Do you find any worth in complete, mint WITH WRAPPER games?

I'm starting to see a new practice when selling collectible games and I do not like it!

More and more, people sell games as "New Sealed CONDITION", which just means the same as complete and mint, just that there is an opened shrink wrap on the box. For example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Final-Fantasy-Mystic-Quest-Slighty-Used_W0QQitemZ110263698359QQihZ001QQcategoryZ139973QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(Charging double for a piece of shrink wrap)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Donkey-Kong-Country-SNES-BRAND-NEW-FACTORY-SEALED_W0QQitemZ110264475215QQihZ001QQcategoryZ139973QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Super-Mario-RPG-Nintendo-w-Strategy-Guide-NEW-COND_W0QQitemZ320233841001QQihZ011QQcategoryZ139973QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247


Are people willing to pay more for this kind of game? If so, I will buy a bunch of cheap games like vegas stakes, zoop and f-zero, take the shrink wrapping off of them, put them on chrono trigger, ff3 complete and run a business!

I think this is ridiculous

striker wrote:I'm starting to see a new practice when selling collectible games and I do not like it!

More and more, people sell games as "New Sealed CONDITION", which just means the same as complete and mint, just that there is an opened shrink wrap on the box. For example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Final-Fantasy-Mystic-Quest-Slighty-Used_W0QQitemZ110263698359QQihZ001QQcategoryZ139973QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(Charging double for a piece of shrink wrap)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Donkey-Kong-Country-SNES-BRAND-NEW-FACTORY-SEALED_W0QQitemZ110264475215QQihZ001QQcategoryZ139973QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Super-Mario-RPG-Nintendo-w-Strategy-Guide-NEW-COND_W0QQitemZ320233841001QQihZ011QQcategoryZ139973QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247


Are people willing to pay more for this kind of game? If so, I will buy a bunch of cheap games like vegas stakes, zoop and f-zero, take the shrink wrapping off of them, put them on chrono trigger, ff3 complete and run a business!

I think this is ridiculous

This is indeed a dishonest bullshit. I don't like such practice at all. And about vegas stakes... i've been thinking about it.

I agree that this is bad. It's definitely intended to trick people into thinking that the game is worth more than it really is. However…

I also think that, as long as it's spelled out exactly what you're getting, it's not so bad. If they tell you they've opened the seal, then it's better than when sellers claim it's sealed but skirt around admitting that it's not Factory Sealed.

Personally, I read every word in an auction, *before* I look at any pictures, and if I have the slightest doubt, I ask the seller (who usually has no idea or, sometimes, just lies).

Actually, what annoys me is when sellers say that something is "New", but then say that it was "opened but never used". Similar to in that Donkey Kong auction. I'll bet that this did not happen in almost every case. What actually happened is, they bought it and used it, or bought it used, and made sure it was in good enough condition to pass off as new, but it isn't. eBay used to say that "New" meant (by their standards) "unopened", but they changed that a while ago. Whether "testing" counts as "using" is a point they refuse to address.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/attrhelp/contextual/1.html

Hmf. It's not as though eBay will ever take action against a seller that says its new even when it can be proven it is not. Well, it just means that we all have to be more vigilant, and searching for what you want is much harder.

Well, you're talking about 2 different things. I agree that these auctions that list these games as FACTORY SEALED when they are not are totally misleading. If the game has been opened it is no longer factory sealed, end of story. However, I do not have a problem with people describing games as NEW if they are indeed new and unplayed. As many of you know many of the games I have been selling are like this. It's not bullshit, it's a fact and I guarantee this for my buyers as I bought them myself. It's no different than going into stores here in the US like EB that have "gutted" their games open and sell them to you at new prices.

First off, EB's gutted games are far from new. They sometimes have fingerprints on disc even.

Second, selling opened games as new, ok fine that's one thing. But how would you feel if some guy was selling the same games as you for 40$ more because he put an opened shrink wrapper around the box?

Any auction selling an opened game but described as "factory sealed" is a blantant lie. Inexcusable and deceptive, IMO.

ZeldaCollector77 wrote:Any auction selling an opened game but described as "factory sealed" is a blantant lie. Inexcusable and deceptive, IMO.

I second that

Yeah, perhaps I wasn't clear.

If they say it's Factory Sealed, and it's not (it's hardly a seal if it's open, right?), then it's simply a lie. I agree, BUT, I don't think what they say in the title has much meaning at all compared with the description in the body. If it's actually described properly in the body, then that's enough for me.

The standard that eBay uses for New is, that an item must be exactly as it would be from an actual store, meaning it was sourced from a manufacturer/distributor, and hasn't been unsealed, unboxed, "tested" or otherwise used, or had the packaging damaged. So, if it was ever Factory Sealed, it still should be when selling it as new. Marking an item as New is intended only for eBay users operating stores, that are literally online shopfronts behaving like regular store without the physical presence; they stock from a wholesaler, they sell only what they have in stock, they sell only models that are currently available from the manufacturer, the products have intact warranties direct from the manufacturer, etc.

So originally, New didn't simply mean unused, it literally meant New. But since sellers didn't care, and marked things that they'd "tested" (or worse) as New, well, eBay just changed the wording of their policy (it used to say that things had to be sealed to be New, but now doesn't). It's not as though they were going to hold anyone to that standard anyway.

As I said, if it's accurately described in the body description, I don't care. It just makes searching harder (as does putting "Factory Sealed" in the title when it has in fact been opened), by giving more false positives. Which is annoying, but I've long since learned to live with that.

Yeah Imp, I agree. Using "new" or "like new" doesn't bother me, but "Factory Sealed" is a whole other ballgame. If the game has been opened in any way, or resealed (not in a factory but in someone's home) then it is not a true seal. I think everyone agrees on that. A buyer should consider the description more than the title of course, but just for good measure I always email the seller with specific questions. Just helps me sleep at night before spending hundreds of dollars.

It's true, asking the seller questions is good, but what about buyers who stumble on to auctions just hours or minutes before it's end?

VERY misleading, very dirty practice.

Those are used items, no matter what the seller will tell you. If the seals are not... sealed anymore, they are used items. "Like new" is all they can be, even if nobody ever touched the content of the box nor the box itself.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Chrono-Trigger-Nintendo-SNES-RPG-like-new-adult-owned_W0QQitemZ230269525850QQihZ013QQcategoryZ139973QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Hey ppl it's NEW!! Come on act fast!! It usually sells for 1000+!!!!!

I always found it to be a shifty practice when dealing with such eBay auctions. Quite often I come across an auction where a seller states that they have opened a sealed game to check the contents, by request of a potential buyer. Either they are very stupid, or naive, or just plainly out to deceive

However, there are some people out there who take good care of their games, often slitting open one end of a SNES game and carefully removing the cart whilst keeping the box in perfect condition (As if it were still sealed). Often, they will list the item as "Cut-sealed" or "Semi-sealed", which I have no problem with as they clearly list them as such


I am curious why some people believe that a brand new sealed game may not work though, and why they prefer to buy a game that is proven to work rather than a brand new sealed copy. Surely the chances of a brand new game not working are extremely slim??? Of course, there is always the chance, and something that as a sealed collector worries me, but I generally assume that the games I have in my collection all work fine - I don't feel the need to suddenly open them all and test them just to make sure. After all, who is to say that these 20 year old sealed NES games still work? Yet people pay silly prices for sealed copies on eBay these days