Andre81 Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Today I've noticed that a copy of "War" for the Astrocade has shown up on eBay: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 180760194895 If people resell homebews/reproductions/special editions for a profit they should be banned from buying further releases. They take others the chance to get a copy just for their own profit. I suggest a blacklist of such people. What do you think? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Tough to distinguish those types from the person who's fallen on hard times and is trying to maximize their profit potential. There's definitely a handful of resellers here and on eBay though that would certainly raise a few flags if they were looking to buy multiple copies from these homebrewers though. Guess ultimately, it's up to the author how and who they wish to distribute to. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disjaukifa Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I think it depends . . . I know I'm about to sell some of my homebrews I've bought because I'm having to get major engine work done on my Beetle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Today I've noticed that a copy of "War" for the Astrocade has shown up on eBay: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 180760194895 If people resell homebews/reproductions/special editions for a profit they should be banned from buying further releases. They take others the chance to get a copy just for their own profit. I suggest a blacklist of such people. What do you think? I saw this. I really wanted to get a copy of this. What's the markup? The auction would be a lot more ethical if the bidding started at the original purchase price. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HatefulGravey Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I ordered a copy of Halo 2600 in Feb of this year. I still haven't gotten it. If I really want it someone selling their copy online like that might be my only chance to get one. Once a person purchases something it is theirs. If they sell it like this you have the right to refuse to buy it. If there was no demand there would be no market. Look at my Halo example again, put yourself in my shoes, then think about what you are saying again. Your heart is in the right place, I certainly agree with that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre81 Posted November 22, 2011 Author Share Posted November 22, 2011 Tough to distinguish those types from the person who's fallen on hard times and is trying to maximize their profit potential. I agree that there may be valid reasons to sell homebrews. But regardless of the reason I think resellers should be put on a list. On top of the list should be a list of all the releases with their release date and original price and below all resellers with their asking price and sell date. Anyone selling a homebrew now should for example be excluded from "Present Catcher". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I have no problem with re-sellers of homebrews, except when the resale occurs within a few days or even weeks of its release at a huge markup - that practice smacks of trying to take advantage of the retro community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 (edited) Anyone selling a homebrew now should for example be excluded from "Present Catcher". Always good for pitchers to be cautious who is catching. Edited November 22, 2011 by save2600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucifershalo Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 agreed I sold homebrews and always hope I will make a profit to be able to buy other stuff I never purchase a homebrew thinking I will resell it but it happens that I dont like the game or I change the way I am collecting, so I will sell it back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColecoDan Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 It also can be an advantage for the homebrewer for that to happen. I know people that have said they knew nothing about the homebrew community but saw or bought the games on ebay and then were able to discover all the homebrewers that they didn't know about because of that ebay auction. So the homebrewer just increased his potential client base with that auction. It is not advantages for the homebrew also to start telling people well I am not going to sell to you because you resell. Remember their job is to sell all their inventory and be happy they don't have a big unsold pile of inventory in their house. There job is not to lose potential customers just to make sure they only sell to dedicated people that will play it and not sell it. To be clear and not get bashed upon as someone who profits reselling, I buy all colecovision homebrews and would never sell any of them unless I was down on my luck and losing my house first then I would sell them and of course try to make as much as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GonzoGamer Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 There are some who i am sure are doing it for profit, and like someone else here said, the only real way to combat that i guess would be for the author to sell one game per person, but that is up to the game author. I only have one home brew (2600 Testcart by Paul Slocum) that i am going to sell along with some of my better 2600 games to raise some extra cash, i sure don't want to part with it or my other ones but right now i need to the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98PaceCar Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Today I've noticed that a copy of "War" for the Astrocade has shown up on eBay: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 180760194895 If people resell homebews/reproductions/special editions for a profit they should be banned from buying further releases. They take others the chance to get a copy just for their own profit. I suggest a blacklist of such people. What do you think? I think you don't understand how a free market works. That said, if homebrewers would not artificially limit the number of copies available, this practice would fall apart. I'm not advocating open runs on titles (though AA seems to be able to manage this pretty well), but open up pre-orders for xx amount of time where xx is enough time to get the word out and give people time to make a decision. If a title has pre-orders for 100 copies over 2-4 weeks, make 110 and call it good. If it has pre-orders for 10 copies over the same amount of time, make 12 and call it good. For that matter, open up the ordering until the number of orders slows to a trickle of 1 or 2 orders a week and give warning before cutting off the run. But opening up the ordering with a pre-determined number of copies and not responding to interest when it is clearly there is why re-sellers can gouge prices like this and have a market that will pay the prices. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icemanxp300 Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I'm sorry but this topic is rediculous. Trying to say someone can't sell something they purchased is unreal. Hell I think anone selling an Air Raid for $3500 should be banned from buying any atari games period because it's original price tag was what $30? You see what you are saying? People don't know what homebrews are going to be popular when they buy them but if they jump up in value because people really like them and you don't, then yea I would sell mine instantly. As far as selling soon as a game is released for a profit, well if you pay for it, then I guess it was justified? I think a more ethical statement would be for people who make homebrews to STOP making such limited quanitites. The fact is they want the games to go up in value instead of making enough for everyone. Thats where the real problem lies, not in the reselling aspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HatefulGravey Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Honestly, I find that the homebrew market is very picky about who it lets in anyway. A new game is coming out and unless you happen to be at the start of the project you are likely to miss your chance to own that game anyway. There are many homebrew games I heard about, never found a solid release window for and never got to buy one for that reason. Seems likely that unless you know enough to help program the game there is no way to be sure you will own said game. For example, there was a Castlevania 2600 homebrew in the works, and I would love to own it, but keeping up with if that is being finished, where to pre order and asking price for all these homebrews is not easy. I have no idea what the status of that game is right now, I just don't have the time to dig for all that information all the time. Even then, when I do order a game the people that move then around have to keep up with this stuff well enough to get the games to people. Back to my Halo thing, I asked for a copy and would be happy to pay for it, but I never saw a price for it, and never got any updates. After a few months or nothing being said I just stopped looking for answers. Here in lies the problem. There are people out there that make reproduction games that have the ability to make a copy of Halo for me, but I would hope they wouldn't do it and I wouldn't ask. I want the game, but I'm not going to go around the people that deserve to get paid for it just because I want the game like that, and I would hope they would refuse to make money that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stjames88 Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I have sold almost every homebrew I have ever bought. 90% of the homebrews I bought, I bought on the second hand market anyway. I usually try to sell them here first, but if there is no interest I move them over to eBay and sell them auction style to let the market dictate the price. I guess I have treated HB's as any other game I have ever owned......once it's mine I'll do whatever I want with it. My collection has never been static, it changes with the seasons, so I am always buying, selling, and trading etc....What I may want to add today, will be trade 3 months down the road. To each thier own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragos Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I think we need a list of people who whine about capitalism. I can damn sure buy anything I want even if my intent is to resell it immediately. Grow the hell up. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purduecrum Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I think you don't understand how a free market works. That said, if homebrewers would not artificially limit the number of copies available, this practice would fall apart. I'm not advocating open runs on titles (though AA seems to be able to manage this pretty well), but open up pre-orders for xx amount of time where xx is enough time to get the word out and give people time to make a decision. If a title has pre-orders for 100 copies over 2-4 weeks, make 110 and call it good. If it has pre-orders for 10 copies over the same amount of time, make 12 and call it good. For that matter, open up the ordering until the number of orders slows to a trickle of 1 or 2 orders a week and give warning before cutting off the run. But opening up the ordering with a pre-determined number of copies and not responding to interest when it is clearly there is why re-sellers can gouge prices like this and have a market that will pay the prices. I agree... I think the limiting factor here is ability to produce the desired goods. It seems like only the AtariAge store has an "unlimited" ability to meet demand and most of the others (with the tools and know-how) that make their own games probably have limited resources of materials and time and for the most part set their offering price at an artificially low value. If Albert wanted to maximize his revenue he could put copies of the next Halo run one at a time on eBay until the auctions were ending at a price similar to what he would list it for in the store and from that point on make the store the sole location for sale. Adding numbers to the carts or specifying a run limit (limiting supply) are both mechanisms to raise the value but to others it is what makes the item collectible. All hobbies have this unpleasant factor (access, availability, money) in what should otherwise be a very enjoyable undertaking. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I think we need a list of people who whine about capitalism. I can damn sure buy anything I want even if my intent is to resell it immediately. Grow the hell up. ...and the seller is also free to refuse to sell to anyone they choose, for any reason including reselling! That, too, is part of the free market. I think the best-case scenario for this is if a homebrewer needs capital for manufacturing, and a reseller offers to buy X number of copies upfront. That can be a huge help. OTOH, there's a reason that ticket scalpers are widely considered scumbags (and for the most part, rightly so). But unlike a concert venue which has intrinsically limited capacity, there's really no need for a homebrew to be produced in limited quantities if the demand is still there. If the producer doesn't feel like making more, fine, but I've repeatedly heard the argument that it would anger collectors to have more copies produced of a given title, and that holds no water with me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragos Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Yes, if you refused to sell to me because I had, in the past sold something that angered you, I would most likely just get a friend to order it for me.... There is no stopping this and whining about it makes people look foolish.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Leach Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 i resell everything.......but i keep everything...... go figure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre81 Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 Yes, if you refused to sell to me because I had, in the past sold something that angered you, I would most likely just get a friend to order it for me.... There is no stopping this and whining about it makes people look foolish.... So you think scumbags like bigbadseaserpent should be allowed to buy more homebrews? eBay Auction -- Item Number: 130605978931 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+5-11under Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 If I make and then sell a homebrew, I've sold it at an agreed upon price. I've set the price, so I shouldn't feel any regret about the amount of money I've received. If that buyer resells it at a higher price, I still shouldn't have any regrets, because I already received the amount of money I was looking to receive. I also have pretty much zero control what happens to the item after I've sold it. There's no use trying to control what one cannot control. If someone is able to purchase something for $100 one day, and sell it for $500 a few months or years later, I must admit I'm more impressed (and perhaps jealous) than disgusted. I sometimes don't understand why someone would pay so much for something, but hey, both parties have agreed to the terms of the deal beforehand (even if it's a real auction). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomberpunk Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I think we need a list of people who whine about capitalism. I can damn sure buy anything I want even if my intent is to resell it immediately. Grow the hell up. or a list of douchebags... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragos Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Yes, if you refused to sell to me because I had, in the past sold something that angered you, I would most likely just get a friend to order it for me.... There is no stopping this and whining about it makes people look foolish.... So you think scumbags like bigbadseaserpent should be allowed to buy more homebrews? eBay Auction -- Item Number: 130605978931 Absolutely, he has 100% feedback and is providing a service for fellow gamers.... I know, it upsets some cardinal rule of homebrew collecting that seems to escape rational people.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntellivisionDude Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I see nothing wrong with reselling homebrews, because how else are you going to get a hold of a game that is no longer in print unless someone resells theirs. But i also agree that this guy abuses the reseller power. This guy goes way beyond overpriced. It's ridiculous. Plus it's been barely a month or 2 since a few of those were released. eBay Auction -- Item Number: 130605978931 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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