Turbo Gouging on Ebay ( r.i.p. - gouging much )

[esteban]

I

[BlueBMW]

Just for a reference... I traded a boxed mint Soldier Blade for a favor.  No money, no stuff, just a favor from a friend.  He would have done it anyways but he kind of wanted the Soldier Blade so guess what, he got it free.  Could it have been sold for bank money?  Sure, but now its being played while its box gets admired by a gamer who cares

Just a little aside there guys.. continue please!

[Black Tiger]

Just becasue you don't value the item, or the box for that matter any more than some number you have in your head, dosn't mean I over payed. Sure, I payed a lot for an uncommon luxury item but then you could say anyone who's ever shelled out for any luxury item is stupid and impatient. I've seen a boxed Soldier blade appear on ebay exactly twice in the last 3 years. That's partly because I'm on Canadian ebay so I have access to a lot less of the stuff than an American would. Anyways, you do yourself a disservice writing me off as an impatient idiot. I'm always looking for the mythical reasonably priced TG16 games, but I'm not going to wait for ever. Hate to break it to you but this pricing bubble is not going to burst. Its a simple supply/demand scenario. What is a better indicator of an objects value than a 99 cent auction? Oh, right...the price in your head lol

While recently picking up some of the last few TG-16 HuCards I don't have, I was surprised at times by the limited results on eBay.ca. So I did what I've done in the past, made a couple key strokes to change the "ca" in the url to "com" and opened up much more listings. I also checkout European eBays when looking for something I haven't found elsewhere. For all those U.S. listing that only ship domestically, I send them a message asking if they'd consider shipping to Canada. Unless they're the type who specifically puts in their descriptions "don't even ask, we don't ship to Canada or internationally", the answer is pretty much always yes. But even when I've been motivated to ask those who do specifically say "no shipping to Canada!", they still often say yes.

The problem is that too many people don't know how to search very well. Almost every time I see someone complaining on a forum about how expensive or impossible to find Turbo/PCE games are, I go to eBay and find them available, a fraction of the price a poster was complaining about or both.

[Black Tiger]

You wanna see expensive cardboard?

http://item.ebay.com/290690633965

Without DK Jr Math, probably would've sold for a couple hundred.

So far every game you've shown to prove your point people pay dumbass prices for cardboard are old NES games when every kid including myself tossed the box. So the few that did survive are rare. But TG16 boxes aren't rare to me. In fact I gave my Shockman cardboard to my kid to cut up for a collage. I didn't care I know I could have made a $100 off it but to me its just cardboard.

They also have not been posted along with a recent listing which sold at a fraction of the high priced examples.

The whole point people have been making all along and the point of this thread, isn't simply "some people ask too much" or "no games sell for much". The point is that the TurboGrafx-16 market in particular is artificially inflated by price manipulators like KingOfGames who jump in to stop game fans from getting games, only to hold them for ransom until someone eventually bites.

This isn't a reaction to a recent event, we've watched games steadily rise and lower in price slowly for years, then jump to 10+ times the asking price in a very short period of time after a few a$$holes attempt to control the market.

Showing even worse inflated game prices or successfully flipping a game like Soldier Blade for big bucks doesn't prove us wrong, it only proves us right.

[Arkhan]

PLAY PCE OR GET THE f*ck OUT.

What stopped me from using US ebay in the past has been international shipping restrictions. A lot of the nice turbo autions and especially quick catch bins are only open to continental US states excluding Hawaii and Alaska. I've recently found a great package forwarder but there's still a surcharge to consider.

PCE intimidates and is alien to me. Never got into emulators or wiiware and I still play on my original 23 year old console with one I found on clearence for $20 in the mid nineties on hand for back up. I'm having fun slowly finding the 50 or so US HuCards I want to replay or experience for the first time in my library (TV sports and the like, no thank you). I have no experience with the CD stuff never owning one or knowing anyone with one and thus never playing one. The cost of entry has always been high and so I have to admit I've never played it. I really want to, but I'm a patient man and there's a lot of other great game systems that need to be played also.

Necro, sorry for derailing your thread.

where do you live?  Canada?  Are you KingOfGames' buddy or something?

You have the f*cking internet dude, if you are scared by PCE, I feel sorry for you.  I figured out Japanese consoles when I was still in high school.  It's not that hard.

All the greatest games are on PCE.

[xelement5x]

Just came across this auction this morning, looks like it started at 99c but has a reserve.
*90* TURBO GRAFX-16 HU-CARD GAMES!!! NO COPYS!!! LARGEST COLLECTION ON EBAY!!!
http://cgi.ebay.com/itm/200749615723

I'm not sure if this is gouging, but it'll be interesting to see what this lot finishes at...

[MotherGunner]

Funny this constant "bubble will never burst" is ignorant..at best.  EVERY pricing bubble bursts at some point,

Speaking of which, I'm glad to see Chu Man Fu coming back down to earth!  It was getting rediculous...Now the next expensive thing will be whatever Bucci reviews next!  =)

[KingofGames]

You wanna see expensive cardboard?

http://item.ebay.com/290690633965

Without DK Jr Math, probably would've sold for a couple hundred.

So far every game you've shown to prove your point people pay dumbass prices for cardboard are old NES games when every kid including myself tossed the box. So the few that did survive are rare. But TG16 boxes aren't rare to me. In fact I gave my Shockman cardboard to my kid to cut up for a collage. I didn't care I know I could have made a $100 off it but to me its just cardboard.

My point is that the Turbo Grafx isn't privy to the same price gouging that the NES is subject to. There are few games that eclipse $100. There is only one game that tops $1000. In the grand scheme of things, the Turbo is barely affected by resellers. There are TONS of fantastic games that are dirt cheap (Blazing Lazers, Ninja Spirit, Neutopia, Bloody Wolf, Crush series, Military Madness, Bonk series). You guys keep talking about gamers, gamers, gamers, but your examples resort to the very few collectible games on the system. Why get up in arms over the price of cardboard when you can buy the HUcards (is that better?) for a fraction of the cost?

[Arkhan]

Every game on the Turbob is good.  They are all worth owning.

Soldier Blade is no exception to the rule.

Some of the rare NES games aren't worth two f*cks in a barrel.

[KingDrool]

Every game on the Turbob is good.  They are all worth owning.

C'mon, man. I think you're great and all, but...Night Creatures?

[KingofGames]

There are NES collectors who feel the same way. Hell, I'm sure there are CD-i collectors who feel every game is worth experiencing. At the end of the day, experiencing the Turbo Grafx is not a very expensive endeavor outside of Magical Chase, especially compared to other classic systems. Now if you're talking about boxed games, you're heading into collector territory. I listed that copy of Soldier Blade at $.99. It hit $200 within an hour or so. If I listed the same game without the cardboard, it might not even top $100. As a HUcard, it would probably hit $60.

[Arkhan]

Night Creatures is the bottom of the barrel basically and its still not THAT bad.

It plays like any other jankass platformer made by white dudes


also, the music is creepy.  It does a good job of being spooky game music.

[vestcoat]

My point is that the Turbo Grafx isn't privy to the same price gouging that the NES is subject to. There are few games that eclipse $100. There is only one game that tops $1000. In the grand scheme of things, the Turbo is barely affected by resellers. There are TONS of fantastic games that are dirt cheap (Blazing Lazers, Ninja Spirit, Neutopia, Bloody Wolf, Crush series, Military Madness, Bonk series). You guys keep talking about gamers, gamers, gamers, but your examples resort to the very few collectible games on the system. Why get up in arms over the price of cardboard when you can buy the HUcards (is that better?) for a fraction of the cost?

Dude. Eat shit.  Don't tell a bunch of people who've been playing Turbografx for 20 years that the artificially-inflated prices for our games and your price gouging in particular aren't that bad because something else is worse. And don't do it in the goddamn gouging thread. If you want to go sit in front of your computer and imagine that you're not contributing to the pussification of America by reselling crap on ebay, fine, but stay on ebay and stop trying to be our friends.  The problem with you free market ebay parasites is that you're not even self sufficient: you need Racketboy to tell you about the systems you missed and you need us to hook you up with good deals, sidestep ebay fees, tell you how much games are worth, how they were originally packaged, and all of the other stuff that you're too dumb to figure out.

[KingofGames]

I've been familiar with the Turbo Grafx for over 10 years. I just found out about this site a few months ago. I work a regular 40 hour, 5 day work week. I browse Ebay here and there for solid deals. I comb through the local swap meet and thrift stores occassionally looking for solid deals. I don't need anyone to tell me what's worth picking up. Can you explain how I price gouged with a $.99 auction?

[KingDrool]