Retro game stores are wayyyyyyy overcharging for games now. Most stores charge at least $20 more for a game than what the market says. No wonder why their closing down now
$20? lol that’s mega cheap. I’m in Canada and games are way more costly here, I see super castlevania 4 going for $100-$110 in some stores. $90 at the cheapest. EBay isn’t as bad as people say.
You also get the social media effect. Content creators only show you the good deals they get so people think they always/only get good deals. They typically won’t show you the bad deals or there struggles
Most resellers don't focus on Video Games because when you sell online you can sell anything, and focusing on one of the most difficult things to source is generally a bad idea. I personally like focusing on printers/printer supplies, and old AV equipment like receivers, DVD/VCR combos and recorders. I only do reselling part time, but most decent full time resellers make at least 60-70K annually which is enough to buy a house in the places they're at, and if you just pay yourself a salary you can use that as proof of income.
When It is no longer some guy who loves video games trying to make a few bucks to grow his collection and help out a fellow gamer. But rather some jerks who perform buyouts and create a scalpers market is when a hobby dies. Thankfully the dumbest and greediest end up with a warehouse of stuff they bought at the top and get wrecked.
American energy axed day 1, it negatively affected the price of all goods and services immediately, and for those in denial, it finally caught up to the point that it cannot be ignored. The numbers are still getting juiced too, inflation is so much worse than what is being reported. Economy is going horribly. I wish I still had 2 dollar gas!!!
The overhead is too much, employees, rent, utilities, taxes plus thieves & vandalism. Owner stores would need to stay on top of everything or the business will fall apart.
I get worried when I see my local retro game store chain put out a lot of texts about specials they're having. I think they will stay around, but will consolidate locations.
Kb toys was dope, I used to love light gun games on PS2. Found Ninja Assault complete w guncon2 for 20 bucks which was definitely mispriced. Went back for the other ones to trade for vampire night and time crisis2, and they were already taken, likely by the clerk haha. Fond memories.
I sell games from my collection on FB. If something sells, great I can buy more games. If it doesn't sell then it stays in my collection. It's fun that way, but man if I had to rely on that to feed my household my fun hobby would immediately turn into a stressful grind. Don't quit your day job and keep your hobbies fun.
There was a competitor of gamestop that entered the mall market and opened a few retro franchises in the malls in my city and over the years i watched their prices just jump through the roof. Dk oldies type of deal and its not even worth walking into that store at all 😂
I see two flea market vendors I know that are struggling to get good games for the retro audience. I’m happy to have what I have. I’m basically done collecting but have only a few titles for the snes left to get.
making content on reselling is a double edge sword because most of the time it’s just ppl giving out free game. that’s why thrift stores have caught on to a lot of what stuff is worth imo
I don't sell -- I just buy because I actually play & enjoy games. In my mind, these stores have the opportunity to fix the market and price things realistically based on what you're describing. Not every JRPG on the PS2 is actually wroth a couple hundred or even a hundred. The quality isn't even there lol
It doesn't help that most items you want to sell nobody wants. Especially for the ebay listing prices. Physical game collecting is a niche hobby, most, emulate, play mobile, free games or the new hot titles. Also the convenience of going digital has made most gamers do not care about going out to buy Physical.
I went to one recently and yeah their prices were rather high in my opinion. I buy several games a month mainly on ebay or Amazon so I know prices pretty well. It was just nice looking at so many old games. But the big picture is that times are tough for your average person. I don’t know too many people that can afford a hundred dollar game or more especially cash.
Any business is susceptible to making and losing money. It takes good market demand, ability to buy/sell at a rate that makes a decent profit the doesn’t exceed your overhead costs. Good investment and market your goods and services and will succeed. I live in the Seattle area and Pink Gorilla Games have 3 locations and they seem to be doing just fine. There is a local game store by me that sells games, pokemon cards and collectibles and is doing just fine
Today’s economy is making it harder for your average gamer to collect in my opinion. So many games are rising in value for several reasons. Who has the cash to buy a game costing over $70 + .A lot of friends and co workers I know live paycheck to paycheck . Most of them haven’t bought a new game since the holidays. I predict it’s only going to get worse.
Resale wizard is still around. His last video was like 3 months ago or so. He actually lives in my city and does still flip video games. Most of his listings are on fb marketplace which I see all the time. Pretty sure he’s just too busy to post content of late or he’s not finding those insane picks ups like he used to.
I'm in the west coast, and since the pandemic, there have been at least half a dozen gaming stores or more that have opened and are still in business. I recently went to AZ a few weeks ago and there was at least 5 different game stores within a small radius and shopped while I was out there. Just Food for thought. Recommending to open a YT channel to resellers is poor advice. That sector is completely saturated. Only the most established have generated any sort of return in making content of the like here.
I made over 100k in sales reselling on ebay last year so i can tell you personally that reselling is not dead and in fact it is only the beginning imo. The bricks and mortar buissnes model is what is truly dieing. Times are changing and local games stores need to adapt to stay in buissnes. People are not trading in games like before and instead are reselling them themselves online. I can tell you one thing though... If you wana make it as a full time reseller you cannot sell video games ONLY but you need to sell everything and anything.
