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I think we’ve all been there at some point. You see the warning signs but keep going because you’ve already mentally committed. I felt so bad for the Wii and Xbox junk purchase but the handhelds and loose games there helped a lot. Glad you shared both you good finds and the bad ones this time! Keep up the great energy with these videos
For me if i saw a giant tote of games like that and they're not a blatant reseller. I would ask how much for one or two and if its under 5 then you ask how much for the tote; then atleast you have a better edge for negotiation. They saw you would pay up way too fast and started deep researching lol but hey We've all made mistakes. Great video Dabblet! ❤
Great suggestion! I think you’re absolutely right, as soon as I said I would take them all, they had jackpot bells going off in their head haha Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it!
I love how people who know nothing about the gaming market somehow think they’re sitting on legit gold bars just because they looked up one game and saw a listed price probably not even sold price.
So true! One Google search and they’re like “we’ve hit the jackpot!” Meanwhile, they’re seeing a mint, sealed copy and pricing their beat-up, untested junk at the same price!
Shovelware for $600 is crazy. We spoke about the collecting vs. Hoarding thing and I feel like the mindset of having a high number in your collection over quality is catching up/hurting you. (In this episode anyway I've been caught up and being overwhelmed at times but a deep breathe and checking comps is always a good move. But man this was a tough watch.
I was thinking of you when I edited this one haha - it definitely supports your thoughts about the hoarding mindset! Luckily I think my next few episodes will be back to on the cheap the way I like it!
@ElDabstroyero hey man we all get caught up and if we weren't all rooting for you it wouldn't hurt as much for us all watching. I just got overwhelmed myself at my local flea market with a new vendor bringing hundreds of games all no matter what ranging from $3 to $10 and I thought about you lol
@leeokami1021 nice! did you score anything interesting off the new vendor? Appreciate all the love and support! I’ve got such a rad group of Dabamaniacs on my tag team!
I use to collect like this back and the day, and the rush of finding a game I was looking for for like $2-$3 Canadian was wild. My favorite finds I can recall are FFXII CE for $3, a n64 with a bunch of accessories and games for $20 and a gamecube w/ the same for around $30 with complete games that go for faaaar more than that now. But I wasn't collecting to resell, I mostly just wanted to get the games back that my silly little self traded in or sold lol, and anything else cool I fond along the way. Anyway, know what took me out of it though? Bugs. I ended up getting bugs from somewhere, I won't say where because it was just a mom & pop and it was ages ago but it completely took me out the collecting game (heh) for a long time. If there's a lesson I can impart to ppl who collect it would be not to just check for quality & completion but also do a close inspection for bugs. I know it can be daunting if you're dealing with a large haul, but it's definitely worth it, you don't want to bring creepy crawlies into your home. Anyway, love watching these videos and sorry u got shafted here, but it could always be worse...
Hey RY! Great comment and I loved reading about your game hauls back in the day - awesome scores! You make a GREAT point about bugs and something us game hunters really don’t ever talk about. For me, I wipe down with a lysol wipe everything I get and (knock on wood) so far I’ve been lucky - just one dead stinkbug in a game case once haha.
My fiance calls making bad decisions for that big tub like you did at the beginning "junk drunk" and I've been guilty of it a few times over the years. You get so excited at the opportunity to buy stuff (because it's right there in front of you!), and rather then let it go when it's not the right price, you push through and buy it anyways. I've done it before with Ps2 lots I've found at the flea market (spending 100$ for 45$ worth in games total for just a 20$ game in the lot I wanted). Just need to be able to objectively keep yourself in check and you won't get buyers remorse. It comes with experience. If there's all NEW games to your collection though - or most of them aren't shovelware or commons - sometimes spending up IS a good way to build rapport with someone. One guy I used to go to at a flea near me (who would scour the place all day) would hold the random off-market Ps1 and SNES controllers he'd find and toss them in a tub and sell them to me untested at like 5$ a piece (because he only wanted OEM controllers to pair with his systems he would try and resell). I made out like a bandit with some of those over the years!
Your fiancé may be a genius, because “junk drunk” sounds absolutely right. I was blinded by game lust haha! I know for sure I have done the exact same and I’m sure I’ll get burned again - we’re rolling the dice sometimes haha That’s a good point - that’s awesome that you built that level of rapport, what was your favorite pickup from that guy? Say hello to the fiance for me and thanks again for the love!
I feel like this is something all resellers are going to come across more and more. People are becoming more and more aware of what things cost. Where I’m from (Toronto, Canada) almost everyone knows. It’s not often you find good deals.
Hey AWC! I think you make a really good point, the only distinction I would make would be that in this case, I think they thought they knew more than they actually knew haha - unfortunately for me, I kind of bit on that facade and ended up getting a bunch of overpriced common stuff. But lesson learned!
First off, thanks for even having the courage to show this knowing how bad it was lol. My heart actually sank when you said the DS cases were empty. I went from thinking this was hands down the worst deal I have ever seen someone make for gaming to truly feeling sad for you. I'm pissed you let those jerks get over on you. The lady MAY have been clueless about values although I think she probably new she was way overpricing. The boy though... he knew he was jerking you. When they got you to pay so much the first time, he probably ran top speed to dig out all the stuff they had and couldn't wait to give you the call to get your butt back over there. Probably would have offered to come pick you up if you said you were having car problems. You want a hot dog? You want some ice cream? Can I rub you feet? Anything for you friend.
Thanks man! If I lost that much money on the deal, I had to at least make back my $2.48 from TH-cam ad revenue haha! The cases being empty was such a huge blow to me. I did even follow up with the seller and they said they would look for them, but never heard from them again so it definitely stings!! 🥲🥲 So funny you mention them running to find more games because I think that is exactly what happened, that guy showed up with the xbox 360 bundle for $300 and I was thinking, no way they didn’t tell him I was Mr Moneybags or something haha. I deserved a foot rub and a hot dog after that pain haha 😂
@@ElDabstroyero I was thinking the same thing that hopefully you at least get some money back on the video views and this one gets you more viewers on your vids in the future. Yeah man don't sweat it though, you've had some good deals and will get more in the future so it will even this one out.
So true! The benefit to hunting on the cheap (normally) is that I can eat a bad day every now and then and still come out ahead - but still I’ll be glad to have this episode behind me haha
You might be the worst buyer when it comes to buying video games and evaluating the cost. Its been a while since ive seen someone get ripped off so hard. All I gotta say is... I love it 🤣 its so human and im tired if always seeing "I got a $700 game for 25 cents!" videos when a lot of them seem fake. I hope you get better luck and thanks for reminding us all that sometimes life screws us but we move on and learn from it.
Thanks haha! I’m honestly not an expert, I just love the hunt! And this was probably my biggest fail I’ve ever had, literally it was eating me up inside, and I decided the most cathartic thing to do was share my pain! 🤪
Thank you as always for an entertaining video. What I have trouble understanding: you pass on true retro games such as the NES or Genesis Bundles for 40$ each in the beginning of the video. Even the tub of Genesis games with the console at the last seller doesent seem to interest you. But you do buy DS or xbox 360 games without really thinking about it. In reality, as you often mention yourself, it is very rare to find true retro games, however if given the choice you dont even look at them and focus on ps2, ds and xbox which can be found at every single yard sale.
Hey Pete! Thanks for dropping a reply! Sometimes it honestly comes down to me being really dumb or careless - or having a plan that doesn’t work out. In this case, I reallllly wanted that Genesis tote, but as I’m haggling with them I’m mentally juggling the filming/footage on top of trying to make a deal and in my haste I misjudged how many DS games there were - in my head I was thinking the tote was 2 rows deep, so comparing that to the Genesis games (with the console I didn’t need/want really) where I knew there were probably 5 good ones and the rest more common, the DS tote ended up being the one I went for. In hindsight, I made the totally wrong choice, obviously. 😇
Thank you for your kind reply. Don't get me wrong, I am by no means calling your actions dumb. I couldn't think straight if I had to juggle a camera while I game hunt. It is just interesting for me to see what you prioritize. I live in Switzerland, so perhaps the market is quite different here. I can pick up wii, DS or 360 games very easily here for 1-3$. However finding NES or Genesis ganes in the wild is really rare. I haven't seen any for under 25$ and no consoles for under 80$. Maybe its also just because those old consoles mean a lot more to me than the newer stuff. Regardless, I really enjoy your videos and love to see how game hunting in the US differs from here. I come to your part of the world quite often, and always try to do some yard sale hunting while I am there. It takes a lot of time to find yard sales nearby and in your case to film it all to share your journey with people from all over. Thanks for all the entertaining content! P.S. I also struggle with getting fine line between collecting and hoarding. Sometimes the thrill of finding someting leads to bad decisions. And believe me, I can't tell you how often I got carried away and bought a empty case or one with the wrong game in it. Regards ti PA from Switzerland Peter
No worries! I'm calling myself dumb, haha - I make mistakes all the time, it's all part of learning as we go! Ideally I would prioritize the older stuff, but loose NES carts you can still find fairly common titles regularly, so I may be a little more selective about that. It's always so interesting to hear about the game hunting experience others have, it's fascinating! That's awesome! You're game hunting around the world, talk about #goals! Great chatting with you, pETE!
Man U r extremely lucky. I went yard saling today and there was good stuff but everything was so over priced🙄 but I think that girl was ridiculously overpriced the games.
@@ElDabstroyero unfortunately I didn’t go to Quakertown I believe I went to olde engine antique store and I got some games as well as a Nintendo players guide but it’s passcodes and cheat codes. Literally the best art work
We have all been there at some point, I over paid years ago for a amiga500 with games listed as working ,the games were covered in mould,but I did manage to get the amiga working after a massive clean up
Been there, done that. Not for thát kind of money, but otherwise the same "learning curve". It felt awkward to watch, nice Transfomer ending though. That PSP is great.
I always look foward to your videos buddy! Thanks for sharing your hunts for us all to enjoy. You are definitely the most entertaining video game hunter in my humble opinion! Cant wait to see you hit your next milestone in collecting.
Thank you so much!! That means a lot to me! 🥰🥰 I’ve got some awesome episodes in the pipeline, about to start editing episode 74, so stay tuned for more shenanigans!
First of all, the side commentary timeouts were HILARIOUS. Second of all, don't worry Dab every collector has made a bad decision looking for quick additions. I once overpaid for a memory card. As long as it's not a habit it's a lesson! Keep going!
And one last thing: the fact that they charged you so much for those cases shows who they are more than who you are. You operated in good faith. Don't doubt yourself
Thanks glad you enjoyed them! I got to try something new and it seems like a lot of people enjoyed them, so win/win! So true! Making a bad call is just part of the hunt! You dust yourself off and get back out there! What was the story on the memory card?? Those I usually get in bundles, I can’t remember ever haggling over just a memory card lol Good point! I was working on good faith but still I have to get better at checking the cases! I get so distracted filming lol
Personally I would have grabbed the lunch box and been content with that, it's when you asked about the games is where you started to lose control when it came to the sale... when someone interjects like that guy did saying that those Wii games have value (most notably guitar hero) but everything else being just shovelware is where it started to become a shit show. I will say picking the Genesis titles was okay, but the asking price on the Genesis and games was definitely too high.
I think you really hit the nail on the head with this one. It really just snowballed out of control and got away from me - but like someone else mentioned, I paid for an education on this one!
Sometimes we buy our education! Yeah, this one’s not great, but now you know. Those people were talking, big and fast. Oh well, Still few good pieces in there!
I think we have all made similar mistakes, I recently bought a huge lot of PlayStation 2 games for around 3 dollars a game and unfortunately didn’t notice the games came from a home where the owner chain smoked, spent considerable time and $ trying to sanitize them with some success but most of the manuals were too far gone and probably broke even at best on them
Oh man I feel for you! When you think you can restore/recover something and then can’t, it is such a blow because you’ve invested time, money, and energy and netted zero for it in some cases!
Hey Dr Rhodess! I use apps, FB marketplace, and good old-fashioned hunting for yard sale signs to find the sales And then after that it call comes down to luck. I’d say 1/5 have something gaming and 1/15 has something gaming that is better than average.
Dust yourself off we've all made bad deals in negotiations. The important thing is to lean from our mistakes. Double and triple check the lot is it complete, what is the condition like are the any heavy hitters in the lot to warrent the sellers high price are they most filler titles and inexpensive games. What is the likelihood these game and or consoles will even work ect Never be afraid to walk away to gather your thoughts ask if you can take pictures to see what games you need that way to can calculate away from the sale. Start low and have a price you are comfortable paying if not walk away. You as a buyer hold all the power alway remember bigger and better deals will come up.
So true and these are words to live by for any other game buyers out there! Lots of great advice! I need to take you along on my next thrift hunt to show me the ropes haha :) Great to chat as always!
Just curious, are you including the cases with no games to your total count / collection and display the empty cases? Also, do you test each game if working?
Hey Chami! Great questions! I have a spreadsheet where I track all my games and I note if anything (manual, cover art, disc, etc) is missing. But it depends on the game if I track it or not. If it is rare or uncommon, then I count it even if it is incomplete. But usually I don’t include incomplete common games, just because I can find a complete one easily enough! Duplicates don’t get counted though, unless it is a special edition copy or something interesting like that! Like I may have Halo, but also have Halo in a steelbook edition. If a game looks damaged I’ll test it, or if it is one I want to play it gets tested, but some of the common stuff coming through I don’t test if it looks fine. I haven’t gotten many bad discs so far (knock on wood) but I have had one or two that wouldn’t play for me.
@@ElDabstroyerothat’s impressive, appreciate the detailed response! Been watching your vids since episode 1 and been curious for a while on how you keep track of your collection as I’m a collector myself but mostly Nintendo at around 500 games. looking forward for more game hunting episodes.
@chami_chichi2813 Wow thanks so much! You’ve been here since Thrifting Throwdown began! Do you have a favorite episode? Sounds like an awesome Nintendo collection! At some point I’m going to set up a website because I want the game collection spreadsheet/log to be visible to the Dabamaniacs! It’s one of many tasks on my to-do list haha
@@ElDabstroyero I like the episode where you score a working blue gba sp for $10 with some other goodies, drooling over that, so so cheap, also liked the episode where you score some 3ds games, hoping you could find more, you’re lacking of 3ds games. A website with spreadsheet of all your collection, love the idea. Wish it would be sooner so we could drool all over again knowing you got those games for cheap. Well, except for this episode! 😢😅
I agree! When I went back through the footage I was like damn, I shouldn’t have skipped Space Harrier and I also didn’t grab the Beavis and Butthead game sadly - failures in the heat of battle!
Painful to watch, any time someone comes up with an insane price like that I question where they came up with that, If they’re trying to get Amazon prices for their stuff I have to walk away, defeats the purpose of hitting yard sales to build a collection
Sorry for the pain haha! Hopefully it was at least a little entertaining too! But that’s a good tactic - sometimes people say a price and it is just what they saw something listed for once, but like condition/sealed/complete etc always applies, so their number could be way off base
I've watched about 15 or 20 of your videos now. This is not the first time you've bought games and later found out that the cartridges or discs were missing. You also need a better poker face. You show your cards too early and too much enthusiasm. You played yourself. Hopefully you learn from your mistakes. Happy thrifting!
Hey Wizard! Hope you’re enjoying the videos! I know someone else said it before, I’m basically paying for my education with my mistakes haha. Hopefully I get better as I go!
Been there dude but not paid that high though but definitely bought without looking in the boxes has I see they we're expensive but I got home both had cheap sports games in, definitely cheak before you buy . The people definitely saw you waving your money about and say we have someone here 😂 . You did the right thing walking from that higher price though .
Bro don't ever do that again🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️ those ppl robbed you! You gotta stop being so nice because ppl will take advantage of you, remember you're there to do business and buy low as possible, ppl have yard sales because they want to get rid of shit and they're definitely not a retail store with overheads/employees so they can 🖕 themselves 🤷♂️🤣 you can be cordial and respectful to a degree but just remember what you're there for brotha🤘
No doubt! This one ended up so bad for me! But I really thought the deal was going to turn to my favor at some point! But FOMO had me by the wallet this time lol
I am so confused??? One quick look/glance at them titles tells you most games are garbage in them totes, a few half decent games in the retro tubs but still nothing spectacular???? What was you buying on? I mean if you are a collector wouldnt you know what you was buying before buying it? Or are you collecting for the trend aspect and just to make videos? So confused at why you would pay 100s and 100s of dollars to much for that lot of commons?
Fair questions! This was a person I had talked to earlier and they gave me the impression they had a massive amount of retro games (boxed NES potentially), so the whole time in the back of my mind I was wanting to establish a relationship and keep the goodwill going, because I didn’t want to blow my shot at the good stuff. Of course, hindsight being 20/20, it didn’t work out that way, but that initial impression skewed everything I was doing. As far as knowing what I have… I’ve got around 2500 games at this point, so… no, not really haha. BUT I do log every game in a spreadsheet… but when I am filming and trying to make decent content, it makes it difficult to say hold on, let me shut down this video, so I can go browse through my document double checking a bunch of titles. Kind of a catch-22 in that regard. As far as why I’m collecting, I love the hunt, I like making silly videos, and I like showing people they don’t have to pay crazy reseller prices all the time to get some fun games (though of course, I blew it this time in that regard!) I know I don’t really hunt the same way a lot of others do, where their goal is pure efficiency to flip and make money, so I may not be everyone’s favorite, but I hope you and everyone else are at least getting some entertainment out of it! :)
@@ElDabstroyero Still doesnt make sense, a game collector, one into gaming, would know what titles are worth at a glance? I can walk around a flea market, a thrift store, an auction house and scan through boxes of titles in minutes and instantly know how much the box is worth to me? (without lists or phones!) So what I am saying is, it sounds like your collecting via want! or as a trend, rather than having any clue about the thing you have decided to collect? Least you could do is learn about the games a system has and maybe even see game footage of them so you know when you look at a box full of rubbish titles, it will save you paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars too much for them? I just find it a little odd.
@fire-retro Well, I can see why you would think that, because there are some TH-cam collectors/hunters who are wildly knowledgable and know just about everything there is to know! But keep in mind, I’m doing this as a hobby and learning as I go. And while I’ve been gaming and thrift-hunting my whole life, I really don’t actually have an encyclopedic knowledge of every game, game prices, etc. and am always shocked at just how much there is to learn. That said, I really don’t mind doing it this way because I like the excitement of new games, the thrill of the hunt, and even the pains of the defeats. It’s all part of the journey! Though, to your point, I could get better at looking things up as I go and all, I just feel so tacky pulling up ebay and price checking a pile of games - it takes the fun out of it for me, because for me I like the surprise! And also, like I said, when I am filming, it is difficult to pull out my phone to do other things as well, so definitely keep that in mind. At the end of the day, I totally understand if my style of game hunting is not your preference and everything though, either way, I hope this has been informative and thank you for watching! OH YEAH!
@@ElDabstroyero No worries, the video in itself was good, the decision making not so good. I hate seeing people being taken advantage of as it is! Sit down every single day for an hour looking into titles and prices of vintage games etc, if you do this every single day for about 3 months each time you go hunting your knowledge base will have increased. You don't need an encyclopedia of knowledge in your head, you just need to know what bulk shelf fodder is from good titles, one singular glance whether filming or not tells you instantly that them titles were not worth the amount of cash you spent. Its really as simple as that. Instead of learning as you go by making expensive mistakes try learning 'before you go' with all of your spare time to minimize risk, people who stumble on your videos that watch this who do yard sales in your area will know how easy it is to get you to overpay for their bulk tat ;)
I’m not gonna lie, $600 for mostly shovelwear is Not good. I know you are collecting games differently than other collectors but you are starting to slowly become a hoarder. You should focus on Quality games over quantity. I’m not hating, it’s just a suggestion. You can collect however you want. At least you learn from your mistake.
Totally fair suggestion! The proof is in the pudding on this one, I got burned hard! If I had picked out the best titles I may have gotten away with a better deal this time. But, hindsight is 20/20, all I can try to do is make sure I do better next time!
Kinda made me physically sick to watch this one. I was hoping you would walk away. Genesis stuff was the best probably got maybe $200 in stuff for $600. Sorry man
@@ElDabstroyero It happens. I have changed my habits this past year. I actually made a spreadsheet with games I actually want as opposed to just buying games for the sake of bulking up the collection. It has helped me when I get into a situation like this video I just thinking I would rather spend $600 on some super solid games that I will be happier with and also hold their value better in case I ever want to sell my stuff.
Thank you for checking out my channel! Be sure to hit SUBSCRIBE and check out more Thrifting Throwdown videos here:
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I think we’ve all been there at some point. You see the warning signs but keep going because you’ve already mentally committed. I felt so bad for the Wii and Xbox junk purchase but the handhelds and loose games there helped a lot. Glad you shared both you good finds and the bad ones this time! Keep up the great energy with these videos
Thanks man! Appreciate the love! For how much money I spent, I had to at least make a video to recoup my 2 dollars in TH-cam AD money haha
For me if i saw a giant tote of games like that and they're not a blatant reseller. I would ask how much for one or two and if its under 5 then you ask how much for the tote; then atleast you have a better edge for negotiation. They saw you would pay up way too fast and started deep researching lol but hey We've all made mistakes. Great video Dabblet! ❤
Great suggestion! I think you’re absolutely right, as soon as I said I would take them all, they had jackpot bells going off in their head haha
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it!
I love how people who know nothing about the gaming market somehow think they’re sitting on legit gold bars just because they looked up one game and saw a listed price probably not even sold price.
So true! One Google search and they’re like “we’ve hit the jackpot!”
Meanwhile, they’re seeing a mint, sealed copy and pricing their beat-up, untested junk at the same price!
Shovelware for $600 is crazy. We spoke about the collecting vs. Hoarding thing and I feel like the mindset of having a high number in your collection over quality is catching up/hurting you. (In this episode anyway
I've been caught up and being overwhelmed at times but a deep breathe and checking comps is always a good move. But man this was a tough watch.
I was thinking of you when I edited this one haha - it definitely supports your thoughts about the hoarding mindset!
Luckily I think my next few episodes will be back to on the cheap the way I like it!
@ElDabstroyero hey man we all get caught up and if we weren't all rooting for you it wouldn't hurt as much for us all watching. I just got overwhelmed myself at my local flea market with a new vendor bringing hundreds of games all no matter what ranging from $3 to $10 and I thought about you lol
@leeokami1021 nice! did you score anything interesting off the new vendor?
Appreciate all the love and support! I’ve got such a rad group of Dabamaniacs on my tag team!
@ElDabstroyero yeah just posted on my tiktok all the finds but the big one was PS4 Godzilla for $10
@leeokami1021 Nice! Love Godzilla!
Loved how real the transaction was & your transparency on the matter this was a scary deal.
Thanks, Fuuton! It was a deal I’ll probably never forget (even if I may want to haha) - but it was full of good lessons at least!
I use to collect like this back and the day, and the rush of finding a game I was looking for for like $2-$3 Canadian was wild. My favorite finds I can recall are FFXII CE for $3, a n64 with a bunch of accessories and games for $20 and a gamecube w/ the same for around $30 with complete games that go for faaaar more than that now. But I wasn't collecting to resell, I mostly just wanted to get the games back that my silly little self traded in or sold lol, and anything else cool I fond along the way. Anyway, know what took me out of it though? Bugs. I ended up getting bugs from somewhere, I won't say where because it was just a mom & pop and it was ages ago but it completely took me out the collecting game (heh) for a long time. If there's a lesson I can impart to ppl who collect it would be not to just check for quality & completion but also do a close inspection for bugs. I know it can be daunting if you're dealing with a large haul, but it's definitely worth it, you don't want to bring creepy crawlies into your home. Anyway, love watching these videos and sorry u got shafted here, but it could always be worse...
Hey RY! Great comment and I loved reading about your game hauls back in the day - awesome scores!
You make a GREAT point about bugs and something us game hunters really don’t ever talk about. For me, I wipe down with a lysol wipe everything I get and (knock on wood) so far I’ve been lucky - just one dead stinkbug in a game case once haha.
That fluffy pup is a Great Pyrenees I called mine fluffy butt and Zeusifer lol.
Aww! That’s great! I love yard sale dogs of every breed haha
My fiance calls making bad decisions for that big tub like you did at the beginning "junk drunk" and I've been guilty of it a few times over the years. You get so excited at the opportunity to buy stuff (because it's right there in front of you!), and rather then let it go when it's not the right price, you push through and buy it anyways.
I've done it before with Ps2 lots I've found at the flea market (spending 100$ for 45$ worth in games total for just a 20$ game in the lot I wanted). Just need to be able to objectively keep yourself in check and you won't get buyers remorse. It comes with experience.
If there's all NEW games to your collection though - or most of them aren't shovelware or commons - sometimes spending up IS a good way to build rapport with someone. One guy I used to go to at a flea near me (who would scour the place all day) would hold the random off-market Ps1 and SNES controllers he'd find and toss them in a tub and sell them to me untested at like 5$ a piece (because he only wanted OEM controllers to pair with his systems he would try and resell). I made out like a bandit with some of those over the years!
Your fiancé may be a genius, because “junk drunk” sounds absolutely right. I was blinded by game lust haha!
I know for sure I have done the exact same and I’m sure I’ll get burned again - we’re rolling the dice sometimes haha
That’s a good point - that’s awesome that you built that level of rapport, what was your favorite pickup from that guy?
Say hello to the fiance for me and thanks again for the love!
I feel like this is something all resellers are going to come across more and more. People are becoming more and more aware of what things cost. Where I’m from (Toronto, Canada) almost everyone knows. It’s not often you find good deals.
Hey AWC! I think you make a really good point, the only distinction I would make would be that in this case, I think they thought they knew more than they actually knew haha - unfortunately for me, I kind of bit on that facade and ended up getting a bunch of overpriced common stuff. But lesson learned!
@@ElDabstroyero we’ve all done it lol, and at least your honest about it!
First off, thanks for even having the courage to show this knowing how bad it was lol. My heart actually sank when you said the DS cases were empty. I went from thinking this was hands down the worst deal I have ever seen someone make for gaming to truly feeling sad for you. I'm pissed you let those jerks get over on you. The lady MAY have been clueless about values although I think she probably new she was way overpricing. The boy though... he knew he was jerking you. When they got you to pay so much the first time, he probably ran top speed to dig out all the stuff they had and couldn't wait to give you the call to get your butt back over there. Probably would have offered to come pick you up if you said you were having car problems. You want a hot dog? You want some ice cream? Can I rub you feet? Anything for you friend.
Thanks man! If I lost that much money on the deal, I had to at least make back my $2.48 from TH-cam ad revenue haha!
The cases being empty was such a huge blow to me. I did even follow up with the seller and they said they would look for them, but never heard from them again so it definitely stings!! 🥲🥲
So funny you mention them running to find more games because I think that is exactly what happened, that guy showed up with the xbox 360 bundle for $300 and I was thinking, no way they didn’t tell him I was Mr Moneybags or something haha.
I deserved a foot rub and a hot dog after that pain haha 😂
@@ElDabstroyero I was thinking the same thing that hopefully you at least get some money back on the video views and this one gets you more viewers on your vids in the future. Yeah man don't sweat it though, you've had some good deals and will get more in the future so it will even this one out.
So true! The benefit to hunting on the cheap (normally) is that I can eat a bad day every now and then and still come out ahead - but still I’ll be glad to have this episode behind me haha
You might be the worst buyer when it comes to buying video games and evaluating the cost. Its been a while since ive seen someone get ripped off so hard. All I gotta say is... I love it 🤣 its so human and im tired if always seeing "I got a $700 game for 25 cents!" videos when a lot of them seem fake.
I hope you get better luck and thanks for reminding us all that sometimes life screws us but we move on and learn from it.
Thanks haha! I’m honestly not an expert, I just love the hunt! And this was probably my biggest fail I’ve ever had, literally it was eating me up inside, and I decided the most cathartic thing to do was share my pain! 🤪
Thank you as always for an entertaining video. What I have trouble understanding: you pass on true retro games such as the NES or Genesis Bundles for 40$ each in the beginning of the video. Even the tub of Genesis games with the console at the last seller doesent seem to interest you. But you do buy DS or xbox 360 games without really thinking about it. In reality, as you often mention yourself, it is very rare to find true retro games, however if given the choice you dont even look at them and focus on ps2, ds and xbox which can be found at every single yard sale.
Hey Pete! Thanks for dropping a reply! Sometimes it honestly comes down to me being really dumb or careless - or having a plan that doesn’t work out.
In this case, I reallllly wanted that Genesis tote, but as I’m haggling with them I’m mentally juggling the filming/footage on top of trying to make a deal and in my haste I misjudged how many DS games there were - in my head I was thinking the tote was 2 rows deep, so comparing that to the Genesis games (with the console I didn’t need/want really) where I knew there were probably 5 good ones and the rest more common, the DS tote ended up being the one I went for.
In hindsight, I made the totally wrong choice, obviously. 😇
Thank you for your kind reply. Don't get me wrong, I am by no means calling your actions dumb. I couldn't think straight if I had to juggle a camera while I game hunt. It is just interesting for me to see what you prioritize. I live in Switzerland, so perhaps the market is quite different here. I can pick up wii, DS or 360 games very easily here for 1-3$. However finding NES or Genesis ganes in the wild is really rare. I haven't seen any for under 25$ and no consoles for under 80$.
Maybe its also just because those old consoles mean a lot more to me than the newer stuff.
Regardless, I really enjoy your videos and love to see how game hunting in the US differs from here.
I come to your part of the world quite often, and always try to do some yard sale hunting while I am there. It takes a lot of time to find yard sales nearby and in your case to film it all to share your journey with people from all over.
Thanks for all the entertaining content!
P.S. I also struggle with getting fine line between collecting and hoarding. Sometimes the thrill of finding someting leads to bad decisions. And believe me, I can't tell you how often I got carried away and bought a empty case or one with the wrong game in it.
Regards ti PA from Switzerland
Peter
No worries! I'm calling myself dumb, haha - I make mistakes all the time, it's all part of learning as we go!
Ideally I would prioritize the older stuff, but loose NES carts you can still find fairly common titles regularly, so I may be a little more selective about that. It's always so interesting to hear about the game hunting experience others have, it's fascinating!
That's awesome! You're game hunting around the world, talk about #goals!
Great chatting with you, pETE!
Man U r extremely lucky. I went yard saling today and there was good stuff but everything was so over priced🙄 but I think that girl was ridiculously overpriced the games.
Oh no! How was your hunt the other week? I think you went to Quakertown right? Trying to jog my memory haha
@@ElDabstroyero unfortunately I didn’t go to Quakertown I believe I went to olde engine antique store and I got some games as well as a Nintendo players guide but it’s passcodes and cheat codes. Literally the best art work
We have all been there at some point, I over paid years ago for a amiga500 with games listed as working ,the games were covered in mould,but I did manage to get the amiga working after a massive clean up
That’s great that you were able to salvage it at least - I don’t think I’ve ever even seen an Amiga in person
Amiga 500. That is such nostalgia for me. ♥️
Been there, done that. Not for thát kind of money, but otherwise the same "learning curve". It felt awkward to watch, nice Transfomer ending though. That PSP is great.
It happens to all of us for sure! I just was enough of a masochist to edit it into a video haha! Autobots, roll out!
I always look foward to your videos buddy! Thanks for sharing your hunts for us all to enjoy. You are definitely the most entertaining video game hunter in my humble opinion! Cant wait to see you hit your next milestone in collecting.
Thank you so much!! That means a lot to me! 🥰🥰 I’ve got some awesome episodes in the pipeline, about to start editing episode 74, so stay tuned for more shenanigans!
First of all, the side commentary timeouts were HILARIOUS. Second of all, don't worry Dab every collector has made a bad decision looking for quick additions. I once overpaid for a memory card. As long as it's not a habit it's a lesson! Keep going!
And one last thing: the fact that they charged you so much for those cases shows who they are more than who you are. You operated in good faith. Don't doubt yourself
Thanks glad you enjoyed them! I got to try something new and it seems like a lot of people enjoyed them, so win/win!
So true! Making a bad call is just part of the hunt! You dust yourself off and get back out there!
What was the story on the memory card?? Those I usually get in bundles, I can’t remember ever haggling over just a memory card lol
Good point! I was working on good faith but still I have to get better at checking the cases! I get so distracted filming lol
Personally I would have grabbed the lunch box and been content with that, it's when you asked about the games is where you started to lose control when it came to the sale... when someone interjects like that guy did saying that those Wii games have value (most notably guitar hero) but everything else being just shovelware is where it started to become a shit show. I will say picking the Genesis titles was okay, but the asking price on the Genesis and games was definitely too high.
I think you really hit the nail on the head with this one. It really just snowballed out of control and got away from me - but like someone else mentioned, I paid for an education on this one!
Caught up in the moment paid too much for that bin full of junk games.DONT GET FOMO it’s okay to pass
Absolutely! The FOMO kicked my butt this time!
Sometimes we buy our education! Yeah, this one’s not great, but now you know. Those people were talking, big and fast. Oh well, Still few good pieces in there!
Well said! I bought an Ivy League education this episode haha
I think we have all made similar mistakes, I recently bought a huge lot of PlayStation 2 games for around 3 dollars a game and unfortunately didn’t notice the games came from a home where the owner chain smoked, spent considerable time and $ trying to sanitize them with some success but most of the manuals were too far gone and probably broke even at best on them
Oh man I feel for you! When you think you can restore/recover something and then can’t, it is such a blow because you’ve invested time, money, and energy and netted zero for it in some cases!
I got some great games out of it but now they smell like a heavy dose of fabric sheets rather than smoke so it’s an improvement at least
Sounds like an upgrade to me! Nice job!
How do you find so many garage sales with video games
Hey Dr Rhodess! I use apps, FB marketplace, and good old-fashioned hunting for yard sale signs to find the sales
And then after that it call comes down to luck. I’d say 1/5 have something gaming and 1/15 has something gaming that is better than average.
Dud are you insane? I would have walked away. That stuff is worth $80 at a garage sale
Insane? Maybe haha. Bad at game hunting? Probably! 😇
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Dude said mortal kombat is 90$! WHAAAAT
It makes sense, they were just charging me micro-transactions - I have to pay $12 per character in the game 🙄
You gotta pay up if you want Kano haha
Damn they charged you 250 on a tub that I wouldn’t even pay $50 for such low end games :(
I took the bait, hook, line, and sinker!
Ouch.. 😂
Appreciate you sharing in my pain on this one haha 🤕😂
Dust yourself off we've all made bad deals in negotiations. The important thing is to lean from our mistakes. Double and triple check the lot is it complete, what is the condition like are the any heavy hitters in the lot to warrent the sellers high price are they most filler titles and inexpensive games. What is the likelihood these game and or consoles will even work ect Never be afraid to walk away to gather your thoughts ask if you can take pictures to see what games you need that way to can calculate away from the sale. Start low and have a price you are comfortable paying if not walk away. You as a buyer hold all the power alway remember bigger and better deals will come up.
So true and these are words to live by for any other game buyers out there! Lots of great advice!
I need to take you along on my next thrift hunt to show me the ropes haha :)
Great to chat as always!
Just curious, are you including the cases with no games to your total count / collection and display the empty cases?
Also, do you test each game if working?
How about the duplicates, are those also included in the total count?
Hey Chami! Great questions!
I have a spreadsheet where I track all my games and I note if anything (manual, cover art, disc, etc) is missing.
But it depends on the game if I track it or not. If it is rare or uncommon, then I count it even if it is incomplete. But usually I don’t include incomplete common games, just because I can find a complete one easily enough!
Duplicates don’t get counted though, unless it is a special edition copy or something interesting like that! Like I may have Halo, but also have Halo in a steelbook edition.
If a game looks damaged I’ll test it, or if it is one I want to play it gets tested, but some of the common stuff coming through I don’t test if it looks fine. I haven’t gotten many bad discs so far (knock on wood) but I have had one or two that wouldn’t play for me.
@@ElDabstroyerothat’s impressive, appreciate the detailed response!
Been watching your vids since episode 1 and been curious for a while on how you keep track of your collection as I’m a collector myself but mostly Nintendo at around 500 games.
looking forward for more game hunting episodes.
@chami_chichi2813 Wow thanks so much! You’ve been here since Thrifting Throwdown began! Do you have a favorite episode?
Sounds like an awesome Nintendo collection! At some point I’m going to set up a website because I want the game collection spreadsheet/log to be visible to the Dabamaniacs!
It’s one of many tasks on my to-do list haha
@@ElDabstroyero I like the episode where you score a working blue gba sp for $10 with some other goodies, drooling over that, so so cheap, also liked the episode where you score some 3ds games, hoping you could find more, you’re lacking of 3ds games.
A website with spreadsheet of all your collection, love the idea. Wish it would be sooner so we could drool all over again knowing you got those games for cheap. Well, except for this episode! 😢😅
in life, people who insist they have pure gold usually have dog doo. those people reeked of doo doo 😅
haha! Smells aside, I definitely stepped in it this time 😂😂
can't believe you didnt get Space Harrier II.......
I agree! When I went back through the footage I was like damn, I shouldn’t have skipped Space Harrier and I also didn’t grab the Beavis and Butthead game sadly - failures in the heat of battle!
Painful to watch, any time someone comes up with an insane price like that I question where they came up with that, If they’re trying to get Amazon prices for their stuff I have to walk away, defeats the purpose of hitting yard sales to build a collection
Sorry for the pain haha! Hopefully it was at least a little entertaining too! But that’s a good tactic - sometimes people say a price and it is just what they saw something listed for once, but like condition/sealed/complete etc always applies, so their number could be way off base
I've watched about 15 or 20 of your videos now. This is not the first time you've bought games and later found out that the cartridges or discs were missing.
You also need a better poker face. You show your cards too early and too much enthusiasm. You played yourself.
Hopefully you learn from your mistakes. Happy thrifting!
Hey Wizard! Hope you’re enjoying the videos! I know someone else said it before, I’m basically paying for my education with my mistakes haha. Hopefully I get better as I go!
Been there dude but not paid that high though but definitely bought without looking in the boxes has I see they we're expensive but I got home both had cheap sports games in, definitely cheak before you buy . The people definitely saw you waving your money about and say we have someone here 😂 . You did the right thing walking from that higher price though .
haha so true - they had dollar signs in their eyes when I walked up haha
@@ElDabstroyero we're always learning when we go hunting
@Retromicky82 Absolutely! The journey never ends!
Goodluck getting $4 for wii fit plus🤣🤣🤣 literally .05 cent title
Haha, I’ll let you have it 25% off! Just 3 bucks! Great deal!
Wow dude… as a collector and a reseller.
My condolences sir.. hard L fr
But good luck next time dude 🍀
So true! I blew it big time on this one, appreciate the love though - gonna save your luck for my next hunt!
Bro don't ever do that again🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️ those ppl robbed you! You gotta stop being so nice because ppl will take advantage of you, remember you're there to do business and buy low as possible, ppl have yard sales because they want to get rid of shit and they're definitely not a retail store with overheads/employees so they can 🖕 themselves 🤷♂️🤣 you can be cordial and respectful to a degree but just remember what you're there for brotha🤘
No doubt! This one ended up so bad for me! But I really thought the deal was going to turn to my favor at some point! But FOMO had me by the wallet this time lol
That’s alot for trash ds games love to find out where they learned the prices on those
Yep! I got burned! Pretty sure they had dollar signs in their eyes when they saw me lol
@@ElDabstroyero just found your videos and they’re great.
Thanks so much!!! I’m glad you’re enjoying the series! New episode is almost done being edited, so stay tuned for more!
I am so confused??? One quick look/glance at them titles tells you most games are garbage in them totes, a few half decent games in the retro tubs but still nothing spectacular???? What was you buying on? I mean if you are a collector wouldnt you know what you was buying before buying it? Or are you collecting for the trend aspect and just to make videos? So confused at why you would pay 100s and 100s of dollars to much for that lot of commons?
Fair questions! This was a person I had talked to earlier and they gave me the impression they had a massive amount of retro games (boxed NES potentially), so the whole time in the back of my mind I was wanting to establish a relationship and keep the goodwill going, because I didn’t want to blow my shot at the good stuff.
Of course, hindsight being 20/20, it didn’t work out that way, but that initial impression skewed everything I was doing.
As far as knowing what I have… I’ve got around 2500 games at this point, so… no, not really haha. BUT I do log every game in a spreadsheet… but when I am filming and trying to make decent content, it makes it difficult to say hold on, let me shut down this video, so I can go browse through my document double checking a bunch of titles. Kind of a catch-22 in that regard.
As far as why I’m collecting, I love the hunt, I like making silly videos, and I like showing people they don’t have to pay crazy reseller prices all the time to get some fun games (though of course, I blew it this time in that regard!)
I know I don’t really hunt the same way a lot of others do, where their goal is pure efficiency to flip and make money, so I may not be everyone’s favorite, but I hope you and everyone else are at least getting some entertainment out of it! :)
@@ElDabstroyero Still doesnt make sense, a game collector, one into gaming, would know what titles are worth at a glance? I can walk around a flea market, a thrift store, an auction house and scan through boxes of titles in minutes and instantly know how much the box is worth to me? (without lists or phones!) So what I am saying is, it sounds like your collecting via want! or as a trend, rather than having any clue about the thing you have decided to collect? Least you could do is learn about the games a system has and maybe even see game footage of them so you know when you look at a box full of rubbish titles, it will save you paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars too much for them? I just find it a little odd.
@fire-retro Well, I can see why you would think that, because there are some TH-cam collectors/hunters who are wildly knowledgable and know just about everything there is to know!
But keep in mind, I’m doing this as a hobby and learning as I go. And while I’ve been gaming and thrift-hunting my whole life, I really don’t actually have an encyclopedic knowledge of every game, game prices, etc. and am always shocked at just how much there is to learn.
That said, I really don’t mind doing it this way because I like the excitement of new games, the thrill of the hunt, and even the pains of the defeats. It’s all part of the journey!
Though, to your point, I could get better at looking things up as I go and all, I just feel so tacky pulling up ebay and price checking a pile of games - it takes the fun out of it for me, because for me I like the surprise! And also, like I said, when I am filming, it is difficult to pull out my phone to do other things as well, so definitely keep that in mind.
At the end of the day, I totally understand if my style of game hunting is not your preference and everything though, either way, I hope this has been informative and thank you for watching! OH YEAH!
@@ElDabstroyero No worries, the video in itself was good, the decision making not so good. I hate seeing people being taken advantage of as it is! Sit down every single day for an hour looking into titles and prices of vintage games etc, if you do this every single day for about 3 months each time you go hunting your knowledge base will have increased. You don't need an encyclopedia of knowledge in your head, you just need to know what bulk shelf fodder is from good titles, one singular glance whether filming or not tells you instantly that them titles were not worth the amount of cash you spent. Its really as simple as that. Instead of learning as you go by making expensive mistakes try learning 'before you go' with all of your spare time to minimize risk, people who stumble on your videos that watch this who do yard sales in your area will know how easy it is to get you to overpay for their bulk tat ;)
@fire-retro Understand what you’re saying and appreciate the advice!
I’m not gonna lie, $600 for mostly shovelwear is Not good. I know you are collecting games differently than other collectors but you are starting to slowly become a hoarder. You should focus on Quality games over quantity.
I’m not hating, it’s just a suggestion. You can collect however you want. At least you learn from your mistake.
Totally fair suggestion! The proof is in the pudding on this one, I got burned hard! If I had picked out the best titles I may have gotten away with a better deal this time.
But, hindsight is 20/20, all I can try to do is make sure I do better next time!
Kinda made me physically sick to watch this one. I was hoping you would walk away. Genesis stuff was the best probably got maybe $200 in stuff for $600. Sorry man
Believe me, I felt your pain on this one haha. But there’s always next time!
@@ElDabstroyero It happens. I have changed my habits this past year. I actually made a spreadsheet with games I actually want as opposed to just buying games for the sake of bulking up the collection. It has helped me when I get into a situation like this video I just thinking I would rather spend $600 on some super solid games that I will be happier with and also hold their value better in case I ever want to sell my stuff.
@Will-qd2km makes total sense to me! Great organization has to make the hunt a little smoother! What’s something you’re on the hunt for?
@@ElDabstroyero PS2 and PS3 jrpg mostly and fire emblem stuff
@Will-qd2km Nice! I was just thinking what RPG I want next
U should of walked away to much money your channel is buying on the cheap they had u over man 🥴
Too true! They really bent me over a Donkey Kong barrel on that one!