Brick & Mortar Stores selling RPG collectibles
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Post Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:25 pm 
 

Blackmoor wrote:The guy actually uses the Acaeum as a price guide, I wonder if he will read this post :D

Lots of guys use Acaeum as a price guide, big mistake.  RPG shop owners, listen up.  

Simple rule of thumb:  if you're not going for the global market (eBay!), take Acaeum values and divide by two.  Maybe three.  Maybe seven.   :)

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Post Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:52 pm 
 

Blackmoor wrote:We had a used book store in town try the market with stupid prices as well, how about a beat queen of the spiders for over $100.00 with no map. I told the guy he was out to lunch and he just looked at me is disgust, as if I new nothing. He had 10 or 15 items he considered rare under the glass counter on display at stupid prices. One day I walked in and on his shelf of used crappy RPG's he had a virtual complete collection of 1st ed battletech books and suppliments for $4.00 - $5.00 per. I bought them all up at the cost of about $200.00 canadian and sold them for more than $1000.00 US on Ebay ($270.00 for star leauge alone!)

I wonder who got the last laugh on that one.

The guy actually uses the Acaeum as a price guide, I wonder if he will read this post :D


I love those kind of stories, rarely does the price gouging shop owner stop and realize that OTHER game systems might be worth something, I mean if a 25 year old D&D module is worth something why not 25 year old Runequest, etc.
   I had a story like that where I went into a little mom and pop bookstore that also sold games and comics.  They had a shelf of older D&D mostly "letter" series but nothing valuable yet it was all priced up ($10-$20 a module even if they were missing handouts), worse was the Fiend Folio and Unearthed Arcana at $50 each, DDG WITHOUT Cthulhu for the same, Kara Tur boxed set $100, etc.  The shelf underneath had almost a full set of Middle Earth roleplaying accessories for $5-$15 each, including Ardor, Umbar, Angmar, etc.  The shelf under that had boxed Chaosium Runequest Big Rubble, Pavis, Borderlands, etc for about $10 each.  What chumps, I cleaned out their non-D&D stuff and filled in a lot of holes in my collection.  Almost identical yet reversed roles, another store I went into very recently (about 3 years ago) had all their MERP stuff just astronomicially priced since the movies were going strong, they had them priced at Ebay prices or up which makes no sense because they are not selling to millions of potential buyers like Ebay is, only to the few people that walk inside their store, so Umbar at $250 is not going to sell, likewise all the other MERP stuff at $50-$100 each.  However, I guess they were like another poster said, they didn't know a thing about anything before 3rd edition because their 1st ed D&D stuff was all dirt cheap because "no one plays that anymore".  

The happy ending to the story is that about a year ago after the MERP stuff had been sitting for several years and several price markdowns a new owner came in and priced all the MERP much more reasonablly at about a fifth of what the original guy had and I bought most of it.

Something else that always cracks me up, being a member of the Acaeum, long time player and collector, and font of knowledge of the RPG hobby that I am (as well as most of us here), have you ever had the funny occasion of having a shop owner, guy you meet in a store, or just a grandma at a used bookstore try and educate on on "that Dragons and Dungeons game" like THEY know what they are talking about, and you are just a casual clueless type?  My wife says I exhibit remarkable decorum in these situations where I ask for the gaming section in a used bookstore and the owner of the store is waving a S1 mono in my face that looks like it got run over by a Mack truck and saying "This here is the one-a thu most valuable Dragons and Dungeons items ever and I bet you haven't ever seen this one in over 20 years am I right?" (give the guy a Texas accent and this actually happened to me once).  Sometimes I've had occasion to have to fess up that my LIVELIHOOD is selling those "Dragons and Dungeons" things on Ebay just to shut them up when the facts become too fast and loose, like the guy that said his prices were "market" price ($100 for supermodules) and I had to query him on which market he was talking about, since I spend several hours a day in the so-called market of Ebay and haven't seen prices like that in a decade.  Anyone else have some funny stories of having to reluctantly show your expertise just to shut someone up?

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Post Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 12:11 am 
 

bclarkie wrote:
deimos3428 wrote:Any idea on what Wrath of the Immortals might be worth on eBay? I can get my hands on one locally for about $40 USD, in what I'd describe as "half-decent" condition.

Didn't think it was particularly valuable, it's been sitting in a local RPG shop for a while at that price...but if someone's going to jump on it for $200, I could use the cash. ;) Generally speaking the prices on the local shops here are so outrageous, I'm surprised they're still in business.


The last 2 I saw on Ebay went for a $40.00 BIN and I am pretty sure the burnwire brothers just sold one for $52.00. It might be worthwhile picking it up, but I doubt anyone would net you $200.00. Then again crazier things have happened on EBay, so you never know. :wink:

<edit> little slow on the repsonse. :oops:


I just got a shrinkwrapped copy of Wrath of the Immortals which I will probably put up soon - whatever it gets should be around the upper limit (and it will probably go to someone in Italy as well  :D  )


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Post Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 3:03 pm 
 

beyondthebreach wrote:I just got a shrinkwrapped copy of Wrath of the Immortals which I will probably put up soon - whatever it gets should be around the upper limit (and it will probably go to someone in Italy as well :D )

Hmmm... Shrinkwrapped WotI  8O  :idea:  :D

  


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Post Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 3:15 pm 
 

Sotterraneo wrote:
beyondthebreach wrote:I just got a shrinkwrapped copy of Wrath of the Immortals which I will probably put up soon - whatever it gets should be around the upper limit (and it will probably go to someone in Italy as well :D )

Hmmm... Shrinkwrapped WotI 8O :idea: :D


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Post Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 5:44 am 
 

Been to Belgium, Antwerp, for work.

I went to a local hobby shop I knew, just to take a tour.

Out of business.

:(

Seems that brick and mortar hobby shops are diminishing nowadays.


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Post Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2005 12:44 am 
 

Well I just recently moved from the south (Louisiana) to the northwest (Oregon) and I was blown away by the number of D&D stores in the area. I've been to all the larger stores in Louisiana and the surrounding area and there arn't any stores in Louisiana that sells 1st ed. stuff and I found several here that do. Of course the prices are largely inflated but there is a good amount of older material. At least there are still some stores around that stock the collectable items.

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Post Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 7:12 pm 
 

Blackmoor wrote:There is a shop in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada called Whyte Knight games and collectables


I believe technically it's actually in Fort Saskatchewan.

I was out there about a month ago for my cousin's wedding, and spent about $300CDN on stuff. The pricing was pretty good - I'll be reselling most of it, but not going to make much of a margin. The guy I talked to knew his old books at least :)

There's a bookstore in downtown Vancouver here that stocks D&D stuff, as they get it. Whoever is pricing it has no clue at all, so I've picked up some nice deals there once in a while.

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Post Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 10:18 pm 
 

There's a pretty big "regular" book store in Atlanta that has no clue on prices but actually they seem to get a decient turnover in stock.  I've picked up a few mini-gems there in the past (D&D with Cthulhu, Kithbook Pooka, Delta Green, etc) and I always wind up with a nice stack of reasonably priced stuff for my enjoyment and eventual sales.  I stop by weekly picking up reading material anyway so it's always worth a look in their bins.

  


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Post Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 10:50 pm 
 

Bragi wrote:Well I just recently moved from the south (Louisiana) to the northwest (Oregon) and I was blown away by the number of D&D stores in the area.


At the risk of making a generalization, I think the southern US has fewer gaming stores than elsewhere. My own, entirely ancedotal, evidence for that is that I do a lot of shipping to the US, and I'd say that probably 75% of my US business goes to the southern states. California is the anomaly for the northern states, although I'm guessing that I get more orders there because of population, rather than a lack of gaming stores. Of all the States, I probably get orders from Texas at a rate of 2 or 3 times any other state.

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Post Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 11:02 pm 
 

GraysonAC wrote:
Bragi wrote:Well I just recently moved from the south (Louisiana) to the northwest (Oregon) and I was blown away by the number of D&D stores in the area.


At the risk of making a generalization, I think the southern US has fewer gaming stores than elsewhere. My own, entirely ancedotal, evidence for that is that I do a lot of shipping to the US, and I'd say that probably 75% of my US business goes to the southern states. California is the anomaly for the northern states, although I'm guessing that I get more orders there because of population, rather than a lack of gaming stores. Of all the States, I probably get orders from Texas at a rate of 2 or 3 times any other state.


I can tell you have never been to PA before, because it is like a freakin Black Hole for RPGs.  There is absolutely no market here what-so-ever. :(  Even the 2 Half Price Books that are near me suck ass. :roll:   One has nothing and the other next to nothing. :x


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Post Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 11:13 pm 
 

bclarkie wrote:
I can tell you have never been to PA before, because it is like a freakin Black Hole for RPGs. There is absolutely no market here what-so-ever. :( Even the 2 Half Price Books that are near me suck ass. :roll:  One has nothing and the other next to nothing. :x


My Wife's family is scattered throughout small towns in PA.  The nearest city is Williamsport (pop. = 15,000).  There is one game store, however, called White Knight Games.  I have done well getting resell stuff there - the old module "bin" was $4.00 each (included two ToEE without maps), a shrinkwrapped Erol Otus expert set for $10, an unpunched original Civilization Avalon Hill game for $10 . . . and more.

Last time, I picked up all 4 Wizard Spell compendiums, all 4 Encyclopedia Magicas and all 3 Priest's spell Compendiums.  I talked him down to $10 each for the Wizard & Magica and $5 each for the Priest's.  :D


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Post Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 11:24 pm 
 

beyondthebreach wrote:
bclarkie wrote:

I can tell you have never been to PA before, because it is like a freakin Black Hole for RPGs. There is absolutely no market here what-so-ever. :( Even the 2 Half Price Books that are near me suck ass. :roll: One has nothing and the other next to nothing. :x


My Wife's family is scattered throughout small towns in PA. The nearest city is Williamsport (pop. = 15,000). There is one game store, however, called White Knight Games. I have done well getting resell stuff there - the old module "bin" was $4.00 each (included two ToEE without maps), a shrinkwrapped Erol Otus expert set for $10, an unpunched original Civilization Avalon Hill game for $10 . . . and more.

Last time, I picked up all 4 Wizard Spell compendiums, all 4 Encyclopedia Magicas and all 3 Priest's spell Compendiums. I talked him down to $10 each for the Wizard & Magica and $5 each for the Priest's. :D


Sadly Williamsport is about a 4 hour drive away from me. :cry:

BTW, Nice Sale:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %3AIT&rd=1

Especially considering the BIN on it was originaly $65.00. :wink:


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Post Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 11:41 pm 
 

Because I'm tired, and have work I'm avoiding (listing a ton of 5500,5600, and 5800 blisters, heh), here's the states of my last 50 sales.

AL (S)
AZ (S)
CA (S) x7
CT (N)
FL (S) x3
GA (S)
HI (S)
IL (N) x6
IN (N)
MA (N)
MD (N)
MO (N) x2
NC (S)
NH (N)
NJ (N) x2
NM (S)
NY (N)
TX (S) x3
VT (N)
WI (N) x2

South: 19, North: 19

Canada 7
UK 1
Germany 2
Italy 1
Netherlands 1

.. heh. 19/19 split. Not much business from Texas recently, but apparently folks from Illinois like me :P   Interesting, wasn't expecting those results, although that's a tiny sampling.

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Post Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:48 am 
 

GraysonAC wrote:
Bragi wrote:Well I just recently moved from the south (Louisiana) to the northwest (Oregon) and I was blown away by the number of D&D stores in the area.


At the risk of making a generalization, I think the southern US has fewer gaming stores than elsewhere. My own, entirely ancedotal, evidence for that is that I do a lot of shipping to the US, and I'd say that probably 75% of my US business goes to the southern states. California is the anomaly for the northern states, although I'm guessing that I get more orders there because of population, rather than a lack of gaming stores. Of all the States, I probably get orders from Texas at a rate of 2 or 3 times any other state.


    It's not that we don't have used game stores, it's just that we have lots of MONEY in Texas, brother!!!!! Seriously, the college towns here are well stocked (Austin, Houston) but even Dallas doesn't have many stores that specialize in gaming.
  However, I will say the convention situation is terrible here.  Basically, nothing game oriented in the entire state, which is criminal.

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Post Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:04 am 
 

Could very well be. My last big rush, I had a bunch of orders that I shipped out to little towns in Texas ;)

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Post Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:01 am 
 

bclarkie wrote:I can tell you have never been to PA before, because it is like a freakin Black Hole for RPGs. There is absolutely no market here what-so-ever. :( Even the 2 Half Price Books that are near me suck ass. :roll:  One has nothing and the other next to nothing. :x


Brian, if you make the trip out to State College, there were several hobby/game/used book stores there when I attended Penn State from '87-'91.  

The Philly/DE/NYC corridor has had a lot of good gaming stores, though back in the day, I bought most of my D&D books at either the local indie book store, or at an Allied Hobbies, or Complete Strategist.  Le sigh...


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Post Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 6:54 am 
 

grodog wrote:
bclarkie wrote:I can tell you have never been to PA before, because it is like a freakin Black Hole for RPGs. There is absolutely no market here what-so-ever. :( Even the 2 Half Price Books that are near me suck ass. :roll: One has nothing and the other next to nothing. :x


Brian, if you make the trip out to State College, there were several hobby/game/used book stores there when I attended Penn State from '87-'91.

The Philly/DE/NYC corridor has had a lot of good gaming stores, though back in the day, I bought most of my D&D books at either the local indie book store, or at an Allied Hobbies, or Complete Strategist. Le sigh...


Allan, you went to Penn State? Me too, for a year at least. :wink: My older sister actually graduated from PSU in 1992 also. State College is one my favorite places in the world. Stephen (aka afoolandhis$) actually lives in State College right now. I am going to try and make a journey up there this fall to go see a football game, because I have been up there for a few years now, but is about a 3 hour trip from here. Hmmm, small world....


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