A Bargain, a Steal, and the Sickness Continues

I have a soft spot for used video game systems. Anytime I see a system for sale in a thrift store I'm tempted to buy it. It doesn't matter if I already have the same system at home. I don't have this one.

Daphne doesn't say much about what I've bought. I think she just mentally rolls her eyes, especially when I try to defend my purchase, "Well, someday this stuff is going to be worth something."

I spotted this box at a thrift store last year. It contained a complete Sega Master System and 17 games. I don't know anything about the Master System, but it was a bargain at $15 dollars.

I checked the value of each game on eBay to see if I had scored a rare cartridge. "Golden Axe Warrior" looked like it might be worth some money.

Today's eBay results for "Golden Axe Warrior" look like this.

We all know that an eBay asking price does not equal value. Wanting to sell a game for $125 doesn't mean that it's worth that. I checked Amazon. A "Golden Axe Warrior" was selling on there for $80. Maybe I did have something here. 

I watched those eBay and Amazon games sit stagnant for months. People weren't paying $125 or even $80 for Mr. Warrior. So, when I decided to sell my game, I set my Craigslist price a bit lower. $65 won't get me on Antique Roadshow, but it is still an outrageous price for a video game found at the bottom of a thrift store box. Here's what my ad looked like.

It only took one hour to sell my game for $60. Not bad. See, Daphne, these games are worth something!

What did I do with my easily gotten gains? I raised an eBay bid by $60 dollars on a pinball auction.

I'd been watching this eBay pinball auction for days, and I'd been trying so hard to talk myself out of wanting a sixth pinball machine. I talked Daphne through every reason I could think of for not bidding on this machine. I pointed out the thoroughly rusted coin door. I told her the cabinet had been repainted, the backglass was flaking, and I didn't have room for another stupid pin. It all made perfect sense, and Daphne applauded my reasoning.

When I later admitted that I was the high bidder, she laughed out loud at me, but she wasn't surprised.



I won the auction. The Palooka came from the same seller who sold me the Teacher's Pet last month.

Maybe it is fuzzy math, but I think $420 (duuude) minus $60 is $360. That's a steal for a working pinball machine. Someday, I'll be able to prove this to Daphne, too...

By the way, I was able to fit the Palooka in the Sad Club Arcade. He's a fighter and the other pins moved over to make room for him.