Is this a sellers market?!

AppleAmusements

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Hi all, let me introduce myself I am new in the last few days. I have a been a gamer since the 1970's and probably more than any other generation "grew up" with video games- my age bracket represents the very first year computers were put in public schools in earnest and I was at the age where I saw most classic games to the very end of the arcade era coincide with the years kids like me would spend the most time and money in arcades. I had a dad that was 'cool' with video games and we'd go often to lots of different arcades. I got the Atari 2600 the Christmas it came out (THANKS to my parents for that one though I suspect my dad wanted it too heheh) and my love of gaming continued through all of the classics - Commodore 64 and Amiga, text adventures on the Apple II, Vic 20's, and of course the Windows era stuff where I built most of my own machines and then stocked them full of classics (Anyone know that ARCHON is in a TERRIFIC remake right now and available for Windows machines?).

Anyway I LOVE video games and it just dawned on me I might finally be at the point where I could get away with getting 1 or 2 (yeah right I want like 50) for the house.

The past week has been a bit of a bummer though. This site is great and the classifieds here, SUPER. BUT even people I know FROM here are selling what even my noob eyes perceive as way overpriced stuff on most every site except the CL stuff which gets snapped up in literally minutes. Someone for example (NO NAMES) is elling a converted Simpsons that is obviously ex-arcade, 2 player, and in a rather unattractive cabinet for about TWICE what a great 4 player original should go for. They want like $1200 for this monstrosity. Now I know the market will bear what it will bear but how long have prices been this high? Or are we in an average market right now? Seems to me with the economy being talked about so much we would be in a buyer's market for a luxury like an arcade machine. Considering the 1-2 punch of terrific home consoles and MAME's rising popularity over the last decade I would have thought these machines would be at rock bottom prices. Of course the one's I want like Dragon's Lair and the classics are going to be more but I am just floored by the prices I've seen

What Do you folks think? Are prices cheap right now, average, or as I suspect a seller's market? Is there a particular time of year that prices peak and/or valley? Thoughts?
 
It is definitely a 'buyers market' but that doesn't mean every deal or listing will reflect that.
The days of the $800-$1000 unrestored ms pac cab are long gone (my opinion)

You simply have to wait for the deals to show themselves. They are out there.

welcome aboard
 
I've noticed that games seem to be very reasonably priced on here, either wildly overpriced or dirt cheap on CL, and wildly overpriced BIN or decent ending auction price on Ebay.
 
Agreed .. its a 'Buyers Market'. Individual sellers and businesses can list stuff for ridiculous prices.... it doesn't mean they sell them for that much. I'm also in the camp of..just wait long enough and the game you want will come along at the right price.
 
the other issue is there are less and less collectors, "less games in the pool" but yeah i agree, its still a buyers market. Thats the same reason why ive hing onto some of my games. Id love to sell some and get some other stuff, but im not giving them away man.


your gut was correct i dont see anyone buying a $1200 converted simpsons, but ive been suprised before. On the other hand, kep in mind where all cheapasses here and want a tron for $100, so use youe head and you wil find some fair deals wether its here or elsewhere.
 
Depends on the game, and the condition. Some games still pull premium $$


Only if somone has no self control and jumps at the first price. Patience pays off. There's a lot of stuff out there that's way overpriced.
 
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Depends on the game, and the condition. Some games still pull premium $$

no doubt.

tron is still high

discs of tron has gone up
major havoc has maintained a good price.

I am never afraid to pay good money for a nice game.
 
OK I thank you all for your thoughts. I'd like to just vent a sec here and ONLY because I just realized in the last 72 hours it is remotely possible I WANT A DRAGON'S LAIR ahhhhhhHHHhHHhhhhH!!! I WILL get one of these machines eventually ... since I was a kid it is pretty much one of the only 'objects' I think I could possibly possess that I believe I could walk past 10 times a day and think "WOW THAT'S FREAKING COOL!" The other is the big buck on my wall that I earned through a long hard road of becoming a good hunter. BUT that's not really an 'object'...and I digress : )

There probably aren't a whole lot of folks looking for a Dragon's Lair ; )so let me know if anyone sees a deal LOL.

Thanks again for the responses this site has been the most fun I have had online in years
 
OK I thank you all for your thoughts. I'd like to just vent a sec here and ONLY because I just realized in the last 72 hours it is remotely possible I WANT A DRAGON'S LAIR ahhhhhhHHHhHHhhhhH!!! I WILL get one of these machines eventually ... since I was a kid it is pretty much one of the only 'objects' I think I could possibly possess that I believe I could walk past 10 times a day and think "WOW THAT'S FREAKING COOL!" The other is the big buck on my wall that I earned through a long hard road of becoming a good hunter. BUT that's not really an 'object'...and I digress : )

There probably aren't a whole lot of folks looking for a Dragon's Lair ; )so let me know if anyone sees a deal LOL.

Thanks again for the responses this site has been the most fun I have had online in years

yeah, dragons lair is gonna fetch a grand every time.
 
for a newb... dragons lair night not be for you. Its laser disc based, im not saying you couldnt handle it, but man id break myself in easy before going after one of those more complicated games.
 
Yeah, certain games (like Dragon's Lair) are always sought after, and always wanted for a LOW price, but almost always sell for higher prices than others.

Don't fall for that "wait long enough and you'll get a good deal" advice. You'll never find a working Quantum, Star Wars cockpit, dedicated Major Havoc, Dragon's Lair, etc for $100 - no matter how long you wait...
 
Yeah, certain games (like Dragon's Lair) are always sought after, and always wanted for a LOW price, but almost always sell for higher prices than others.

Don't fall for that "wait long enough and you'll get a good deal" advice. You'll never find a working Quantum, Star Wars cockpit, dedicated Major Havoc, Dragon's Lair, etc for $100 - no matter how long you wait...

A sort of agree with this. What I mean is, you can get some really screaming deals if you are patient. But they may not be on the game you are looking for. But the bigger issue I'm afraid is that you haven't yet started learning to repair games yourself. If you want a good deal on a game, then that's the way to get it. Broken games often sell for 1/10th the cost of a fully working game. But paying someone to fix them for you may bring it back up to the high-end price again. Folks on here have been awesome about helping me to learn to repair things. They have been incredibly patient with me. I still basically suck at it but my game room is filled with games that my family enjoys now because of their help.
 
Totally there are some games that sell high always. Although, SRW had an Dragon's Lair not too long ago for sale.

The best advice is always to wait, you will find just what you are looking for a good price. But I can see you are really anxious to get something. Just don't get burned.
 
As people have said technically we should be in a buyers market. Thing is most people who have these games at the moment don't need to sell them or want them gone really badly unless they are a bit undesirable. With that in mind I would say the sellers are generally not selling because they will not get the cash they want. Of course some will list stuff high or at a reasonable price to see if anyone bites. Usually not gonna cut a deal though. Another sad effect of this current market is the number of games getting parted due to the fact that parts sell for more than a complete game in most cases. This will of course result in less games and drive prices up in the future.
 
Let's put it this way: maybe 5% of the games ever produced will always command a high price compared to the other 95%. Dragons Lair is in that 5%. It is a buyers market, and the prices you see for many games is skewed by the fact they're still available because they're overpriced. Highly desirable games at great prices will often be sold hours (if not minutes) after they are listed.

My advice would be to monitor this board for a month or two before buying a game. You'll have a much better sense of the arcade scene, what cabinets are a bear to own and which are reliable, and a better idea of what is or isn't a good deal.

For example, Dragon's Lair is available on PCs, multiple consoles, and even the iPhone. If it's the game you want to play (nostalgia for the original cabinet notwithstanding) there are far cheaper and simpler ways to do so. IMO, Dragon's Lair isn't as fun once you've mastered the fact that it's all a game of memorization of certain moves... much worse replay value than many other games.
 
IMO, Dragon's Lair isn't as fun once you've mastered the fact that it's all a game of memorization of certain moves... much worse replay value than many other games.

Is there a worse game for replay (once you've finished it, I mean)?
 
Is there a worse game for replay (once you've finished it, I mean)?

Yeah, anything 30fathomdave wants to buy... :rolleyes:

No one's asked yet... Where are you located? Makes a HUGE difference in how cheap you can find a DL. If you're in California, you're in luck. If you're in Hawaii, you're fucked.
 
Yeah, anything 30fathomdave wants to buy... :rolleyes:

No one's asked yet... Where are you located? Makes a HUGE difference in how cheap you can find a DL. If you're in California, you're in luck. If you're in Hawaii, you're fucked.

Hahaha. You dick. :)

I think you think I'm better at games than I actually am.

It would take me a long, long time to get good enough at DL or SA to actually beat one of them. I've had Time Traveler for well over a year and haven't even come close yet.
 
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