[Wreck]

I'm in a little war over a Space Quest game right now. I wonder if it's one of you .... *squint

[Fien]

Bidding wars are evil, they only drive up prices and if you really want the game, you end up paying way too much... but I'm sure you know all that.

Having said that, ebay has been very good to me. And it's like a game, lots of fun.

[Kolzig]

I've only once in my life been in a real bidding war, and it drove the price way too high, and I won the item in the end.

I paid something like 40 euros for Soul Calibur a few years ago...

Now I just try to avoid getting in a bidding war, I just drop out if someone starts to bid higher than me repeatedly

[QuietOne]

I think the most i've ever paid for a game on Ebay was around £25 for KOM, I really loved that game and I was really stupid to sell it all those years ago, but now I have it on my shelf. It may have been a bit much for it but it was worth it.

Wow, my first ever post on this wonderful forum, great site i'm glad that point and click adventures are not forgotten

[Wimli]

Ebay can be tricky. It's hard when there's a game on there you really want, to stop bidding when a bidding war develops. Now I always keep a price in my head before I start bidding that is the maximum amount I'll pay for an ebay auction. When the bidding war pushes the price over that number, I delete the auction from my ebay and hope for another opportunity to get my hands on that certain game. Being patient has already saved me loads of money in the end.

[Captain Blondebeard]

Originally Posted by Wimli

Ebay can be tricky. It's hard when there's a game on there you really want, to stop bidding when a bidding war develops. Now I always keep a price in my head before I start bidding that is the maximum amount I'll pay for an ebay auction. When the bidding war pushes the price over that number, I delete the auction from my ebay and hope for another opportunity to get my hands on that certain game. Being patient has already saved me loads of money in the end.

Agreed. I paid 210 dollars for a mint unopened copy of Zak MCKarcken and found the same rare copyweeks later shrinkwrapped for 90 dollars.

[Wreck]

Yeah I usually don't bid until the last 5 minutes. I watch for days. This particular guy had already bid on the game 13 times with 2 days left to go. I bid $20 a on a the game in the last 10 minutes and I was still outbid by his max... so I decided to be a jerk and keep bidding up till I reached his max (which was $40) that put the price at $41.50 with me as the winner. I had no intention of taking the game because I knew he'd bid $42 at the last 10 seconds.

He did

He had to pay $44 bucks rofl

[Giligan]

I'm sure the seller loves you.

[Dasilva]

You're so mean. lol.

[Merovia]

He he, I've never bid for a game on e-bay yet... But I've used E-bay for plenty of other things I've wanted...

And yes I've several times almost been caught in a bidding war, it's just a bit hard to pull away sometimes...

[Gonchi]

I've bid (and won) on ebay a bunch of times. Never got into a bidding war though. Guess I just don't want the games enough.

[Stoofa]

I paid a ridiculous amount for Phoenix Wright on eBay but it was absolutely worth it. That's the only game I've ever purchased on eBay, but if PW2 proves as hard to find I'll be back on eBay looking for it.

Once I won a sweater for 20.01, the other bidder's max was $20. I am STILL smug about this 6 years later.

[Evolution825]

Yeah, I once was in a bidding war and the product ended up twice as expensive, I even thought maybe the auctioneer asked his friend to drive the price up I usually go for buy it now these days, I use ebay a lot for games since I'm a storyline freak (ie: I physically can't play monkey island 3 unless I have won 1&2) which means I have to buy old games, which I like anyway...

[Venkman]

An expensive game that I want to buy is Panzer Dragoon Saga. It goes for around $175 now (too bad I didn't splurge and buy it for $80 in 2000). The thing is, I don't particularly care about keeping it - I just want to play it.

Do you ever buy a super-expensive game and then flip it, so that you basically wound up paying like $20 (buy$ - sell$ + shipping and fees) for a rental?

[MdaG]

I actually feel bad for the seller when I win a game for ~€1

[BlueStinger]

I love ebay. Aslong as you set yourself a budget and stick to it you'll be just fine. Although i must admit i have been tempted a few times to go over it

For easy profits keep an eye out in your local games shop/store. You'll always find very cheap used games that will sell for a good profit on ebay. I paid £4($7.50) for a used DVD version of PC Silent Hill 3 in my local independant games shop and promply sold it on for £22($41) After i beat it of course

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Venkman

Do you ever buy a super-expensive game and then flip it, so that you basically wound up paying like $20 (buy$ - sell$ + shipping and fees) for a rental?

Yep, have done that a couple of times. The extremely rare game Yellow Brick Road (by Synergy) for instance. Paid $150 for it on ebay, sold it for $125 on gametz.

Problem is, I've also sometimes used this kind of reasoning to lull my conscience and justify the high price I paid for a game that I was not really willing to give up again.

[Spikey]

I don't feel guilty about winning games cheaply!

I buy/sell Sierra games on eBay, and more often than not sellers rip you off with items not as descriebd, and usually there's no manuals or inserts included. That said, I just got Inca, Tubo Science, and Incredible Toon Machine sealed in the mail today from an awesome seller, so I'm happy.

- Spike

[Pinion]

Has anyone used the dollar/cost averaging method of buying? Example, you really want a game, go looking to buy it online because it's over a year old, lose patience and 'want it now', end up buying one for what you know is too much money. Then, rather than selling it for less you start looking for a 2nd copy, maybe sniping it for a lot less. You just averaged your price. So instead of 50.00 for one you spend 25.00 on a 2nd, ergo 75/2= 37.50, and a better price for both.

[Spikey]

Nope. I know what pretty much every Sierra game is worth by simplying watching auctions like a hawk for about 6 months, and over that time buying anything that's under $10 US.

Besides, that 'average price' logic at best is going to mean you purchase the game at an overall average price (in economic terms, 'break even'). And that's assuming your auction for the 2nd copy (assuming also you sell the worse quality one) doesn't go for less than the 'average' price! Just be smart and see what other recent similar quality games have gone for, if it's really rare and there isn't such data, simply bid what you think is fair. eBay's not hard to use, people just think too much.

- Spike