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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

Richard damn, you are one hardcore motherfucker…

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

Damn, I keep double posting, but I have to point out that the figures were actually released in 1978. The early bird special was the only “action figure” product that came out in ’77.

Ghosted by Darth Poop @ 08/12/2007 11:25 AM EDT

Several times I’ve gotten things free because the register was not working right and the clerk just gives up: several times at drive-thru’s, twice for $50 ITunes gift cards, and a few other times for the same reason: broken register system + lazy sales clerk = free for me….

And hey everyone, I miss having not be around much lately. My internet was down most of last week plus school started back up….

Ghosted by Shuanfu @ 08/12/2007 11:37 AM EDT

I got my Xbox 360 for around $21 from one of those “You’ve won a free _____” banner ads. Took about 4 months total. Not a bad deal.

Ghosted by Cid Rain @ 08/12/2007 11:44 AM EDT

My epicly boring tale:

The computer I’m typing this from was the best deal of my life. I saved my money throughout college to buy a top-of-the-line PC for myself when I graduated. I drove to the new Gateway store in my town, picked out the nicest machine I could find, and paid with my credit card. I took it home and plugged it in – but nothing happened. I got a dud system. Totally fried out of the box.

So I drove back to the store to swap boxes. They had JUST closed, but somebody inside saw me with the new box and opened the door for me. I told them the problem and they went to get another of the same PC to switch me. They came back and just handed me the computer, no bar code matching or register activity. Satisfied nonetheless, I took it home and it worked fine.

Months later I realized my credit card was never billed. I triple-checked my old statements and sure enough, no $1500 charge. I figured it’d show up a month or two later.

When that didn’t happen, I tried to hold my excitement about the ordeal. But one afternoon, my phone rang. The caller ID said, “GATEWAY PC SERV.” Oh crap, they busted me. Oh well, I thought. I answered the phone and the woman said,

GATEWAY: “Hi, I’m from the local Gateway Technical Service Desk. Your PC is fixed and ready to be picked up.”

ME: “Uhhhhhh, what?”

GATEWAY: “Your computer. You can come get it anytime before 5 PM today. There is no charge, due to the extended warranty you purchased previously.”

ME: “Okay . . .”

Obviously there was some sort of mistake – I never brought my computer back there. But after scoring the first freebie, I figured I’d at least go down to the store to see what they THOUGHT was mine.

I got to the Tech Desk at the store and presented myself. They went back and got “my” computer along with a receipt. I looked the machine up and down – it was scratched up, fairly old and used, with Smurfs stickers along the sides of the case. Ahhhh, this was truly somebody else’s computer. And it looked loved. I couldn’t swindle the common man out of a PC.

“Uhhh, that’s not my computer,” I said. And I turned and briskly walked out of the store. As I left I heard the rep calling after me with a very puzzled tone.

That was 3 years ago. My computer is still chugging along, but it’s time is sadly almost up.

Ghosted by evil robot ted @ 08/12/2007 12:01 PM EDT

See, Gateway is the site of my WORST deal. I didn’t know anything about computers and I got raped by them. I had that for about 2 years, and the battery went after like 6 months. So, I had a giant clunky desktop of a laptop that was absolutely worthless. Since then I’ve only had one computer (a mac :D ) and it’s still running strong. It was less than half the price of that Gateway turd, to boot.

Ghosted by Knegative @ 08/12/2007 12:24 PM EDT

I got a $3000 50″ TV for $1600 because it was an open box. I don’t know if it was a display model or if it was returned, but it works just fine.

Ghosted by spaz307 @ 08/12/2007 12:25 PM EDT

yesterday while doing my 4 mile walk i stopped at a yard sale and picked up mario tennis for gameboy for 1.00 and arcade classics for gameboy advance for 1.00! frogger is the best game on it!

Ghosted by Cathie @ 08/12/2007 1:05 PM EDT

Once in Tokyo I picked up the Sailor Moon Infinity artbook for $40 – it sells on eBay for $500 !

Ghosted by EddyShergar @ 08/12/2007 1:26 PM EDT

about 15 years ago someone had a big screen projection tv on a radio call-in trading post type show. they didn’t know if it worked but only wanted 20 bucks for it. i called and went right to their house and bought it, took it home, plugged it in and it worked great. one of those old ones with the wood cabinet and big curved screen on top. i used it for a couple of years, finally saved money to buy a new big screen tv, and sold the old one for $350. best deal ever!

Ghosted by plcary @ 08/12/2007 1:47 PM EDT

At an anime convention I got a DVD of Urusei Yatsura (a great older series popular in the early ’80s; if X-E were based in Japan, it would probably get mentioned a lot) for about $10 or so. Maybe more. I just remember it was a pretty decent deal for a DVD.

Ghosted by Andrew @ 08/12/2007 1:49 PM EDT

When I was in 6th grade “Magic: The Gathering” Cards were the shiznit. Me along with all of my classmates and more than half of the kids I knew were rabid for them. In my school, the fabled card that was supposedly super rare and special (as told by the upperclassman) was the “Wall of Shadows”.
This is back around ‘94-’95 when comics were really popular again due to events like the Death of Superman. So my father would take me to conventions in NYC (still living in Jersey). It was at one of these conventions that I was digging around in a card bin and found not one but 4 Wall of Shadows cards!! I couldn’t believe my luck. What’s more is that the bin was marked “All cards 25 cents”
I figured that it must be a huge mistake on the venders part. And I quickly and excitedly bought all four cards.
When I went back to school on Monday I proudly showed all the 7th and 8th graders my treasure and they all looked on in disbelief and envy that a lowly 6th grader had not one but four copies of what was considered to be the Jimmy Hoffa of all cards.
Later I learned that they were not as rare and valuable as everyone thought, but isn’t value in the eye of beholder anyway?

That’s the best anecdote I can think of.

Ghosted by Joker @ 08/12/2007 1:59 PM EDT

Is it just me, or is anyone else getting a “403 Forbidden” page anytime they tried to comment? That’s why I haven’t been able to comment last night (or very late into the last thread)

Here’s my post:

To say it again:

G1 Jetfire

Flea Market

Guy didn’t know what it was.

Got it for $3.

Threw in Perceptor for another dollar.

Done. Yay. My best deal.

Also got a box full of g1 transformers for $50 at same flea market (just another time) and it had Galvatron, Astrotrain, Dreadwing, Shockwave, and 2 Perceptors, one complete. There was also a GoBot and a diecast yellow Voltron Lion.

Ghosted by Invader Norbert @ 08/12/2007 2:10 PM EDT

I actually have a couple, the first being the Total Justice Hawkman and Superman figures that I picked up for 35 cents a piece at the BXPX in Los Angeles. Amazingly enough, they were brand new figures at the height of the Total Justice line. As a big comic collector I’ve often stumbled across killer deals for comics – especially in the quarter bins (as I seem to like the characters no one else even wants to see again – the Scarlet Spider, Prime, electric blue Superman, etc).

The most recent deal came at a yard sale though where I picked up my two and a half year old nephew over 20 rescue heroes, the oil rig/sea port and the aircraft carrier for $20. It took up almost the entire backseat of my vehicle but it made him extremely happy.

Ghosted by jjwspider @ 08/12/2007 2:31 PM EDT

Ariel-
On a campus of 50k students, the probability of getting back /anything/ you lose is minuscule. No name on it, and I’m not about to hand it over to some other college kid in charge of a lost and found department. How many people go there every day saying “um.. I lost an ipod. Do you guys have one?” So don’t judge me. Anyway, I was doing the ipod a favor. What was on there before was garbage.

Ghosted by Eddie Lightning Frog @ 08/12/2007 3:14 PM EDT

I have an actual standup arcade cabinet which plays Energhiz (A fighting game where you can play as Tifa and Cloud) for 100 bucks at auction … that seemed like a good deal … then again damn thing is HUUUUGE

Ghosted by The Zombie @ 08/12/2007 3:16 PM EDT

The Zombie– Can you play as Sephiroth in that game as well?

Ghosted by Joker @ 08/12/2007 3:19 PM EDT

Red Jack Daniels replica I Dream of Jeannie bottle… $2.

WWII army trunk, complete with 1940’s era airline stickers, the name of the soldier who owned it still stenciled on the top and, inside, his itenerary for September of 1942… $15 at a church garage sale. I use it as a coffee table and conversation piece… and I keep my board games in it.

I was at an estate sale, looking at some glasses and something fell against my hip. It was a framed print of a Richard Franklin painting, Antigone… $15.

A few months later I was at Michael’s and they had a HUGE framed print of another Richard Frankling painting, Flora, $400. I love pre-Raphaelite art, so I was absolutely drooling over it for almost two years. One day my parents went in and found they’d marked it down to $200. The manager just happened to be standing there and overheard my mom remark to my dad that that was the painting I’d been wanting so badly. He told her they’d been wanting to sell it so they could bring out more pieces to fill the space so he offered to sell it to her for $100. My mom told him to bring his guys to get it down and that’s how Flora came to be mine. A $400 for $100. Not too shabby.

Ghosted by Special K @ 08/12/2007 3:24 PM EDT

I was doing the ipod a favor. What was on there before was garbage.

Hahahaha. ULTRA WIN.

I’m really of two minds on issues like this. On the one hand, I am the kind of guy who will be honest if I’m given too much money in return from a cashier. Mainly because they are usually made to make up the difference themselves. At least, the Colonel had to when he was working at a movie theatre. Same goes, in spirit, for finding a wallet full of money. On the other hand, the iPod incident almost falls into natural selection territory. You lose it, you lose it. Someone loses something, someone finds something. All evens out eventually, I suppose. If this was a perfect world and lost and found agencies were 100% honest and effective, well this would be a perfect world :( :P

Ghosted by Knegative @ 08/12/2007 3:25 PM EDT

Hmm…lots of dishonesty coming out on XE! Most distressing.

I am king of deals. Seriously, too many to list. Snagged a HiComplete Valkyrie (Veritech) at a comic shop for $30 when they went for $400 and up…

Got my wife $150 off retail on a KitchenAid Mixer…

Numerous $98 sweaters and clothes for $4 (thanks Dillards!)

Just bought an incomplete Robotech Cyclone I have the pieces to that Im gonna turn on eBay for 200… It goes on and on…

Ghosted by Terror Claws Cole @ 08/12/2007 3:36 PM EDT

BTW – Eddie,

Apple has a database that maintains who iPods belong to based on their serial number. Dollars to doughnuts that that iPod has a serial number you can look up on Apple.com. It’s really easy to find out whose it is…if you want to.

Just think of ol TCC as the angel on your shoulder.

Ghosted by Terror Claws Cole @ 08/12/2007 3:40 PM EDT

When I was younger – this is pre-NES young, and I’m almost 26 – I used to go garage sale-ing with my grandma on weekends.

Well, one time we found this box – a literal BOX – of Atari 2600 games. I got the lot for -a- buck. There must’ve been two dozen carts in there. Most of them sucked, as it WAS the 2600, but shit, buddy. That’s a score, there. Hell, I’d probably still be happy to score that. Shame my 2600 is missing half its wires and half dead now…

Ghosted by ChibiSoma @ 08/12/2007 3:44 PM EDT

I have a few that spring to mind:

Back in 2004, I got a complete Cobra Terrordrome for only 30 dollars from the local collectible toy store just because the guy knew I was looking for it and he had a few others. I can’t tell you how many times I went in there telling him to keep an eye out for it. It pracitcly became desperation and one day he let me know he had it and it was mine for 30.

Later that year me and my girlfriend at the time went to a flea market in Timonium, MD and found 60 GI Joes for 25 dollars. Including the Gold Headed Brigade Trooper. Yes!

And this past June, I found a mint in open box non-complete and a little yellowed Empire Strikes Back Millenium Falcon for 30 dollars at the Goodwill.

Ooh…and I got a leather jacket in my size (3xlt, I’m 6′6 ya know) at the goodwill for 25 after switching price tags, although that’s cheating. lolz.

Yes.

Ghosted by Rixliss @ 08/12/2007 3:58 PM EDT

Got a Tickle-Me-Elmo for $30 some buck @ Kohl’s that I promptly sold on eBay for $85.

Ghosted by Joe in OH @ 08/12/2007 3:59 PM EDT

My brother and I do a lot of yard sale searching, thrifting, etc., and we’ve turned up more than a few good deals. Here’s just a few I can think of:

-Atari 800 XL system with disk drive, hook-ups, and a TON of games: $20, and one game is worth $22, the other, $18.

-Countless NES/Genesis consoles set-ups. I suppose some could be considered “bad deals” because while we can do without the 50th Sega Genesis, we absolutely must buy every NES we come across.

-A Socrates Edutainment Console from 1988: $4

-A Commodore 64 with disk drive, printer, and some hook-ups: $6 or so I believe. Definitely under $10.

-Atari 5200 original four port version (working), with controllers, hook-ups, and original catalogues: $20.

-Sega Nomad w/carrying case and battery pack: $2 (I talked them down from $5 :-) )

-Atari Jaguar in box with controller, but no hook-ups: $6 (and I accidentally fried the system later on :-( )

-Atari 7800 system with two controllers, rare original power supply, and one 2600 game worth at least $15: $3.

-An absolute ton of 2600 games, three 2600 systems, one 7800 system, hook-ups, just a huge haul all around: FREE.

Ghosted by Larry @ 08/12/2007 4:12 PM EDT

Urusei Yatsura FTW!!!!!
I got a Magnavox Odessey2 boxed and complete for 10 bucks at a thrift,and my sister just got the Castle Greyskull,Battle Cat,He-Man,Skeletor,and a vehicle from the Four Horsemen He-Man relaunch line for $1.75! Sure,the castle is missing pieces,but battle cat alone is worth that price!

Ghosted by Kid Nicky @ 08/12/2007 4:17 PM EDT

I’ve been getting the 403 error for months

Ghosted by mandy_reeves @ 08/12/2007 4:47 PM EDT

403 errors?

Ghosted by Bill @ 08/12/2007 5:11 PM EDT

I have been getting those for a couple of days and I thought I said something to get myself banned. I didn’t think I did but you never know.

Ghosted by Bill @ 08/12/2007 5:13 PM EDT

Giant Robo VHS for $1.
Atari 7800 with three games $30.

“I’d gladly give up all I got
To catch you I’m gonna run and never stop

I’d pay any price just to win you
Surrender my good life for bad
To find you I’m gonna drown an unsung man

I’d call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had”

Ghosted by kingklash @ 08/12/2007 5:38 PM EDT

A few years ago, I snagged a Marvel Legends X-Men box set for £10 from my local comic shop, as the owner had about 2 dozen piling up. I took the exclusive Rogue figure and traded the other 4 to a friend for his NES with 4 controllers, zapper, Advantage, multitap, Game Genie and about 20 games, including the gold cartridge version of Zelda II.
Sold the NES earlier this year – got £40 for it. Sold the Zelda cartridge seperately – £120…

Ghosted by D. Highmore @ 08/12/2007 6:01 PM EDT

got legends ultra magnus and skywarp at target for $9.99 clearance. one went on my shelf, the 2nd on my buddy’s, and the 3rd on e-bay. came out $15 in the blue.

Ghosted by douchebag @ 08/12/2007 7:01 PM EDT

D. Highmore

Is the gold cart version really rare in Europe or something? $240 bucks is ridiculous for Gold Zelda II. I paid about 5 for mine. The gray cart version is supposedly rarer. Not saying you shouldn’t have aksed for that much, just surprised…

Ghosted by Cameron T. @ 08/12/2007 7:18 PM EDT

The Hastings I go to usually has used VHS tapes for sale for 1 or 2 dollars, and I’ve gotten a bunch of cool tapes there. I’ve bought Shrek, Evolution, The Mask, Roger Rabbit, The Grinch Cartoon, a Rude Dog video, The first Simpsons Christmas special, and a couple of Ren and Stimpy videos there (but not all at once.)

Ghosted by Jake @ 08/12/2007 7:38 PM EDT

Click my name! Do it. They are going to do Voltron, which probably means that the secret movie is not Voltron.

Ghosted by kb @ 08/12/2007 7:40 PM EDT

Yes, kb, the Colonel told me, and I am so there.

Voltron pwns ALL.

Ghosted by Knegative @ 08/12/2007 8:22 PM EDT

I always thought, growing up, that Journey’s song “Oh Sherry” was a song about Voltron. Instead of “Holds On” I thought it was “Voltron.”

Oh Sherry, our love
Voltron, Voltron!
Oh Sherry, our love
Voltron, Voltron!

Ghosted by Bill @ 08/12/2007 8:30 PM EDT

Steve Perry associated with something awesome?!?!?

IT CANNOT BE!!!!!!!

Ghosted by Knegative dedicates this slam to the Colonel @ 08/12/2007 8:38 PM EDT

Best deal ever: backpacking through Hungary in 1991, (their economy was bad so close to the Soviet breakdown), got 5 shirts, a Soviet officer dress hat, 2 fully roasted chickens, a dozen postcards and 2 2-liters of local soda all for $1 US. Which was good as I was broke.
Worst deal: got drunk and Ebayed the full run of the Smurfs Travel Through Time on VCD, thinking I was getting the real show. YAAAY.

Off topic: has anyone seen those Molly-Coolz generic Dippin’ Dots they sell at store ice cream coolers now? We just got them in Florida and they are a very good imitation of the real thing because they use an auxiliary ice pack in the packaging to keep them WAY coldert han ice cream, for $4 for 4 cups! I’m happy. No more waiting for amusement park trips for a Dippin’ Dots fix.

Ghosted by Another Matt @ 08/12/2007 9:12 PM EDT

Same Justin who got the rare NIN cd here,

Actually I also got a free 60 gig video iPod, though in my case it was because it was left in the lost and found for 3 months and the doofus who had it, named it with a bunch of numbers instead of his name or a screenname, so we couldn’t find him. The only thing that would have made it recognizeably not-everyone-else-in-the-worlds’ was how abused the surface was, and the fact that the videos on it were ‘Thriller’, and scrawny ugly white guy on obese ugly black chick; ass licking porn. Screw it, Mr. 6532o9 or whatever didn’t deserve to get the damn thing back. Now it’s dead though. It got fried.

Ghosted by Justin B @ 08/12/2007 10:35 PM EDT

I think I should assure everyone that I thoroughly cleaned that iPod before handling it too much upon viewing it’s contents…

Ghosted by Justin B @ 08/12/2007 10:39 PM EDT

So I’m joining yet another discussion a day late, but I was at a Joan Jett concert last night and I must say she’s still got it.

The best deal I ever got was low-top Chuck Taylor’s for 4 dollars, brand new at JC Penney about 10 years ago. I wore them until they fell apart and was saddened when I had to get another pair and shell out 40 bucks. *sigh*

Ghosted by iAMYou @ 08/12/2007 10:39 PM EDT

I once went through the drive through at a Steak n Shake and got my shake for free since the wait was long. :D

Ghosted by aaa @ 08/12/2007 10:44 PM EDT

When I was in college I bought a pack of Dragonball Z ccg cards ($3) and pulled an ultra rare card which I then turned around and sold on ebay for $165. That it all happened right before Christmas made it even better for a cash strapped student.

Ghosted by kingartie @ 08/12/2007 11:38 PM EDT

One time, about 3 years ago, my fiancee and I were going to meet some friends at a local restaurant, and when I got out of the car, I kicked a pack of Newports that were laying in the parking lot, and as the pack flipped over, i saw a five dollar bill tucked into the cellophane. Picking up the pack, I opened it to find, not damp Newports, but $2,160, rolled and rubberbanded, along with a small bag of some mysterious powder. Of course, being an upstanding citizen, I promptly reported it to the police, and forgot about it.
Ok, I gave each of our friends $150 each, paid off some bills, and dropped like $800 on the guitar I had coveted for a decade plus.
Normally, I would feel terribly guilty about something like this, but if you can’t rip off drug dealers with a clean conscience, then who can you? maybe the government, on unreported taxes… It’s a good thing that I turned it in to the proper authorities, then, right? Right?

Ghosted by p@rick @ 08/12/2007 11:43 PM EDT

P@rick, I would have done the exact same thing. Good for you.

Ghosted by Bill @ 08/12/2007 11:46 PM EDT

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is on ABC Family right now. Turtles 2 is up next. Thought y’all might like to know.

The musical score is so ridiculously corny. Mostly it sounds like a Top Gun ripoff. According to the DVR, the movie was released in 1990. I was just a little old for it (12 or 13, depending on the month). However, it still is a totally funny nostalgia kick.

Ghosted by spaz307 @ 08/13/2007 12:17 AM EDT

Damn, mine can’t match p@rick’s, but…

I ended up returning some books on CD I recieved as gifts to a Borders and ended up getting enough store credit to get a 30GB video iPod.

As far as actual bargains, Staples are always good for computer stuff. A few weeks ago my new 19″ widescreen LCD monitor cost $130 marked down from $240, and a scanner I got from the same store was $50 marked down from $150.

Ghosted by Shawn @ 08/13/2007 12:20 AM EDT

A couple years back some guy (who obviously lost his job afterwards) from the IBM website marked a $2500 laptop onsale for $204.
Me and some friends got wind of it and bought as many as we could thinking ‘Crazy!?!’

Anyways, IBM issued a statement later apologising for the mistake – it was supposed to be ‘Marked’ down $204, not for sale for that price. Anyways, this statement was sent to everyone’s email account.

Unfortunately for IBM – whoever sent the email out (to the 80 ppl that managed to buy it before it was pulled) sent it with everyone’s email details visible to everyone else on the mailing list. This is obviously HIGHLY against privacy policies so some smarty made a complaint to the consumer group and got the article in the newspaper so to avoid the big fuss IBM ended up honouring their mistake and providing us all with $2500 laptops for $200!!

The irony that made me giggle my bottom off:
As I sat there unwrapping my brand new shiny laptop (mind you I had no money for a couch or anything but a laptop I was willing to splash money out for)I switched it on for the first time and a lovely intro message pops up

‘IBM – committed to protecting your privacy’

oh yes IBM, you sure are.. that’s why I got this thing so cheap!

That’s about it for me really

Ghosted by TP @ 08/13/2007 12:40 AM EDT

Once I pulled into an AM PM and bought five bucks worth of gas (just enough to make it seem like I didn’t go as far as I did so my parents would continue to believe a *little* lie I told them. Shh.) But then the guy accidentally gives me twenty bucks premium. He felt terrible, and payed for the 15 I didn’t mean to spend.
So I got 15 bucks worth of free gas, which filled my tank. The downside was that then I had to explain why the tank was full to my parents… :(

Ghosted by Zud @ 08/13/2007 12:49 AM EDT

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