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The Art of Purchasing Used Games
From Press The Buttons, an article entitled Acquisition: The Art Of Purchasing Used Video Games. In it, the author lays out useful tidbits for getting the most from your hard earned gold pieces. From the article: "Yes, you could go all willy-nilly and toss a handful of game paks into a shopping cart down at the local Electronics Boutique, but the most obvious way of obtaining a used video game is not always the most economical. Allow me to share with you a few rules I have learned over the years about locating and acquiring used video game entertainment."
'Keeping the second hand market pirates afloat is NOT a worthwhile tactic."
I'm confused: Did I miss a part of the article where he recommended buying 'backup copies' of games, or are you confused about the legality of selling used software?
"Derp de derp."
This fluff piece was so devoid of helpful tips created a vaccuum it actually sucked useful knowledge out of all of the articles around it.
All the author seemed to care about are the most common Nintendo games-- Zelda and Mario. Is it really that hard to figure out how to get a deal on those? I mean, they only made millions of those carts... Why not tell us how to find something off the beaten track, like rare Dreamcast RPGs?
He suggests buying new games that bundle or repack the classics on different systems (e.g. the original Super Mario Brothers on a Game Boy.) Never mind that many retro gamers want to own the original cartridge on the original system-- it's not just about the actual game (why not just use an emulator?), but recreating the experience. A game boy doesn't play the same as the NES.
His advice for eBay buyers is ridiculous. Of course you check the sender's location, that's eBay 101. Anyway, I don't recall ever seeing a flood of used game (or used anything!) sellers from China-- at most, there might be one or two UK or Australian sellers on a page.
I could go on, but it's just too sad. Need we be subject to college newspaper quality articles just because they're about games?
Garage sales, garage sales, garage sales. You can pick up old cartridges by the bucketload for a few dollars at most garage sales. You can usually make a reasonable but small offer on the whole bunch and walk away with a crate of goodies. Plus these usually happen about the time that college students move out, so head on over to a college town around the beginning of June and get some steals.
Going out-of-business sales and police auctions are your friends. A lot of people have a lot of old or used merchandise sitting around, and if you keep your ears up you can get some amazing deals.
If you're going to E-bay, check the lowest price that the game has gone for in the past year, and stick with that price over time. Don't go over. It's easy to get swept up in bidding wars, but if youre patient the price always comes down to something reasonable. I've seen Ikaruga go for as high as 60 dollars the month before I picked mine up for 25.
And if you don't really want to have it, but just want to try it, go with redoctane or another online game rental company. They're a lot cheaper than picking up a series of titles that don't deserve to be played for more than a day or two.
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