Am I the only guy who has a problem with these type of people?

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You know the type, they've never participated, but go through the effort of signing up to a new website only to ask one question... "How much is this worth?"  Once they get their answer... POOF, you never see or hear from them again, unless they need something else priced.

Why should WE be their assessors working for free?  It's self defeating in many ways, they come to a places where people are willing to pay more, so they'll get an inflated price, then they'll mark that up and then sell it on Ebay screwing the very people who helped them out.  Now I'm willing to answer someone from the community who's been around a while, but these people that come to website to use people and split, not so much.  So what is the solution to stop this type of behavior?  Fib!  Yup, next time someone comes into this place or any other website you belong to for the expressed purpose of having us price their stuff for free, tell them the price, but LOWBALL THE FIGURE, say by about 75%.  Maybe they'll give up.

[RickR]

The worst.  Plus, sometimes, it's a whole bundle of stuff.  A dirty 2600 and a stack of games.  What is it worth? 

I usually ignore them.  Maybe lowballing is worth a try.  However, there's always a few honest folks that will answer thoughtfully.  Or they'll take the time to call you various names if they don't know why you are lowballing.

 

 

[TrekMD]

Oh, yes.  Seen those and it is annoying. 

[MaximumRD]

Nope they ARE annoying, sadly they are sometimes (not always) also scammers thinking a retro site will just paypal or send money without checking references or see authenticated images all on their word. They are the FLY-BY-NIGHTER's as I like to call them. Sign up, scam members, disappear. You can usually root them out pretty quickly though as they quickly become agitated or immediately become defensive when asked to provide proven images / references / feedback - YOU CAN ALWAYS BE ASSURRED THEY WILL START WITH saying things like "WELL I DON'T HAVE TO SELL!" or "I just want it to go to someone who will appreciate it" or they try to convince everyone they have sold many times (though they can provide no feedback or references) to ending with saying things like "FINE, I'LL JUST THROW IT IN THE GARBAGE THEN" 🙄 like everyone is going to just throw common sense out the window for fear of missing out. 😆 BUT I DIGRESS, yes even the ones who simply want to know "What it's worth" can get annoying because they never want to hear the truth, thinking they have a wealth of items or perhaps they see Ebay ASKING prices and so think anyone here will be willing to pay same etc. My attitude is always, well if you think you have treasure throw it on Ebay with a minimum you are willing to accept and let nature take it's course. But yeah when "WHAT IT WORTH?" is literally your introduction to a community it typically does not end well.  

Edited July 16, 2022 by MaximumRD

[Sabertooth]

This thread makes me wish we had a 💯 reaction.

[Atari 5200 Guy]

Whoa!  I just found a dust ball inside my Atari cart.  I wonder if it is worth more than the cart.  Maybe it belonged to Atari at one point.  Just trying to make you guys laugh.  It is crazy.  The value of something I have is worth more to me if I can use it, not so much if I can't or don't.

 

[CrossBow]

Not be a devil's advocate on this but I know that some of these people could also have just recently lost a relative that had a large collection and they have ZERO idea what it is worth or what to do with it and need to know some value for Estate sales appraisal type stuff is my guess. They do google searches for Atari stuff and Atari sites are going to pop up. They sign up thinking they are talking to the experts who will give them a good idea on value and then they leave. I've had a few people in the past contact me for that very reason and I actually ended up getting some pretty good stuff from those calls in the past.

But sure...some of them just want to make a quick buck or as was stated, are hoping to scam some dudes' out of some money thinking we won't know better.

 

[RickR]

@CrossBowis so right.  And that's going to happen a lot more as a lot of us get up there in age.  That's one reason why I've been trying to downsize the things I like but don't really use anymore...to save my family from an overwhelming task someday. 

[CrossBow]

It is also the reason why necro posting is getting to be so prevalent as well. I see it over at the AA forums all the time and people complain about someone necro posting to something from 10+ years ago.

What I found is that if you do certain searches on Google for things, it is very likely to show you postings from video game forums related to your search as the top of the list. And if the person looking for answers or having something to say just clicks on that link and then registers, they post and don't even pay attention to the fact that the thread is 10+ years old since it was the top recommended link in the search.

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8 hours ago, CrossBow said:

It is also the reason why necro posting is getting to be so prevalent as well. I see it over at the AA forums all the time and people complain about someone necro posting to something from 10+ years ago.

What I found is that if you do certain searches on Google for things, it is very likely to show you postings from video game forums related to your search as the top of the list. And if the person looking for answers or having something to say just clicks on that link and then registers, they post and don't even pay attention to the fact that the thread is 10+ years old since it was the top recommended link in the search.

I've never had an issue with the so-called "necro-posts" myself.  If it's still on topic, and there are no other newer threads on the subject, why not?  There is always someone out there who will take issue with anything, be it spelling, grammar, age of post, slight deviation off-topic, starting a new thread when one already exists, you name it.  One simply cannot please 100% of the people 100% of the time.  That's one reason I like this site, people don't get bent out of shape over minutiae.  It's a fun place to be, and good people hang out here.  So yeah, I guess I'm guilty of one issue, considering I started the thread topic.  But about newbies and necro posts, sometimes when people enter a new site they may not even notice the dates since there is a lot to take in when visiting a new site.

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9 hours ago, RickR said:

@CrossBowis so right.  And that's going to happen a lot more as a lot of us get up there in age.  That's one reason why I've been trying to downsize the things I like but don't really use anymore...to save my family from an overwhelming task someday. 

I've been toying with downsizing myself, while I like the TI and continue to use it... now and then... I sometimes wonder why I keep upgrading it with new stuff.  Of course getting rid of it could be problematic, as anyone that is into the TI, probably already has much of what they want already.  And since my system is rather "overdone", I doubt many would want to shell out the kind of bucks I'd have to ask.

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10 hours ago, CrossBow said:

Not be a devil's advocate on this but I know that some of these people could also have just recently lost a relative that had a large collection and they have ZERO idea what it is worth or what to do with it and need to know some value for Estate sales appraisal type stuff is my guess. They do google searches for Atari stuff and Atari sites are going to pop up. They sign up thinking they are talking to the experts who will give them a good idea on value and then they leave. I've had a few people in the past contact me for that very reason and I actually ended up getting some pretty good stuff from those calls in the past.

But sure...some of them just want to make a quick buck or as was stated, are hoping to scam some dudes' out of some money thinking we won't know better.

 

Nothing wrong with playing the Devil's advocate.  I've always appreciated being able to hear multiple points of view.  Sadly in the world today that is frowned on by some.