Ian's stories of retro game store customers low-balling him for prices at Luna Video Games. ►More #CUPodcast: bit.ly/1pOBDVH ►Full podcasts: bit.ly/1yhnQLB ►Support the podcast Patreon: patreon.com/pxlsicle ►Follow on twitter! twitter.com/patthenespunk & twitter.com/pxlsicle
You know, I haven't been able to put my finger on it until now, but you know who Ian reminds me of? Randall Graves from the Clerks series of movies. The mannerisms, the whole "This job would be great if it weren't for the customers" attitude, everything that Randall Graves is, is embodied in Ian!
+Christopher is good enough Ian needs his own show period. Pat... seems like a nice guy, but I agree with virtually nothing that comes out of his mouth XD
+Pat the NES Punk Haha! But nah, that's ok. I may not agree with most of the things you say, but you have every right to say them, and I'm not gonna silence ya just because we disagree :) Besides, I don't have to agree with you to still find you entertaining or fun to watch.
I honestly just can't stand shops that will do Ebay Prices. Why would I pay 80 dollars for Conkers when I can get it off Ebay for the same damn Price. But it isn't the same price because of Tax, so it would be around 86-7. Seriously, over paying and spending gas money for it, what a deal!
+ProtoMario I kid you not when I got to fleamarkets or deal with second hand shops they pretty much follow the "buy it now" price and it make no sense whatso ever.
Mario Reyes I know right, I laugh in their faces, and then I call out those who work in shops by showing them the ebay price, and simply offer them the same price or less. Honestly why would I pay the same damn price, for a game that will go real quick? Whooptie damn do, they are always on Ebay, and now on the Xbox One Rare Replay too. Silly.
The only thing i hate is when a store sells a system with no game or controllers. I recently saw a turbo graphix 16 (uncommon for my area) and the store wanted $100 for just the system, no game, no controller, that's steep.
+ZeromasterLP No game is acceptable but no controller/hook ups/memory card isn't IMO. If the price reflects the missing stuff then fine but if you want top dollar I better be able to get home and play the thing. Also depending on what it is no game is kind of unacceptable. Like a used PS2 should have a game included since there is so many common 5 dollar titles that are good you could easily toss in. A turboG 16 though I can get just not having a game to bundle.
devilmikey00 i get that but at least throw in a cheap game so i can play the system, the store was asking $20+ for their games, even the common titles.
ZeromasterLP Ya that all seems pretty expensive for something I can't imagine is flying off their shelves. TurboG collectors aren't exactly common place. I'd come back in a month or two and I bet he might be willing to deal because I bet dollars to donuts that thing will still be sitting there gathering dust.
+ZeromasterLP I agree with controllers. The game store I used to work at wouldn't sell a system without a controller. However, there's no reason to throw in a game on top of that. People are so used to this game stop/Walmart mentality of buying a new system that comes packaged with a game for release. Used systems don't work that way. Granted I would sometimes toss in a game of Kinect Adventures whenever someone bought one of our Kinects though. They were like a 1.99 game that people constantly brought in and it hardly ever sold. Other than that though, we have no obligations and it's not very fair to ask for us to do you that kind of favor.
+SomeCartoonChick It's not game stops or walmarts fault. Its the gaming companys fault. They had a little chat with the store franchises and told them, they refuse to let the store sell their systems without a game inside. So obviously the stores agreed to their demands so they could sell the systems and not be left out of the loop.
GroovinFunk Why does he need to lower it to $74 when in the next day or so someone will come in and pay $80 plus tax? It's not like the guy was buying anything else or was going to be a repeat customer.
+shaolinskunks88 Horrible negotiating skills. He should've started with "Would it be possible to get that conkers game for 80 w/ tax?" Not, "Hey this game is mega rare and worth every penny you are charging, how about giving it to me for even better deal, and throw in a hard to find poster" That's called entitlement.
+shaolinskunks88 You don't know what negotiation is then lol Now if it were a butt ton of filler games that are maybe cheap but they're games that don't sell well or fast then I could possibly see someone wanting to try and pull this for a good deal, but not a game that's going to be gone the next day.
+Painmaster212 This happened with Krazy Creatures. When James and Mike did a Monday video...the price went from $15 to $60. Angered me because I hesitated. I watched that video early in the morning and was going to pick it up. I decided that I should wait because it was an impulse buy. Shouldn't have waited....
puffnisse I've seen them mention numerous NES, Genesis, and Super NES titles over the past few months. Virtually none of them have jumped in price. It's literally impossible for a game to be mentioned in an internet video and all of a sudden, somehow all sellers become aware and raise their prices simultaneously. That's what would have to happen in order for it to be true.
wow, conker goes for that much? I'm not a collector, I've just been a gamer for 30+ years and still have all of my stuff (down to the boxes) that's crazy. great job as always guys.
+Chad Hook Yeah, it's a quirky, funny, and vulgar game that has quite a reputation (and not to mention it was released in Rare's heyday), so anyone collecting for N64 has to have it.
Yea I've got it in my closet still in the box, along with every system I've owned all the way back to the 2600 I was just suprised at the amount as it doesn't seem like that old of a game, but I guess it is. Damn... I'm old lol
AquaDonkey69 480p I tend to have personal problems when it comes to playing some games on emulator so I had to get rare replay cuz that's the closest I can get with the real thing. 80+ is not worth it unless it was some sort of rare special/limited edition with all these goodies included but it isn't. What can I say I'm like a semi-retro collector (more retro gamer) with justifiable standards lol
i know this is an older video and i don't know if either of you two read these but i wanted to tell a story. i work at a game shop in bumfuck nowhere in ohio. i was sitting there with the owner as she has been my friend for many years and i work at her shop as a favor. Around 6pm, my boss comes in to work her shift and a customer she had dealt with before came in and was ready to turn in, what he called, a magic card collection and a bunch of dice. well we sell magic cards and we are usually happy to take in cards, even if they are bulk commons as you never know what the customers are looking for. what he has 'forgotten' to alert my boss to was that the collection he had was only about 150 cards...and he had found them in the trash. Now my boss who is kinder then me, listened to him and still offered store credit as the dice were worth something while NOTHING in the magic cards were worth the cardboard they were printed on. Now what do you think this could of been for? A cheap game? a soda or something low in cost as this person had found cards IN THE TRASH AND BROUGHT THEM IN AN ACTUAL BUSINESS?! No...no this pudthumper wanted a broken PS3 we were planning on getting repaired as only the optical lens is messed up on it. When my boss told him no, i would of told him we had no use for them and that he can kindly return the cards to what ever receptacle he had found them in , he kept pushing claiming that he needed it to keep his hands busy and himself out of trouble...now mind you this person is a full grown adult male with a gf/wife (IDK/IDC) with a child! He wanted a handout from us for basically garbage...I wanted to throw him out and rain bricks upon him and everything he holds dear! i deal with people who are only interested in getting money out of us, money we don't have, for shit that is worth nothing to anyone!...oh god i am still angry and i want to find where he lives, piss on the cards on his doorstep and punch him in the face... Shit...sorry i had to rant for a little bit.
well adults do as MTG, which still releases sets every 3 months, is aimed at 13 and up. It still nets millions every year and those who are good at the game can live off their winnings from Pro-tours. Hell Magic helps keep Local game shops alive
People continually talk about sellers who have an over inflated view of their games worth, but never talk about buyers who make insultingly low-ball offers for games that are clearly worth significantly more.
+Spectrum NoobGaming People do it with make best offer on Ebay. As for criminal prices, as long as people don't buy them at these prices, then sellers will be forced to lower their expectations.
+Spectrum NoobGaming "Criminal prices". If you don't like the price, don't buy the game. You save money, the seller will lose money, and you can look for your "magically low-priced game" elsewhere. People don't blink an eye when people spend $50-100K on an old car, or $20K on a strange painting from a man long dead, but a video game being 1.5-2x the original price is somehow outrageous. The rarer an item, the more it is worth, no? The more it is worth, the more people want it. The more people want it, the more the game circulates, meaning it has demand. As long as the game has demand, the price will not drop (shouldn't rise dramatically either). Unless you find a seller that doesn't understand the worth of what they have, you won't find a game like Conker's Bad Fur Day much cheaper than $80, and good luck getting one CIB. If you want the game, you'll pay the price. If not, then it will go to someone else or stay on the seller's shelf. That's all it is.
:53 "he annoyed me last time" Am I the only one that gets the feeling that Ian is annoyed by the majority of customers that come into the store? I get the feeling the employees at Luna are like the guys in the record store in the movie High Fidelity. But I love em anyway.
I think so too. I know that kind of job is plagued with assholes but Ian is pretty intolerant. Sometimes i think they should just call it "The Ian bitching moment Podcast" but there are also a lot of videos where he isn't complaining about someone's red t-shirt so that wouldn't be fair.
I think that is a case of survivor bias: The ones that are memorable are more often than not the ones that annoy him. When the questions come in asking about bad experiences with customers, he's not going to cite instances where they were pleasant or just fine to deal with.
I've worked in retail and have to say there are plenty of assholes. You meet all sorts. I mean on balance they are the extreme minority but when you deal with a high volume, you get a few each day and they do stick in your mind.
I have a warped sense of value since I find games for so cheap in the wilds of Dallas so when Im trading games I often dramatically under value stuff haha.
+DreamcastGuy thats funny cause i know how much stuff can be worth too but when i sell or trade i usually hook ppl up cause i know how it is trying to find a decent price lol
+DreamcastGuy thats funny cause i know how much stuff can be worth too but when i sell or trade i usually hook ppl up cause i know how it is trying to find a decent price lol
I'm getting free Silent Services with all future Luna purchases, you let the cat out of the bag on this one. I'll be laughing all the way to the bank when rampant speculation on the future of submarine based NES games drives the price up to $300 a cart in a few years.
I have a worse story. I used to work at a video game store in my town in Australia. I remember a customer coming in with a mint condition copy of FF7. We gave him $10 worth of store credit for the game. When we received traded in stock it would be sent down to the main shop in Sydney and be sent back with pricing. I saw that copy of FF7 in my shop with a price tag of $200. I wasn't happy as we totally ripped off the customer. I knew I ripped him off however I was told that $10 was the most we could give him in that transaction. Eventually that shop closed down was told it was closing on the last day of business with no warning. I have many more stories of that business and how it would treat its customers and employees.
I've slowly realized from friends and family and even overhearing strangers at yard sales and flea markets that negotiating skills and what constitutes a deal differ vastly. Sounds like that guy was similar to some I've run into that are afraid they'll find a better deal somewhere else. I've heard people complain and even whine about stupid shit like buying a new console and "six months later they dropped the price $50" without stopping to think you couldn't exactly rent one for six months for $50. If you're happy with the deal at the time, take it and shrug it off. There's generally always a better deal but you have to put in time and effort and almost always money and luck as well. That being said, going into a store like that is pretty stupid to begin with since it's a business with employees to pay and rent to cover, and especially when you don't have a rapport with the employees/owner.
DieHardjagged So what if he is a shelf collector. Is there a point you are making beyond this, or just that he is a shelf collector, like it's a bad thing. Like collecting things is a bad thing. Please, explain.
people probably do this more due to shows like game chasers going into stores and asking for lower prices which they can kinda get away with seeing as there advertising the store or stores feel pressured into looking to in front of them
Hmm...you complain about how ebay resellers are driving up prices and now complain about a "lowballer" trying to save a bit of money. Seems a little hypocritical.
if the guy was a reseller (doesn't sound like he was) Ian would be perpetuating the problem with pricing because of the price charting on ebay a reseller will constantly try to increase the price of a game despite the rarity. I'm a small time 64 collector big time player and I love buying 64s and games for my friends who want a retro revival, I recently bought my brother a 64 and bought him goldeneye and gave him our original family copy of mariokart. I then looked on ebay to get another copy (I have an ntsc-j copy as well) I found that everyone was asking 65 - 75 dollars for a cart. 2 years ago it was a 30 dollar game at our chain pawn shops (Australia doesn't have flea markets with games). Suddenly Facebook shopping groups start popping up and say we have 30 copies of mariokart and 8 copies of Conkers asking $65 and $250 respectively. hopefully that gives you a little insight into the problem.
At our local retro shop I generally pay what the store asks. The owner is usually really fair with his prices, especially considering this is Canada. Though when I'm making a big purchase that's going into multiples hundreds of dollars I'll try to get him to cut me a deal.
He thought that by asking you for a poster he was asking for something equally as trivial as Silent Service. He feels better about buying it at essentially full price with an off-the-wall request like that (literally) because he imagines that he's maintaining control by dictating terms. In his mind it was equivalent but less conventional, willingly deluding himself to rationalize the purchase that way ("less conventional" = "better deal" just because no one else got a similar concession).
Conker for only 80 dollars?? Man, here in the Netherlands the cartridge alone will be more than 100 dollars, with the box and manual you can expect around 300!! It's ridiculous.. I wish I knew Luna when I was in San Diego in 2011...
Wow. I actually got a store similar to Luna to pull down one of it's posters (A Star Fox Nintendo Power one), only because my friend and I came across a box with a bunch of 'em, and we donated one that was in better condition than the one they had up.
I agree with Pat that Silent Service isn't that bad, it's just that simulators in general weren't the NES's strongest suit compared to computers of the day.
I despise bargainers. I don't care if a person sells an item too high. If I don't like the price, I walk. If they can't sell it to anyone, the price will drop. If you don't like my price, you can walk. If I don't sell it, I'll drop the price.
Ian I am on your side on this one. That flat out rude of that customer to suggest what he did. It does not mean I wouldn't try to haggle, but i would have some respect for the man or woman working behind the store counter who only doing their job.
wish we had a retro game store where im at. but i live up in bfe, georgia basically.we did have a game store for little bit and they had some nes games and a top loader for $60. Wish i had the money to get it
This really wasn't bad, he was just looked to save on the tax and get a poster. While yeah it is not going to happen , it is not like really trying to make out like bandit .
It doesn't bother me that people try to negotiate a better price. I ran a furniture store for several years and people felt that they had an obligation to haggle me down on everything. I had all sorts of customers and very few actually cared about the money, it wasn't about that, it was about winning. I had a customer who would pay sticker price for a bedroom suite and spend 20 minutes trying to get a set of sheets thown in free. It didn't matter if the bedroom suite was $999 or $1299, but you had to give him something to make him feel important. We ordered a lot of items in bulk to keep ahead of our competition and were able to run certain bedroom suits $1500 cheaper than one of our local competitiors. Did it matter? Not really, people would still try to work around you - no taxes on that right? I have a tax #? Sometimes it got old, but that's the way business is.
not sure if you guys see this, but i love your podcast, Pat and Ian. your always honest and straightforward about topics, but you also have a sense of humour about it at times too. will keep watching :)
Wow and I thought when i got my Conkers cart for $63 it wasn't that great of a price. Price must've changed since then. Ended up getting the box and manual for $30 later on so it didn't bother me as much.
Thing is most low ballers treat people their haggling with as idiots who don't know jack shit about what they got. They literally assume you don't know anything about what your selling and try to finagle their way towards cheating someone then brag about how they ripped someone off. When that doesn't work they then get uppity and start getting nasty cause their scumbag tactics did not work.
$80 for Conker is not bad. It is average pricing. Assuming you can just pop in the cartridge and play without wiggling it around inside. If it looks great on the outside, chances are the cartridge will look great on the inside. My rule of thumb. Where is your shop btw? I kind of want to check it out.
I had a kid just yesterday who bought Silent Service after I had shown him what it is on CZcams. I was like: man this kid is hardcore. (he was like 8 or 9)
Oh my gosh one of my bosses loves Silent Service on the nes I was talking to him about video games and he brought up this one and I never heard of it he kept saying how awesome it was to be in the sub doing all the shit it made him so excited it was funny
I think I bought my Conker Bad Fur Day game for about 10 to 20 bucks. I actually bought that game and got a free controller with it (Third party) so I never knew I own such a uncommon game.
If this were to happen to anyone else I would probably be outraged by the customers stupidity and comment some obligatory positive support to their victim. But since it's Ian, I think I'll go ahead and let it slide. In fact, I'm happy that he came in and I hope he continues to annoy Ian.
One of my best experiences was trading a Ninja Gaiden Cartridge for a Super Mario Bros 2 Cart and Mortal Kombat 2 Cart, then finding another Ninja Gaiden a couple venders down xD.
Every single lot of NES games I've ever seen on Ebay has at least one copy of Silent Service in it. Every damn one. A sick part of me is tempted to buy them all up and then start listing them as RARE NES GAME - SILENT SERVICE and see if I can get the price to climb.
Yeah, this seems really hypocritical coming from two guys that constantly are looking for good deals and prices.. Also, did pat just SERIOUSLY mention his book at the very end of this clip? Does anyone else get annoyed that he is constantly plugging his book?
Silent service is a really fun game once you learn how to play it. It used to be the game i always went to to reference as a bad game when i was a kid but then when i started actually trying to play it as a teenager i ended up loving it and playing the shit out of it for a month or so.
Sigh, I know a store owner who extremely low-balled my gaming collection and scolded at me for refusing the offer, even though I told him clearly it's the cream of the crop.
as a man that also works in a vintage store i had a fucking guy try to buy a copy of snow brothers from us acting like he was doing us a favor, he wanted us to sell it for 50 bucks -_-
Are you the same Luna in San Diego ca? I love retro games and I would like to buy from you. Love your videos by the way!! Thanks for them they are very informative.
There's two things that annoy me in retro gaming, people who think they know everything, and people who try to finesse the people who think they know everything
Ian's stories of retro game store customers low-balling him for prices at Luna Video Games.
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Tell you what, you give me all those Nintendo games, I'll give this video a like, and I get to keep Ian for free. You won't get a better deal.
+Nel_Annette No, just no.
He should take u up on that
You know, I haven't been able to put my finger on it until now, but you know who Ian reminds me of? Randall Graves from the Clerks series of movies. The mannerisms, the whole "This job would be great if it weren't for the customers" attitude, everything that Randall Graves is, is embodied in Ian!
I wasn't even supposed to be here today
+Free Play Mode
"Cute cat. What's its name?"
"Annoying customer."
He reminds me of John Lennon. (1980 version)
+Free Play Mode *Pictures Ian lock up Luna in the middle the day, to walk over to the convenience store to bug Pat* YESSSS
+WetVein The almost dead version....yup, totally agree.
Ian should write a book about his experiences at Luna. Would be one of the rare cases where I'd preorder a book.
Ian needs his own horror storys at Luna show
+Mike Oliver Can we get Gilbert Godfried to voice the "Lil' Bitch!" guy?
+Christopher is good enough
Ian needs his own show period. Pat... seems like a nice guy, but I agree with virtually nothing that comes out of his mouth XD
+Christopher is good enough
I don't see how this is a horror story. Guy wanted a lower price, he said no, the end.
+Runie549 Press mute whenever I start to speak in the video. Problem solved!
+Pat the NES Punk Haha!
But nah, that's ok. I may not agree with most of the things you say, but you have every right to say them, and I'm not gonna silence ya just because we disagree :)
Besides, I don't have to agree with you to still find you entertaining or fun to watch.
I honestly just can't stand shops that will do Ebay Prices. Why would I pay 80 dollars for Conkers when I can get it off Ebay for the same damn Price. But it isn't the same price because of Tax, so it would be around 86-7. Seriously, over paying and spending gas money for it, what a deal!
+ProtoMario I kid you not when I got to fleamarkets or deal with second hand shops they pretty much follow the "buy it now" price and it make no sense whatso ever.
Mario Reyes I know right, I laugh in their faces, and then I call out those who work in shops by showing them the ebay price, and simply offer them the same price or less. Honestly why would I pay the same damn price, for a game that will go real quick? Whooptie damn do, they are always on Ebay, and now on the Xbox One Rare Replay too.
Silly.
+ProtoMario got mine for8 bucks at a pawn shop heheh
Joseph Stalin I think you forgot most listings use Free Shipping. The ones that don't is your own choice to use.
+ProtoMario Yeah, that's true. Of course, I live in Oregon where there is no sales tax, so that is a non-issue for me.
No offense, but that guy reminds me of the teacher in Beavis and Butthead.
not cool man, men have feelings too
lol i glad im not the only one
I always expect him to pop out his guitar and sing Lesbian Seagull.
Mr.vandresen
mmmkay
The only thing i hate is when a store sells a system with no game or controllers. I recently saw a turbo graphix 16 (uncommon for my area) and the store wanted $100 for just the system, no game, no controller, that's steep.
+ZeromasterLP No game is acceptable but no controller/hook ups/memory card isn't IMO. If the price reflects the missing stuff then fine but if you want top dollar I better be able to get home and play the thing.
Also depending on what it is no game is kind of unacceptable. Like a used PS2 should have a game included since there is so many common 5 dollar titles that are good you could easily toss in. A turboG 16 though I can get just not having a game to bundle.
devilmikey00 i get that but at least throw in a cheap game so i can play the system, the store was asking $20+ for their games, even the common titles.
ZeromasterLP
Ya that all seems pretty expensive for something I can't imagine is flying off their shelves. TurboG collectors aren't exactly common place. I'd come back in a month or two and I bet he might be willing to deal because I bet dollars to donuts that thing will still be sitting there gathering dust.
+ZeromasterLP I agree with controllers. The game store I used to work at wouldn't sell a system without a controller. However, there's no reason to throw in a game on top of that. People are so used to this game stop/Walmart mentality of buying a new system that comes packaged with a game for release. Used systems don't work that way.
Granted I would sometimes toss in a game of Kinect Adventures whenever someone bought one of our Kinects though. They were like a 1.99 game that people constantly brought in and it hardly ever sold. Other than that though, we have no obligations and it's not very fair to ask for us to do you that kind of favor.
+SomeCartoonChick It's not game stops or walmarts fault. Its the gaming companys fault. They had a little chat with the store franchises and told them, they refuse to let the store sell their systems without a game inside. So obviously the stores agreed to their demands so they could sell the systems and not be left out of the loop.
It's called negotiating.
+shaolinskunks88 The dude who wanted that Conker's wasn't negotiating. He was wasting Ian's time.
GroovinFunk
Why does he need to lower it to $74 when in the next day or so someone will come in and pay $80 plus tax? It's not like the guy was buying anything else or was going to be a repeat customer.
+shaolinskunks88 Ya doesn't sound exactly like low balling someone. Just an awkward customer trying to get creative.
+shaolinskunks88 Horrible negotiating skills. He should've started with "Would it be possible to get that conkers game for 80 w/ tax?"
Not, "Hey this game is mega rare and worth every penny you are charging, how about giving it to me for even better deal, and throw in a hard to find poster"
That's called entitlement.
+shaolinskunks88 You don't know what negotiation is then lol Now if it were a butt ton of filler games that are maybe cheap but they're games that don't sell well or fast then I could possibly see someone wanting to try and pull this for a good deal, but not a game that's going to be gone the next day.
Silent Service was mentioned in a CZcams video! $20 to $25 the new going rate confirmed!
+Painmaster212 This happened with Krazy Creatures. When James and Mike did a Monday video...the price went from $15 to $60. Angered me because I hesitated. I watched that video early in the morning and was going to pick it up. I decided that I should wait because it was an impulse buy. Shouldn't have waited....
+Painmaster212 I highly doubt one youtube video mention would warrant a 5 dollar increase in a game.
+gozinta82 Oh, it will.
puffnisse
I've seen them mention numerous NES, Genesis, and Super NES titles over the past few months. Virtually none of them have jumped in price.
It's literally impossible for a game to be mentioned in an internet video and all of a sudden, somehow all sellers become aware and raise their prices simultaneously. That's what would have to happen in order for it to be true.
gozinta82 That is what happend to Indy Heat, Pat mentioned it and then the game went up in price.
wow, conker goes for that much? I'm not a collector, I've just been a gamer for 30+ years and still have all of my stuff (down to the boxes)
that's crazy.
great job as always guys.
might as well get rare replay to get conker lol
+Chad Hook Yeah, it's a quirky, funny, and vulgar game that has quite a reputation (and not to mention it was released in Rare's heyday), so anyone collecting for N64 has to have it.
Yea I've got it in my closet still in the box, along with every system I've owned all the way back to the 2600
I was just suprised at the amount as it doesn't seem like that old of a game, but I guess it is.
Damn... I'm old lol
Yeah when I found out I was pretty surprised as well. Never thought it would be worth that much.
AquaDonkey69 480p I tend to have personal problems when it comes to playing some games on emulator so I had to get rare replay cuz that's the closest I can get with the real thing. 80+ is not worth it unless it was some sort of rare special/limited edition with all these goodies included but it isn't. What can I say I'm like a semi-retro collector (more retro gamer) with justifiable standards lol
i know this is an older video and i don't know if either of you two read these but i wanted to tell a story. i work at a game shop in bumfuck nowhere in ohio. i was sitting there with the owner as she has been my friend for many years and i work at her shop as a favor. Around 6pm, my boss comes in to work her shift and a customer she had dealt with before came in and was ready to turn in, what he called, a magic card collection and a bunch of dice. well we sell magic cards and we are usually happy to take in cards, even if they are bulk commons as you never know what the customers are looking for. what he has 'forgotten' to alert my boss to was that the collection he had was only about 150 cards...and he had found them in the trash. Now my boss who is kinder then me, listened to him and still offered store credit as the dice were worth something while NOTHING in the magic cards were worth the cardboard they were printed on.
Now what do you think this could of been for? A cheap game? a soda or something low in cost as this person had found cards IN THE TRASH AND BROUGHT THEM IN AN ACTUAL BUSINESS?! No...no this pudthumper wanted a broken PS3 we were planning on getting repaired as only the optical lens is messed up on it. When my boss told him no, i would of told him we had no use for them and that he can kindly return the cards to what ever receptacle he had found them in , he kept pushing claiming that he needed it to keep his hands busy and himself out of trouble...now mind you this person is a full grown adult male with a gf/wife (IDK/IDC) with a child! He wanted a handout from us for basically garbage...I wanted to throw him out and rain bricks upon him and everything he holds dear! i deal with people who are only interested in getting money out of us, money we don't have, for shit that is worth nothing to anyone!...oh god i am still angry and i want to find where he lives, piss on the cards on his doorstep and punch him in the face...
Shit...sorry i had to rant for a little bit.
well adults do as MTG, which still releases sets every 3 months, is aimed at 13 and up. It still nets millions every year and those who are good at the game can live off their winnings from Pro-tours. Hell Magic helps keep Local game shops alive
People continually talk about sellers who have an over inflated view of their games worth, but never talk about buyers who make insultingly low-ball offers for games that are clearly worth significantly more.
I never heard nor seen that. All I know is Sellers have games at criminal prices....
+Spectrum NoobGaming People do it with make best offer on Ebay. As for criminal prices, as long as people don't buy them at these prices, then sellers will be forced to lower their expectations.
+Spectrum NoobGaming "Criminal prices". If you don't like the price, don't buy the game. You save money, the seller will lose money, and you can look for your "magically low-priced game" elsewhere. People don't blink an eye when people spend $50-100K on an old car, or $20K on a strange painting from a man long dead, but a video game being 1.5-2x the original price is somehow outrageous. The rarer an item, the more it is worth, no? The more it is worth, the more people want it. The more people want it, the more the game circulates, meaning it has demand. As long as the game has demand, the price will not drop (shouldn't rise dramatically either).
Unless you find a seller that doesn't understand the worth of what they have, you won't find a game like Conker's Bad Fur Day much cheaper than $80, and good luck getting one CIB.
If you want the game, you'll pay the price. If not, then it will go to someone else or stay on the seller's shelf. That's all it is.
:53 "he annoyed me last time" Am I the only one that gets the feeling that Ian is annoyed by the majority of customers that come into the store? I get the feeling the employees at Luna are like the guys in the record store in the movie High Fidelity. But I love em anyway.
I think so too. I know that kind of job is plagued with assholes but Ian is pretty intolerant. Sometimes i think they should just call it "The Ian bitching moment Podcast" but there are also a lot of videos where he isn't complaining about someone's red t-shirt so that wouldn't be fair.
I think that is a case of survivor bias: The ones that are memorable are more often than not the ones that annoy him. When the questions come in asking about bad experiences with customers, he's not going to cite instances where they were pleasant or just fine to deal with.
I've worked in retail and have to say there are plenty of assholes. You meet all sorts. I mean on balance they are the extreme minority but when you deal with a high volume, you get a few each day and they do stick in your mind.
No, you just don't have stories from good customers.
I have a warped sense of value since I find games for so cheap in the wilds of Dallas so when Im trading games I often dramatically under value stuff haha.
+DreamcastGuy Why are you in my wilds
+DreamcastGuy thats funny cause i know how much stuff can be worth too but when i sell or trade i usually hook ppl up cause i know how it is trying to find a decent price lol
+DreamcastGuy thats funny cause i know how much stuff can be worth too but when i sell or trade i usually hook ppl up cause i know how it is trying to find a decent price lol
+DreamcastGuy My only source is ebay so I'm screwed when finding a deal.
Conker's around my area goes for a 1 billion dollars. I have two of them right now. And can bench a lot. I'm only 15. I love retro games!
Lol huh?
I'm getting free Silent Services with all future Luna purchases, you let the cat out of the bag on this one. I'll be laughing all the way to the bank when rampant speculation on the future of submarine based NES games drives the price up to $300 a cart in a few years.
I have a worse story.
I used to work at a video game store in my town in Australia. I remember a customer coming in with a mint condition copy of FF7. We gave him $10 worth of store credit for the game.
When we received traded in stock it would be sent down to the main shop in Sydney and be sent back with pricing.
I saw that copy of FF7 in my shop with a price tag of $200.
I wasn't happy as we totally ripped off the customer. I knew I ripped him off however I was told that $10 was the most we could give him in that transaction.
Eventually that shop closed down was told it was closing on the last day of business with no warning.
I have many more stories of that business and how it would treat its customers and employees.
I've slowly realized from friends and family and even overhearing strangers at yard sales and flea markets that negotiating skills and what constitutes a deal differ vastly. Sounds like that guy was similar to some I've run into that are afraid they'll find a better deal somewhere else. I've heard people complain and even whine about stupid shit like buying a new console and "six months later they dropped the price $50" without stopping to think you couldn't exactly rent one for six months for $50.
If you're happy with the deal at the time, take it and shrug it off. There's generally always a better deal but you have to put in time and effort and almost always money and luck as well.
That being said, going into a store like that is pretty stupid to begin with since it's a business with employees to pay and rent to cover, and especially when you don't have a rapport with the employees/owner.
i love these stories about ian's annoying customers.
Does the owner of Luna know that Ian talks about the store and customers in the podcast? I'd imagine that most owners would not be okay with that.
I payed $30 for conkers yesterday a good deal considering in Canada the prices are shit because of the cad dollar. $80 is a good price though.
Pat, you are a shelf collector. Stop lying to yourself. lol.
+lMrFresno559l Who fucking cares?!!
+gozinta82 Everyone, fucking everyone, it shows that Pat doesnt even fucking know at all what kind of collector he is.. so yes WE FUCKING CARE DIPSHIT
DieHardjagged
calm down bro, it's not the end of the world.
DieHardjagged
So what if he is a shelf collector. Is there a point you are making beyond this, or just that he is a shelf collector, like it's a bad thing. Like collecting things is a bad thing. Please, explain.
+Paul Clinton
I don't care what people do with their free time and their own money. It's his happiness, not yours.
I want a channel or a series dedicated to Luna stories by Ian.
I like Silent Service. It's not great, but is good. Definitely worth picking up for $5 or less.
Ian ain't kidding about the weather, 96 degrees, humid and no wind. I feels like Hell inside and out.
I would have to agree with some on the commenters. He was pretty fucking harsh. I definitely wouldn't go near his store.
people probably do this more due to shows like game chasers going into stores and asking for lower prices which they can kinda get away with seeing as there advertising the store or stores feel pressured into looking to in front of them
Hmm...you complain about how ebay resellers are driving up prices and now complain about a "lowballer" trying to save a bit of money. Seems a little hypocritical.
if the guy was a reseller (doesn't sound like he was) Ian would be perpetuating the problem with pricing because of the price charting on ebay a reseller will constantly try to increase the price of a game despite the rarity. I'm a small time 64 collector big time player and I love buying 64s and games for my friends who want a retro revival, I recently bought my brother a 64 and bought him goldeneye and gave him our original family copy of mariokart. I then looked on ebay to get another copy (I have an ntsc-j copy as well) I found that everyone was asking 65 - 75 dollars for a cart. 2 years ago it was a 30 dollar game at our chain pawn shops (Australia doesn't have flea markets with games). Suddenly Facebook shopping groups start popping up and say we have 30 copies of mariokart and 8 copies of Conkers asking $65 and $250 respectively. hopefully that gives you a little insight into the problem.
When you're buying... "Fn' scumbag seller charging to much".... When you're buying.... "Fn' lowballer trying to get a 7% discount". Seems legit.
To be fair, this customer sucked at negotiating. He even gives the seller a compelling reason not to decrease the price.
Get an ac unit. Moisture from humidity can't be good for carts
At our local retro shop I generally pay what the store asks. The owner is usually really fair with his prices, especially considering this is Canada. Though when I'm making a big purchase that's going into multiples hundreds of dollars I'll try to get him to cut me a deal.
He thought that by asking you for a poster he was asking for something equally as trivial as Silent Service. He feels better about buying it at essentially full price with an off-the-wall request like that (literally) because he imagines that he's maintaining control by dictating terms. In his mind it was equivalent but less conventional, willingly deluding himself to rationalize the purchase that way ("less conventional" = "better deal" just because no one else got a similar concession).
Lol I saw the thumbnail and heard "that ain't gonna happen!"
i like that rick Harrison from pawn stars picture ties together with whole story lol
Conker for only 80 dollars?? Man, here in the Netherlands the cartridge alone will be more than 100 dollars, with the box and manual you can expect around 300!! It's ridiculous.. I wish I knew Luna when I was in San Diego in 2011...
$80 is pretty good compared to the €110 PAL version here in the Netherlands... luckily live and reloaded only goes for €30
Wow. I actually got a store similar to Luna to pull down one of it's posters (A Star Fox Nintendo Power one), only because my friend and I came across a box with a bunch of 'em, and we donated one that was in better condition than the one they had up.
I agree with Pat that Silent Service isn't that bad, it's just that simulators in general weren't the NES's strongest suit compared to computers of the day.
looking at the date 80 is still really good in 2015 for Conker.
Um... Anyone remember when Pat was on Pawn Stars?
My copy of Conkers Bad Fur Day on the N64 was only a few bucks an might have been included in a system bundle with games :)
I despise bargainers. I don't care if a person sells an item too high.
If I don't like the price, I walk. If they can't sell it to anyone, the price will drop.
If you don't like my price, you can walk. If I don't sell it, I'll drop the price.
That thumb nail is fucking perfect I almost lost it once I realized what the podcast was about. I love hearing about Ian's horror stories at Luna.
Ian I am on your side on this one. That flat out rude of that customer to suggest what he did. It does not mean I wouldn't try to haggle, but i would have some respect for the man or woman working behind the store counter who only doing their job.
wish we had a retro game store where im at. but i live up in bfe, georgia basically.we did have a game store for little bit and they had some nes games and a top loader for $60. Wish i had the money to get it
Still amazing watching this in 2021!!!😃
oh god this was a good laugh the part were pat wants pirets poster lol good show guys keep em up.
This really wasn't bad, he was just looked to save on the tax and get a poster. While yeah it is not going to happen , it is not like really trying to make out like bandit .
It doesn't bother me that people try to negotiate a better price. I ran a furniture store for several years and people felt that they had an obligation to haggle me down on everything. I had all sorts of customers and very few actually cared about the money, it wasn't about that, it was about winning.
I had a customer who would pay sticker price for a bedroom suite and spend 20 minutes trying to get a set of sheets thown in free. It didn't matter if the bedroom suite was $999 or $1299, but you had to give him something to make him feel important. We ordered a lot of items in bulk to keep ahead of our competition and were able to run certain bedroom suits $1500 cheaper than one of our local competitiors. Did it matter? Not really, people would still try to work around you - no taxes on that right? I have a tax #? Sometimes it got old, but that's the way business is.
Conkers is now going for $90 - $100
Pretty glad I got it for $60 early this year.
not sure if you guys see this, but i love your podcast, Pat and Ian. your always honest and straightforward about topics, but you also have a sense of humour about it at times too. will keep watching :)
What's with the Starscream picture?
I remember finding a rare conker on eBay for $40 and bought it
Wow and I thought when i got my Conkers cart for $63 it wasn't that great of a price. Price must've changed since then. Ended up getting the box and manual for $30 later on so it didn't bother me as much.
Thing is most low ballers treat people their haggling with as idiots who don't know jack shit about what they got. They literally assume you don't know anything about what your selling and try to finagle their way towards cheating someone then brag about how they ripped someone off. When that doesn't work they then get uppity and start getting nasty cause their scumbag tactics did not work.
Love these Luna Video Games stories.
Seriously, Conker's Bad Fur Day shouldn't be that MUCH. I have sold copies on Ebay for no more than $20.
I can't believe conkers is going for more than it did when I bought it originally
$80 for Conker is not bad. It is average pricing. Assuming you can just pop in the cartridge and play without wiggling it around inside. If it looks great on the outside, chances are the cartridge will look great on the inside. My rule of thumb. Where is your shop btw? I kind of want to check it out.
What Pirates poster were they referring to?
sitting like a T-rex like a boss
Is Pat not aloud to talk about his experience on Pawn Stars?
Oh my god Pat predicted fidget spinners!!! 0:25
Greatest ... Story .... Ever.I must get back to my comic book store, where I dispense the insults rather than receive them.
Ooh i'd love that Pirates map! My favourite NES game back in the day.
I got my Conker for $50 or so a few years ago. Quality game.
My dad and I rented Silent Service one weekend and we couldn't figure out what the hell was going on with it.
I fucking loved Silent Service. I had it on PC and NES. Loved both.
367 people came here thinking they were getting a clip from Pawn Stars. Screw those people.
I had a kid just yesterday who bought Silent Service after I had shown him what it is on CZcams. I was like: man this kid is hardcore. (he was like 8 or 9)
what shop does this guy run and where is it located? great video by the way
Oh my gosh one of my bosses loves Silent Service on the nes I was talking to him about video games and he brought up this one and I never heard of it he kept saying how awesome it was to be in the sub doing all the shit it made him so excited it was funny
Question, is Tomba (ps1) a rarity in the US too? Here you'd pay £50 to get it on ebay (77 dollars), I think Tomba 2 is nearly as rare
Wish I had the money at the time now!
oh hey lets insult my customers cause you know there is no chance they would ever watch pats videos
I think I bought my Conker Bad Fur Day game for about 10 to 20 bucks. I actually bought that game and got a free controller with it (Third party) so I never knew I own such a uncommon game.
If this were to happen to anyone else I would probably be outraged by the customers stupidity and comment some obligatory positive support to their victim. But since it's Ian, I think I'll go ahead and let it slide. In fact, I'm happy that he came in and I hope he continues to annoy Ian.
One of my best experiences was trading a Ninja Gaiden Cartridge for a Super Mario Bros 2 Cart and Mortal Kombat 2 Cart, then finding another Ninja Gaiden a couple venders down xD.
I don't know what it is about video games but everyone tries to low ball.
Conker for the N64 is worth $80? I got that in a closet somewhere.
did u think the pawn stars guys were gonna pay anywhere near retail price lol
Really,Bad Fur Day is 80 bucks!? I saw one recently, in box, for 50. I think I'm gonna go see if it's still there.
Really? Wow.
Conker is easily a 80 dollar game especially if the cart is in good shape. There are plenty of people who would spend that.
let's say I'll buy Beavis and Butthead for Super Nintendo, and you sing Lesbian Seagull, Ian.
Every single lot of NES games I've ever seen on Ebay has at least one copy of Silent Service in it. Every damn one. A sick part of me is tempted to buy them all up and then start listing them as RARE NES GAME - SILENT SERVICE and see if I can get the price to climb.
+Sam Scott You'd have to buy a ton. The retro store near me has a stack of ten priced at $.99. Been that way for a long time.
Yeah, this seems really hypocritical coming from two guys that constantly are looking for good deals and prices.. Also, did pat just SERIOUSLY mention his book at the very end of this clip? Does anyone else get annoyed that he is constantly plugging his book?
Dumbass
80 bucks? damn one store near me has it for $120
Pat you gave it 4 Stars.
Silent service is a really fun game once you learn how to play it. It used to be the game i always went to to reference as a bad game when i was a kid but then when i started actually trying to play it as a teenager i ended up loving it and playing the shit out of it for a month or so.
Sigh, I know a store owner who extremely low-balled my gaming collection and scolded at me for refusing the offer, even though I told him clearly it's the cream of the crop.
I LOVE SOME PIRATES! LET PAT GET IT IAN
as a man that also works in a vintage store i had a fucking guy try to buy a copy of snow brothers from us acting like he was doing us a favor, he wanted us to sell it for 50 bucks -_-
I'm sure this Ian dude is a pleasant, cool person.
Are you the same Luna in San Diego ca? I love retro games and I would like to buy from you. Love your videos by the way!! Thanks for them they are very informative.
I suppose this harkens back at the time when you appeared at Pawn Starts, eh Pat?
I'll tell you what! I get that Little Samson, that Earthbound, that NWC Poster, and I'll give you this shiny Susan B. Anthony Dollar
There's two things that annoy me in retro gaming, people who think they know everything, and people who try to finesse the people who think they know everything
its funny that they negotiate and low ball when you go to trade in games, but the minute you try to bargain they freak out.
I just bought SIlent Service the other day ...
>_>
People put high numbers on rare stuff to get people interested
"Get outta my store before I get my gun."