Absurd collections, garbage and other stuff you hoard.

[rygD]

I don't have much from flea markets (a few handhelds, maybe a couple other things).  Thrift shops seem to be better luck for me.  Most of the much older stuff comes from etsy and ebay, along with stuff people give me.

Speaking for my camera and games stuff ebay appears to be around 5 times more expensive. 

That is where patience or being into things no one else wants comes into play.  It also helps to be willing to fix stuff yourself.  

I got most of my Apple II stuff in a lot that included a half dozen computers and unidentified cards that were not shown.  I am pretty sure the lack of details and pictures helped keep people away, plus they were an easy to get model, and the shipping was somewhat high (for a bunch of computers, of course it was).  Before shipping I was paying about $0.50 per computer, and less than $10 after shipping.  I looked at the cards as freebies.  One of the cards is worth more than what I paid, and the others are all basic cards that are needed for common stuff.  Most of the computers work fine (one has errors that are in my notes, and one has a dead power supply), althoug a couple are missing keys.  If I bothered to fix up the ones I keep for parts and such only one would not be complete.  

I have had similar luck with a box of old glasses (probably rejects from someone's collection) and Game Boys.  Some of my Game Boy stuff came from Goodwill online auctions where I got it for next to nothing, including a lot that included a Pokemon Red cart that alone usually gets a lot of attention in auctions and retro game stores here.  Some carts I picked up on ebay that were not working at all are alive again, and others where I got lucky to get them at a somewhat decent price, like Metroid 2, had batteries replaced. My HP palmtop is the model that most interested people don't want (100LX) and it came in a disgusting looking metal protective case.  I was hoping the case would remain looking trashed after I cleaned everything up, but it was just dirt that came off (now a boring beige), and it did what it was designed for; the computer was in really great condition except for a little battery damage.  I noticed that the seller had sold at least one before that, and the person that bought that just wanted to flip it since the palmtop and the case are each worth more than what these auctions were ending at, but I wanted mine to use, and I do.

Locally it is nearly impossible to get old gaming and computer stuff at a good price without paying for it in time.  I might get lucky at a yard sale or something, but I don't have time for that.  The flea markets here have been picked clean of anything with real value, and the same people have the same kind of stuff.  At the one where I picked up a couple of early 80s handheld games in horrible condition for $1 there were some VERY old Windows disks (3.something I am pretty sure, I can't remember).  I am not a fan of MS, and the floppies were just floating around on some shelves with a bunch of other stuff, and I couldn't find a couple, so I skipped em.  For those types of things thrift stores aren't too great either unless checked constantly.  I did pick up an old Nintendo cabinet, but the Mario sticker had been removed, and I think there were some wire pieces that were missing.  I can get old tube TVs though.  That reminds me, one thrift store had a KVM switch or something that I wanted.  The asking price was about 3 times the price whatever it was usually goes for on ebay.  My dream would be to find a box of stuff by the street on trash day.

So, yeah, be extremely patient, willing to do repairs, and go for stuff no one likes/wants and ebay can be a good source.

 

[Night]

Truth is: I had not understood it.

Well if you said that you kept those said DVD's for the lulz (on top of them being free), weren't you implying that you show them to people just to see their shocked reaction or something? If so, what i was asking was: How often do you get to do that?

I have had similar luck with a box of old glasses (probably rejects from someone's collection) and Game Boys.  Some of my Game Boy stuff came from Goodwill online auctions where I got it for next to nothing, including a lot that included a Pokemon Red cart that alone usually gets a lot of attention in auctions and retro game stores here.  Some carts I picked up on ebay that were not working at all are alive again, and others where I got lucky to get them at a somewhat decent price, like Metroid 2, had batteries replaced.

In my experience, no matter how hard i give eBay a shot i always end up finding nothing but overpriced stuff (mostly due to the added shipping costs), even if those said stuff are not in a good condition (if not to include any kind of sports games). So while I can understand how eBay could work for someone from the US, in my case at least, i have better luck looking at the scarce local Video Game stores that offer Retro stuff or at some uncommon flea markets in the middle of some place of which know nothing of.

I even got to the point where whenever i look for game cartridges online, at some moments i start thinking of investing in an EPROM Programmer instead and using the abundance of sport games i find as sacrifices, for the greater purpose of making reproduction carts by using roms extracted from games that were re-released on Steam or the WiiStore (well tbh it's that, or just buying an Everdrive from ED and calling it a day).

But anyway It is possible that i am just doing something wrong, so do you happened to have any good advice that you can give for someone who's willing to hoard old gaming stuff and is outside the US?

 

[elw3]

Ebay is usually less hunting but more wasting money.

My pricerange for stuff is just a few bucks and even when i make a great deal with the stuff, the shipping cost alone spoils it for me.