I'm saddened by this. You seem like a nice guy.
DarkKobold, you are certainly not the only selfish person who tries to exploit others. I'm sure a lot of people here do selfish things and profit from it (most don't brag about it because they fear the repercussions). I'd be surprised if there weren't some shady folks who routinely take advantage of us here.
Who have I exploited here? I've already dispelled this notion in a post above you. Please don't make accusations, or perpetuate them, without proof.
NOTE: I don't have a collection. I despise that term. I have a f*cking library of games. I play them. I keep them. My thoughts revolve around playing games. I wish all PCE & TG-16 games were dirt cheap and LOST VALUE over time. Personally, and this is my own selfishness, I wish only folks who actually played games bought them.
Two things:
Dictionary definition of a library: "a collection of any materials for study and enjoyment, as films, musical recordings, or maps. " So, a library is still a collection. I don't understand why people here are so anti-collecting, especially leading into the second point...
Who says collectors never play their games? I play my TurboDuo plenty (I'm now on my 4th playthrough of Dungeon Explorer 2, might start speed running it.) For some reason, the rhetoric here paints any collector as this Gargamel style evil figure, that doesn't allow anyone to touch their games. It makes this wild jump of logic that collecting automatically means the collectors only value games for their monetary value, not playability, and don't ever turn on their systems.
vestcoat said it best, there is a built-in rhetoric that is totally irrational, but is continually perpetuated.
I gave up on acquiring certain titles a few years ago when the prices went beyond my budget. Sure, prices had been creeping up for more than a decade (inflation), but the sudden spike in prices simply deflated my hope.
Then, noticing the overall trend towards significantly higher prices (an increasing number of titles have ridiculous prices), the last little gasp of optimism escaped from my lips.
Well, I have absolutely great news for you. Since you don't care about collecting, you don't need to have any turbografx games any more, aside from this one:
http://krikzz.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=57There you go - for $80, you can play any Turbografx game ever made, on a Turbografx system. This is 100% identical to playing it on the original HuCard.
If this doesn't seem sufficient to you, then on some level you are a collector, you place a value on having the original HuCards. I'm not saying this idea is wrong - I certainly place a value on having the originals. I'm just asking you to not vilify collectors, and continue silly rhetoric.
As far as Dark Kobold goes... I kind of feel sorry for him. I don't think he gets that eBay isn't a shop. That's why I don't pay "market value" for games, but wait until the ones I want appear for a price I think is reasonable, and then buy them. Takes a little patience, sure, but it f*cking happens.
Somehow, I got misquoted into people believing I only pay eBay prices for games. I've only tried to state that sold eBay auctions define "market value." If you find a game for less than "market value," then it is a deal; and plenty of great deals exist in this world. Sure, there are other markets in which games are sold, everything from conventions to flea markets to play n' trade to garage sales and even more. I'm not denying these exist. What I am trying to say is that they don't define "market value" in the same open way eBay does. No one has access to this data, it isn't stored anywhere. Saying "I paid $5 for Magical Chase at a garage sale" doesn't mean Magical Chase is worth $5.
Finally, I pity sellers like "Pompey Parsons" who continue to list the same over-priced games month after month after month. In the long run, there is no benefit to keeping stock. He and his ilk are banking on someone desperately needing a game, and willing to pay over market value. This is not the best business decision, as you want things to keep flowing. Holding inventory to make an extra 10% benefits no one.
When I list items on eBay, I try and list them as the cheapest item available, so that I keep stock flowing in and out.
And finally, yes, I resell things I find on craigslist and at garage sales. A seller lists something for a price, I pay that price. I keep what I need for my collection, and sell the rest so I have money to continue collecting. No one is exploited here.
