Am I a "Tight Wad"? Looking on Ebay for Games

[WiiSkier]

Theres nothing wrong with buying used or preowned games, just be careful, some people don't take good care of their discs and you may end up buying a game that doesn't work very well until you get it repaired by a place like extreme-mods. I've had to send them a few discs after my kids got ahold of them, and they did a great job. But if you have to pay for disc repair on top of buying the game then you might as well have just bought a new copy. The same goes for gamestop, you can't guarantee you'll get a copy any better than what you'd find on ebay or a flea market.

When people trade in a game to GameStop, the store inspects the disk for scratches or damage. Since usually 99% of the time it's a scratched or damaged game why it won't load on the console so if it's clean they assume it must play. With Ebay, you just HOPE the person you bought from sends you a game that's not scratched or damaged.

 

[KrisKhaos]

When people trade in a game to GameStop, the store inspects the disk for scratches or damage. Since usually 99% of the time it's a scratched or damaged game why it won't load on the console so if it's clean they assume it must play. With Ebay, you just HOPE the person you bought from sends you a game that's not scratched or damaged.

Generally the disc's condition is listed in the description, and if it's not, then give them some negative feedback and 1 star for "item is as listed". Luckily if the disc has not been re-surfaced more than once, you can have them done up like new again.

eBay is not for the faint of heart and good for those who don't mind a small risk for a more competitive price.

 

[vi3tmix]

When people trade in a game to GameStop, the store inspects the disk for scratches or damage. Since usually 99% of the time it's a scratched or damaged game why it won't load on the console so if it's clean they assume it must play. With Ebay, you just HOPE the person you bought from sends you a game that's not scratched or damaged.

Not entirely true. When I was trading in my PS2 to help offset some costs of Wii accessories...

I bricked a PS2 trying to mod it, and my copy of San Andreas was scratched to the point where some of the areas wasn't playable...yet they checked nothing, and gave me the credit for the trade-in I was asking for.
I almost felt sorry for them, but when they told me they were only going to give me $5 for 5 game trade-ins (just the games, not the console), my guilt was easily washed away.

At least it's easier to return items to them if something doesn't work. Just be sure to do it quickly, before they void the return policy on your purchase.

As far as eBay is concerned: Just look for people with good ratings and only people with good ratings. Also avoid using credit cards, preferably just stick to PayPal money transfers.

 

[Mendon]

I've never bought a used game from eBay but I do use GameFly. Very good deals on used games from GF (I just got Metroid 3 for $35!) but some games are in terrible condition. As an example, I just received a Godfather: Blackhand rental from GF and it looked like it had been dragged behind a car down a gravel road.

I would say you take a risk anytime you buy a used game without inspecting it first.


Mendon

 

[[DT]]

I won't even add any supplemental info, as everyone should just go back and read all of sremick's posts - they're well reasoned, concise "FAQs" for Ebay.

There are some posts in this thread that should pretty much be ignored, but I'll leave everyone to determine those for themselves...

 

[f1982]

Never had any problems getting used games on ebay.
They can't be bootlegs unless stated so. If they turn up scratched or are bootlegs, and didnt say so in the description, you can just send em back anyway.
I've never had that problem before though. They've always been in A+ condition.

 

[TomSawyer]

i've been buying all my games on ebay, most recently NES and sega genesis, and in addition to getting some of the harder to find titles (6-in-1 myriad version, bubble bath babes, california raisins on nes) got everything dirt cheap.
plus the only 2 times something messed up happened with the seller, ebay gave a complete refund

 

[smyth]

I constantly use ebay, not for Wii games however, i use it for NES games and records mostly. Kind of hard to find Metroid on NES at the local store, same goes for the UK Import of "Revolver"(and no it isn't the same on CD). Anyway you get my point. I generally don't buy Wii games though not because i've had a problem with ebay or anything like that but it's the convenience factor. I don't mind the waiting for the auction becuase if i really want something i do the "buy it now" i just hate waiting for it to arrive. I'd rather go down the street and get it used there still saving about $5-$10 and have it in my hand right away to play it.
The only problem i've actually ever had on ebay was with one seller who i asked about combined shipping, he said yeah just do the buy it now for all of them or bid on them and i'll send you an invoice. Well he sent me an invoice for 7 nintendo games with $35+ shipping!!! I asked him why in his store he has "lot" of 11 NES games and the shipping is $14? he told me i had to pay, i told him to shove it. He ended up giving me unpaid item strikes but ebay removed them after about a month. Just pay attention to shipping policies and when someone says the combine shipping, get an invoice before you actually click the "buy" button.

That's my only advice, aside from what others have already stated about good feedback and whatnot,

Kyle


(sorry for the long post also.)

 

[RivalDestiny]

I usually just go on different sites that post deals, like Amazon's DotD or just some coupons for games. Many games that retail for about $50 can be easily bought for $20 if you put enough effort into getting it.