Are Flea Markets Dead for Finding Game Deals?  

You can't deny the fact that RU-vidrs like Pat and The Game Chasers played a huge part in the emergence of this retro video game phase.

Honestly RU-vidrs educating people on finding deals and then bragging about it are helping the prices go up.

In my area Flea markets are just fronts for people to run actual businesses from now, nobody haggles, all prices are high or came off of some unrealistic E-Bay auction that didn't sell.

Here's all I see at my local flea market/swap meet that makes up the majority of what's there: 1. old power tools (like really old) and old hand tools. 2. Mexican vegetables. 3. Bootleg music,dvd's and software. 4. 5 gallon drums of laundry soap (because Consuela is stealing it from her Ramada Inn). 5. Pallets of cheap no brand paint, again stolen or leftover from construction sites. 6. A butt-ton of baby anything, clothes, beds, strollers you name it.

This is what stopped me cold in Jersey, it went from me and two or three dudes 3 years ago, now it's 15 or twenty and some of them buy and then sell there for MORE!

My flea market is shit for everything, not just games. People selling books for $5-$10, records for $20-$30, toys, etc. Everyone thinks their shit is gold.

Ebay ruined the flea markets.

You guys hit the nail on the head! To many resellers hoarding and buying up all the games and then gouging on the prices thinking their selling spider-man #1's and ruining the original hobby which was to buy some cheap retro games then play them!! Not just let them rot on a shelf because they could be worth a boat load of money one day!! those same people that are doing that at Flea Markets are the same ones jacking up the prices on Ebay and Cregslist

I got a sega genesis, with the CD, and 32X (everything worked) and 25 CD games for 40 bucks back in 2010. Never gonna find that again lol.

I never went to the flea markets around here, but I can say that the thrift stores are a complete shit show now. Goodwill asks outrageous prices for EVERYTHING. They even slap insane prices on old ass printers...printers are absofuckinglutely worthless, yet I've seen Goodwill ask up to $50 for some old ass HPieceofshit. Even with records, they ask crazy prices if it's anyone you may have even remotely heard of. $10 for a Tom Jones record. TOM JONES. Yeah, It's Not Unusual to have Goodwill try to bend you over a fucking barrel! $300 for that Halo edition X-Box. THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS. $500 for a telescope that was brand new on Amazon for $200. It is fucking insane.

Thrift stores (not necessarily the big ones like Goodwill) are still full of deals. You might find Madden 07 for the same price as Grind Stormer..... But maybe Thrift store madness would be a good flea market madness successor?

my last flea market was about 7 years ago. sellers were using phones to get prices and most buyers were using phones to see if items were worth more than the asking price.

The last 8 seconds should be its own RU-vid video. "Pat and Ian Sound Off on Salad #CUPodcast"

People have wised up, knowing their stuff is worth money. A lot of greed too. And now there are people who sell at flea markets as their lively hood, no other job. Sad.

I got tetris 1$ (NES), simpsons hit and run 5$ (Gamecube), Mario golf toadstool 4$ (Gamecube). Those were the only deals I could find. The rest was ebay prices or more, I completely agree with you guys

There's this flea market that's half an hour away from where I live, and there used to be 2 video game booths. Both had some pretty good stuff at them, but one left that flea market, so now there's only one. It's very sad.

I like how people try to blame sellers. These prices and tactics are a direct result of collectors. Not only does everyone having a collection mean there are fewer games in circulation, but the price is dictated by what collectors are willing to pay since "you can't put a price on a feeling". Sellers are just doing what anyone who was in sales would do; Price according to what the market will pay.

I'd watch a thriller series where Pat is that psycho killer character going after the resellers. Like Dexter I guess.

Garage sales are Getting pretty tough. Last year is when I really started to notice it when resalers started outbidding me in front of my face

In addition to what you were talking about, shows like Storage Wars, Storage Hunters, all those shows that take part at an auction at a storage unit etc etc, will have reduced the amount of good deals you can find as that's pushed obscure/niche markets into the eye of the public and given the idea that products from those markets are worth a lot of money and actually on many occasions, worth more than in actually is. I think these shows will have affected it more than just the existence of smart phones. The reason why I say that is because smart phones give you the opportunity to search up the value of an item but chances are you won't search it up if you don't think it's worth much, if you don't know what it is or if it doesn't interest you. These shows have many items that might not interest you, that you might never even consider buying and push it and a price in your face and then suddenly if you don't know enough about that market, you think most things in that market is of value and then suddenly it's of interest to you. More people wanting the items push up the price after all.

I saw this years ago, when toys started getting big. Used to find old stuff all the time cheap, then people clued in and wanted way to much for it. And you had re sellers who basically run through a yard sale, and take off like they stole something to hit the next one.

Flea markets sure as hell aren't dead, it's the consoles prior to the early 2000s. You will most likely never find random NES, SNES, N64, etc. games for hella cheap. But you WILL find great deal PS2, Gamecube, Wii, GBA, DS, etc. games. But the problem also is that you have amassed your amazing collection to which you see stuff you don't want that I see in your flea market madness that makes me jealous. As time goes on this will continue to where the early 2000s consoles will become hard to find and newer gens will become more accessible. Retro games at flea markets are relatively dead, but not flea markets entirely.

I stopped going to my local flea market for games because instead of cheap games, everyone was charging 30+ dollars for even the awful games and trying to pitch it as a good deal when I could find the same thing on eBay for $5 or less.

Due to the internet almost everyone know what they have is worth. So amazing deals will not happen like they did in the 90s/early 2000s, I once found a mint SNES with Super Scope 6 for 20 bucks!! That never happens anymore.

where I'm from San Jose, had the biggest flea market in the country, berryessa, now it's being converted to a mixed use retail/residential development, along with a bart station, (for those that don't know bart is a subway system that connects most of the bay area with fast transit) I'm excited for the station which will be finished in a few years, but a little saddened by the fact that the biggest and one of the most well known and loved flea markets is gone now

I can remember back in the late 90's I'd see at least 1 person at the swapmeet that was selling ton's of old SNES, Genesis and NES games because they would buy up old backstock from video stores and then sell them for dirt cheap, most of the time you didn't get a case or manual but you still came out ahead.

It isn't just flea markets slowing down. Here in Minneapolis we used to have about a dozen retro game stores back in 2012. Now there's only about five left. Along with smartphones and everyone wanting eBay prices, I think there are just less games being sold (NES) because long term collectors aren't reselling.

I live in an area without any nearby flea markets, but plenty of thrift stores, Garage Sales, and the ocassional church rummage sale. Some of my best hauls have been from garage sales/church rummage sales. I got a 500 GB ps3 for $60 at one, the box and most of the manuals to a NES for $5 at another, a Gamecube for $10 at yet another, and a model 2 Sega Genesis +2 games for about $3 at yet another.

I made a ton of money at the flea markets pre-2005. Other flea market sellers got mad at me for selling games at eBay prices... Their prices were actually higher! I stopped going to flea markets after cell phones became ubiquitous. I noticed after 2012 pretty much everybody sold stuff at eBay asking prices. Which doesn't make sense since it's a flea market It's not eBay!!!

2009 was right after the housing market went bust. So you had a combination of people selling anything they could part with to try and make ends meet to people who lost their house and had to get rid of stuff when they moved into a smaller place. So it doesn't really surprise me that a lot of stuff like older video games were being sold off by people needing money or space.

You guys are spot on with the "there are no more garage sellers" at the swap meets just trying to get rid of stuff comment. They are all permanent sellers who do this for a living and its destroyed the swap meet mentality. Its almost like going to an outdoor mall or something instead of a swap meet these days. Kobeys has gone way downhill, Santee offers really nothing, and Spring Valley and Imperial Beach are shit holes where people steal. Sad to see it all deteriorate so fast.

I began going to my local flea market in 2010 for games and it was a goldmine up until 2012. Like you Pat, I used to come home with more stuff than I could carry, but now (or at least last summer when I last went), I think I found like 3-games and none of them were nearly as good of a deal as when I was going a few years earlier. It is terribly sad for those of us who remember who good the gettin was several years ago.

Sad to admit it, but its true. Not just video games. Toys, comics,records and movies. Almost every seller now acts like they have gold.

I started collecting on the very tail end of the era of being able to find people who didn't know what they had. My best find ever was at this three house garage sale that I happened to stumble upon with my family. I asked them if they had any old nintendo games and they come out with a CIB power set. The only thing missing was a power supply so I couldnt test the actual console. So, she said "Since I have no idea if it works, I'll give you the whole thing for $10." I almost felt bad, but I got over it pretty quickly and walked away with a $10 Power Set that had everything it originally came with.

Why is pat hosting a video with John Lennon?

Seriously Pat, you are complaining a problem you're started. Look again those Flea market madness , "NES cartridge $5 for ebay price $30, such a bargain" . How is that not eye opener for such oblivious ? You are an example retro gaming still worth that much

I once found a complete boxed ducktales 2 for 2 dollars at a thrift store! Because the mistook it for a vhs tape. That was a good day. I still believe every once in a while you'll find a gem, but it's a lot more of an occurrence.

Times have changed, and retro/classic video games have become big business. More people than ever understand that there's a strong market in this category and that buyers are willing to pay higher prices. You see it at flea markets and you're increasingly seeing it at thrift stores. Goodwill stores locally have marked up their prices on games considerably. We also can't discount that the group of people who buy/collect retro stuff has been expanding. It's not the niche hobby it was even 5-10 years ago, so the competition among collectors to find & buy these games is booming. What's more, there's a growing sect of these collectors willing to pay higher prices-- so why sell low when people have proven they'll pay more? There are a lot of moving pieces that, when combined, can explain the retro price explosion & the disappearance of deals. Flea markets are a casualty of that.

one cool find I'll never forget.. 50+ atari 2600 gms with a few systems for a few bucks, everything was in great shape n working. and this was back in like 1989 gold mine for a kid. sadly flea market left town in the mid 90s.

The flea market scene out my way started getting expensive about 7-8 years ago. Once in a while I'll find a decent deal, but for the most part, at this point they've become ridiculous. My favorites from the last time I went out were one seller asking $30 for Skate or Die, another wanted $125 for Yoshi's Island, and the guy with a $40 Magic Johnson Fast Break with the upper left quarter of the cartridge missing. I hardly even bother going to flea markets any more.

I myself try and sell retro games at the Miz Daisy flea market in Southern California, and it's only gotten harder to find inventory and sell it for a profit. I have a ton of fun doing it, but I've had to change my stock to perler sprites, old gaming magazines, and common GBA games to keep the theme alive.

Dealing with flea market people was one of the worst experiences of my life. I can't even deal with re-sellers, flea markets, etc anymore- I get sick to my stomach at the thought.

I've been to a bunch of flea markets in Illinois, Texas and Oklahoma. They're all garage sale tables. And then you're not even getting a deal, which makes it absolutely terrible.

Im just at a point where I go to sales not expecting anything. It seems that its always that one random house garage sale late in the day is when I find my best stuff.

@ IAN.. If your referring to the flea market that used to be on walden ave here in buffalo, I remember a seller there in the late 90s, he would have stacks and stacks and stacks of NES games. It was insane, but he would charge at the time like $4 per game or something. He was reasonable.. good luck getting deals like that now..

Used to remember goodwills and pawnshops to get good deals... even they used ebay now :(

I used to hit all the flea markets and thrift shops hunting for forgotten treasures. Then vintage games started rising in price, resellers came in and it was over. 2011 was the end for my area. I'm just glad I got in when I did and was able to get everything I wanted for a fraction of today's prices.

Funny they mention rummage sales: Last summer, my mother, my little brother, and I took a road trip to some part of north-eastern New York state and at first we didn't find much at the sale. And, keep in mind this was the whole town participating in this sale. Anyway, on our way back to the car, we looked at one last house and my brother and I stumbled upon Airheads Taffy at 10 for $0.10! We bought 20 of them and were happy with our find, not that there was anything else interesting at that same house.

I always thought you guys recorded in separate rooms until I saw Pat's hand go into Ian's camera lmao

Also miss finding random/obscure Cds/Cassettes. Found 'Nirvana-Nevermind' and 'Death-Spiritual Healing cassettes (20 cents a piece) and the entire Discography of 'Pantera' for $8 on Cd.

Agreed, went flea market shopping today, only 3 individuals where selling retro stuff. All over price and 2 which where Re-sellers. Hell I use to buy and sell games back in 2011 as a job right out of high shcool and I got some damn good deals on N64's, Nintendo etc etc, today good luck finding a deal. Everyone thinks that Ebay prices appply to everyday sales.

All I see at the flea markets near me are huge stacks of sports games. Usually the same sellers in the same spots selling mostly the same stuff every week and if I show up before 9 I am to early and the sellers are still showing up and setting up their booths.

i got Flea Market Sadness now, this bothers me quite a bit, i really do hope it bounces back one day.

I went to goodwill yesterday. They wanted 60 dollars for a ps2. And 60 dollars for a wii with no cords, controllers or accessories. Pretty sad.

in my hometown, we do not have flea markets, but we do have 2nd hand store. I do find retro games there from time time....

2010 is when the market dried up here in Winnipeg and now it's just resellers trying to get to a sale before any other one. I haven't had a single good score since 2012, and that one score was because of pure luck on a site like craigslist that very few people use. And by very few, I mean resellers are there too but there's nothing on it.

Growing up in San Diego of course you have the Kobey Swap Meet that is at the Sports Arena, but the best swap meet is in Spring Valley which is more of a garage sale and just 10 times better

I remember when retro game collecting was a really cheap hobby for me and this was like 2-3 years ago. I'd go to my local flea market and pick up like 10-15 games and pay maybe a dollar each for one. But lately the retro market has gotten really greedy and there's been a lot of online seller bullshit going on. For example. I was recently in the market for a copy of Mega Turrican on Sega Genesis. I have the original Turrican and I'd like it's much more beloved sequel. So I went online and there was one seller on ebay, with three copies, offering each one at about 90 dollars each. Ridiculous. To make things worse I've seen that game go for as low as 15 on amazon but the very second he artificially inflated the price by buying 3 copies of that game and reselling them for almost a hundred a pop, that had this huge effect on amazon sellers who thought their copy was worth that much too. These people need to know that a retro collector, no matter how stupid and deep pocketed, will not purchase a 20 year old game for nearly a hundred bucks. They are killing a hobby with their greed and making it difficult for people to collect games all while wasting their time and money. Hear me sellers online and flea market goers. YOU.WILL.NOT.MOVE.A.GAME.THAT.IS.OVER.20.DOLLARS And to the retro sellers who know what they got, take care of their products, and sell them at a good price. Thank you, you guys are doing a great job.

In 2008 I got a channel f system 2 with 6 games all complete in box in awesome condition. I traded an nes and n64 loose. I miss those days

In my area, I've found 'some' good deals by getting up early, I usually won't get stuff unless its about 1/3 of Ebay prices. No, not rock bottom, but 1/3 is pretty good sometimes. Personally, I love hunting for stuff anyhow, even if I won't buy it, its just fun seeing it out in the wild, and just searching through other people's crap. I remember a couple years ago I found the accessories to the Arc the Lad collection on PS1 for about a buck. I also found the Lunar Silver Star Story hardcover manual (PS1) for a quarter. Deals can be had, it just takes digging through bins of crap, and looking at 'crap on a tarp' to find them sometimes.

ive noticed the same thing at my flea market. I go on Vinyl hunts, now THOSE will always be cheap

I haven't been to a market, but i go to garage sales sometimes and I see video games at ebay prices, like a wii console asking $250

I don't collect video games but I feel you on not being able to find deals on anything any longer. The Internet has killed the gun show and now it's not even worth the time to show up and pay to get in because you'll never find a deal. Everything used is over priced these days.

Fucking Craigslist, man. Just today I saw some dude advertising his "huge" game collection (it's a fraction the size of mine and mine's not the biggest) for three thousand fucking dollars. It was about 7 consoles or so and I'd reckon approx 200 games. Three *thousand* dollars. What the actual fuck?

it's tough to collect imo these days because of outrageous prices. I stopped collecting and sold a majority of my collection that I couldn't download on virtual console etc. it's one thing to collect something that is legitimately rare and hard to find. but I'm done trying to buy games that are priced higher than they were new over something that is now loose, scratched, and wrote on for massive amounts. truly sad what video game collecting has become.

Here in the UK, I used to like going to car boot sales occasionally. But I hardly find anything decent anymore.

Nice call Ian spot on.

I still have some luck at my swap meet (flea market). Definitely not as much as I had back in 2007ish... It has changed a lot, but I still go every weekend. I love the thrill of the hunt!

Garage Sales and Yard Sales don't even offer deals anymore. I went to a few and they STILL wanted eBay prices. People even want eBay prices for "private deals". This one guy knows that I collect consoles and told me he had an Atari 5200 with a few games (nothing worth anything) that he'd sell to me for $100. The last deal I got was 2 years ago when someone had an old Colecovision that they found in the attic of the house they just moved into. They didn't know what it was and asked someone to make an offer. I offered her $40 and she accepted it. I then had to take it home, tear it apart, clean everything out, scrub off the RF shields, straighten out pins for the controller port and all that happy fun stuff that comes with buying an abused and neglected console. So was it REALLY a deal? I'd say (with the work I put into it), $40 was fair.

luckily Amarillo Texas hasn't seen this happen to us yet. But man, i wish i had my Maclin Open Air Market swap meet when i lived in Chino California.

I've been to that big flea market in San Jose, still one of the worst places to buy old games. The worst one is this old guy whose been setting up his storefront for years selling games at ebay prices. Even though they've had the same games since I last visited two years ago they still have those same games unsold, and what's worse is that they've only gone up in price because he keeps checking [UNSOLD] ebay listings that have games for stupidly inflated prices and he thinks that's how much they're worth. Not only are things bad they're also depressing as hell, there used to be this guy that sold tons of good games at dirt cheap prices. Only recently did I discover that he was murdered during a robbery and all of his product was stolen. I fucking hate this place.

Picked up a working game gear with rechargable battery pack and a sonic game for $2 this morning at a thrift store!

My last good "score" was about five years ago for a top loader NES, with the dog bone controllers, and 12 games for $35. Haven't seen a top loader going for less than $65-$75 the last I checked (and that was for one without the dog bone controllers).

The only time I see games at the Flea Market is at re-seller tables asking higher than the comic store down the street. Only once did I find anything good at a "garage sale table". It was this nice old lady and among her odds and ends she had an N64 with expansion card, 2 controllers, all cables and bunch of games. She wanted $20. So i bought it.

Flea market madness was a great and fun series to watch Pat. Awesome job. honestly I dont think people watched it for the games and deals. We watched it Because it had you and frank. Thank you for taking the time and resources to entertain me and the other fans who watch.

Theres a reason I tend to emulate 90% of the stuff that I play. Shits both hard to find AND when I find it, its gonna be stupidly expensive.

My last great find was in early 2004, after that it was downhill and I never found anything good again. I had officially given up weekend hunting in 2007. Yard sellers have no games left to sell because they've already sold them. If they do they've already looked the games up on Ebay to see what they are worth and most of the time they look at the selling prices, not the hammer prices. The days of deals are gone.

I used to find deals on games once in a while and it slowly dried up more and more. first it turned into a competition to beat all the other collectors and now it has evolved into actual video game booths at the flea markets selling junk at retail prices

My flea markets are pretty much dried up. It's either people having zero clue about what they have so they ask stupid prices or it's dealers asking ebay prices (though I find towards the end of the season they do have some decent discounts and deals since they're trying to get rid of some of their stock). Last summer all I really found was a nice PS1 with controllers for $8, a couple PS3 games for $3 (from one of the dealers) and some Pokemon gashapon figures. That said, if you want to start collecting, the PS3/360/Wii would probably be a good and cheap starting point nowadays. Yard sales are hit or miss for me. I work a lot of weekends, so it's harder for me to get out to them. I score at thrift stores quite frequently, but I'm finding that even that is becoming more competitive because people are finding out about it (it stings when you're leaving empty handed and you can see someone standing at the cash with over a dozen games in their hands).

Same thing its happening here in my country (Argentina) I noticed here that people are keeping their old stuff because they speculate that these things are going to cost more in the future.

Pretty all this applies to Thrift Stores as well for me but also some of these thrift stores seem to forget they are what they are..thrift stores & should price items as such. Trying to sell items like consoles & games or anything really at retail prices, and even higher than alot of my local mom n pop gameshops & Gamestop in some cases. I still do ponder in the stores at times but usually if Im in the area/close by to one. I don't go out of my way to them as I used to, which also sucked the fun & the thrill of the hunt to find great items at great prices as well.

goodwill auctions are dried out too.. Everything is way more expensive than before + Shipping + Fees.. Garage sales are probably the best bet now but i haven't checked in a while... Im not even looking for retro deals anymore because they aren't deals..

While I did just find a model one Genesis and a pile of (common) games for $35, I also had a guy trying to sell me a Power Joy cartridge for $30. Sometimes you still get lucky but it's harder and harder.

well you can still find good deals and bargains, but you're right it is all harder. A place that is often overlooked that deserves credit and can give the same sort of feelings the markets use to are hock shops (money Lending shops that sell lots of second hand gear that people want to off load quickly) I can only speak for Australia but sear h around guys you can still get great deals and many hock shops have some warranty too!

Flea Markets/Swap meets have odapted the price points of pawn shops and like you mentioned compare and contrast there inventory to ebay....so you might as well just do your shopping from home when looking for such merchandise.

when Pat said salad days and i automatically thought of Mac demarco.

I remember going out and getting an snes with all of the cables and it even came with a game for 40 bucks. The last time I went I saw someone trying to sell one without any cables or even a controller for 50 bucks.

I talked to a flea market game seller that - as much as I want to think he's a fair guy- admits to getting booths at cons and swap meets with minimal stock, so he can get in an hour or so early and rake up all the deals. We're talking bottomless check book before the doors open. So when the normal people get in, there's nothing but ebay top end priced things left. Drives me nuts

Not a problem in my area because they're no flea markets, closest one is a couple hours drive and they have permanent booths and like two shops that sell games insanely over priced. However it's similar to what happened to thrift stores in my area there was a time you could walk in and the walls would be lined with games in bags all under $2, now they're all locked up with the jewelry and usually eBay or sometimes even higher. If yard sales ever dry up I'll probably sell off my collection and only keep a few select things that I'm attached too, spend the money on something really nice.

We only have 1 flea market near me, Montana Charlie's...wayyyyyyy too expensive...even 3 years ago it was too much. $25 for a loose Super Mario Bros....barely anything there as well... I get that anxiety when I don't visit Goodwill's on a regular basis...since they primarily price things at $4.99 or less on a regular basis...

My favorite series. RIP Flea Market Madness!!!

Well, dont blame pat or any other youtuber that talk about retro gaming... blame the people who "feed the beast" blame the people who pay those stupid princes online, blame the people who pay those "reseller" prices...

A community garage sale in the Rushmore Civic Center in Rapid City is where I found a Virtual Boy. The Virtual Boy I accidently spilled a bottle of bleach all over and destroyed. That was sad. Sad sad sad... :(

There is one flea market in my town, and it's a waste of time. I moved here in 2003 and there were already two re-sellers operating out of buildings at that time. They get to walk around before it even opens and get any deal that might be there and then charge MORE than ebay in their stores there. $15 for a poor label NES Pro Wrestling, and again, that was in 2004. Have found some good produce deals though :)

It's not just video games. A lot of collectable markets are overheating, in part because people consider them to be alternative investments. Cars, Art, and Rare Wine for the rich folks...video games, comics, toys etc for our generation and the lower end buyers. Part of it has to do with easy money, real estate is too high, stocks are too high, bonds pay nothing, might as well invest in NES carts.

Flippers ruin it for everyone. And even a ton of retro stores just go by eBay prices. So.. Why even go out looking? Just put searches on eBay and take time till the stuff you want comes up for a price you are cool paying.

Garage sales as well. I get to a neighborhood at 9 am, that's 9 o' clock in the morning, and ask if they had any video games not on display (you always got to ask just in case) and at least 80% of people said "you're the third person to ask". I don't bother with advertised large sales. You pretty much can only get lucky at this point.

Lol dat Health shirt.

The only place I know to go for games is a Pawn Shop that is a county away, which they do like $3 a game in bulk for any game worth less than $10.

This is a good thing though, it detracts from the hoarding mentality of collector-scum. Instead people getting into retro games today can emulate the feeling of only being able to afford a single game, and playing it again and again until fully mastering it, like the "good" old days, eh?