Every now and then I browse the the local Value Village. Sometimes, you can find some neat things for a relative bargin that is worth picking up.
For those of you not familiar with Value Village, the way the work is this. They are a “second hand store” that has items donated to it (usually stuff that would be thrown away or given to charity) and they in turn sell it for a small price. They pay their expenses and then, from what I understand, the remainders go to charity. I think in my city, to the Diabetes society.
Well, I walked in there yesterday. I saw they had a circa 1980 (or so) Atari 2600. It came with a couple of joysticks, paddles, Combat!, Adventure and a couple other cartridges.
I thought “Neat! I kind of wanted one of these. I think I’ll pick it up!” I was expecting it to cost, oh, $15-$20 or so. I then look at the tag: $129.99.
I thought it must be a typo. I asked a staffmember. Nope. Thats what it was. I was dumbfounded.
For those even slightly curious, it is identical to this but had even fewer cartridges.
I would have paid even a few bucks more than market price for them, as part of the proceeds do go to charity. But it was over $100 overpriced.
That’s insane, especially since that’s what they used to cost new.
I’m not sure if you’ve seen these Atari joystick thingys, I got one as a present and it’s given me all the nostalgia without having to deal with the crappy RF switchbox.
Value Villages are very much a hit or miss operation. Some of them cahrge WAYYY too much for stuff, but others charge wayyyyy too little. I snagged a doctor’s scale for $12 at a VV just t’other day, you simply have to learn which ones have bargans and which ones are overpriced.
You can download emulators of most older game systems complete with all the games ever made for very little money. I know that the old Intellivision system can be had for $20 or so with every game that was made for it.
I know, I know, it’s not the same playing on a keyboard.
I got a 2600 at a storage auction, with about 5-10 games, slightly chewn (dog chewmarks on the joysticks) for one dollar. Nobody wanted it. $129 is insane, unless it’s in Hong Kong Dollars.
I think sometimes they think they’re competing with other markets. For instance, I used to get books there for 50c each, until (probably), they realized they should be competing with used book stores, 'cause the prices went up to almost exactly the same.
Mayhaps some clerk decided someone could probably get that much for something like it on E-bay, and went for it. I agree; their computer equipment is usually archaic, overpriced, and incomplete. It’s like a garage sale, without the bargaining. But sometimes they have good books.
I sell collectables and toys. I once bought a Kiss trash can for $1 and sold it for $100. Most people don’t realize the value of what they have.
Some people *think* that they do. They see a price on Ebay or flip through a price guide at a bookstore. Then, they assume that what they have is worth that much. They ignore things like condition, missing parts or accessories, or that they have the extremely common model 7G, not the rare 7H which is worth 10 times as much.
These people are a big pain in the butt to deal with. Yes, a cerified working 2600, that's a certain model, and comes with a few things could go for $129 on Ebay. If the few games and the 2600 were mint in package, I could easily sell them for that much at show(actually, my gut tells me I could get more).
A beaten up 2600 in thrift store has a selling price of $25 at the absolute outside.
But, you'll never convince these people of that. They checked the price in a book! They're on to your tricks! Logic is useless.
At an antique show I asked for the price on a plastic figurine of the Daoist god of long life. I expected that it would be under $10 and would make a nice gift for Mom's Hannukah pile. The woman gave me a high price, explaining that it was ivory.
The piece was not even imitation ivory. The finish was obviously plastic. The texture was obviously plastic. The smell was obviously plastic. I gently pushed the head. The neck stretched slightly. I removed the pressure and it returned to its previous shape and position. My mother is an antique collector and dealer. I’ve been handling ivory since I was old enough to understand the concepts of ‘wash your hands first’ and ‘fragile’.
I've also learned a lot about reading sellers. This woman wasn't trying to take advantage of me. As far as she knew, she was telling the truth and giving a fair price.
I spent 15 minutes trying to convince her. Nothing. I was tempted to simply snap off the head and show her the stump. Then, I realised that even the lack of internal grain might not convince her and I'd have to pay a ridiculous price for broken, plastic figurine.
Sometimes they don’t even check a book. They just make assumptions. We were in an antique shop in Missouri and were interested a couple glasses the same as our everyday set, red tumblers with a short clear stem. But he wanted $20 apiece for them! We paid less than that for a set of six. I told him his price was a bit high.
“These are made by Arcoroc in France,” I said, “everyday dinner sets circa 1980.”
“But they’re from France,” he said, showing me that on the bottom of the glasses was the word “France” indeed.
I said, “Yes, but they’re ARCOROC. And not even old.”
He stared blankly at me.
“Arcoroc! It’s like the Libbey Glass of France!”
“Well,” he shook his head, “I think some people would be willing to pay that much for glasses if they came from France.”
If you are not an educated shopper, you are a victim. Pure and simple.
I have spent years and many hundreds of dollars making unwise purchases. I have also spent decades and thousands of dollars acquiring massive collections that are worth on the order of one hundred thousand dollars, minimum.
An example. A worn Buck Ranger folding hunting knife at Salvation Army. Price? $69.[sup]00[/sup] fucking dollars**!** You can probably buy one brand new for a few bucks (get it?) more. I summoned the store manager (whom I know pretty well) and indicated how overpriced the item was. I routinely do my best to educate this person as to correct values for items I find to be overpriced.
Please note that I did not say I educate them about items that are underpriced. Thank you.
A recent purchase at the exact same store? A good condition Parker Classic **sterling silver ** pen and pencil set. This is one of my favorite designs of all time. The exact same pen in the eBay link is at almost $30.[sup]00[/sup], AND THAT IS JUST FOR THE PEN ALONE.
My price for the set, in very good to excellent condition?
Wait for it …
$4.[sup]50[/sup]
Zenster knows how to shop.
PS: Doc Cathode, bravo on the Kiss trash can, I’m glad to hear you have the eye for such stuff. I admire that in a person.
Prices there vary wildly. I once got a practically brand-new Ann Taylor cashmere sweater there for $2. It cost more than that to dry-clean the darn thing.
I worked as an amateur and part time dealer in rare books. These types of price discrepancies were much more common and extensive than they would be for things like clothes or collectables.
The problem was that any given dealer has limited expertise confined to his or her specialty. So some books were drastically overpriced, others underpriced.
I only ever made out well enough to feel guilty twice. The first was a copy of Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring. It was a bit beat up with a torn dust jacket. The book store, dealing in mostly scholarly books, figured someone would take it for $5. It was the first printing of the first American edition. I sold it on Ebay for $810. The second was a single illustration of fruit from a book called The Pomona Brittanica. I bought if for 50 pounds from a British country auction over the internet. I sold it for $400. It was only later I found out is was worth at least several thousand dollars.
The OP is right though that Ebay has brought out hordes of self styled pricing experts that do not know what they are doing. It is much harder to find underpriced material than it was just a few years ago.
