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Ebay game prices

KilarneyKilarney
edited November 2006 in Video Games
I've been looking at Ebay from time to time for Nintendo DS games. Is it just me, or are the prices wacky? I can't tell you how many games are going for more than retail.

Check out this auction where Nintendogs Lab & Friends is going for $31 plus $5 shipping. You can buy it new from Toys R Us for $30 with free shipping!

This is just one of many that I've seen that are more than retail.

How about this person who bid $9.46 for The Sims 2 Pets. Not bad until you see that shipping from Hong Kong is $26.51!

Overall, it just seems like there are too many clueless consumers out there to make Ebay a good deal. Sure, the occasional steal may come up, but in general the prices seem to be quite high.

I assume some of this is an international effect, but it makes looking for games on Ebay an often fruitless activity.

Comments

  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    Hey! That's my secondary income your dissing!
  • KilarneyKilarney
    edited November 2006
    How is it that Play-Asia can ship from Hong Kong for less than $3, whereas the Hong Kong Ebay sellers charge $20+ for shipping?

    I ordered my first game from Japan. Don't laugh.... it's Curling. I figured that it's chance of being released in the USA are slim to none - with an emphasis on none. Believe it or not, I'm a big fan of curling. I live a short drive from the Canadian border, so I guess it's rubbed off on me. There is a surprising amount of strategy to curling - much of which I'm still learning.

    Hopefully the Japanese won't be too bad. I'm a little nervous, though. For $22, I figured it was worth a gamble.
    Post edited by Kilarney on
  • HankHank
    I've been looking at Ebay from time to time for Nintendo DS games. Is it just me, or are the prices wacky? I can't tell you how many games are going for more than retail.
    I have seen this of late for some Nintendo GBA games I am seeking for my son. Copies of Pokemon Leaf Green and Fire Red are typically going for full retail, when shipping is factored in.

    I figure the "winners" just want the game more than I do. I'll end up at Target, getting that awesome high: immediate gratification.
    Overall, it just seems like there are too many clueless consumers out there to make Ebay a good deal. Sure, the occasional steal may come up, but in general the prices seem to be quite high.

    I assume some of this is an international effect, but it makes looking for games on Ebay an often fruitless activity.
    I wonder how much of this comes from the marketing strategy of eBay. We don't have "high bidders", we have "winners" in an auction; auctions I give up on are listed in My eBay as "Items I didn't win". What does the winner win? He wins the right to pay for the item and shipping. He also gets to take on the pain in the rear associated with the transaction. Some prize.

    I can imagine someone bidding something up for reasons that have nothing to do with the item. I was once the beneficiary of a pissing match between three board gamers. I had a copy of the Civilization (board game) Western Extension Map that I bought for about $10 in 1987. Three guys got to bidding, and the winner paid me $80 for a piece of cardboard and a single photostat copy of some rules. Go figure.

    Cheers,

    Hank
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    I was involved in a similar pissing match over a shrink-wrapped copy of an AD&D Permanent character Record Folder. It hit $225 before I dropped out.

    Within 3 days eBay was flooded with them and I bought ten for a total of $50!
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    Some of them are good some not, the postage on some things is CRAZY! Its really getting an issue and I think eBay will have to do something about it soon. I've got some xbox games for sale at the moment, if anyone is interested whisper me on email me and I'll give you the details.
  • MarcusNobleMarcusNoble
    Well I usually sell the old games I don't play any more on Ebay since the EB Games gives you shit for trade in value. As for shipping, I just let Ebay automatically calculate it based on where it will be shipped. Sometimes I don't get much, but the most I ever got for a game was the winning bid on one of the older Playstation 2 DDR games, someone bid $40, with $3 for shipping. Well I'm not complaining, more money for me :)

    Yeah I'm a greedy bastard, but at least I admit it ;)
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    I bought set of DVDs for $50 in the store and a few months later sold it on eBay for $70, to someone who lived in Australia and could have gone to Target and bought the set new for less than $50. If someone wants to pay too much for something thats their problem in my view.

    As for postage I usually add on a couple dollars to the cost of postage for the cost of the packaging and my time to get it organised, some places go crazy though. I was going to buy some earrings for like $1 and it was $15 postage! Now I know that posting earrings to me would only cost at most $5 and even that is high. People use it as a way to get out of paying more fees to eBay, since eBay calculates how much they charge you on the basis of how much you put in as a minimum bid not how much it is total.
  • EsonLinjiEsonLinji
    As one who has been burnt by underestimating shipping on eBay, I fully understand people putting high postage on stuff. A few months ago I sold my megadrive, and thought 15 bucks would be enough postage. Then someone on the other side of the country bought it, so that the shipping costs meant I lost out a few bucks. Got Damn. Anyway, next time I'm putting the shipping price way up.
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    Then someone on the other side of the country bought it, so that the shipping costs meant I lost out a few bucks.
    Doesn't your postal service have a postage calculator?
  • AprecheApreche
    Then someone on the other side of the country bought it, so that the shipping costs meant I lost out a few bucks.
    Doesn't your postal service have a postage calculator?
    Yes, the problem is that postage is different if you have to send to someone in your own town or if you have to send to someone on the other side of the country. You don't know where you are going to send it until someone wins the eBay auction. You have to post the shipping and handling costs when you create the eBay auction. eBay should do something to fix this problem. They should integrate with USPS/UPS/FedEx to provide accurate shipping calculators. The seller shouldn't decide shipping and handling costs, just the size and weight of the item they are selling.
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    Then someone on the other side of the country bought it, so that the shipping costs meant I lost out a few bucks.
    Doesn't your postal service have a postage calculator?
    Yes, the problem is that postage is different if you have to send to someone in your own town or if you have to send to someone on the other side of the country. You don't know where you are going to send it until someone wins the eBay auction. You have to post the shipping and handling costs when you create the eBay auction. eBay should do something to fix this problem. They should integrate with USPS/UPS/FedEx to provide accurate shipping calculators. The seller shouldn't decide shipping and handling costs, just the size and weight of the item they are selling.
    Interesting, ebay.com.au allows you to set it up so you don't have to specify postage but have people tell you their postcode and then tell them. I'm sorry if that wasn't a great sentence but I was having trouble saying what I wanted to say. Also Australia Post has pre-paid postage bags that are the same price all over Australia.
  • EsonLinjiEsonLinji
    Yes, well I have learnt my lesson the hard way.
  • MamathMamath
    edited November 2006
    Not a video game but still a classic case of either stupid buyers or a stupid bidding war. Or both.

    Also, I just bought Superstar Saga from EB today for $22.50 AU. On Ebay it'd be at least $50 and probably a cheap fake anyway. WTF people who often buy games off of Ebay for ridiculous prices + shipping and the inconvenience of waiting!
    Post edited by Mamath on
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    Not a video game but stilla classic case of either stupid buyers or a stupid bidding war.Or both.
    DUDE! Two gift vouchers for $100 each! That's worth well over $200! I'd have to drive like 10 minutes to get to my nearest David Jones!
  • KilarneyKilarney
    Unless prices in other regions are much higher, I can't understand paying $42.50 for Pirates of the Caribbean, especially when shipping is $12.00. $39 for the Sims Pets doesn't seem so great, either. $50 for Garfield 2 makes perfect sense, though.
  • AprecheApreche
    Unless prices in other regions are much higher, I can't understand paying$42.50 for Pirates of the Caribbean, especially when shipping is $12.00.$39 for the Sims Petsdoesn't seem so great, either.$50 for Garfield 2makes perfect sense, though.
    Look at the high bidders for all of those auctions. They all live in the UK or Australia. If you think the US gets the shaft on video games compared to Japan, you should go to either of those places. If you then think they have it rough, go to South Africa. If you then think they have it rough, go to Mongolia. There are plenty of modern countries out there where video games are not easy to come by. They're lucky if they have PS2s. In Brazil the SEGA Genesis is very popular, I shit you not. While you or I will not be willing to pay such high prices for games, people who don't have EB/Gamestop are very willing. This is why you should sell your game on eBay instead of to the store.
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