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

laurie_lu

It just seems more economical to buy used games from reliable sellers on Ebay. I wanna snag "Zelda TP" and other popular games from Ebay but my husband says 'no way...they're used!' With my Ebay snipping program, I can get a huge $$ savings $$ on used games.

Hubby thinks Ebay sellers are selling game disks that are either scratched or bootlegged. I would think a very good 'positive feedback' score from a Ebay seller would be safe.

What do you guys think?

krisv2010

ive bought a few games off ebay and they're in great condition, plus most people just sell them on there if they don't like them but don't feel like getting only like 5 bucks at gamestop or someplace and getting some real money

6ix

Nah man I just started buying games used from EbGames and it's great. I get new games for like $35-40 and older ones for $10 or $20. I'm planning to get Battalion Wars II used if I like it when I rent it. And since it's not as big of a game as Metroid, Strikers, or Smash Bros, it'll probably be only $30 used.

__________________

nkbswe5

No, I buy on eBay all the time, it's usually cheaper and its safe with over 95% postitive feedback, and you can get hard to find games on eBay too (PARAPPA THE RAPPER 2)

__________________
Warning: Adult Themes

sremick

When I bought my Wii (also used, from eBay), I went and bought Mario Party 8 at Circuit City since I wanted to have something to play immediately beyond just Wii Sports (and I had played Mario Party on the wii before already and knew I wanted it). But since then, every game I've bought has been off eBay. Even with shipping, you can save quite a bit, and there is no shortage of people who are ready to offload their games once they've played them through once (if they've even played them through).

__________________

laurie_lu

Good to know guys. Thanks

Tairusu

I agree with your husband, I've had bad experiences on Ebay and I prefer to know the store I'm shopping from has a refund policy. In the immortal words of South Park: "This is America, and in America if something sucks you're supposed to be able to get your money back!"

I bought one game off of Ebay a long time ago. It was Dead or Alive 2 for the dreamcast, and while it was in perfect working order and came with case and manual in tact... dear god it smells. This was probably 4 or 5 years ago and the game (yes, the CD itself!) is still disgustingly pungent. It even tainted the dreamcast and I'm afraid to put my other games in there incase the smell transfers to them.

I couldn't place the smell at the time, but after a couple years working on an ambulance I can guess the seller was involved in crack in someway (Probably an addict selling stolen goods. Despite his 100% feedback.)

cyberzomby

All my gamecube games ( 5 of 'm ) come from ebay.

My wii comes from ebay

and until now my wii games ( 3 of 'm ) come from ebay

( well a dutch ebay variant that is )

Here in holland games cost 60 euro's. Thats way more than I wish to pay for. Especialy now I heard that if I where to buy them in the states it would cost me 35 euro. Thats exactly the amount I want to pay for a wii game.

Medal of honor heroes and battalion wars 2 are the first games that Im going to buy at full price at the store

__________________
Tip of the day:

surfinrach90

Personally I've never bought used games off e-bay or anywhere else on the net but it doesn't mean I wouldn't, I buy used games from shops a lot.

If you think the person you're buying from is reliable enough then go for it, maybe after a while you'll just be buying from a select few that you can trust?

If he's really against it that much then just go into game shops and pick them up second hand instead.. might not get as much of a good deal as you would from e-bay but you'll still save a couple of 'bucks'. =]

Oh and welcome to the forums, nice to see another girl join

__________________

daviduk200

i prefer to buy preowned games form store rather than ebay, cause if they dont work u can take them back,

but i have bought from ebay and every time they have been fine, i have also sold my games on ebay loads of time and they were all fine so in general most people do seel decent games,

but i suggest buying only of people with rep of at least 95% if there count is over 100 if there sale count is under 100 then only buy if there rep is 100%

__________________

el-zilcho

i bought most of my games off ebay ....never had a problem

grrrrrrrr so its u guys that keep outbidding me for strikers ....*shakes fist*

__________________
____________________________________

daviduk200

i would sell my strikers to you But i love it to much lol

__________________

el-zilcho

well thanks a lot for letting me know grrr

__________________
____________________________________

Napalmbrain 

There's nothing wrong with buying second hand. As long as you trust the retailer and know your rights you should be fine. I'm not an Ebay user though (I'd rather just buy a game straight away than having to bid for it), so I don't know how reliable they are.

__________________

Marc

I bought Red Steel brand new and sealed off eBay for £15, and got Zelda sealed for £20.

__________________
Wii Sports, Red Steel (27%), Zelda : Twilight Princess (Forest Temple), Resident Evil 4 : Wii Edition (3-1), Trauma Center : Second Opinion (Ch2 1), Super Paper Mario (Ch 3-1), Mario Strikers Charged Football, MoH Heroes 2

Elfman

Just check if the user has positive feedback. 90% are the good ones.

__________________
Wii stuff: Modded Wii, 2 wiimotes and nunchucks, 2 gamecube controllers
Wii games: Wii Sports, Strikers, Rampage, WarioWare, Resident Evil 4, Metroid Prime 3, Super Paper Mario, Mario Party 8

sremick

I think if you limit yourself to people who only have 100+ feedback or 100% positive, you're severely (and unnecessarily) limiting yourself.

I've been buying & selling on eBay for 8 years, but I don't do a ton. I'm just approaching 60 feedback. I had one loser who gave me negative feedback after I gave him neutral, accusing me of "maliciously leaving neutral feedback", as if there's anything malicious about neutral (I did it because he charged a ridiculous amount of shipping for what amounted to a 39-cent stamp, and took FOREVER to mail it out). So as a result of that one negative mark, I'm at 98.3%. I take my auctions very seriously though... pay fast when I buy, ship fast via UPS w/ tracking #s and the whole deal when I ship. And I've gotten lots of comments on my fine packing skills.

There are douchebags on eBay, but don't judge someone solely by their feedback score. Look into it more before you write them off... the person to avoid might be the jerk who left them the negative feedback, not them themselves.

__________________

laurie_lu

That's completely understandable. I don't understand how one seller can charge $8.00 to ship a game while a different seller will only charge $3.00 to ship?

sremick

Sellers pad the shipping since they don't pay eBay fees based on the shipping cost, only the sell price. So you might have a game that sells for $35 with $5 shipping, and another that sells for $20 with $20 shipping. The latter pays much lower final auction fees.

It's still slimey, though. I use the automatic shipping calc. That way I'm not screwed over taking a risk on some flat-rate shipping amount, and also the buyer doesn't feel like they're getting scammed on shipping costs. It also allows me to offer multiple shipping methods and the buyer can just choose which one they want when they pay.

__________________

Byuakuya

Personally, I think that eBay is another term for Scamsville. I have never bought anything from that site, but I know of friends who have had very bad experiences in the past, so I would avoid that site at all costs.

__________________