name='Riyonuk']I live in a small town, waaay less than 12,000, I would say about 2,000 and I just started going to garage sells, and I guess I had beginners luck. I probably wont be so lucky next time, but I sure wish I lived in a big city. I mean 12 garage sells? Thats crazy![/QUOTE]


Hehe 12 garage sales is a bad day for most people ;) and grats on your find....but in the future dont be so rude....I mean everyone here respects stretching the truth a bit to get a deal, and beating someone else to a deal by a hair....but you were kinda insulting.
 
[quote name='Riyonuk']But I literally did see it first. I had turned around and he cut me off. I dont consider it being rude, I consider it being mine :p[/QUOTE]

Wasnt saying then. If someone doesnt pick something up as long as you dont have to walk in front of them to do it you can buy it. I was saying the end of the sale when you ran into him again.
 
Oh...well he was rude to. He was like "Hey, I saw that first" and I just told him off. It's not like he was gonna call the cops, he just went back inside.
 
[quote name='xghostsniperx']I need some advice from those who frequently go rummaging, because I'm getting really frustrated. I'm not finding any of this sweet stuff you guys are.

I live in a town of about 12,000. The closest large city is about 45 minutes away, and being 17, my parents won't let me walk around there by myself (or even with a friend). So I'm basically stuck in this 20-minute radius. The local paper gets sent out every Tuesday, and the rummage sale section is usually only filled with 10-15 ads, and then I usually end up finding 3-5 unlisted sales. Yet almost all of these turn out to be busts, even with the possible 20 sales a weekend.

For example. Today, I headed out at 8 am with a list of everywhere I would go. I had 16 sales: 3 multi-family, 1 church sale, and 12 regular sales. Only two of those had gaming related stuff (and all I could pick up from those was an overpriced Atari 2600 and a LoZ: ALTTP cart). I came home around noon with $24 gone and only a dirty Atari and ALTTP to show for it. I've gone rummaging twice now, and the first time my luck was worse than this time.

So, am I just not looking hard enough? For those of you who live in smaller towns, do you commute to larger cities? Can anyone give me some advice?[/quote]
Don't give up my friend.

Check out me and moiety's 2005 page. We kept very thorough statistics and records of everything we did. For the entire year of 2005, we hit 885 sales and made 97 purchases. If you do the math out, it works out to roughly 1 purchase for every 9 sales visited. However, a lot of those purchases were small things like VHS tapes and videogame-related toys.

One of the most exciting parts of yard saling is that "you NEVER know what you'll find at that next sale". This is also one of the most frustrating aspects of it, as most of the time you find a whole lot of nothing. But you can't give up, because most of the sales you hit won't have anything. You just have to keep gunning for that 1-in-9 (probably closer to 1-in-15, as we averaged in guarenteed-purchases like craigslist pickups into our numbers). Who knows, maybe it'll be a single SNES cart, and maybe it'll be a huge Turbo-Grafx bundle.

But you have to stay vigilant. If you go out long enough, you'll get rewarded. It's just a numbers game. Think about how many people bought a NES back in the day, 1/3 of American households had one! Not every soccer mom on the block knows about ebay, and even if they did they wouldn't know how to work it anyway.

Stay strong, stay determined. We don't do anything special, other than hitting as many sales as we possibly can, as quick as we possibly can. We usually average 40 sales a weekend, sometimes getting close to 70. Some people will see our four or five purchases and be amazed, but really it's just working out the numbers. 1-in-9, 1-in-15, however it works out, it will work out. There's stuff out there every weekend, it's just happenstance as to whether or not you'll be the first to find it.

Also, being in a small town might work to your advantage. Less people means less competition. If kids grew up in the 80's and 90's in your town, then there ARE videogames around. We have around 6 average-sized towns in our rotation, and they're there because they typically have more sales than other towns, and bear fruit fairly well.

I wish you luck. Hit as many sales as you can, and you'll end up doing just fine.
 
[quote name='allyourblood']well, lying to the lady about the games being Japanese was totally cock. lame.[/quote]

But whats a little white lie compared to $35 lost? Plus had I not even said that, I probably would have talked her down to $7 anyways, she was really old.
 
[quote name='Riyonuk']But whats a little white lie compared to $35 lost? Plus had I not even said that, I probably would have talked her down to $7 anyways, she was really old.[/quote]

Your honor and dignity are worth less than $35 to you? Such a pity... such a pity.
I mean really... baldface lying to a little old lady to shave a couple buck off some videogames? That's low.
 
[quote name='Riyonuk']But whats a little white lie compared to $35 lost? Plus had I not even said that, I probably would have talked her down to $7 anyways, she was really old.[/QUOTE]

It doesnt seem like a little white lie when its a huge cash difference, an old woman etc etc. Honestly, if you would have said that to lower the price to $4 I wouldnt have thought would a dick....but to lower it to $0.50 is pretty lame.

Next time try asking if the games are tested then when she says no using that to barter down the price. Or point out that the games lack their boxes and manuals....flat out lying like that should be a last resort and again seems wrong on old woman and children. As I said earlier my find today was a Castlevania DoS which I payed $10 for. Im sure I could have gotten it cheaper since the kid doesnt know the value(he doesnt even know what $10 is)and the manual was missing/a tear on the back of the box. And im sure I could have gotten more DS games.....but I was dealing with a 6 year old and I felt bad thus didnt.

You SHOULD stress flaws at garage sales, toss out normal views of whats polite and stretch the truth as far as you can. But lying to people, especiall kids and old people is just fucked up.
 
[quote name='Riyonuk']But whats a little white lie compared to $35 lost? Plus had I not even said that, I probably would have talked her down to $7 anyways, she was really old.[/quote]
why even pay for them? why not just tuck them under your shirt and duck out the door? why not just pinch a few bucks from grandma's purse when she's not looking? why not just burn games instead of paying for them? the list goes on. be savvy. be cheap. be an asshole for all i care -- but lying? that kind of thought process will permeate everything you do in life. if you lie about things like this, then you've the mentality to lie about a lot of other things.

i'm done on this unless it bears repeating. back to the yard sale/CL sales...
 
[quote name='allyourblood']
xghostsniperx: location has a lot to do with it as well -- out here in San Diego, CA, we get a lot of traffic and sales from Mexico at our yard sales and swap meets. Eat me if you think i'm stereotyping, but i've lived here all my life and i know the following to be true: Mexicans (ie: living in Mexico, but selling in the US) and some Mex-Ams for the most part, seem to view and value video games differently than most folks in the US. they consider games to be far less disposable: old Abuelita just can't believe that the Gamecube game she bought for los ninos is no longer worth 50 dollars. she can't even part with it for less than 30. that's the kind of joy i run into literally every other sale, every weekend. it sucks, but you soldier on because, every once in a while, you'll run into someone that is either a bit more savvy to the concept of a USED SALE or just doesn't give a crap. i know that people living a bit further away from the border run into this as well, but not as often.
[/quote]
Ha. Not to sound racist or anything, but there are ALWAYS Mexicans at garage sales in my area, and I think they are buying up all of the good stuff and paying higher values for games than I would.

As for Riyonuk, I congratulate you for your find; I was hoping for you to find something on your first outing. Now, I don't think your lowballing on those SNES games is any different than what a lot of us have done at yard sales, but you could have been nicer to that kid who wanted the games. You could have just offered a few of those games you bought (preferably for $1 a piece).

Anyways, my day was pretty uneventful, I hit 26 sales for a total of 41 this week. I only found two good things.

My first find was at the first sale I went to. I bought one of those Namco Plug and Play games. It was marked $3, but I used the Cash In Face technique to get it for $1.50.

I then got lost in another town from a faulty map (never trust Map24).

I did manage to give my number out to a few people, including the parents of two kids who used to be in my Boy Scout troop.

Oddly enough, my second and last find was at the last sale I visited; I picked up a complete Genesis 2 system with a few games that I don't know the names of yet. I know I got Sonic & Knuckles (I have been wanting that) and a complete copy of Family Feud (it came in one of those cardboard boxes). It was marked at $15, but I was able to get everything for $11, but I think I overpaid.

For once, (no offense) I am suprised to see that Max and Moiety bought only one thing this week. Given my luck today, I was expecting you to have bought a Virtual Boy complete in box with a few games for $6. Oh well.

I hope everyone had fun looking for games, and if anyone has a story but is holding out, I insist that they post on this thread.

Oh, and for the record, the town of Comfort, Texas has a poulation of 2,358 people. I got this off of Wikipedia.
 
My turn. Went to several sales, ALL of them sucked. I didn't spend a dime at any of them. I saw an NES with a missing AV cable that was so dirty it wouldn't have even been worth asking the price...lol. One sale had some PC games, but nothing I was interesting (older stuff I had already played). Another sale had some PC games but the guys were on CRACK with the prices they were asking...an example...Battlefield 1942 (CD in case, no manual/box) for $10. WTF-evar. I got bored and went home after hitting my usual areas.

However, I did better a bit later.
EB Game, XBOX AV cable (for a spare) = $3
Hastings, 2 used XBOX controllers = $5 each

New thrift store that just opened:
Street Racer cart for Atari 2600 = $1
Pole Position cart for Atari 5200 = $1
Missle Command cart for Atari 5200 = $1
Centipede cart for Atari 5200 = $1
Not great, but I should be able to trade em in for something at a local store that still takes the older stuff.
 
[quote name='STATIC3D']I saw an NES with a missing AV cable that was so dirty it wouldn't have even been worth asking the price...lol.[/quote]

this is exactly where the phrase "turn trash into treasure" works so well. i love seeing stuff like that; something i want that's dirty as eff. okay, actually, i don't like that it's dirty, but when you see something real grubby, you can usually get people to just give it away. with stuff like this, don't ask -- just walk up with it in hand and say, "i'll give you 2 bucks for this." sure, they might've offered it to you for a dollar, but you also run the risk of them wanting 10 dollars, so you take a small risk, but you're only gonna do it with junky stuff like that NES. more often than not, they'll take it, and if they say "no", you come back with, "Sir (or Ma'am): this thing is dirty as sin. if you don't sell it to me, i'm sure you're probably just going to end up throwing it out. i'll at least give ya a couple bucks for it."

works like a charm.

getting back to the dirty part: some of my shiniest, purtiest yard sale/swap meet finds started out as some of the assiest pieces of turd you've ever seen. the nice part about a layer of dust or yuck is that a lot of times it helps to keep the thing from A. getting used much (since it's so ugly), B. being considered valuable, and most importantly, C. being sold to someone else! besides, the fun part is busting out all yer cleaning supplies and polishing the funk away, restoring the treasure hidden beneath!
 
[quote name='Riyonuk']Great...now I feel really bad, thanks for the support. Ill try to do "nice" haggling I guess. :)[/quote]
good on ya! glad to hear it! :cool:

actually, as mentioned previously, here are some honest things you can usually say about an item to get the seller to lower the price:

1. "it's dirty." (does it smell? even better! sniff it and make a face, somewhat skeptical. then ask again.)
2. "yeah, but these are pretty old. i don't think anyone's gonna offer you anything more than i am."
3. "it's getting pretty late, and the morning's almost over. you sure you wouldn't want to sell this to me, instead of having to haul it back in the house and out again in a few weeks?"
4. "it's missing the box/manual/insert/case/cables/power supply." (this one works GREAT.)
5. "it's a little scratched up. knock a few bucks off for that?"
6. "it's starting to rain, i might be your last sale of the day..."
7. "$5 bucks apiece (or whatever)? will you take $7 for two (etc.)?"

and two of my faves!!!!.....

8. this one's risky: ask the price. too high? try to haggle. not working? look at the item for a moment, look at the seller, make a face like a sort of tired smirk, and then slowly set the item down and back away a few steps. ask them one more time, "you sure you wouldn't take $XX?" usually this will break people. the act you just put on makes them second-guess the value of what they're selling, and a lot of the time they'll bend.
9. this one doesn't always work, but i like it anyway; especially when the seller is being a jerk. just kinda fan the item (or money, your choice) at them and say, "COME ON.... COME ONNnnnn......!" seems like an annoying thing to do, but it works.
 
[quote name='Riyonuk']Great...now I feel really bad, thanks for the support. Ill try to do "nice" haggling I guess. :)[/QUOTE]

Good to hear you take it as advice and move on. Not many people even adults are mature enough to hear critic and learn from it. We all want you to score good deals, and we dont want you to loose out to other people at sales. We just want you to do it in an honest way.
 
Yes, I do belive honesty is the way to go. And allyourblood, thanks for the great tips. I saved them on my desktop. I also have seen people use those strategies on me, and it never works. It would take lawyers to make me lower my price .
 
[quote name='boyboy1080']some times honesty doesnt work[/quote]
and those times, you shake your head and walk away. you're only as good as your word. besides, it's only video games. if you don't get 'em, move on. you can't take 'em with you anyway.
 
I hope I didnt start anything...and if I did, I'll finish it before something bad happens like everyone shares my adress and I get hunted down :p

I feel bad for what I did and sware not to do it again. When barganing, use the tips allyourblood mentioned (which should be in the wiki) and dont lie, unless its a really really tiny lie like saying a ps2 game is old, thats not bad is it? Yes I agree lying is bad, but I was in the "hot zone", trying to get out of there as fast as I could before that kid came back and beat me to a pulp. If it had been a diffrent situation, I probably would have not done that. But adrenaline shileded my "good" conscience and I had to say whatever would make the purchase go by as quick as it could, even it ment mauling an old lady or fibbing. And with that, let us move on. I will never do it again, unless of course the same exact thing happens, then I'll just run home, lol.
 
Picked up Shogun: Total War Warlord Edition (Jewel Case, includes the original and the Mongol Invasion expansion) - 2.99 at Goodwill yesterday. Somewhat weak, since Sega's going to release that huge Total War anthology, but still not bad. Shogun's the one I've been wanting for a while, though I have been thinking of going back to this Goodwill later to get GTA: Vice City (PC).
 
[quote name='Cao Cao']Picked up Shogun: Total War Warlord Edition (Jewel Case, includes the original and the Mongol Invasion expansion) - 2.99 at Goodwill yesterday. Somewhat weak, since Sega's going to release that huge Total War anthology, but still not bad. Shogun's the one I've been wanting for a while, though I have been thinking of going back to this Goodwill later to get GTA: Vice City (PC).[/quote]
was Shogun that robot/mech game for the PC? i think that came free with an old video card. is that the one?

edit: oops. i guess i meant Shogo: Mobile Armor Division. not the same thing, i suppose.
 
Today I got a Saturn w/ no hookups (forgot to mension that while haggling) w/ 1 working and 1 broken controller, a bunch of sports games and Clockwork Knight for $12. It was more than I wanted to pay, but I haven't seen anything decent at yardsales lately; I had to buy something! When I got back to my car I saw a sticker on the back of the box that said $8. That made me feel a little angry, but a deal is a deal and I moved on.
 
[quote name='toldawg128']Today I got a Saturn w/ no hookups (forgot to mension that while haggling) w/ 1 working and 1 broken controller, a bunch of sports games and Clockwork Knight for $12. It was more than I wanted to pay, but I haven't seen anything decent at yardsales lately; I had to buy something! When I got back to my car I saw a sticker on the back of the box that said $8. That made me feel a little angry, but a deal is a deal and I moved on.[/quote]

dang. still, 12 w/ a bunch of stuff is pretty good. the Saturn's one of my fave old school systems, along with the Genesis and TG-16. classic, solid stuff. the Saturn had so many weird games... good times.

good find, congrats!
 
I'm going to try and give you guys a good breakdown on how to prepare and effectively use the CIF technique. I'm kinda in the midst of a raging party right now so I'll try to get to it tomorrow. I continually get good deals and most of them are with the CIF technique, there are also tons of stuff I see that I pass on. I always get a really good sense of when I can get a deal or not. I have a good technique that works really well for me and a good part of that can definately be attributed to the fact that I live in a densely populated area. I could see how being younger could work against you when trying to get a deal but you really need to be prepared and you will almost always have the upper hand.

And to you newer guys that are eager to learn how to haggle and effectively CIF and find and prepare for your outings, Please don't be swayed by the few skeptics that have their cans of bullshit repellent out everytime someone scores on a regular basis because while I can not speak for everybody who posts in this thread. My scores are real and not exaggerated. I have multiples of many systems and multiples of many games and while I really do not need NES number 17

http://img310.imageshack.us/img310/6316/1000634cn6.th.jpg

I will buy it for 2 or 3 or maybe even $5. But I'm not going to pay $15 or $20 and say I paid $3 for it just so I can post a picture of it on the internet to impress people I do'nt even know. I do have a life.
 
[quote name='snotknocker']I do have a life.[/quote]
whup! my BS radar just lit up! none of us have lives. accept it. ;)

and i get some FILTHY-bad ass deals myself. Sega CD Snatcher $3, and another a few weeks later for $2. both complete and mint... SNES Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana, both DEAD mint and complete in box, $15, Zelda: Majora's Mask promo/demo cart, $4 (sold it for 300+ a few years back on Ebay)...

i'm no stranger to pornographically awesome deals, i just think that a lot of the one-hit wonders that appear are from folks who want to be in on the yard sale thing, but haven't had any luck. the regulars are folks like myself who hit sales/pawns/thrifts literally day after day, all year long. that kind of repetition is bound to turn up some gold, just going by the numbers.

no proof needed snot. i like hearing your finds!
 
My sweep of yard sales turned up Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 for $1. Not much else that i saw except for and old gameboy case with some game cases that the lady wanted $3 for...

Great thread by the way. Really enjoy reading everybody's stories.
 
World Championships '90 cart, IN THE ORIGINAL BOX, 10 DOLLARS. I just bought it for fun, then i look on ebay and saw one sell for 4 grand. FOUR GRAND. I almost had a heart attack. at 26. HOLY fuck.
 
[quote name='Man with the Plan']World Championships '90 cart, IN THE ORIGINAL BOX, 10 DOLLARS. I just bought it for fun, then i look on ebay and saw one sell for 4 grand. FOUR GRAND. I almost had a heart attack. at 26. HOLY fuck.[/quote]

oop! there went my radar. there was never a box for the NWC carts. d'oh!
 
[quote name='Man with the Plan']World Championships '90 cart, IN THE ORIGINAL BOX, 10 DOLLARS. I just bought it for fun, then i look on ebay and saw one sell for 4 grand. FOUR GRAND. I almost had a heart attack. at 26. HOLY fuck.[/QUOTE]

Not only did my bullshit alarm break, but it exploded with the fury of a nuclear bomb.
 
[quote name='Man with the Plan']World Championships '90 cart, IN THE ORIGINAL BOX, 10 DOLLARS. I just bought it for fun, then i look on ebay and saw one sell for 4 grand. FOUR GRAND. I almost had a heart attack. at 26. HOLY fuck.[/quote]

Considering the fact that only 116 of these were produced, none of which came in any sort of packaging, along with the fact that insanse collectors have already tracked down every single copy known to exist and have tried every conceivable scheme you can imagine to ensure that that is so, this really isn't possible. At this stage in the game, you're not going to see any NWCs anywhere but eBay and on DreamTR's shelf.
 
[quote name='Riyonuk']But whats a little white lie compared to $35 lost? Plus had I not even said that, I probably would have talked her down to $7 anyways, she was really old.[/QUOTE]

Dude, I gave the guy who sold me the X'Eye an EXTRA dollar for being cool about everything and the stuff was dirt cheap already.
 
I got a question for snot, AYB or moeity(or if anyone else is really experienced and knows). How do you guys plan your routes with like 50 sales? Mapquest only lets you add in 10 stops on a route and even then it doesnt organize them into the best order to hit the sales just the order you input them. My fiancee isnt huge into garage sailing and a large part of it is the aimless driving or the horrible routes.

And i must admit it is a little annoying to spend almost 2 hours planning a route for 15 sales....that doesnt even end up giving the best route.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']I got a question for snot, AYB or moeity(or if anyone else is really experienced and knows). How do you guys plan your routes with like 50 sales? Mapquest only lets you add in 10 stops on a route and even then it doesnt organize them into the best order to hit the sales just the order you input them. My fiancee isnt huge into garage sailing and a large part of it is the aimless driving or the horrible routes.

And i must admit it is a little annoying to spend almost 2 hours planning a route for 15 sales....that doesnt even end up giving the best route.[/quote]
After collecting advertised sales, I usually come to around 30 sales. All additional sales hit are just ones we find on the road or "leech" sales (sales that leech off their neighbors' advertised listing or posted signs). It takes me about an hour to plan a route.

How do I do it? Yahoo Maps, one sale at a time. Since I'm pretty familiar with the towns we hit, this is much easier for me, and I wouldn't trust putting in several locations and letting the software plan a route for me.

We've also learned that these map programs aren't very accurate sometimes, and can often lead you down the wrong roads or tell you to make a turn when it's actually straight. Experience in the field overrides Yahoo's directions at times, as we tend to revisit the same neighborhoods across towns.

Keep experimenting with different methods until you find the one that you are most comfortable with.
 
Do you guys live in larger towns, or do you just have a lot of rummage sales in your area? I don't see how anyone can get 50 sales in a day if it's not like a citywide thing. Maybe you just live in a densely populated area.
 
[quote name='xghostsniperx']Do you guys live in larger towns, or do you just have a lot of rummage sales in your area? I don't see how anyone can get 50 sales in a day if it's not like a citywide thing. Maybe you just live in a densely populated area.[/quote]
We live north of Boston, which overall is pretty densely populated. 40-50 sales spread over our 6 choice towns isn't that many. There are lots of cities and towns around here that we never even bother with, even though they have sales going on. The 6 or 7 we regularly hit have always yielded finds, so we continue to visit them.
 
It's nice for them since they live on the coast. I think gaming took off a little more out there than out here in the midwest. I live in the second largest city in Indiana and I don't usually find that much. But then, I usually only stick the the NE side of town and sometimes the NW side.
 
Finds for the weekened:

Out Run (SMS, complete) - $.50
My Hero (SMS, complete) - $.50
Fatal Frame (PS2, still factory sealed) - $2
N64 Game Case - $1
Banjo Tooie Strategy Guide - $5 (A little pricey, but my gf wanted it)
Intelligent Qube (PSX, complete) - $.50 (I was very happy about this :))
Mendel Palace (NES, cart only) - $1
Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure (NES, cart only) - $1
X-Men (GEN, complete) - $2
Ms. Pac-Man (GEN, complete) - $2
Bram Stoker's Dracula (GEN, complete) - $2
Ren & Stimpy Show Stimpy's Invention (GEN, complete) - $2


Total: $19.50


Not bad, I guess. The Intelligent Qube and Fatal Frame were a steal though :)
 
I'm not sure if this is still a "deal" or not, but I got a black Gamecube this weekend for $12. It has an A/V cable, a power cord, and a memory card, but no controller. It had been $25 and the lady was asking $20. She came down to $15 when I asked about the controller and the least she would take. I offered $10 and she mentioned $12. I know the local pawn shop still charges $40 for complete systems, so this isn't too bad.
 
[quote name='doctordoom1974']Ha. Not to sound racist or anything, but there are ALWAYS Mexicans at garage sales in my area, and I think they are buying up all of the good stuff and paying higher values for games than I would.[/QUOTE]

Most can't speak any enlish so they won't try and haggle. This means if little Billy has his NES with 5 games priced at $40, he will sell it.
 
[quote name='GodOfTheMind1369']Finds for the weekened:

Out Run (SMS, complete) - $.50
My Hero (SMS, complete) - $.50
Fatal Frame (PS2, still factory sealed) - $2
N64 Game Case - $1
Banjo Tooie Strategy Guide - $5 (A little pricey, but my gf wanted it)
Intelligent Qube (PSX, complete) - $.50 (I was very happy about this :))
Mendel Palace (NES, cart only) - $1
Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure (NES, cart only) - $1
X-Men (GEN, complete) - $2
Ms. Pac-Man (GEN, complete) - $2
Bram Stoker's Dracula (GEN, complete) - $2
Ren & Stimpy Show Stimpy's Invention (GEN, complete) - $2


Total: $19.50


Not bad, I guess. The Intelligent Qube and Fatal Frame were a steal though :)[/quote]

Whoa, where did you find a sealed copy of Fatal Frame?
 


little flea market find today

all cart only

SNES
Zoop
Street Fighter 2
Link to the Past
Primal Rage
Super Mario World
Qbert 3

This was a notorious junk vendor who always try to sell things overpriced. He continually try to rip people off on a regular basis. Though he never really has any gaming stuff. Today he had a complete extremely dirty N64 with 2 controlers rumbles and mem cards which is what I noticed first. I was checking it out when I noticed 6 SNES games (these are now my ultimate objective) So I quickly scan the games and theres a Qbert 3. I freaking love qbert and have been wanting this game for a while and would probably have paid the $3 or $4 each that I'm thinking the guy would be asking on the games. I asked him while holding the system. does it work? to which he replied "oh yes my friend everythings perfect I checked it this morning. I immediately know this guys a liar and he's trying to hustle me. This thing had a layer of dirt and I knew this guy had'nt checked it. Then I ask how much (I was expressionless) to which he replied $40. (Ahh!!! my thoughts confirmed, if he's trying to push a piece of shit N64 off on me for $40 he's definately going to be asking for at least $3 a game which is steep in my mind but I really want the Q-bert) Take note here cause this is how I play the game I shot him a kind of what are you crazy look . He immediately came back with. "OK my friend - everything for you $35. I show an expression of satisfaction (a semi smile and a little perking of the eye) I put the system down on the table in front of me and reach for the SNES games. Now I know I'm going to pay at least $3 for the Qbert but now in my mind I'm thinking that he's thinking I'm going to buy the system and maybe he'll give me a break on the games for the multiple purchase. My thought process at this point is if he doesnt bite I pay what he's asking on the game or a CIF for the Qbert. So I grab the games (in one hand) and say would you take $4 for these while putting my hand on the N64. He looks a little reluctant but looks down at my hand on the N64 and says OK. Before he could blink an eye I had the $4 in his face which he instinctively took. I turned quickly walked away said thanks and I don't need a bag. He hollered out "what about the system?" I replied I think I'll pass. The hustler had been hustled.

The NES games I picked out of a stack of 25 or so pretty shitty games. The guy (another regular non gaming vendor) wanted $1 a pop but I CIF $2 which he took pointing out the contacts on the games are dirty and gonna need a good cleaning to get them to work.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Sadly Garage Sales are dying. We are living in the technology age and everyone is either computer savy or has a kid who is....this means people check amazon/ebay before selling stuff or put a $5 tag on something just to have a son stop them and say mom thats worth $50.[/QUOTE]

QFT while the deals are surely to be found I think with the internet they are getting fewer and futher between as time goes on. Around my area for the most part if someone has an old system and afew games for sale marked at 5-20 dollars it'll go within about an hour tops (and this will happen on Friday if it's a Friday-Saturday sale). Even if it's not a stellar deal to most CAGs to someone that isn't has versed in video games it may seem like a steal as they know that one PS2 game could cost $20 (with this $20 for a current game comparision being best for say a mother or grandmother buying an old system to keep junior entertained) so an old NES with afew noteables (sp?) like Super Mario Bros. marked about $10 dosen't seem to sit around long at a yardsale around my area. Advertised sales that mention an old NES or SNES in particular seem to sell out fast possibly even before the sale starts if the people running the yardsale are putting stuff out and are willing to deal with the yardsailers before the advertised start time of the sale. I was talking to someone at the fleamarket today that said that some people (probably mostly flea market dealers or collectors or something extreme) will actually go and knock on your door the night before if you have something advertised for your yardsale that they are interested in.

I can give a pretty good example of something I ran into like MSI Magus is saying. I woke up late one Saturday about a month ago and figured what the hell I'll go out yardsailing anyways as I was in the mood. I went over afew towns over without a route planned as I saw a fair number of sales advertised so I figured I'd just run around without a route. I stopped at a sale with afew families set up saw afew N64 sports games marked $3 but then went around the side of the porch and saw a boxed NES that said $5 and a shoe box full of cart only NES games, about 2 dozen all common but alot of goodness from Ghost & Goblins to Castlevania, Bionic Commando and Zelda. I'm surprised to see this still around at about 11 AM pick it up and find who it belongs to just to be told sorry it's sold. I asked why it was sitting in the open not marked sold and why didn't who bought it take it to which the lady really didn't have a good reply. I think that someone in the family said hey I'll buy that or junior (or some family member) informed mom that it's a whole bunch of goodness and that they wanted to play it and not to sell it for afew mesley bucks :)

I should have gotten into YSing years ago I would think that 5-10ish years ago that old systems would have been sitting around at yardsales everywhere. I remember walking over to a church sale back around '97 when I got the idea of checking out yardsales for old games and ended up getting an Atari 2600 with extra controllers & about 30-35 games for $15 and I got this some time in the afternoon IIRC not at the crack of dawn :) I wasen't really into all the effort and didn't have car at the time so I didn't really do any thrift hunting after that find.
 
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