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08/11/2007: What’s the deal?

Busy working on a ToyFare article tonight, so this may be a good time for a patented SNT survey.

What’s the best deal you’ve ever gotten? Garage sales, store clearance sales, eBay hiccups — they all apply. I have some great stories, but I’ll save them for the comments thread. See you in a bit.


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 201 comments

My favorite Disney movie is Hercules. It came out when I was around eighteen, and led to my first introduction to a fandom, role playing, and fan art. I was new to the internets, y’see.

Naturally, every Hercules related item my best friend and I could find was a serious score, since for some reason Herc is the red headed step child as far as Disney seems to be concerned.

My friend ended up getting this AWESOME art of Hercules book at a book store over in Seattle. I was so jealous I couldn’t see straight. But I was living on my own, and dirt poor, so obtaining my own copy was highly, highly unlikely. That book was our bible for a long time; had lots of art, perfect for obtaining the drawing style which is very personalized to the original character designer for the movie, Gerald Scarfe.

A few years later I’m over in Yakima, at the B. Dalton. To my shock they have the book! I was stunned! I was even MORE stunned when I got it for 14.99!

I STILL gloat to my friend over that one!

Ghosted by LemonWitch @ 08/12/2007 12:04 AM EDT

A Playstation with a bunch of sports games, Jurassic Park: The Lost World game, Descent, and strategy guides for Jade Cocoon, Shadow Madness, and Gran Turismo for a broken car.

Ghosted by mezzanine @ 08/12/2007 12:05 AM EDT

I’m a big collector of the McFarlane toy lines (the most recent ones I’ve bought were for The Simpsons Movie). A few months ago, I was able to get a bunch of unopened Sportspicks in the $3 range at various stores. Not bad stuff nobody wants, but good stuff like Carlos Beltran, Tom Glavine, and Cal Ripken Jr..

Ghosted by Dr. Acula @ 08/12/2007 12:13 AM EDT

When I was asbout 12 or so I had a horrible job delivering the Pennysaver with my brother. I probably made about 10 bucks total (this was way back in the 80’s) when i was allowed to go to the mall alone. I found this really cheesy lavender “pleather” jacket for about 3 bucks and with my mature fashion savvy, just HAD to have it! And a week later, a bird crapped on me while I was wearing it (it’s not just you, Matt!)

Ghosted by jennyb7 @ 08/12/2007 12:34 AM EDT

I got a giant stuffed Blastoise for two bucks at a swap meet. That made me happy.

Ghosted by Anonymous @ 08/12/2007 12:39 AM EDT

Like most things in my life, my best exploits are virtual.

in Warcraft, one time I bought a Tigerstrike Cloak for 1 gold 20 silver, resold it for 109 gold. This was a level 20 character, I barely had 3g in my pocket, so it was a risk, but that started me down the path to learn how to play the AH – I now have a rotating business of several thousand gold a month.

In real life, just today we found a chair for my dorm room at Staples for 45$, originally 170$, and they shipped it free.

Ghosted by Saint Stryfe @ 08/12/2007 12:40 AM EDT

Hello everyone. I have a couple of good deals to speak of. I think it was the summer of 2002. I bought an NES, in its original box, and 3 games(SMB 2, Metroid, and Rad Racer) for around $25 or so altogether. I later sold it for more than I paid for it, although I probably still should’ve held onto it. This is why the Virtual Console comes in so handy.

Ghosted by hoverbored @ 08/12/2007 12:44 AM EDT

I know that there are some deals out there that I’ve forgotten about, but I have a recent one. I’ve been collecting Mary Stewart books (in the “original” hardcover with dust jacket- usually book club editions, which are fine), and there are only two that I have left to get- they’re quite rare. So, even though I blew it big time on one (Nine Coaches Waiting) on ebay (I forgot to bid and missed it for $2.50- they usually go for $20-$50), I did find a paperback copy for 17 cents to read in the meantime. It was a better deal than any new edition ($8-$15) or one at the used bookstore.

I walked out of the used bookstore with about five books one time- they cost nothing because I had a coupon.

Ghosted by Rainbowfeet @ 08/12/2007 12:48 AM EDT

in Warcraft, one time I bought a Tigerstrike Cloak for 1 gold 20 silver, resold it for 109 gold. This was a level 20 character, I barely had 3g in my pocket, so it was a risk, but that started me down the path to learn how to play the AH – I now have a rotating business of several thousand gold a month.

Reminds me of my stint in FF XI. I used to farm Quadav Backplates and sell them to support my armor habit. I was the Kojo of XI. I had to make sure my armor matched, because let’s face it there weren’t complete sets for Thieves, like there are for the other melee classes (at least at low levels).

I would sell them to the AH, and eventually I started seeing this guy coming to the AH and then synthesizing items with backplates. If I had been able to stick around longer, I would have probably worked out a direct deal with the guy :D

You wanted to know that, yes you did.

Ghosted by Knegative @ 08/12/2007 12:49 AM EDT

Years ago I got on eBay and started looking for a Nintendo 64. With poor typing skills I accidently typed in mmtemdo. And found a mmtemdo 64 that came with three games (none very awesome) and had a starting bid of $5 with no reserve. Apparently I was the only person who bid on it and won!

Ghosted by Johnny V. @ 08/12/2007 12:50 AM EDT

Oh, i am so embarassed. Thanks, Darth Poop! Yes, i meant original trilogy. allergy meds make my head all sloshy.

Ghosted by FyarlGirl @ 08/12/2007 12:59 AM EDT

Believe you me FyarlGirl , I can relate!

Ghosted by Darth Poop @ 08/12/2007 1:02 AM EDT

I have a lot of Yard Sale finds as well. Firstly, I found 4 bags of M.U.S.C.L.Es earlier this year for about a dollar total. I once found some earlier for about 25 cents or so which went on eBay for $60-70. But my favorite finds are video-game related. I found an Atari 2600 with 2 controllers, 2 paddle controllers, all the stuff to hook it up, and 40 games for $28. Secondly, I found a Famicom Disk System and 2 big trays of disks. I asked how much, the guy said to make an offer. I paid $10, and the guy said he would’ve taken 5. He was selling it for some other poor sap who was liquidating his collection. Unfortunately, I have yet to get the thing to work.

Ghosted by DocDragon @ 08/12/2007 1:07 AM EDT

I have a friend who works for McFarlane toys in the legal department and she gets me signed figures all the time for free so I tend to think that is a good deal. I also have been able to get tons of my husbands comic books signed for him as well.

I won a complete set of the original SW Trilogy on DVD at a baby shower once. They were from Japan and it was several years before they were released here.

The cool paintball gun I mentioned before was a steal of a deal as well.

I got an awesomely rad printer last year that retailed for $700 for $10 out of pocket after gift cards and rebates. The gift cards totaled $75.

I don’t have any bad deals coming to mind at the moment but give me some time and I am sure I will come up with something. I am usually a pretty saavy shopper so it doesn’t happen often.

Ghosted by Cricket @ 08/12/2007 1:08 AM EDT

I scored two ceramic pumpkins wearing cowboy hats, from my girlfriend’s mom. They are a piece of Halloween glory.

Ghosted by Steven @ 08/12/2007 1:16 AM EDT

Sorry, but I forgot to mention that they were FREE!

Ghosted by Steven @ 08/12/2007 1:17 AM EDT

I won a complete set of the original SW Trilogy on DVD at a baby shower once.

Most awesome. Baby Shower. Ever.

Ghosted by Lori @ 08/12/2007 1:33 AM EDT

Once, my sister was aggressively being hit on my a perfect stranger. he offered her a drink and paid for it. When the bartender brought the beer he set it down with the change (from a twenty) next to it. She picked up both and walked away. It wasn’t me, but it may have been the greatest deal ever. The guy just sat there dumbfounded not saying a word.

Ghosted by kb @ 08/12/2007 1:55 AM EDT

Uhhhh this one time I got a box set of new TMNT cartoon DVDs for the price of a single DVD. That was nice. My brain is so fried. I’m really longing for one of those nice lazy days where you know you don’t have to do anything so you don’t even bother taking a shower. Someone try to get me a deal on that.

Ghosted by Mystie @ 08/12/2007 2:07 AM EDT

Mystie,

funny you should mention that. I’m in pretty much that situation right now. One of the disks in my back slipped out and is pinching one of my spinal nerves, causing pain in my leg, knee, hip, and back. I’m not complaining, cause I get to stay home from work and I have a lot of free time. I’m also on pain medication, and I’m going to physical therapy and doing exercises at home to put the disk back in place. Lately I’ve been writing up a story based on an idea that’s been rattling in my head for a while. BTW, are you the same Mystie who has that Darkwing Duck fansite?

Ghosted by Hoverbored @ 08/12/2007 2:15 AM EDT

I’ve had the best luck with magazines…every time I’m interested in getting all issues of a magazine, someone always says “I have them, and I don’t want them, so here you go.” I recently scored a near-complete set of 1980’s TV Guides. They’re hilarious.

As far as things NORMAL people would find valuable…I got Chrono Trigger mint in box for $70 in 2002; sure, it’s a lot, but it’s usually a lot MORE.

Ghosted by Mars @ 08/12/2007 2:20 AM EDT

Mars, I totally get the magazine collecting! My cousin told me the other day she had cleaned out her dad’s garage and threw away a bunch of old magazines from when she was a teen, stuff like Sassy and Tiger Beat, etc. I was so bummed!

Ghosted by FyarlGirl @ 08/12/2007 2:27 AM EDT

I’ve been fortunate in finding a lot of good deals. When I was in tenth grade, I bought a couple of Beach Boys LPs at a yard sale at this mansion-like place. One of them, a reprint of “Beach Boys’ Concert!” had the wrong disc, but it didn’t matter because the covers are more valuable anyway. The other was a fairly rare “Live in London”, released in 1976. Coincidently, those two albums were released as one CD as part of a series of “twofer” CD reissues of the Beach Boys’ original albums. Strange coincidence that I bought those two albums as separate LPs at the same yard sale.

Ghosted by hoverbored @ 08/12/2007 2:33 AM EDT

Eddie Lightning Frog, that ipod belonged to someone. You are a horrible person. Seriously, kids, if you find something that valuable, you turn it into lost and found. Didn’t your parents teach you that?

Anyway, I’ve been prowling ebay as a buyer/seller for 7 years now, so I’ve gotten some amazing deals. One that comes to mind is a poster I got for 50 cents selling for over $200.

Does the amount of times I’ve been ripped off as both a buyer and seller qualify for worst deal ever?

Ghosted by Ariel @ 08/12/2007 2:34 AM EDT

Probably a brand-spanking new copy of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for PS1 back in 2004. It was unopened and only cost $20. Granted I have no idea how much that would cost on eBay and the like, but it still felt like a great buy.

Ghosted by Ben @ 08/12/2007 2:44 AM EDT

I’m really tired and can’t invest a lot of mental effort into thinking up some juicy ones, but here are a couple I thought were pretty cool:

McDonald’s drive-thru, at the speaker, I asked for a large order of fries and a medium sprite. The total was two and a half bucks or so and I drove up to the first window. Handed the girl a $5 and she gave me back like $17 and some change.

I said thank you and instead of risking getting caught at the second window, I waited until the car in front of me moved and I drove off and went to another McDonald’s and ordered the same thing.

Appx $15 profit plus food, can’t argue.

A few years back I was traveling a lot which caused extremely high cell phone bills (within 3 months I paid T-Mobile (possibly Voicestream then) about $3,000 in cell phone charges. My fourth extremely high bill came in and I decided I couldn’t keep doing this anymore so I called customer service to change my plan.

Well the lady told me they just came out with a plan that’s not even advertised yet and she will set me up on it if I’d like. The plan was $10 more a month than what I was paying for a buttload of anytime minutes. $50 for 3000 “whenever” minutes. I told her I’ll accept that plan. Well, for whatever reason, when she put me on that plan, she said she’ll credit it for that following month as well, which dropped my bill down from $800 something to $50. I have been a T-Mobile customer since.

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 08/12/2007 2:49 AM EDT

Right now its a toss-up between MST3K vol. 2 DVD set for $9.99 at a clueless GameStop, or the Donkey Kong Jr. table top arcade game for 5 bucks at a garage sale…

Ghosted by Jerrod @ 08/12/2007 2:50 AM EDT

I found a copy of Into The Void by Nine Inch Nails for 12.99 in an FYE three years ago. At the time it was going for about 60 bucks elsewhere, now it goes for 120. certain websites list it at way higher. I’m a huge collector so I’m not selling it, but holy shite.

Ghosted by Justin @ 08/12/2007 2:57 AM EDT

I would have to say the best deal I ever got was the purchase of my first color ink-jet printer.
Where I was working at the time my company scored a great deal on rebates for them. A $50 rebate on each printer, a great deal all by itself. But.. Me and another guy I worked with received two rebate checks from Lexmark. Score!!

Original price $75 received $100 back. Net result Lexmark paid us $25 to take there printers.

Ghosted by Wenthral @ 08/12/2007 3:15 AM EDT

I got a wicked huge box of star wars toys and vehicles at a garage sale like…maybe 10 years ago, for about $10. It had everything! The Falcon, 2 At-At’s, an at-st, the ewok village, a star destroyer, figures, the wompa playset, ewok battle ram, the list goes on. 10 friggin bucks. Plus the box had other random toys and a stretch armstrong. It was like opening pandora’s box.

Ghosted by Nickelodeon @ 08/12/2007 3:15 AM EDT

fistpittingnork:
Shame on you, you should have told the person they gave the wrong change. You noticed that it was wrong and drove off, that is stealing in my book.
I have on several occasions noticed wrong change back and asked are they sure they got that correct. Pointing out that they gave the wrong change and correcting there mistakes.

I’ve also given wallets back with money still in them, one with over $400 cash.

Damn parents and there stupid morals…

Ghosted by Wenthral @ 08/12/2007 3:25 AM EDT

A TRU in Brooklyn recently went out of business, and I managed to score the exclusive and over-priced Bantha and Dagobah X-Wing for 50% off. I also only payed a dollar for my SNES in box with all accessories a few years back.

My worst deal was the $250 I just payed for an limited edition Star Wars watch with the Imperial insignia on the face. I love it, but I need to have it resized on top of the 150% markup.

Ghosted by GadgetMouse @ 08/12/2007 3:36 AM EDT

I actually just got a terrific deal this evening. Our local Target had the exclusive Spider-man 3 box set (Spider-man Vs. Sandman) on sale for $0.86. That’s down from $14.99. I was elated. That’s part of the fun of collecting. Anyone can drop major coin and have a great collection of something. The idea is to have a great collection without paying much for it. =)

Ghosted by CrazinBran @ 08/12/2007 3:58 AM EDT

4 slices of french toast, 6 strips of bacon, two servings of hashbrowns and an orange juice. 2 bucks on weekends.

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 08/12/2007 4:07 AM EDT

Right now I’m using iTunes to make my own summer jukebox from the music I have saved from my family’s CD collection. I have a working draft of 58 songs, and I’m going to add more from CD I haven’t saved on my computer yet.

Ghosted by hoverbored @ 08/12/2007 4:13 AM EDT

I got an NES for free from my sisters ass kissing boyfriend.
I lost one of the cords to plug it in.
I played it…. maybe twice?
Friend of mine brags about his old star wars guys from 1977, lent em to me, still hasnt and isnt, getting em back.
Most of the spiffy stuff I get is from friends who lend me crap and forget. Suckers.
Anyone else wanna buy that soundwave mp3 player that can transform? I do. but I wanna know how much space it has.

Ghosted by Richard @ 08/12/2007 5:48 AM EDT

Haha, I’d have to say the best deal I ever managed to get was my completely intact, unscratched, and out of print copy of Oingo Boingo’s Good For Your Soul CD. I was lucky enough to snag it for only a quarter (which is amazing to me, since it’s selling for around fifty bucks on ebay and the like).

I also managed to grab up three well worn Boingo shirts for around six dollars at that very same yard sale.

Ghosted by Formaldehyde Fayth @ 08/12/2007 5:52 AM EDT

For my birthday my friend gave me a huge stack of Law and Order Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent DVDs. He ran into somebody outside a store trying to trade them in and snagged them all for a C note. I haven’t even finished the first season of SVU yet. For some reason I can’t think of any other great deals I’ve gotten. Oh, I picked up a PSP with a memory card and a couple of games for Christmas gifts for way cheap last year. And at the Quiksilver factory outlet store I got this awesome shirt with a ranchero dude on it and a snake and an eagle for like 2 bucks. I love it.

Ghosted by squee4242 @ 08/12/2007 6:08 AM EDT

Back when I used to collect Beanie Babies, I found a store that was selling unopened boxes of the trading cards for like $2. That in itself was a great deal since the single packs were usually at least that, but inside one of the boxes I found a gold Canyon birthday card, one of a hundred made, which I put on eBay and netted a tidy profit from.

Ghosted by Candice @ 08/12/2007 8:28 AM EDT

Heh, the best virtual deal I ever got {World of Warcraft} just occurred. Found the jewelcrafting pattern for Bright Living Ruby on the AH for 6g. Bitch is usually at least 400g.

Ghosted by Candice @ 08/12/2007 8:32 AM EDT

I was at a local toys & collectibles fair about a year or so ago and found a guy selling seriously discounted old DVDs out of his booth. There’s nothing remarkable about the dilapidated copy of “Crimes & Misdemeanors” I snagged for a buck, but what is remarkable is the fact that the fella also had a brand-new copy of the 1st season of the British comedy series “Spaced” on his rack for $10. I can only assume that the guy had no earthly idea of what the show was and that you can’t even find new copies of that damn show on Amazon, but I chose not to ask questions and joyously profitted from his ignorance.

Ghosted by Sassafrasquatch @ 08/12/2007 8:37 AM EDT

I was at Target the other day, looking at Lego sets. They had this big 50 dollar one that was marked down to 34.98. It was one where you could build a house, and I wanted to get it for my mom cause she LOVES building lego houses. Anyhow, I thought I’d get it for her, since it was marked down and she wouldn’t have such a cow over the price. I paid for it, got home and looked at the receipt – it rang up 12 dollars and something. I couldn’t believe it.

I’m always finding deals at work (TRU) though. Sometimes we will find stuff marked down to 1 cent, and occassionally they just let us have it. Today I found some Magnetics marked down to 2.48 from 9.99, plus all clearance stuff is now 20% off.

A long time ago, my mom went to TRU and got me this Sleeping Beauty Barbie doll with her wedding dress on. I don’t know how much it was supposed to be, but I know she was expensive since she was the kind you had to take the ticket up to the register for. Well, she only ended up paying 10 bucks for her. :) That was awesome.

Ghosted by Ryane @ 08/12/2007 9:08 AM EDT

Most of my best deals are probably book-related. We have a “Friends of the Library Booksale” every year that is HUGE, and I always get lots of cool crap. Like about 50 old Nintendo Powers for 2 bucks, things like that.

I got Final Fantasy IV Advance for 15 bucks at a lonely Kmart in Sweetwater. I’ve never seen it (New) for less that 19.99.

I’ve gotten several good deals from a local used record store that prices NES games at 4 bucks–even if they have the box and manual. Kirby’s Adventure, complete and mint (looked like it had never been used), $4.00

I like to collect old computer stuff, and a friend of mine GAVE me an Apple Powerbook 1400cs (circa 1996) for free. It had no OS on it, but another friend gave me a copy of OS 8 for free, so I have a working Mac laptop that I spent zero bucks on.

I’m sure I’ll think of more later! :)

Ghosted by Cameron T. @ 08/12/2007 9:16 AM EDT

i got an h.r. giger life sized 3-d relief of the “alien” hanging on my wall. it weighs about 40 pounds. it’s number 524 of 9,500. it retailed in catalogs 10 years ago for around 900 dollars. i found a broken one at a thrift store in alabama for 18 dollars. i fixed it with home made paper mache and spray paint.

Ghosted by nick @ 08/12/2007 9:19 AM EDT

Longtime lurker here… best deal recently… This weekend at Wizard Con in Chciago my wife was asked this trivia question: “What was Baltar’s title on the original BSG” She replied “Count”, spun a wheel and hit MEGA PRIZE! She got a crap load of stuff including a tenth anniversary megatron and optimus primal transformers beast wars two pack and a code 3 ROTJ sculpted movie poster… not exactly a “deal” but cool nonetheless!!

Ghosted by Michael @ 08/12/2007 10:06 AM EDT

Yeah, Hoverboard, I’m that Mystie. Ah, to be free to spend my nights making Darkwing Duck galleries and not being torn this way and that by everyone I know. I figure if I play my cards right I might have a couple hours before someone calls me up and tries to drag me away from all the stuff I need to do.

Ghosted by Mystie @ 08/12/2007 10:32 AM EDT

K-Mart, I bought Metroid(classic) for gameboy advance for $2.00, sure it was marked 9.99 so it wasn’t best deal ever but I love you anyway K-Mart.

Ghosted by mrjayberry @ 08/12/2007 10:34 AM EDT

GENUINE Luis Vuitton bag for ten dollars! I had it authenticated. Some insanely rich woman had a yardsale.

and I used eat fruit yogurt snacks and pudding rollups. and yes, one rollup brand had seeds.

Ghosted by mandy_reeves @ 08/12/2007 11:10 AM EDT

D20 Modern Core Rulebook, 2.50 because it was “damaged” – there were two small ink spots on the spine

Ghosted by Justin @ 08/12/2007 11:16 AM EDT

I got my first game system when I was six from an older cousin in exchange for my dad to take him out for a round of golf.

his Sega Genesis was minty, the larger version with the headphone plug-in too. came with its box and manuals and all. plus about twelve games. I still have it to this day and can’t think of a better deal I’ve come across yet :)

Ghosted by Dee @ 08/12/2007 11:23 AM EDT

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