What Did You Pay?

[Elder]

Hey all,

First off, this isn't a thread asking why games are so expensive, but something else

I searched around and couldn't find a post exactly like this, but knowing my luck I'm sure the first or second person who replies will point me in the right direction lol.  Anyways, one of the best posts on the Neo boards is dedicated to what games are currently selling for.  Think of it like a current price guide, except instead of just listing a bunch of games and prices, you say what you actually paid for game X this year, month, etc.  It acts almost like a database because when you look at the prices of games over one or two years it's pretty incredible to see how much prices fluctuate.

It's also extremely useful for people who have either been out of the scene or simply new collectors for the system.  It helps these people know a baseline for offers.  This is mainly where I'm coming from.

I'm curious if anyone is game for something like that here.  There are a bunch of games I'm curious to know how much people actually paid for recently so that if the opportunity presents itself I'll know whether to offer in the ten, hundreds, or thousands.  For example, what's a fair price for Magical Chase, Super Air Zonk, Neutopia II, and Beyond Shadowgate?

Edit:

Changed the title to be a better representation of what I'm looking for.  Thanks for the suggestion Lost Monkey.

[Black Tiger]

Brace yourself.





It's coming...

[TheClash603]

Brace yourself.





It's coming...

Elder, you seem like a good guy, but you may get ripped to shreds.

[Elder]

Brace yourself.





It's coming...

At least the first reply didn't point me to a million other threads. 

I'm actually curious to see how Turbo games and systems compare to the Neo scene.  For those that don't know, purchasing anything for the Neo-Geo AES is extremely expensive.  The indie releases alone usually go for $800 or more, so I'm used to high prices, but at the same time I would like to know realistic and fair prices so if I make offers I'm not insulting people.

[Elder]

Elder, you seem like a good guy, but you may get ripped to shreds.

Well hopefully not because this is an honest topic.  I'm not asking why games are worth something, but rather what fair prices are for offer purposes.  I haven't found clear info on certain games and eBay isn't a good guide.  If people want to rip into me, that's fine, so long as they get where I'm coming from.

[pc_kwajalein]

With regards to Magical Chase, a proper offer to make would be about--

(gets hit over the head with an iron pipe, collapses to floor and is slowly dragged away)

[Elder]

With regards to Magical Chase, a proper offer to make would be about--

(gets hit over the head with an iron pipe, collapses to floor and is slowly dragged away)

Lol, it's an insider secret.  A buddy if mine offered $400, and was turned down immediately, but that was through feebay.   Whenever dealing with retro consoles I try to stay away from eBay as often as possible.  That said, I also really don't want to insult someone by offering them $200 for say Neutopia II if the regular going rate amongst the community is $500 for example.

[esteban]

Comrade, that land mine you just stepped on....yeah, well, nice knowing you.

[ifkz]

I doubt there is anything that serves as a guide with current prices.

Some general pricing and other advice:

From my short time looking at recent auctions, I can say that finding anything local will be preferred over online auctions as far as price for the US TG16 games.  PCE games seem much less expensive and are a good way to go if you can find a converter card or a modded system.

I also noticed some sellers on ebay are posting joke prices that waste everyone's time.  There are a lot of recent posts that are good warnings about specific instances where prices have gotten out of hand.

I say check the completed listings for a specific title you are looking for on the 'bay for some guidance.  Set your own pricing rules and go from there.

Buy what you like, and don't get games just to collect them.  I say play all of your games and enjoy them individually.  For me, getting any new game is cause for a mini celebration.  Make a want list and read some reviews.   Save up your money and determine if you want to focus on loose cards, games in the jewel case with manual, or the elusive boxed games.  Don't be a flipper, those people suck and are parasites on any enjoyable hobby.

A few good games to start with that are worth what you will be paying (good at just about any price):  Ninja Spirit, Bonk's Adventure, Bonk's Revenge, Military Madness, SideArms, Alien Crush, and many more.

And in the spirit of the forum, OBEY!

[HailingTheThings]

Mister Elder, games are worth whatever one is willing to pay for them. Sometimes prices get out of hand because a$$holes try to buy up rares and hoard them only to sell later. So... there ya go. Shit sucks.

[cabbage]

Loose $3
Complete $5

[geise]

Loose $3
Complete $5

Yeah, but on the high end it can be around:
Loose $565
Complete $834.43

[seieienbu]

That said, I also really don't want to insult someone by offering them $200 for say Neutopia II if the regular going rate amongst the community is $500 for example.

Don't worry about "insulting" somebody, worry about what a game is worth to you.  You can try out every game in the system's library through emulators or on an everdrive and through burning CDs.  Find the games that you like, decide for yourself what the games are worth to YOU, and then try to buy them at prices that you find reasonable.

[Ratix]

the average price at a local game store usually asks about 15 to 45 bucks depending on the game. imports go for 70-130 bucks.

im not willing to pay those prices for a game.
hailingthethings is spot on.

i just picked up an import game for 5 bucks loose and i wasn't disappointed in the purchase. he even let me use his pcengine to make sure the game worked.

[Elder]

Thanks for being civilized guys.  Considering I run a gaming channel on YouTube with a heavy retro twist, I've been getting a ton of requests lately for Turbo/PC Engine games.  Having owned a Turbo since launch, but got out of the scene many, many years ago, I don't want to either get shafted myself or do the same to others.

The same thing happened with the Neo Geo.  Upon searching through all the various consoles and games it was a bit perplexing on what realistic offers were given the rarity/scarcity of the games and hardware so what I deemed was worth it just wasn't a realistic answer in the market.  Every single game was selling for multiple hundreds in most cases.  The same is true for arcade boards, which was another heavily requested item people wanted to see. 

When I joined these board I figured I'd check and see if there was indeed a baseline.  These are rare games so it's natural the prices would be higher and that perfectly fine, it's just I wasn't exactly sure where to start.  Just for those curious, I never use EverDrives or burnt discs for the videos I make because I like to show the original game on original hardware as it was originally intended.  I know the EverDrive and burnt CDs are essentially the same thing, but it's the ethics behind it.

So once again, thanks for being civil.  I'll just have to establish my own baseline based on the scarcity of the game and go from there.  At least I finally got someone interested in selling me a copy of Mysterious Song.